Nicksindieblog's

How having a published game can open doors

nicksindieblog — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:26:36 +0000

For all you startups out there – note if you can build a quality game and self publish it, then that is a great way to enable you to build a promotionable structure for your company. If you can do it and gain a decent customer base and great reviews , then you will find that publishers and partners will be far more willing to pay attention. So go out there, design a great game, build it and sell it – and while you are at it make sure its good, the better your first is the better your start will be.

Filed under: Uncategorized

A Knights Dawn has hit over 100000 users

nicksindieblog — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:22:34 +0000

Well its been several months since we published our first game and we are thrilled by the fact that we now have over a hundred thousand users of the game.

Filed under: Uncategorized

A Knights Dawn now available on the App Store

nicksindieblog — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:35:39 +0000

Well we finally made it into the App Store, now its time to see how well we did our work..

here is the link to the game, check it out this is what an Indie company lives for:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/a-knights-dawn/id432749372?mt=8&ls=1

Filed under: Uncategorized

Our First mobile Game is ready

nicksindieblog — Sun, 22 May 2011 14:03:24 +0000

Well its been many months since I last posted, been very busy, and i can tell i have experienced a lot and learned a lot along the way.

In the meantime our company has grown to 5 employees, spread all around Germany. We hired a Lead Developer who happens to be a genius at making our Unity3D engine do fantastic things. Also added a second Game designer and PR expert to the team. Finally we brought a fantastic Artist on board.

And now we finally completed our first game ” A Knights Dawn” that is waiting for final review from Apple.

we have already published the trailer its available on you tube in english and in german heres the links:

English Trailer: http://youtu.be/xBRMqEyu3NY

German Trailer: http://youtu.be/zyT3KOS0CBs

and finally here is a link to our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/VisionaryX.GmbH

best regards,

Nick

Filed under: Uncategorized

VisionaryX GmbH is up and running

nicksindieblog — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 22:29:56 +0000

One month later and we have finally got all approvals and also the state financial aid. (This is a great benefit to doing this in Germany, it almost makes up for the very high taxes and pay scales since it’s aid and not credit).
Now things start costing money as the company must formally pay it’s employees (which is just us but it means paying taxes twice on the same cash – since they pay comes out of our invested cash .)

Filed under: business startup experience Tagged: grundung, Indie, startup

Formalizing the company

nicksindieblog — Thu, 20 May 2010 16:49:02 +0000

It’s been a while and lots has happened.
We have registered our name as a trademark, finished the company contracts and set a date for the formal start.
So what’s left, ….
Next we need to get the tax people informed and we get our company tax number. Also we are meeting with the bank next week to setup the company accounts and get company credit cards.
Finally we will send off the business plan and all the needed documents to the state workers council – thus enabling the financial support that is helping to make this possible.
It is one great opportunity to make sure your long term plan is realistic.
Finally we will once again talk to our tax accountant to make sure we have the right reporting on place.

Slowly but surely our vision is becomming reality!

Filed under: business startup experience Tagged: startups game indie

Advantages of the business model

nicksindieblog — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 10:41:12 +0000

Just a small side thought. One realizes the advantage of certain business models when a volcano causes a business mess for all those traditional direct sales types.

Filed under: business startup experience Tagged: business startup indie

company is named

nicksindieblog — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:14:08 +0000

It took a while but we finally came up with a name…I will announce it once we setup the web pages etc… its a lot of work going through the brainstorming, verifying the legality and availability of the name and finally registering the name, as a trademark in the important locations where it may be critical like the US and EU systems. Most impotantly with your local government.

Filed under: business startup experience Tagged: naming company startup

Naming the company

nicksindieblog — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 13:32:27 +0000

Several weeks into the process and it’s time to start the formalization process.
We have discussed several business models and have consulted with a good lawyer and a tax advisor, finally we both attended a seminar on starting a business – that was important because it is a great place to get the right regulatory steps explained based on local needs and not just general theory.
One can get such information from your local chamber of commerce.
Also we met with a friend who started his company last year. They gave us some good tips.
The main lesson to learn is this: get good advice before you start it can save you a lot of hassle and show you alternatives you may not be aware of.
One of those where we live is a form of financial aid for the first nine months- this is really helpful because it is not a loan but provides enough to feed the family while we work on the first product. So look around, ask questions and understand what opportunities you may have.
The next step is formalizing the company. This is a tough one- with one hurdle that has to be done right. You need to think about your companies image – what do you want it to represent and to who…Then create a name, logo and brand design that does several things:
1: Attracts interest
2: Identifies who and what you are
3: is serious enough for future partners, banks etc assume you want to grow!
4: Is not owned by someone else- check the trademark pages- and the web.
So that’s what we are working on this week.

Filed under: business startup experience Tagged: branding, marketing, names

Svn and backups etc

nicksindieblog — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 22:44:32 +0000

The first week is over, today is working day eight. Several business setup activities needed doing and they are quick time killers so plan for them:
1)get the key tools up and running.
-a) version management for your development environment.
-b) your code environment.
-c) your depository for shared tools and files that are not covered by your version management.
-d) backup system and process.
-e) reference library both hardcopy and softcopy.
Assuming you already have a pc or two this can all be done relatively cheaply to get started HOWEVER don’t forget to setup a secure LAN / wan area, the last thing you want is some silly chance botnet virus spy stuff ruining your cosebase.
Get the legal licensed sources and if you are going to use opensource please read and deeply understand your companies legal responsibility under the various gpl license systems.
When in doubt check with a lawyer…don’t just blindly trust hearsay.
There are many good places for getting good software tools that are low cost and high return but be aware you will need developer time to get used to them. I prefer using the mac osx system as my tool base simply because so much is already included in it.
besides coding for iPhones initially makes it a must have.
And finally setup a darn good backup system so you don’t end up losing weeks of work due to the cat chewing on your cheap external hard drive cable .

Filed under: business startup experience