So who am I in relation to Urbansquall games? Previously, I’ve been their writer, but recently I’ve been asked to take on a more active role in production, acting specifically in a producer role: tracking deadlines, helping to coordinate releases and just generally being Johnny-on-the-Spot.

This puts me in a fairly unique position to comment upon the production cycle at what I dare-say is a fairly typical development house. I have a degree of experience with generalized project management and have been a life-long gamer and for the past few years a game-writer, so I understand the basic structure of gaming. Getting in up to my elbows in the swamp that is production, though, has been an illuminating process, and something I’ll likely be writing about with some degree of regularity here.

Now: the topic at hand. Urbansquall released recently Battalion: Skirmish, a one-level preview for its upcoming releases in the Battalion franchise (multiplayer, single-player and cooperative games are due to be released in frighteningly rapid succession over the course of the summer). I had joined on as a producer at the final stages of Skirmish’s lifespan, and was asked to assist in its general release to some of the major Flash game portals that Urbansquall releases at (Kongregate, Newgrounds, etc.). And here’s what I learned.

1) Verify the .swf you will be Uploading

I would sincerely hope that this comes across as a massive no-brainer for everyone out there, but it bears mentioning. This is especially true if you are releasing with any degree of exclusivity to any particular portal. If that’s the case, it’s likely that you are releasing an .swf that has full-functionality with your main portal, and limited functionality with all others. It’s pretty crucial that you verify that the .swf will behave properly in each location. So, pretty please, take the extra time, check your file.

2) Pay Attention to the Small Things – Short vs. Long Description, Instructions

Do not underestimate the power of these small items. If you’re releasing a game on a major portal, you’re talking about hitting into the hundreds of thousands of gamers—a pretty hefty demographic spread. This horde of gamers is also choosing between a mob of games to play. How do they choose which to play and which to avoid? Presentation. And this is presentation before they have even loaded your game, so pay attention to the little things.

Most portals have two sets of description you can post, a short and a long. The short will display on their main page, the long once the game-page has been loaded. Some tips for creating these descriptions.

Your short description needs to be carefully crafted. Chances are you have no more than two fairly short or one complex sentence to get across the sense of what your game is. Don’t waste your time spouting how great and revolutionary your game is. Do give the gamer a sense of what they have to look forward to. What action can the gamer expect from your title? What experience will they be having? Distill that concept down to a single sentence. That’s your short description. If your game is part of a series, find a way to work that in, especially if the earlier games were popular. People will zero in on that keyword immediately.

The long description is where you want to get into the various features that will give your game legs. Think of anything that might be unique selling points, anything that will allow the player to customize or extend their gameplay past a single run-through.

Instructions: just because you have them in-game doesn’t mean you should half-ass writing them out by hand. Maybe in-game you were limited by screen-space or functionality. Take the time to write out some solid instructions for posting alongside your game description. It’s a useful exercise, too, because perhaps it will highlight something to you that you had overlooked previously. And when it comes to Instructions, step 4 below is crucial.

3) Choose the right Thumb

Thumbnail selection is probably the single most important step here. We’re very visual these days, and Flash portal main pages are rife with images. If your screenshot does not stand out in some way, you are lost in a sea of colors. Just as your short description should encapsulate the feel of the game experience, so should your thumbnail. I’m a fan of including notable in-game art. The player character, a cool enemy, a critical power-up. Something that will give the player a sense of what the game will actually look like. Thumbs of the splash screen are doable, but less exciting. That art likely doesn’t reference what the game will actually look like. It’s either boring or disingenuous, and those are both bad. Bottom of the rung in my opinion is a thumbnail showing the game’s title. I know what the title is. It’s right next to the thumb. Now I just see the title twice.

4) Have Someone Else Review All of your Release Materials

I cannot stress this enough. Even if you are a one-man development team, you need to have someone else review your materials. In fact, it’s better if someone who is not part of production review these materials. You’re too close to it. The concept is to have all of these items grab someone unfamiliar with the game and pull them in. Who best to review than someone who is actually unfamiliar with the game.

Do your thumbs look clear? Or are they too jumbled? Does the description give them a good sense of anything? Is the longer description readable? Do the instructions make sense?

Never underestimate your ability to gloss over mistakes. The brain is adept at this. It autocorrects, so be sure you have a failsafe.