Snowconesolid Productions V2 (Relaunch + Recap)

     Snowconeoslid Productions has been in limbo throughout most of 2021. Fast forward to the beginning of October and I finally started to post updates to my Twitter again. I've been busy throughout the year and have been away from the game dev scene for a while. But, that wasn't going to stop me from setting up to relaunch Snowconesolid Productions and return to game development full time. We are going to pick up where we last left off. Creating the Samer Hills game series. Today, I'm proud to announce that Snowconesolid Productions has successfully relaunched and is back in business.

     With new branding, an all-new boot-up logo, a new slogan, and just all-around new. You can basically call this "Snowconesolid Productions V2." It's the start of a new chapter for the studio and this blog post will cover the relaunch and give a recap of the announcements from this month. 

     First, let's get right into the relaunch and check out the new boot logo for Snowconesolid Productions.

Snowconesolid Productions is a low-budget independent studio bringing you daily spooks, scares, & screams fresh from Samer Hills. Creating short novelty horror games & 3D artwork.

https://snowconesolidproductions.com

Samer Hills

Samer Hills is an anthology series of one-off, spooky, self-contained, short, novelty horror-comedy games. Strange & creepy things happen here & you’re invited to experience them! Strange & creepy things happen here & you’re invited to experience them! Enter the ominous, enigmatic world of madness & explore this spooky anthology if you dare… Welcome to Samer Hills!

Website: https://snowconesolidproductions.com/samerhills/

Samer Hills blog post: http://snowconesolidwho.blogspot.com/2021/10/samer-hills.html

Warning - Health & Safety

Warning - Some games/software/applications or other pieces of media from Snowconesolid Productions may contain loud noises, flashing lights, and content that may not be suitable for everyone.

For more information visit:

https://snowconesolidproductions.com/healthsafety/

Samer Khatib Official Seal Of Quality

Look for the "Samer Official Seal Of Quality™" in all of my games! Samer Khatib games, made with love, passion and, magic.

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And in case you missed it, leading up to the relaunch there were a few announcements regarding older games and other content from Snowconesolid Productions. Here's a full recap.

⭐️ First, The Samer Khatib Legacy Collection is now available for free and you can get it off itch here:

🔴[itch.io] https://snowconesolid.itch.io/the-samer-khatib-legacy-collection

⭐️ Second, Potato Thriller is now available for free across all platforms it's available on. This includes every version of the game as well. (Steam, itch, Google Play Store)

Add it to your library today!

🔴Potato Thriller Steamed Potato Edition

[Steam] https://store.steampowered.com/app/486650/Potato_Thriller/

🔴Potato Thriller Portable (Mobile Port - Android Only)

[Google Play Store] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.SnowconesolidProductionsSamerKhatibGames.PotatoThriller

🔴You can also get Potato Thriller Steam Version and Potato Thriller Classic Version on itch.io

[itch.io] https://snowconesolid.itch.io

⭐️ Next, Giraffe Town is now only $1.99 across all platforms forever. This includes Xbox, Steam, and itch.io.  Here are the links.

🔴[Xbox] https://www.xbox.com/en-us/games/store/Giraffe-Town/9NKBD9CV0PH6

🔴[Steam] https://store.steampowered.com/app/941480/Giraffe_Town/

🔴[itch.io] https://snowconesolid.itch.io/giraffetown

⭐️ Lastly, my most recent game, "The DeBug". This game has always been free, but I thought I would just throw it in here anyway since it's the perfect game that transitions the studio's focus onto what's to come next and that would be the Samer Hills series. 

🔴[Steam] https://store.steampowered.com/app/1437550/The_Debug/

🔴[itch.io] https://snowconesolid.itch.io/thedebug

⭐️ And finally, I'm very pleased to announce that all of my Unity game asset packages are now available for free. And yes, you can use these in your project commercially as well. So, get started on your Unity project today with these free-to-use original 3D assets from Snowconesolid Productions. Ranging from unique character models to silly props. You might find something useful for your project in these game-ready asset packages. Enjoy!

🔴Free Game-Ready Assets (Unity Asset Store)

https://assetstore.unity.com/publishers/12449

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This concludes the recap and relaunch of the studio. Snowconesolid Productions is excited to be back and we look forward to bringing the Samer Hills series to life and creating some spooky new content! Thank you for your support.

More soon.

I'm coming back...

And I'm bringing my new creations with me!

What? You thought I was dead and quit making awesome games?

Just getting started. Quality & Polish...

     This is something that I have talked about a few times here on the blog and I apologize if it sounds like I am constantly repeating myself throughout time. I have been making games for a while now. It has been nearly a decade since I embarked on this independent developer journey. I am constantly learning, improving and maturing as a game developer. This is something that I am honestly passionate about. It is something that I love for sure without a doubt.

     Although I have been doing this for years now, I feel like I am at that point where I am just now getting started in game development. I'm taking it more seriously. I understand the struggles of being an indie game developer. Making good games can be a real challenge. Lot's of hours of hard work goes into it. It takes a long time to see any results. Days go by. Sometimes you lose motivation. Then you get that motivation back and start hammering away. Then months go by and you lose motivation again and so on. However, I personally always find myself coming back because of my love for creation. It's like a hunger.

     Sorry for getting all poetic there for a second. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I really do care about the quality of my games. I mentioned this on my Twitter, but I constantly feel like I need to redeem myself for Potato Thriller. Don't get me wrong, I am very proud of all the work I did. I am proud I created Potato Thriller and put it out there. Releasing Potato Thriller on Steam is one of the biggest milestones I have ever reached as an indie game developer and I would never undo it if I could. Potato Thriller is definitely on my top 10 list of life accomplishments.  

     With that said, I am aware of all the issues Potato Thriller had as a game. I know the game seems very amateurish and I understand why someone wouldn't bother to play it just by looking at it's trailer or at screenshots of it. Although I am proud of my creation, I feel like it has stuck me with this image or a label that portrays me as an amateurish dev, who produces low quality games and that's all i'll ever make. 

   I don't want to be known as the guy who produces low quality games. I care about quality. I really do. I want to deliver unique and enjoyable game experiences. Memorable experiences. So, I am working hard to ensure that my next game and all my future games are the best that I can make them and super polished. This is a reason why I haven't released anything in a long time.

     With all that said, i'm going to be away for a while. Away from this blog, social media, just my online presence in general so that I can truly focus all my energy into my upcoming game. To everyone who has followed my work, played my games, checked out this blog and supported me as a developer, I thank you. You are all awesome. Next time I post an update here on the blog, it will be the announcement and official Steam page for my next game. Bye bye for now!

Some teasers

     Hello everyone. Going to keep this post quick and short. Here's some cool teaser screens and gifs of what I have been working on. Spoiler, it appears to be a Potato Thriller 2 or something like that.. More info + updates soon. Okay bye!

Honest post. I don't know what i'm doing... learning, progress...

     Happy 4th of July everyone! I'm a day late I know. Anyway, I always try to at least get 2-3 blog posts out a month (sometimes I only get one) so the blog doesn't have that abandoned feeling to it. There is nothing new with me. As usual, I am still working on my next game. Just grinding day by day. Some days I make really good progress and other days I make no progress at all or get stuck on something for a couple of days.

I mentioned this before but, "Potato Thriller" was the last game I published and then I started working on my next title (which is my current project). So it has been over a full year since I put anything new out there. Part of me is disappointed with myself because I am taking so long to make something new and at the same time I feel like this is better because I am making an overall better quality game with more polish. I have been doing a lot of research and learning over the year and improving myself as a game developer to deliver the best content I could because I really don't want to rush a project and put out something just for the sake of putting something out.

I have had ups and downs with the current project I am working on and throughout this year. It has been kind of a confusing journey so far because one second I would say I am working on a certain project and then the next second I would lose motivation and say I am working on a smaller project or something completely different then switch back to the other project and so on and just cause a bunch of confusion for myself and on the blog. It can be hard to stay motivated and attempt to be creative or create something everyday as a game developer and I am sure many other developers, artist, content creators, etc can relate. But, I always find myself eventually coming back and putting in the hours because of my passion for creation.

As I have been doing a lot of learning and improving over the year I have also been working on this very abstract game project originally named "Samer Hills" at the same time. This is the project that I was referring to that has been giving me ups and downs and causing me headaches. I feel like I have been saying something different about this project whenever I talk about it on the blog. I constantly change its name and say it's going to be this or that. So just to be completely honest, I sometimes have no idea what I am doing or what I want to do. Often I can't make up my mind about something and I lose motivation (I know I already said that) but it's such a common thing and I think we all have those days sometimes. Personally, something that I want to stop doing is coming up with release dates or setting deadlines for my own projects. I feel like this is something that contributes to making me lose motivation to finish something and it would just add in stress because I feel like I would need to keep my promise and meet that deadline. I know many people actually use this method of setting deadlines for themselves and it actually keeps them on track, but for me it just doesn't work. I hate when I say something like "I'm working on a new game and I will release it in a month from now" or "My new game comes out July 17th" and then I end up missing my deadline so I come back on here and say that I will have it out by [insert new promised date here]. It just doesn't work out for me. I've learned my lesson. And i'm not just specifically talking about my game projects but everything. YouTube for example, I make a "developer video update" after months of no activity and say that I will do daily video updates each week or each month and then I just kind of disappear from my YouTube channel for a long period of time. From now on I won't set dates or promise to have something out at a certain time. Whenever I finish something i'll simply just put it out. Or if i'm super close to finishing something and am really confident that I will have it out by a certain time then I will definitely set a deadline for myself because I know for sure that I would be able to reach it in time. Other than that, I just don't want to specify certain dates or make promises.

Anyway, sorry to get off topic. I know I am rambling on now but I just wanted to make an honest blog post and talk about some things I have had on my mind. As for the actual game project (formerly known as Samer Hills) I am still working on it. Slowly making progress. Constantly making changes and trying to decide how the game will play out in the end. I still have a lot to do but pretty much this next game will be my biggest game. I want to put in all my ideas into it and just make something really unique to put out there in the indie gaming scene. This next project will be my ultimate masterpiece! ...that is if I ever finish it of course.

I don't really have anything to show at the moment but for the past couple weeks I have mainly been working on building mechanics for the game such as Enemy ai's and weapons. I can confirm 2 things that will be in my next game. First, Nosey Nose enemies (from Potato Thriller) will be back and second, the toilet plunger will also be back as a usable weapon. Not only that, it will be the strongest weapon in the game and deals the most damage.

Here are a bunch of screenshots from prototype levels and development.

I'm going to end the blog post here for now. Thanks for reading. Bye!

Potato Thriller 1 Year Anniversary!

This post is like an hour and a half late, but it is still technically the 22nd in some areas so I will post this anyway! (Even though the posting date says the 22nd, I am actually posting this on the 23rd from my end because I was always too lazy to set up the proper date in my time zone. Actually, all of the dates on my blog posts are off by one day. This isn't making me look very professional. ANYWAY! LETS GET INTO THE ACTUAL POST NOW)

Today marks the one year anniversary of Potato Thriller! On this exact day (almost exact day) last year (June 22, 2016) I released a special version of the game originally called "Potato Thriller Steamed Potato Edition" on the Steam store. As an independent game developer, this marked a major milestone for me personally. I know that this game isn't perfect and it definitely is not for everyone but, it is a project that is very special to me and it is something that I am very proud of. This game marked many first for me. For example, this is my first game on Steam, this is the first game that actually got me feedback and criticism from players, this was the first lengthy game I ever made and so on. The list goes on and on.

With that said, I think the biggest one for me was that this was the first game I made that was actually being seen by people and played. which means everything to me as a developer and it is the most awesome thing. And I want to clarify that I am not trying to make it sound like I am saying "oh a lot of people bought this game and I made a ton of money, look at me i'm a successful game developer har har har" - This isn't what I am trying to say at all. Honestly, I barely made anything off the game. But I don't want to get into that stuff. This post isn't about money or success or bragging rights or anything like that.

What I mean is that, as silly and stupid this game was, people actually gave it a chance. I created a game, I put it out there and it was given a chance to just be a thing in the world of video games. Or I guess I should say the indie game scene and for that I am so grateful. The game got a lot of love from many fans while at the same time received a ton of hate from just as many people. And I am grateful for that. I think it is every artist's dream not to have their work loved by everyone, but to have people notice their work, critique their work and so on. Potato Thriller was that project that did that for me.

Anyway, this is starting to become a messy blog post and just me rambling, but from the bottom of my heart I want to thank all of you out there who have supported me as a game developer, took interest in my work, sent me some feedback, gave me criticism and so on. I want to thank all the people who gave Potato Thriller a chance, all the players of Potato Thriller, all you YouTubers and Streamers who covered the game on your channels, game journalist who wrote reviews and articles, people who did fan art, the people who reached out to me with messages telling me how much they enjoyed the game and so on. I am truly grateful. You are all awesome and are the reason I stay motivated to continue creating games and other stuff. I appreciate each and every one of you.

To celebrate, Potato Thriller is currently 70% off on Steam as of this post. This sale is part of the Steam Summer sale which runs from June 22nd to July 5th. You can check out the Steam Page here if interested: http://store.steampowered.com/app/486650/Potato_Thriller/

Happy Birthday Potato Man!

I can't believe that it has been a full year since I released this game. Time really does fly by. It's funny because looking back at Potato Thriller a year later, I am starting to see the many flaws the game has and why many people hated it. I see some bits of the game and face palm at my own work and say to myself "I can't believe I did that" or "why did I think it would be a good idea to put this in the game?" Again, it wasn't the perfect game. I understand how it came across as amateurish and low quality to some people. I'm not disagreeing with anyone. However, it is still something I am proud of. It shows me as a developer from a certain point in time. I really did put in a lot of work and effort into the game and made it the best I could possibly with the skill set level I had.

With that said, I am truly passionate about creating games. It is something that I love doing and want to keep doing. I really do care about delivering unique memorable gaming experiences and I am constantly working hard to improve. Over the year I feel like I have really matured a lot as a game developer and really am starting to take creating games more seriously. That doesn't mean I won't make my games silly and stupid anymore, they can still be silly and stupid, but at the same time need to have a certain level of quality to them.

Looking to the future!
It has been a full year since Potato Thriller has been out on Steam and it has also been a full year of silence. I haven't published anything new at all after Potato Thriller. However, this doesn't mean I haven't been working on anything. I have been developing a couple of different projects actually and I look forward to sharing them sometime in the future. Thanks for reading and more updates soon!

Something New!

     Hello everyone, it is update time. I recently had an idea for a new game project and have already began to work on it. It is not related to Samer Hills, but is something entirely new. I mentioned last month that I was going to be taking a break from that (Samer Hills) project for a while. I also mentioned that I might even have a different new game out before I release Samer Hills. Judging by how things are going, I will most likely stick to what I said and have a new game out. Truth is, ever since I created a early demo build of Samer Hills and posted the campaign to Steam GreenLight, I have not worked on it at all. Not since that time at least. Not really sure when I will go back to that project, but it might not be for a while. I wanna work on my other ideas right now. 

Here is some early wip screens of something new I am working on. Nothing crazy going on. Just screens of house room type scene. 

     The game will feature Virtual Snowconesolid (My new persona gimmick I'm going with).

     As for Samer Hills, I might revisit it in the future, maybe even completely re-work it as a completely different project from what I had originally planned. Looking forward to sharing more on all my projects! 

Honestly, one of my big goals is to make many games. I don't just want to stick to one big project or become known for one thing. Like just the guy who made Potato Thriller for example. No. I want to make lots and lots and lots of games! I want to keep creating forever! 

New GAMES and content coming soon. I PROMISE! 

Potato Thriller Updates + Steam Sale

     Hello everyone. Potato Thriller has recently been updated with many new improvements as well as new hidden content. Also, to celebrate the start of my recent new Steam GreenLight campaign for my upcoming game Samer Hills - Potato Thriller is currently on sale for 55% off on Steam. Limited time only.

For a full list and more detail on the update check out the latest news announcement for Potato Thriller here: Potato Thriller News Update

or visit the steam store game page here: http://store.steampowered.com/potatothriller

Thank you.
As an indie game developer I absolutely love creating interactive experiences. I work hard to constantly improve and create better and better games each time. This may come as a surprise to some of you who have played Potato Thriller, but quality and originality are two of the most important things to me believe it or not. When it comes to games, it has always been about creating something fun. Something people can get a good laugh out of. Most of all, being different. Not creating games about collecting pages, surviving x amount of nights or killing waves of zombies. But, creating something different. Of course I understand that my games may not be appealing for everyone. However, the purpose is to offer something for those of you looking for something different.

To the Potato Thriller community, people who played any of my games, left any form of feedback or criticism, visited my developer blog, talked to me on twitter, reached out to me, etc. I would just like to give the warmest thank you to all of you for all the support you have given me as a game developer. Thank you so much for your interest and inputs. You are all awesome.

More news and updates to follow.

-Samer Khatib (Snowconesolid Productions)

Samer Hills On Steam GreenLight!

     Here it is everyone. My second ever Steam GreenLight campaign for my newest and next upcoming game, "Samer Hills" 

(A game shamelessly named after me, the developer. Feel that big ego)

Samer Hills is a post-apocalyptic thriller about a man who decides to return home after being away for nine years to finish what he started...

Steam GreenLight Page Over Here: http://steamcommunity.com/greenlight/samerhills

Trailer:

Plans, Thoughts, Release Date, Misc Info:

      I have been talking and posting about this new game project since late 2016 but never really wen't too in depth about it (don't worry, i'm not about to.) I have been constantly sharing development progress, screenshots and more behind the scenes stuff  here on the blog and twitter but never anything really about the final product or what to expect. The trailer above is really the first thing that does this. This is the first footage of gameplay, some characters are introduced and maybe you could get a good feel of the atmosphere and types of settings that can be expected from the game. 

     There is still a lot of work that needs to be done on the game. However, after months of development I finally feel like I have a sufficient amount of content created to showcase on Steam and to run my next GreenLight. This is essentially only an introduction and the first step of many that lay ahead. With that said, there is no set release date. But this game is planned for this year, 2017. Keep in mind that I am just one guy after all and there are some days that I just can't spend on developing the game. Just being honest, but I am working really hard on this project and I plan on delivering a really unique experience (said every other indie ever...) Jokes aside, I am really proud of what I have created here so far and I am really proud of the trailer I put together to demonstrate some of the game. I am really excited about this one and having a great time creating it. I truly do look forward to finishing the game and sharing with the world. 

I am always active online and will continue to keep you guys updated on the project. Also, this is kind of off topic, but I am working on transitioning to posting video updates instead of just here on the blog (no one likes reading)

So more updates to follow down the road. YouTube vlogs as well as other miscellaneous none related videos all coming to the channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/snowconesolid 

Hello 2017... it is about time

     It is about time I finally post a proper 2017 update. So, whats going on? What ever happened to the new game project? Where is the new Steam Greenlight that was suppose to be posted at the end of December 2016? Do you even still make games? Alright, so I haven't been very active on the blog and have been doing a terrible job communicating about progress on current and new projects.

It is near the end of the first month of 2017 and I am just now going to talk about my plans for the new year. I did mean to get this post out way earlier but life just gets in the way sometimes. First of all, happy new year to everyone (a bit late on that one) 

     Anyway, although it seems like I haven't been very active, I have actually been working really hard on a lot of new things. I have a lot planned for 2017 that I want to get done and put out there, so it has actually been a busy first month for me. I'm actually working on multiple new projects and juggling back and forth between them. I will get more into that in a moment. First, I want to talk about the main project. The most important project that I am working on, "Samer Hills". 

     Whats up with "Samer Hills"? Why isn't this finished and on Steam yet? So, this is a project I started working on shortly after releasing my first game on Steam "Potato Thriller". I have been posting so many blog articles over the past few months talking about this project and even kept making promises I couldn't keep like saying I would have the greenlight campaign for the new game up before the end of last year, or having the entire project done at a certain date. Despite not keeping these smaller promises, there is one promise I will keep and that is that I will eventually finish and release this new game. Some people think that I just got bored, or lost motivation and canceled the game, but actually, the game is far off from being canceled. I have been spending most of my time working on "Samer Hills" and have made great progress on it even though I haven't really been sharing the progress made every step of the way. I won't make anymore promises and announce deadlines, release dates, etc anymore. I learned my lesson. It will be available when I am ready to make it available. But I would like to confirm that I am indeed working on the game and going to release it as my second Steam game. 

"Samer Hills" is going to be a big game. I have made a lot of progress on it and here are some more recent screenshots and images from development to showcase the progress I have been making. Also I will share some more details about the actual game. 

Environment: First, lets talk about the setting of the game. 

Lovely eyes...

I keep saying "Samer Hills" but what is it? "Samer Hills" is where the entire game will take place. This will be the main setting for the game and it is the name of an old abandoned town as well as the main characters hometown. This game will take place mainly in outdoors types of environments. So settings like forests, caves, streets, farms, etc is where most of the game will play out and the kind of areas the player will get to explore. There will also be some indoor settings like the characters house and some buildings that the player will eventually get to go to because of the game's story progression, but for the most part, outdoors settings is a main focus point. In my previous game "Potato Thriller",  about 90% of the game took place inside house/building type environments. The entire first half of the game took place in a long house type setting while the second half took place inside of a challenging tower. My new game, is kind of the opposite of what "Potato Thriller" did.

Gameplay: This game will be entirely a third person game. There will be various features like puzzle solving, fighting enemies, avoiding traps, quick time events and so on. I am doing my best to keep the game entertaining and fresh from beginning to end so I am developing it in a way where it constantly introduces new gameplay elements and throws surprises at the player. 

There will be traps, different weapons, etc. 

Story, Genre, Characters: "Samer Hills" is going to be a post-apocalyptic horror/thriller game with a non serious and more comical tone thrown in. One of the games biggest focus is on the main character himself. I mentioned in an older blog post that the game will let you see what the main character goes through on his adventure and how he changes throughout the experience. However, throughout the game you will come face to face with many other characters in the games worlds and learn more about them. The characters will be unique and interesting and hopefully memorable. That is something I really want to achieve with this project. Creating memorable characters. 

                           

Look at those blood fxs!!!

And here is just some extra screenshots from development:

When will the Greenlight come out?!?!?

     What is taking so long? I am really working hard and taking my time with this new game project. I want this game to be perfect and better than any other game I have ever created. After all, the game does have my own real name in it (so egotistical I know.) "Samer Hills" is going to have a lot in it. Especially plot. This is going to be my biggest, most polished and possibly weirdest game ever. So I am really going that extra mile and putting in a lot more effort into this game than any other project I have worked on. It has to turn out exactly how I am envisioning it to be. 

I know that there is a good amount of people who visit the blog daily to check for updates on my projects and I think that is so cool. I mentioned this before, but the fact that there is a good handful of people out there who take time out of their own day to see updates on my projects and come visit my blog means the world to me. So thank you everyone for being so patient. I will do my best to keep posting daily. I think the game will turn out better this way. I aim to deliver a really bizarre yet intriguing entertaining game with unique characters and personalities as well as a believable post-apocalyptic game world that you can get pulled into. I want this game to be a memorable experience and hopefully contribute a really unique game to the indie gaming community. 

     

OTHER PROJECTS:
     Before I end the blog for today I want to talk about one more thing that I plan on doing this year and that is getting more into YouTube. I have brought this up numerous times throughout the years. Saying that I want to start using my YouTube channel more and start posting daily videos and content, etc but never really got to it. This year, 2017, however is different. I really want to use my skills as a 3d artist/animator/developer etc beyond the scope of just making games. I want to try and do new things and expand from just being a indie game developer. What better way to share content, ideas and art through YouTube right?

     Earlier I did mention that I was working on other projects and those other projects are short animation videos that I started working on for my YouTube channel. Here is a little preview.

Looks weird I know and that is because the content/animations I will create and post to YouTube most likely will be weird.. Just like my game projects. The point is that, I love creating and I will continue creating as long as I enjoy to do so. But yeah, I have been working on a few short animations which will be going onto my channel later on in the year. At the moment, my main focus is finishing up my next game, but after that I hope to post videos on a daily basis on the channel.

Lots of new content to look forward to. I am really excited and motivated to create and share all these new experiences. I have a really good feeling about the this year and I hope to make 2017 my most productive and best year yet. I am really just an artist with a lot of strange ideas and I wan't to get as many of those ideas out that I possibly can. Thanks for reading and more updates coming soon! 

By the way, most of these screenshots I posted in today's article are more recent screens I posted on my twitter. I am not as active on my blog, but I am very active on my twitter account and post almost everyday, for more daily updates follow me here: https://twitter.com/snowconesolid (I am sometimes annoying on twitter)