I have an idea for a cross-platform app (social network and iPhone) that I want to pursue full time. Outside of being an avid player, I don't have experience creating games, so I wanted to know what is the best way to get my idea completed in the highest quality. I have a 5 years experience in user experience and strategy working for one of the world's biggest digital marketing agencies. I've worked on many websites and mobile applications, but no gaming. Without going into detail, my app will offer a variety of bite-size, casual mini-games to make mundane tasks more enjoyable. The game concepts that I have come up with are not complex (no 3-d), but do include points system, avatar, leveling, awards, etc. Right now I have a few options: 1. Partner with a game studio that can help with everything: concepting, design, and development 2. Work separately with a game artist (I deliver wireframes, artist creates designs) + hand off all materials to an iPhone development shop Is there another way to go about getting this done well? I have the capital to spend on this, so money isn't a huge issue. I just want to get this done correctly. Which is the best road to take? Am I overlooking any big issues? Any other suggestions? Thanks for the help!
Np! While I'm not a dev myself I can say that the bet way to go is this: Make sure there isent an app out there already like yours. Find artists, programers, etc. In your area. Perhaps even starting a company. Work with them, shaping the game the way you see it. Promote your game on all marketing sites (I'll get a link posted to the thread on this). Proide updates based on feedback. Hope that helped u buddy.
Either approach you mention can work. p0rtal's recommendations are good as well. Some additional thoughts - If you don't have a lot of production management experience, there may be a significant learning curve for you, especially if you're doing cross-platform development that requires a network infrastructure and logistics. Also, you'll need to think about mundane but important stuff like QA. Since you've done UX, I'm sure you've thought of this, but you need to take into consideration not just dev, but the entire publishing cycle, including QA, marketing/sales, and customer service. Judging from the description of your app, it seems somewhat similar to Booyah. You might want to do lots of recon on that thing and read all the user reviews on the App Store. Good luck!
The most important tool is a pencil... design your game on paper, spec it out and then jump into the code. If you're coming from a Web background and know RoR, perhaps you can code the game yourself? There's now Ruby bindings for the Cocos2D engine: http://www.cocos2d-iphone.org/forum/topic/1163 --yarri
Considering that the concept seems low cpu intensive, and that you have done lots of we development before, maybe you should try making it for the pre. The mojo sdk is free too, so that might also help your budget.
