Left 4k Dead in the latest issue of Super Play!

Contests 4K Game Competition - 2009
#1

Super Play is a Swedish gaming magazine. The latest issue (in stores now!) mentions Left 4k Dead on page 88, including my name, a screenshot, and the full url to the game. Yay!

It also goes on to claim I’ve won this year’s contest, but that’s news to me. :wink:

Pardon the blurry picture, my phone takes horrible pictures:

http://www.mojang.com/notch/j4k/l4kd/l4kd_superplay.jpg

Freely translated, the article says:

[quote]Swedish game programmer Markus “Notch” Persson has a think for micro games. Amongst other things, he has a 40 by 30 pixel Java conversion of the role playing game Eye of the Beholder 2 on his conscience. Crazy. His latest game, on the other hand, is more approachable. Left 4k Dead is obviously a tribute to Valve’s zombie shooter by almost the same name. The game the annual Java 4k-competition, which is about making a game in java in less than four kilobytes, and it turns out to be quite satisfactory to run around and slaughter pixel zombies. And the title is crazy witty.
[/quote]

#2

Congratulations! ;D

#3

Wowee. :o

#4

Well done Markuss, on both the game and the recognition! Surely with publicity like this it will help cement your upcoming win! :wink:

#5

That’s cool! ‘A crazy witty title’!!!

If i were you I’d frame that clipping and stick it on the wall.

#6

Good stuff Markus! Recognition that is very well deserved. …does the article happen to mention who is going to come second… :persecutioncomplex:

#7

I’m a judge of 4k, and my jealousy will keep you from winning! :o :o :o

Just kidding, of course.

#8

Thanks, all =D

I’ve emailed them and told them that the competition isn’t over yet, but I kinda doubt they’ll print a retraction in the next issue.

Although it would be fun if they did, and then I won, so they’d have to include ANOTHER retraction in the issue after that, hehe. ;D
But since kev’s going to (or at least should) win, that’s just hypothetical.

#9

Also: http://jayisgames.com/archives/2009/02/link_dump_friday_100.php
8)

#10

I just don’t know how you manage to get so much exposure. I doubt anyone would find my stuff no matter how good it was. What are your secrets?

#11

I don’t know! I don’t do any promotion at all other than to post about it in online forums.

I do have some theories, though: (for my biggest hits)

Wurm Online
We initially got a some of exposure from Sun, giving us an early player base with somewhat influential people, including several “real” game developers.
I also think it’s a game that fills some kind of gap, which is why we made it in the first place.

Left 4k Dead
I’m a bit stumped… I think using that name helped a lot, plus it’s really accessible.

Infinite Mario Bros
I tried hard to copy the feeling of controlling mario in the original games. I think people are quick to try games based on games they love, and if it feels similar, you get a LOT of free publicity. (It didn’t feel right, though, so I released it as public domain)
During the peak of its popularity, I put a wurm online banner on the top of the game page, and for a few weeks 20% of all new visitors on wurmonline.com came in via Infinite Mario Bros.

Miners4k
I guess this is actually a Good Game™. It’s probably the most original game I’ve made, but it’s still based on familiar concepts (worms, lemmings, diggers).

Breaking the Tower
Again, familiar concepts (gather resources, build houses, kill the enemy). Combined with some minor puzzle solving and a fairly slow pace, it lead to a great time killer for people either bored, at work, or both.
Adding the highscore list led to a lot of people trying to speedrun it, but of course, also to a lot of cheating. :wink:

And, some “failures” that I think SHOULD have been hits, but weren’t:

Blast Passage
I assumed people loved bomberman, and that people loved gauntlet. I know I do. :wink:
Obviously, the game isn’t as good as I think, and I can’t quite figure out what’s wrong. Perhaps it’s too complicated? Perhaps it’s too plain?

MEG4kMAN
There are almost no hits on this game on google, just this forum and java4k.com. Normally, I’d expect the game to have spread by now, but it didn’t for MEG4kMAN.
My theory is that, since I tried something new, I made something I’m not used to doing, and it shows.
It might also be a bit too difficult. :wink:

#12

Who knows. I feel like I’ve made some pretty fun games but nobody has ever seen them. I’ll bet your initial exposure with Wurm really has helped you out a lot, because it gave you a destination website that then could be used to advertise all your subsequent ventures.