Years of private messages, feedback and reviews made me realize how important Seashine is for so many of you to fight anxiety, panic attacks, or depression. This has been one of the major motivations for me to keep working on Seashine despite the dark times I’ve been through and the hard things I’m still facing because of my muscular dystrophy.
However, some players ask for more regarding this aspect of the game. One of the oldest requested features for Seashine is the possibility to explore the depths without a fading light forcing you to keep moving, a zen mode.
I had mixed feelings about such a game mode. At first I even thought it would be some kind of gamedesign failure. Why? Well, I was convinced I could tweak the gameplay for the next update to reach a perfect balance between wonder and terror. I was a bit stubborn and I completely ignored the fact that many players would be very happy to enjoy a mode without the terror part, e.g. parents enjoying the game and wanting their very young child to enjoy the wonder part.
Let’s face it, there needs to be a separate/bonus mode without the scary and stressfull side of Seashine. This zen mode will be available in the version 2.0.0 of the game (a.k.a. the big update) I’ve been working on intermittently since 2017.
Seashine’s essence is a mix of wonder and terror so this will remain the core gameplay. How is this zen mode gonna work then? Here are the main points you should know:
- There will be no fading light but the life bar on top will stay in case you touch something you shouldn’t (hello urchins).
- As usual, light fishes, crystals and other sources of light will restore your non-fading light.
- There will be no predator for your jellyfish.
- The score will be disabled for obvious fairness reasons.
- No star will spawn for more obvious fairness reasons (or maybe just a very limited number, tests needed).
- You will still be able to use your abilities in zen mode and it will still need stars to activate.
- You will be able to discover most lifeforms but new ones will be harder to find in this mode (fairness).
- The scenery will not be exactly the same, less stressful where it is usually stressful.
- You will be able to activate a spectator/passive mode to watch your jellyfish swim slowly and automatically with the main theme music playing in the background. This + the singing whales should help many people go to sleep!
This zen mode will be implemented as an In-App Purchase (IAP) unlocking several zen jellyfish.
Some of you may ask why I decided to make this game mode an IAP and not a free bonus mode.
As I said on Twitter a while back, I will remove all ads in the big update (update 2.0.0). In fact, ads will be removed in a small update I have to release within the next two months.
Sure, there’s the star doubler IAP that comes with an ad remover but I don’t want any player, paying or not, to be exposed to ads anymore.
As many of you know, you can also easily play and enjoy Seashine without the need to buy stars. Buying stars is an option for players who can’t wait to get more stuff via normal gameplay and/or players who want to support the game. It will probably remain this way. Stars IAPs help but they never allowed me to pay the bills and they probably never will.
Regarding the last possible source of revenue for Seashine, the star doubler/ad remover, it will be removed from the store in update 2.0.0 (the big update). But players who bought it will continue to receive 2x stars after update 2.0.0.
This leaves me with almost no revenue after update 2.0.0. Based on the current data, I would barely be able to earn the equivalent of a basic sandwich each day with Seashine after years of intense multidisciplinary work. That’s clearly not acceptable.
Why not turn Seashine into a paid app then? Because I insist on the game remaining free to download, especially after update 2.0.0 as this version will strongly focus on education and environment conservation. I also want people to continue being able to fight their mental health problems with the help of Seashine and without having to pay anything for the base experience.
To sum it up, Seashine 2.0.0 will rely on bonus content IAPs to support the long hard work behind its existence. The zen mode will be one of two new IAP types adding content or new options to the game.
Do not worry, I’m making sure these options and the new content won’t affect the core gameplay in a way it would give better chances to those who pay.
You already know that the zen mode won’t give any advantage to those who buy it as it will be a separate experience with no leaderboard interaction. I will reveal in a later post the other type of IAP and how it works to not alter the leaderboard despite adding much more content to the game.
Talk to you soon!
Patrick
Heyy when the update will be available to download?
Hi,
Sorry, I can’t say. There’s just too much work left and working alone with this amount of work makes predictions impossible. But a minor update will be released within 2 months.
Hi Patrick,
Thank you for working on this. I really mean it. I dont even know how to describe my happiness that you will update the game. Definitely going to buy as many IAP’s as i can for the game!
Also, one last thing i would like to ask, will i be able to use the zen mode jellyfish for the regular mode?
Thank you, for not giving up on your beautiful game, and us players.
– Grayson Crabtree
Hi!
Thank you so much for your support!
I’m sorry, the zen jellies will only be playable in zen mode. It’s both a lore and a technical decision I made. For the technical part, the zen jellies have long tentacles and long oral arms. These tentacles and arms end far beyond the collision box of the jellyfish and I think it’s a big readability problem in normal mode when the player tries to avoid threats. In zen mode it’s not a problem because there’s almost no danger.
Zen jellies will have this distinct morphology you can see in the images above and players watching videos of other players in zen mode will know instantly it is zen mode.
I hope you are not disappointed. 🙁
All the best,
Patrick
Sounds good. Could you possibly give me a sneak peak of some of the new creatures coming in the big update 😉
As always, much love ❤️
-Grayson
Well, there are the lifeforms I showed on social networks. 😛
Hello patrick, I am surprised by your decision of removing ads in the big update (since most mobile games have them and are probably the biggest way to gain profit in mobile games for developers). You are probably the most friendliest and nicest game dev for a mobile game ive ever seen and you still work for the game despite your muscular distrophy.
A suggestion for the game might be to add a multiplayer mode. Exploring the abyss with your friends is something worth considering.
Hello!
Thank you for your message. 💙
Yes, ad spam is often the most profitable way to monetize a non-premium mobile game but I couldn’t do it. I remember big ad networks representatives asking where were the ads when I released the game. If I remember well, Seashine had a million downloads within the first week but revenues from ads were ridiculous compared to the downloads because I felt so bad putting the recommended amount of ads.
I just wish I didn’t follow some advice and continued working on Seashine a bit longer to avoid ads.
I’m not sure all my work for version 2.0.0 will be rewarded but the new IAPs will probably be very helpful. It’s gonna be an excellent way for the fans to support my work and future development after 2.0.0. Fair IAPs can be enough if done well.
Regarding multiplayer, it’s also one of the most requested features. Short explanation in a recent tweet:
https://twitter.com/patedgames/status/1530597635559677952?s=20&t=vsLNFYrLV24dy5XscTYivA
Hey Patrick,
As always very happy to have updates from you. Looking forward to seeing the realized version of the game you’ve been working on for such a long time. If there is a donation system, I would use it because this game is well beyond being worth money, especially since it has a special place in my heart for quite a few years. It is very representative of one of my favorite movie quotes, “Just keep swimming!” and is a beautiful portrait of sea life and exploration and the struggle of existence. I wish you the best of luck as you continue working on this project. Thank you for your altruism and your dedication despite difficulty. Awesome!
Thank you so much for your message and for your support, Sam. 💙
I keep swimming thanks to people like you.
Thank you so much for all your hard work involving the game! I can’t wait for Seashine 2.0! Will you be adding any jellyfish that have unique traits/abilities, and will there be sneak peeks of future biomes? Thanks again!!!
Thank you for your support. 🙂
Yes, there will be at least one non-zen jellyfish with a unique behaviour and yes I’ll show some completly fresh biomes when the time is right!
I really love this Game. Theme, Atmosphere Really great. I’ve Been Playing This Game For A Very Long Time And I Still Enjoy It. I’m looking forward to the new update.
Thank you for your message and for your support. 🙂
Now I know what imma use to go to sleep AND relax myself in school, tho I have a question about the supposed minor update? I remember you said “it will be with in the next 2 months” and I havnt noticed anything changing, I still see the same bugs, well maybe it came but I did take a few weeks break from the game so maybe I just forgot how good the rendering was, so I guess the question is did you release it or not?
(PS: I hope you didn’t read this as me being angry, impatient about updates or somthing like that, I’m just curious as to what happened to the minor update)
Hi!
The small update isn’t out yet. This slowed me down: https://twitter.com/patedgames/status/1536138666535444480?s=20&t=a8d_SSo1PbiBXJyQJm5Y4g
Greetings Pated Team. I have some questions:
Will the new update come first to Android or iOS?
Will the New Update Be Released This Year?/Can it Be Released?
Will You Add New Relics to the Game? (example: a shattered submarine, the remains of a giant fish etc…)
That’s All My Questions Your Game Is Really Great! I Hope One day more people will know your vote 🙂 (Sorry for my bad english)
– Greetings from turkey
Demirhan Koparan
Hi!
Thank you for your message.
First of all, I’m not a team, just a single game developper. 😉
Second, your english is good! 🙂
The update should release at the same time for both iOS and Android. Only beta versions start on Android as Android takes less time to iterate and has many more issues because of all the different devices.
The small update will be released soon. I still have bugs to solve. 🙁 The big update, I can’t tell.
The big update will have new areas. But the kind of areas with relics like shipwrecks will come later (if I continue the development after that).
Thank you for your support!
Greetings from France
Patrick
One night I was imagining how the new update was going to be and I thought of your name Patrick and I remembered a cartoon called SpongeBob I don’t know if you know what it is but there is a starfish called Patrick, I don’t want to call you nicknames even make fun of it if you don’t That maybe you can put starfish, glued to the walls or even that they stick to you like the parakuka I don’t want to put more work on you it’s just a suggestion I hope you like it.
There will be a few new starfish species on the walls after the big update. 🙂
Why my game isn’t updated
Hope you are doing better now
Hello Patrick! I love your game! This is a REALLY magnificent creation of human hands, two hands, your hands! Since I know that you yourself, without a team, are developing this miracle and you have muscular dystrophy (if I’m not mistaken), I wish you good luck in creating Seashine, long life and good friends! Thank you Seashine!
Hello!
Thank you so much for your kind words and for your support. It means a lot to me.
I’m sorry for the late reply, I’ve been so busy with the update I completely forgot about the website.
All the best,
Patrick
Good morning/evening/night, Patrick! I hope you are having a very nice day ᰔᩚ.
You have created a very very nice game. It has been a pleasure to play the game you have created for a long time, the bioluminescence that it carries makes it unique among all the games I have played.
In addition, the oceanic theme, I had never seen it reflected in this way.
I have a couple of recommendations that (I think) would be useful for the next update. I leave them in the “Contact” section ✨.
Hello!
I’m so sorry for the late reply. Now that the update is out I can breath a little!
Thank you so much for your support. I received your email and will reply before the end of the week. I always reply to everyone but it was very hard to keep the pace with the update.
Talk to you soon!
Patrick
This is the kind of game that MUST BE seen by EVERYONE. So I wonder, why don’t u bring out ads on this game on YouTube or other websites?
If it is extremely expensive then why don’t you try to get some famous YouTubers to play your game and comment on it?
Let’s take an example of such game, you know “Hello neighbor” right? This game blew up not because a YouTuber found it but because the developers simply emailed as many YouTubers to try out their game, and this tecnique, while time consuming, was definitely successful.
What I’m trying to say is you game is extremely underrated as not many know such a beautiful game exist, so a suggestion is to contact small YouTubers to make videos about your game and then slowly ask more higher subcount YouTubers later.
Other than that I am extremely glad I have encountered this game, and what astonishes me is that…..YOU HAVE PHYSICAL PROBLEMS AND YET YOU HAVE MORE FAITH AND CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF THAN MOST ORDINARY PEOPLE THESE DAYS ( prove me wrong:))
Do god God bless you for you are probably one of the few, if not then RARE developers you truly love their game and their community:)
CURIOUS QUESTIONS UP AHEAD!
Now sorry for the long paragraph but as a SeaShine player and ponder over certain questions that,perhaps, you might know the answer?
Q1- What was that plant that was like a plantern but when one eats the light bulb the plant snaps shut like a Venus flytrap? What happened to it? Why is it no longer in the game? And could you bring it back?
Q2- Is the submari- I mean “weird metal creature that is pointless”-said by the tikis, is that still in the game cause I can’t find it , perhaps it’s very rare, and if so pls tell me:)
Q3- Final question that is optional for you to answer but what Flora and Fauna have not made it into the Final Cut?And why so? I’d really like an answer for this but as I said it’s optional since I don’t want to tire you out with my (maybe silly?) questions.
I wish YOU all the Best on your game, and trust me I know a good quality game made with love when I see one! I send you my best wishes and regards
-by some random kid/teen on the internet.
Also what’s that colossal squid doing in the tutorial?
OK THAT IS MY FINAL QUESTION!
I made some mistypes, this is what I was trying to say
“ You truly LOVE your game and your community”
Please I am deeply sorry for this misstype
Pls forgive meh;)
This is the kind of game that MUST BE seen by EVERYONE. So I wonder, why don’t u bring out ads on this game on YouTube or other websites?
If it is extremely expensive then why don’t you try to get some famous YouTubers to play your game and comment on it?
Let’s take an example of such game, you know “Hello neighbor” right? This game blew up not because a YouTuber found it but because the developers simply emailed as many YouTubers to try out their game, and this tecnique, while time consuming, was definitely successful.
What I’m trying to say is you game is extremely underrated as not many know such a beautiful game exist, so a suggestion is to contact small YouTubers to make videos about your game and then slowly ask more higher subcount YouTubers later.
Other than that I am extremely glad I have encountered this game, and what astonishes me is that…..YOU HAVE PHYSICAL PROBLEMS AND YET YOU HAVE MORE FAITH AND CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF THAN MOST ORDINARY PEOPLE THESE DAYS ( prove me wrong:))
Do god God bless you for you are probably one of the few, if not then RARE developers you truly love their game and their community:)
CURIOUS QUESTIONS UP AHEAD!
Now sorry for the long paragraph but as a SeaShine player and ponder over certain questions that,perhaps, you might know the answer?
Q1- What was that plant that was like a plantern but when one eats the light bulb the plant snaps shut like a Venus flytrap? What happened to it? Why is it no longer in the game? And could you bring it back?
Q2- Is the submari- I mean “weird metal creature that is pointless”-said by the tikis, is that still in the game cause I can’t find it , perhaps it’s very rare, and if so pls tell me:)
Q3- Final question that is optional for you to answer but what Flora and Fauna have not made it into the Final Cut?And why so? I’d really like an answer for this but as I said it’s optional since I don’t want to tire you out with my (maybe silly?) questions.
I wish YOU all the Best on your game, and trust me I know a good quality game made with love when I see one! I send you my best wishes and regards
-by some random kid/teen on the internet.
Also what’s that colossal squid doing in the tutorial?
OK THAT IS MY FINAL QUESTION
Well, it’s probably one of my all-time favorite mobile games. I’ve been playing it almost since it came out, but due to mobile issues, I had to delete it. I downloaded it already in 2022, when I was already able to buy a more active phone. I was amazed at the number of new animals and plants. The game also hooked me with its graphics and atmosphere. Therefore, I would like to wish you good luck in the new big update and further development of the game.