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[trilby]

Just wondered how many on here were developing for iOS and/or android and how much success you had had?  I'm just starting a 2D platformer but look for inspiration stories on a daily basis to keep me going, such a lot of work to do I just don't want to create a flop!  Curious to know if you had success how you spread the word of any work you had done, how long you spent developing etc.

Inspire me! 

Phil

[trilby]

Hmmm 

[Columbo]

Here's a great article that pulls together lots of mobile game post-mortems with sales numbers (some more indie than others).

http://thegamebakers.com/money-and-the-app-store-a-few-figures-that-might-help-an-indie-developer.html

[trilby]

Thanks for that.  really interesting read.

[Sergi]

That's an awesome read. It makes me scared and also full of hope in a way.

[Muz]

The two graphs at the bottom of that article say what I was going to say.

You have to get to the top 20% to make enough money.
You have to make a bunch of stuff to get a reputation/experience in order to get to the top.

So, you will most likely create a flop. That's ok. Everyone on that list who made a blockbuster game made a few flops. You learn from it, people will still think it's good if you put some heart into it, and look forward to your future games. You'd need all that cumulative fan base/XP to hit the top 1% spot and get that really nice car.

Also, look at the bright side, it's a lot easier to be the best in the smartphone game industry with only a 1 man team as compared to with the PC. And the user base is a little bigger and localized than the PC.

I love seeing people make it on the smartphone world though, so drop me a PM if you need help with anything.

[Sergi]

Yeah, those are my thoughts on this. After reading up a while on postmortems and analyses of successes and failures, the keys are the following you have, and your experience, and both go hand in hand if you do it well. So I guess putting all your eggs in one basket trying to make a big game in your first try, maybe that's not such a good idea (dammit)

[moi]

So, you will most likely create a flop. That's ok. Everyone on that list who made a blockbuster game made a few flops. You learn from it, people will still think it's good if you put some heart into it, and look forward to your future games. You'd need all that cumulative fan base/XP to hit the top 1% spot and get that really nice car.

or maybe after the twentieth game you'll realize you have been wasting your time all this time and will never make it in the top 25.

[Muz]

I mean it doesn't have to be mentioned that you should be aiming for the top instead of being content with releasing a few dozen crappy games, but then a lot of people like to go for that strategy.

[trilby]

Well I've released a few apps (not games).  They dont make me any money at all but I REALLY want to bang out a game.  I'm totally fuelled by the fact I 'may' make it (some income would be good) but like you say deep down I know its more likely gonna be a flop.  But hey if you dont try and all that... 

[zalzane]

just keep in mind that you're not really publishing to a platform as much as submitting a ticket to the lottery when you publish to mobile platforms.

A ticket which you happen to have invested loads of work and effort into and probably a significant amount of your time.

Not to mention theres tens of thousands of other developers out there submitting a ticket as well, some of which who are even metagaming the system and are purposefully trying to create the most addicting, customer-garnering experience possible who will still lose just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

As you might imagine, I'm not a fan of mobile.

[trilby]

The more I research the mobile platform the harder it gets to stay motivated!!  What is the choice of platform for the majorities on here out of curiosity?

[Muz]

I'm happy with Android. But mainly because I like small screens, I like simple controls and minimalistic UI, I like all the creepy sensors that come with smartphones.

Whatever your platform, the same rules apply. You need to get to the top 20% to simply "make a living" off it. You'd need to get to top 1% to be rich. It's the same with any other entertainment medium - music, drugs, film.

Also, note that Rovio, who made Angry Birds, made 51 games before they hit the jackpot. And they're not even trying to make money from selling games; they're making money from selling their brand.

Not saying you should aim to make crappy games, but everything you've put effort into, whether or not it fails, will be worth something. There's that 10,000-Hour Rule, which says that in order to master anything non-trivial, you'd need to put 10,000 hours into it.

[trilby]

How many apps have you done for android muz?  Would be interested to see them.

[moi]

http://mygoldrushtales.com/2011/08/09/tales-of-gold-finds-that-didn%E2%80%99t-pan-out/

[J-Snake]

There's that 10,000-Hour Rule, which says that in order to master anything non-trivial, you'd need to put 10,000 hours into it.

I remember Cevat Yerli saying something similar after the success of Far Cry. It is interesting to hear that again since I am sceptical about its credibility.

[Klaim]

To be precise, you need 10000 hours of meaningful practice; which suggests that not all practice will count. Just repeating errors can't help. You have to be smart about the way you're learning, keep trying to understand why you fail at something.

[trilby]

http://mygoldrushtales.com/2011/08/09/tales-of-gold-finds-that-didn%E2%80%99t-pan-out/

 

[Muz]

How many apps have you done for android muz?  Would be interested to see them.

2 so far. Scheduled for 1 month, finished in 1.5 months, 3 months of polish.

I'd like to link them, but kind of like the work-hobby separation, especially as TIGS forums pop up so high on Google. They're all heavily web-based (practically optimized websites). And localized in China, so they won't work outside the Great Firewall. We had to do all our testing through a Singapore proxy. You know you're cheap when China outsources to you