Is gamesalad game-breaking

If you upgrade to Pro, and use a custom splash screen, most people won't know it's GameSalad
...unless you tell them it's GameSalad.

There is a lot of GameSalad hate out there, but some GameSalad games do get respect.

 

I know of a few great GameSalad games and I think it's an awesome bit of kit. The only major downside for me as a gamer is the load times, but provided you're not looking at a load screen every five seconds it shouldn't be too annoying.

 

This is harsh, but you asked for opinions. Honestly, there is so much competition in the App Store, can you afford to take the chance on an inferior game engine?

As for my background, I am strictly a user under IOS, but I made my living from developing software applications on the PC.

 

There are some great GameSalad games, so if you make a good game it will not be an issue for most people.

The sad thing is no matter how good your game is it is extremely hard to not get burried in the onslaught of everyday game releases and updates.

 

"It won't be an issue for most people" is a big understatement!

Let's say there are 100 000 people playing your game. How many of these people have actually an idea of how a game is being made. And how many of these have ever heard of game salad? I am a professional artist for videogames for years and sometimes I get still asked by friends or family what game I'm currently "programming". I know this is a developer forum but why do you care about your reputation in such a small circle if your goal is to get your game to a much bigger crowd. Truth is people don't give a ...

 

Well that's not really accurate, all you have to do is read through some threads here and you will find a large number of people that hate GameSalad made games. The main reasons are loading times, no Universal Builds, no online multiplayer and a small group of crap developers that flooded the market with copied templates.

I use GameSalad and it works for me and while I know the average person may not know how I am making the game, they will complain about the lack of features I can offer. Oh and 100,000 people is fantasy land, now days 1000 would be a high mark and I know many people that get less than 100 plays.

 

How is 100 000 people fantasy land? I picked this number because I would never aim lower when making a game for this platform. Making games is a fine hobby but when you make a living out of it then 100 to 1000 players doesn't pay the bills.

 

Markus, just because making a living off 100 to 1000 players doesn't pay the bills, doesn't mean you can arbitrarily pick 100,000...
Before you can GET 100,000 you have to have something people are willing to share. Unless you go free, you have to have something VERY good to nail 100,000 players. Whether or not it can be done with Gamesalad is really beside the point. Getting 100k is going to be tough no matter what.

 

Racingspider, I agree with you, the game has to be very good and it will be tough.
And that is exactly my point in saying I 'm aiming for that number. You have to set yourself a goal and I like to aim high. I read "1000 players would be a high mark" like this: "I'm satisfied with 1000 players. It can't get better anyway. I don't have to do anything different next time." With such an attitude there is no critical revaluation an therefore no improvement. People here shouldn't drag each other down but encourage each other. Having success with your game isn't impossible and it's not unrealistic. In fact you can make it happen with talent, smart thinking and hard work.

 

personally, i do a back turn whenever i see the gamesalad splash screen. just don't like it.

 

100,000 is not a good number to randomly pick is all we're saying. Aiming for 100,000 is different from expecting 100,000 (no matter if you're selling software, music, crafts etc.)

http://technoodling.net/analysis-how-much-does-an-ios-app-really-make/

From what I've read on this site for the past year even that number is high.

 

That's the right attitude pal. Just look at Andreas illiger (dev of Tiny Wings) or small indie teams like Mika Mobile for inspiration. Make a great game, and no matter how bad your marketing strategy is, it will make it big.

I'm not a dev, just a consumer, but hey, thats just what I believe.

 

I wish I could agree with you, assuming you are not being facetious, but unfortunately the App Store is littered with great games that are unsuccessful.

 

Agreed, sad but true. Part of the problem is the number of releases and updates each day, it is super easy to fall through the cracks. The other day I was looking through the ipad games in the app store and the first five plus pages were from that date.

 

I gave you specific examples. The teams I mentioned hardly ever advertised. So yeah, it is possible to be big without a marketing plan.
Besides, most of these so called 'great' indie games do not have that certain 'appeal' which captivates the user right from the start. It could be down to poor animation/art style in my opinion, as I feel that's what most indie titles lack.
Also little details such as the "bounce" the characters do in Battleheart when selected, or how that cute creature in Cut the Rope munches it's candy may seem superficial, but it all helps to create an appealing visual experience which draws you in.
I'm not saying amazing games don't go unnoticed, but it's VERY VERY rare. Like in the case of Terra Noctis, many people haven't even heard of it, but it's sure to happen owing to the incredible fan base the game has generated.

 

Marketing was always part of selling a game or anything else. Nowadays there is the internet, blogs etc. and it has gotten a lot easier to do the marketing without a huge budget if not actually possible in the first place. If a game is appealing and polished the internet does in fact a big part of the marketing for you. Indie developers should be happy and thankful about that instead of complaining that they maybe have to learn new skills.
Validuser mentioned Terra Noctis. I never heard of it before. It looks great. Thank you for mentioning it! This is a good example how this works.

So where are all those great (but unnamed?) games littering the App Store that are unsuccessful. Are they really that great? I doubt it very much. Part of making a great game is to cater to the right audience on the platform. And honestly there are many games that are just amateurish, bad and unpolished looking. You can't expect people to overlook bad graphics or sound even if the gameplay is good and vice versa.

90 percent of everything is crap. This goes also with books, comics, movies, television etc. Average sale figures as mentioned above are meaningless. Honestly I am surprised they are so high. Someone must be making a lot of money.

 

I used to, i bought a few to begin with when i was new to iOS and they were frustrating or missing small important things like no animation when you die, just instantly start, or no noise when you fire/die/jump etc.

BUT the last few gamesalad games have been excellent, theyve either got a new update to Gamesalad which has improved it or simply theres better developers out there

The last two games i bought i was surprised when it said 'made with gamesalad' as the games were excellent. So i'm no longer a hater when i hear that, i'll still judge it on youtube video/screenshots/user reviews but honestly the last couple i've bought have been very good.

 

What is great is mostly in the eye of the beholder. I could go down the list of game's I own and come up with perhaps tens of games I consider great that have sold poorly. I can only judge sales based on number of reviews in the App Store (probably a poor indicator but there is some correlation), thread traffic on TA, relevant developer comments on TA threads if any, and looking on appannie, so I am only guessing but I bet I am pretty accurate.

Mentioning a few "great" games that are successful does not prove that there are not great games that fail. I will continue to argue that the are a ton of them and in the App Store that is probably the norm.

 

Try iStencyl instead of GameSalad.

A very fast developed tool. Many features, GameSalad doesn't have. Costs only $149/year.

If you sign up, use my referral
http://bit.ly/buystencyl