I'm an indie game developer and I'm inspired by what the guys over at wolfire.com have been able to do using open development as a tool to promote their game. Do you think this could work for the app store? Or do you think the iOS platform is too difficult as you can't provide alpha builds for preorders as they do? Any thoughts are appreciated. Just trying to figure out how to make a living doing what I love. If you'd like to follow my partner and I's antics, check us out at flyclops.com or on twitter @flyclops
I've seen a couple of apps, such as Tiki Totems 1 + 2, which had something like a level designer. Users would design levels, submit them, and the devs chose the ones they liked the most to include in the next update. Is that kind of what you're talking about?
Thanks for the response! That's really cool, I've never seen that. Did they do that post release? I suppose I'm more curious about my buddy and I sort of journaling our development process on our blog prior to release and whether that could help us create buzz or potentially have our game ripped off by a bigger studio, a la Gameloft. Does that make sense?
I think that right now, Gameloft have their sights set on a number of targets already, so you're safe from them There's nothing stopping another developer stealing your idea, but then again... even published games get stolen/copied, so being open about your development isn't much more of a risk anyway. The best defense against theft/clones is just to make the better game and customers will stick by it.
Midian, you make a good point. Maybe us indies just feel so much pressure to stand out that we get a little paranoid about our ideas and hold them too close to our chest. I think sharing as we go looks to be the way forward. Here's to hoping it works as planned.
