I am investing in my future I surely hope. This is by hiring artist and programmer and sound person cheaply. So I work hard and spend most of my monthly wages on hiring these people to port my couple of games. However this takes an awful long time to accumulate my money for this. Is there an easier quicker way?
Yes. Learn doing it yourself. It's not that hard with the right tools. In the beginning it will cost more time than hiring one but in the long run it will pay off.
I found sound to be the easiest to do on my own. I'd suggest starting there. I'm still working on programming
Agreed. If coding seems daunting, start with something like GameSalad or GameMaker, then, when you're ready, you can step up to a scripting language like JavaScript and use something like Unity. I was in your position five years or so ago. I started developing with GameSalad then went to uni to study game development (I was by far the oldest in the class-lol) and learnt how to code in C/C++ and make games with Direct X! THAT is hard... but after learning something like that, stuff like Unity becomes pretty easy to pick up. You'll never know it all but it's fun constantly learning If you have the time to dedicate, I would definitely suggest learning C and C++. It may be overkill, considering all the development environments these days but it will give you a better understanding of coding and you can make native apps/code for different systems. I have even made some basic games and demos for Sega Mega Drive! It's heaps of fun Of course, learning to be an artist is tougher. I don't believe it's something that can be taught, unless you already have the talent... same with music, so if you're not an arty type you may still have to find those people. I have found it's pretty easy to get musicians and artists onboard for a royalty amount. They tend to love doing it. No one I have worked with has made much money yet but they keep helping me out, which is pretty cool, as it shows they believe in the games.
Ideally you would only do this once as once you release your first games, you'd make enough money that you can hire these people for your next game using that money instead of saving your wages. I think in general, the best way would be to think of a game you can do simply and quickly or with less resources (like simple graphics you can draw yourself).
My first game Is very disappointing with downloads as I have inapp purchases and I just paid someone 800 dollars to port it to Windows phone
It's really hard to make decent money. I have had a couple of racing games well inside the top 100 (racing games) and still the most money from a single title I have seen is around 3k. The store is extremely saturated. I suggest learning to do it yourself and also ask yourself why you are doing it. If it's to make money, you might want to think about doing something else. If it's because you enjoy it, go for it and hopefully the money will follow!
I agree with optimizemyapps, focus on the marketing side too. The app store is too risky a game at the moment to be pumping money into designers and developers. Doubtful you will make it back. Try one of the easy to use frameworks first like gamesalad, it will let you get something on the store yourself so you get the jist of things then, once you are confident you can make the money back on a larger app, get it done properly. Design and marketing are crucial so make sure these are done right. Programming is still really important but you can get away with cheaper options until the app is a success. The App store is super flooded with clones and app flipper nightmares right now, only going to get worse too. Even with a huge marketing spend and all the contacts, chances of hitting the charts and making any impact are really slim.
