Audio should already be handled but it looks like there was a few glitches to iron out there; working on it with Roger. :)

@Roger: Yeah I'm really thinking that quality content is going to win this over for us. Still waiting on that IM ;)

@Amit: Thanks for the lengthy comment! A definite interesting read. I am definitely comparing things to FC, but in a cautiously optimistic way – I thought I might get a dozen sales, or 1 or 2 sales worst case. I never expected a dramatic or a runaway success – but I was woefully unprepared for an absolute failure (even with the intentionally limited exposure).

Anyway, the game is not over! Limited release for a reason: Iterate, rework, relaunch, and see where it goes from there!

(Audio guy here, btw)

Andy, sorry to find out about your disappointment. I was also a little disappointed that we didn't get much in the way of sales. BUT, there is so much to improve, and the game still has enormous potential, you just have to open your mind to see it.

In my opinion, its gotta gotta gotta have a small set of brilliant example levels. The new stuff I'm seeing is getting better and better.

Also I was thinking about something else but I don't wanna post it here, I'll tell you about it in IM later.

I agree with you about the chicken and egg problem. I enjoyed FC very much even without seeing any user-created levels. I saw some solutions to the standard levels posted somewhere (reddit I think) and that got me interested. User level creation and ranking didn't draw me in.

That said, I think having FC in your head probably hurts because everything will be subconciously (or consciously) compared to it. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring

If it weren't for FC, what would your criteria for success be? Finishing the development, game design, levels, art, payment, etc., for an entire game is a big accomplishment, and it's something I haven't done for a long time. I think you should be proud of yourself for that.

Where do you go from here? It's unrealistic to expect that every project will become a hit, and you're going to have to decide at some point whether you want to continue improving Protonaut, if you want to take core parts of Protonaut and repurpose them for another game, or if you want to start another game from scratch.

Retention via better tutorials and new user experience is the thing to focus on if you're relying on marketing / promotion to get people to try your game. For example, it's boring, but a big Play button would probably be nicer than a power button that you have to use a blinking arrow to get people to notice. But I think the new user experience is less of an issue if the game is viral (and I think Protonaut is not, sadly), because if your friends tell you to play it, you're more likely to stick to it.

The art and music look very nice and professional. However, I think faces draw people in more than equipment. The squid was super cute! The microscope is cold and uninviting. The atoms don't look as appealing or stand out as much as stars, coins, glowing balls, etc., that are used in many side scrolling run-and-jump games. So the theme/art might've hurt adoption a little.

There might be some changes to the controls that help too. Put someone new in front of the game and watch them play. Don't tell them how to play. If you can make the controls match what people do naturally, I think it'll be more fun for them than if they have to learn something new. For example, my instincts made me press Up to jump instead of Z, and I never did quite unlearn that, so it was always a frustration trying to consciously remember that.

The other thing to look at is other games like Protonaut to see how they “feel” (Sonic, Mario Brothers, etc.). I think a lot of the fun factor will come down to little tiny things, and it's quite possible that small tweaks to the movement (friction, gravity, etc.) and sounds (I agree with Quest on this one) will make a big difference. Games can look alike but differ on these tiny things, and it can make all the difference in whether it's fun.

Gameplay wise, I would suggest a jump sound-effect (and possibly a landing one.) The auditory confirmation assures the player he actually jumped and whether he can jump again. Just make sure the sound-effect isn't tiresome, as it'll be heard a lot.