These weeks seem to be flying by at the moment. Notwithstanding the fact that these past few weeks have been some of the busiest that real life has thrown at us all in terms of work and other things that (save the last weekend) coding has been virtually nonexistent. I say save the last weekend as I did manage to get some code time in and as a result I feel like progress has been made.
I’ve finally cracked the touch interface stuff too – took me a little by surprise as I wasn’t convinced I had interpreted the SDK documentation correctly, so to get an email from Liam essentially saying “good work, works fine” was a nice surprise! The great thing is that now we can use that interface code in any number of our projects, which means that as and when we move onto the next project, we can hopefully start at a much more advanced position, and get down to the nitty gritty code quite quickly – don’t get me wrong, the code needs a little expansion work in terms of allowing stuff like multi-touch and the like, but at its bare bones its working as intended. I have done a test implementation of this in the main menu with a couple of mocked up “screen shots” and it all feels like it’s coming together nicely. To be honest, now all the touch work is completed, we SHOULD be able to rattle through a lot of the more mundane side of the coding such as interfaces etc. pretty quickly.
So I feel it’s a good juncture to introduce the new RoChain logo to you all… It captures the feel of the new version quite nicely, and its top work by Richard, so here goes:
Each time I see it I think I like it even more – it really sets the tone quite nicely. The rest of the graphics are currently being done, but if this example is anything to go by, it’s going to look sweet (even if I do say so myself)!
I’m still hopeful of a release before Christmas. We do have some tricky bits and pieces to try and implement before then however I still firmly believe this is a realistic deadline.
So whilst it’s been a quiet week in the grand scheme of things, it’s all been productive in a reserved kind of a way. We aren’t making great strides at the moment, but lots of important little steps in both our understanding of the SDK and the iPhone/iPad platform and also we are getting a lot of the (otherwise boring) engine code complete.
Again, not an awful lot more to report this week – I do feel reinvigorated with the whole process, these past few weeks have been quite a drain on my energy (and not from a coding perspective) so it’s really good to see things coming together once again, the team more committed than ever to bringing RoChain to the masses!
bunimomike
The only problem I had with the logo is that I didn’t know what it said until you confirmed it in the article. Bugger.
stingraz
I saw the R – Chain, but not the o in the cog.
A nice, attractive logo though, really effective.
KeRaSh
If the screw inside the “o” was silver it would be much easier to understand the title at a glance. I like the design.
icuyesido
Hmm, I saw it straight away, I guess it’s just how we perceive images.
TSBonyman
Lol i thought it was called #RoChain.. :s
Very nice design , i agree about perhaps making the ‘o’ a dfferent shade but i don’t mind, #RoChain, RoChain or R Chain i’ll be picking up one of them for sure :p
andytorr
Thought I’d add a little constructive criticism here to help you guys… I’ve been working in graphic design for over 8 years now, and imo, the logo looks incredibly amateur. I don’t mean to completely slam your work so far, but there are a lot of people out there who have the eye for design, and would never invest their time or cash in something with such a logo. As mike said in the first comment, the ‘O’ in Ro isn’t noticable at all. I still had a hard time picking it out after I knew it was there. It’s all a bit too busy, and logo’s should be the complete opposite. If anybody so much as struggles to read a logo, it should be scrapped. The drop shadow isn’t doing it any favours either.
bunimomike
Andy’s right, to be fair. Same business as Andy too (graphic designer) and it’s overly complex. I know it sounds like we’re pissing on your parade but keep in mind that the logo won’t be this big either (all of the time). Make sure the banner works at small sizes. Say, on a banner to advertise the website/game, etc.
Andy’s already hit one of the most important points. Make sure it’s simple enough to be deciphered by the brain almost instantly. Even with beautifully ornate logos, you usually find that the lettering is still very, very clear.
gnipper
Guys – thanks for the feedback – this sort of stuff is invaluable to us – dont ever feel like telling me/us you dont like what we are doing! We did have a lot of discussion regarding the logo and it went through numerous iterations before we came up with the above. Having said that – if the majority think its not right (which seems to be the case) then we need to revisit it. I like the idea of the silver screw particularly – will see how that looks!
The only thing I would ask you to bear in mind is that the logo is an “in game” logo, so once you’ve been through the whole app store thing and installed its not on screen very long! The app store icon is yet to be designed. Do you chaps feel that even knowing you are playing RoChain you’d still struggle with the logo?
DrDeth
Do you think you’ll even find it amongst the tons of rubbish on the App Store if you can’t read the name on some other marketing material?
gnipper
A fair point. I guess Im blinkered a little by the fact that the logo reads fine to me and I couldnt understand the reason why people couldnt read it… Having said that, it would seem I am in a minority and therefore we will need to change it. I dont mind being in a minority – makes me feel special!
DrDeth
You’re definitely some kind of special. ;)
bunimomike
gnipper – Thing is, you knew the title already which makes you instantly the wrong person to test it out on. However, you’ve done the right thing by asking TSA as we’ve not seen it before.
I would have a simpler logo and make sure it’s visually appealing so it stands on the the likes of iTunes/banners/PSN stores/etc. Basically, wherever you’re going to market it.
Even if the logo doesn’t get much airtime it still needs to be tight as a drum. If you’re still having trouble with it you could always start a thread in the forum and get people to contribute. I, for one, would be happy giving something a go (as long as this suggestion doesn’t offend). Just want the best for you guys.
KeRaSh
That’s the point. I read the title of the diary just before I saw the logo. Of course I could read it just finde because I had the name in my head from the title so I’m not really sure how it would have appeared to me without reading the title first.
DrDeth
I think getting input from the community frequently and early on is a great idea! Getting feedback is extremely important to remove the ‘blinkers’.
gazzagb
Looks good, I can easily make it out to be Rochain but that’s because I know what it is and what it’s meant to be. Some may have difficulty if this is the first time they’ve come across the word ‘Rochain’.
How long does it take to get stuff up and onto the App store? I would have thought it would take a month or so at least.
DrDeth
I’ve heard anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. I don’t think it’s an exact science.