First iOS game, looking for like-minded

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by AmuBlu, Jan 27, 2014.

  1. AmuBlu

    AmuBlu New Member

    Hi there!

    i'm a brand new iOS game developer (not sure I can call me that yet ;) ) looking for like-minded people interested in sharing ideas and helping each other.

    I'm currently working for a Swedish company which is producing video microscopes. However, one of my dream and what have always got me excited about is creating games. Therefore, I have decided to work half time starting on February the 1th and develop my own game. Since this is something new for me I'm sure I'll face challenges down the road and would like to get to know other developers to get me thru it! I will probably ask questions here directly on the forum but it is always nice to have some direct contacts!

    I will also blog about my adventure on the following link http://amublu.wordpress.com I hope it's OK to post links?

    Have a great day (or night!)

    /Alex
     
  2. BlindAlbino

    BlindAlbino Well-Known Member

    Dec 19, 2012
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    I am Co-Founder and Art Director for Blind Albino,
    La Habra Hights, California
    Count us in! We'll try to help however we can. Feel free to send messages any time, however you wish. (That goes for anyone else here reading this, too.) And in case you're interested to watch us chaotically showcase our beginner dev process, here's a link to our Blind Albino Studios YouTube channel:
    www.youtube.com/channel/UCZfs3K5q3RHtOrWTzscAV8Q

    Go for it Alex!
     
  3. PuzzleBrothers

    PuzzleBrothers Well-Known Member

    May 11, 2011
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    Indie developer
    Montpellier, France
    Good luck with your app development - be prepared to develop multiple games and adjust your aim, and to realize that putting a good game up on the appstore is only 10% of solving the problem of living off your games.

    I'll be happy to chat with you like; I wish you much success.
     
  4. AmuBlu

    AmuBlu New Member

    BlindAlbino:
    Thanks for the support, will probably in the near future need your help. Your videos are fun to watch, creative processes going on right there! Looking forward to the resulting game(s).

    PuzzleBrothers:
    Thanks for an honest post. I'm aware that the market is well established and it's extremely tough to make a living as an indie developer. This is one of the reason I will continue to work on my current job, but only half time. I guess your post is based on your own experience which is key experience I want to learn. I'm sure I will also need your help :)

    I was just think... do any of you guys use Skype? For me it would be a convenient way to get quick help and also to inspire and motivate each other. PM me if it sounds interesting!
     
  5. PuzzleBrothers

    PuzzleBrothers Well-Known Member

    May 11, 2011
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    Indie developer
    Montpellier, France
    Yeah in my experience, all developers initially fail, and what happens next is a sort of gating function: you can either quit/blame the market/long for the 2008 when you could make a million with iFart; or you can learn from the new data point you have (your game in the market), and make a much better second attempt.

    It took me 3 tries on the desktop in the pc casual gaming days, on mobile it was even tougher but if you're lean and you have multiple games you can make a living even without spending insane amounts on user acquisition, as long as you make things people actually want to buy and get enough exposure.
     
  6. WaketheDreamer

    WaketheDreamer Active Member

    Feb 20, 2014
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    It seems we're very similar! I'm new to developing indie games as well. I begun a project with a small team of people about a year and a half ago, close to release now, and am now beginning my 2nd project. We too begun on February 1st. Would love any input any of you guys may have, as well as to support each through the development process. You can see the art style we're going for on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/wakethedreamerapp). I wish you much success and hope to see updates! Good luck :)
     
  7. OnlyJoe

    OnlyJoe Well-Known Member

    Sep 29, 2013
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    Auckland
    When I started out making games, I actually started by making some bigger projects, and worked on them for months. Which I did enjoy. But what I didn't know at the time is just how lost apps get in the massive app store. And the sad fact is that I can make a game that takes 2 or 3 days to totally finish, and it does just as well as a game that took me 3 months to make. Which is why the whole cloning games problem exists, because the risk of investing a lot of time into an app is just so high.

    So I would suggest spending a few weeks, and make say three different really simple games, just to give yourself an idea of what the market is like. You will learn so much from doing this.
     
  8. Good luck on the journey and if there's any way I can help, let me know :) I've been developing games on and off for mobile for a while now. I'd make a game, go do other stuff, come back to games and so on. Now I'm hoping to make a few games at a stretch and am currently working on the first title in the series. Not sure how it will go.

    As others have pointed out, creating the game is just part of the puzzle. But as long as you enjoy the process, you get something out of it, right? :)
     
  9. BlindAlbino

    BlindAlbino Well-Known Member

    Dec 19, 2012
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    I am Co-Founder and Art Director for Blind Albino,
    La Habra Hights, California
    Alex, your thread reminds me of the movie quote "If you build it, they will come!" (Meaning that you are finding cool peeps to share their thoughts.)

    I have enjoyed chatting with Alex once in awhile, and I've also been enjoying the great points being shared in this conversation.

    As OnlyJoe says, it may be unwise to invest months of dev time into something that will likely be lost in the bermuda triangle of the App Store. I, however, am not that smart!!! (Or maybe luck will retroactively make me look like a genius? I'm not crossing my fingers there...) So consider our current project as a case study, or cautionary tale, depending on the results, representing the "over-worked-long-shot" project. We'll continue to share tons of information about how things go all the way through the life cycle of the game, once it comes out.

    Anyway, Alex/AmuBlu is a really cool dev. We should shower him with buddy requests!
     
  10. Hobbsicle

    Hobbsicle Well-Known Member

    Feb 28, 2011
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    This is one of the reasons we're doing our second game in Unity. We're designing it with mobile in mind, but it wouldn't take much to move it to other platforms as well.

    But good luck to both of you and I'll be following you guys!
     
  11. simpleinteractive

    simpleinteractive Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2013
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    London
    @AmuBlu: I'd be happy to discuss, collaborate. I've sent you a PM with my Skype.
     
  12. suppoman

    suppoman Active Member

    Oct 24, 2013
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    Hi Alex,

    Welcome to world of app development, quite possibly the most frustrating world you can enter. It will be immensely disappointing in a lot of respects, in most cases you'll feel the person who will most love your app is yourself, and not many else. You'll be very downbeat about download rates on your app, and you'll be irritated by user reviews.

    As an example, Flappy bird was in obscurity for months before it eventually picked up. A huge amount of resilience, persistence and luck will play a part in whether your app is a success amongst all the other things, such as really good and consistent marketing.

    It's taken me 4 apps and two years to create an app that's done reasonably well, but it's free and I don't make a living from it. I personally just wanted to build something that people would enjoy.

    So this is not about being negative, this is about reality. And the reality is that it's VERY hard. For every 1 successful app, there are 30,000 failures. So unless you are prepared to do something serious about making your app succeed, don't enter into it. If someone had told me what it was like before I entered into it, I would not have gone near it.

    I wish you the best of luck in your journey.

    Best regards
    Michael
     
  13. HeshamAmiri

    HeshamAmiri Well-Known Member

    Aug 19, 2010
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    Great advise from everyone and I agree, you will need to develop a few games (quick games) to test the market before doing anything lengthy.

    For me I do a game and then do contract work for business app to pay for the bills. Getting a good return from a game is hard but not impossible.

    I will gladly help you and anyone else in these forums :)
     
  14. simpleinteractive

    simpleinteractive Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2013
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    London
    Hmm... bit surprised to hear no more from the OP. But if he still wants to discuss/collaborate, I'd be happy...
     
  15. NAFNA GAMES

    NAFNA GAMES Well-Known Member

    Apr 9, 2013
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    do stuff during the day. indie developer at night.
    Barcelona.
    good luck!
    it seams like you have the most important ingredient: passion!
    i my self am relatively new to this industry, i come from e-commerce but was dreaming of games!
    the first game we made was Footy Tap a very simple game just to learn the app game production pipeline, now we are focusing on Asslay Gore (you can find the Asslay Gore thread on the TA forum) - a real game! ;)
    my humble recommendation: game game game ... don't even think about monetization or marketing yet, concentrate in making a great game! your name, your work quality, your professional dignity are more important than any improbable instant success!

    all the best, Nadav
     
  16. Astarea

    Astarea New Member

    Mar 6, 2014
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    Game Designer
    Brazil
    Hello OP!

    I'm in the same situation. I'm a game designer for a small team, and we've just recently started to make simple games. Our current goal is to prototype and release them in short periods of time to learn and then move onto bigger projects.

    Our first project is still receiving a few finishing touches before being released, so you can see we're pretty inexperienced. If anyone wants to PM me or send their Skype info to chat or just brainstorm, feel free to!

    Right now I'm particularly struggling with the whole "think simple and small", as I'm used to working and playing more complex games.
     

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