The story of one failure (the development of the first mobile game) with conclusions and tips
This publication may be of interest to those who are going to do or are already developing their first mobile game and at the same time expecting some kind of financial “exhaust” from it.
In the recent past, I ran a small web studio for several years. We tried to do non-sample sites, corporate web services. Sometimes it turned out quite successfully. Also released a couple of mobile applications involving freelancing programmers. Last fall, it was time for me to change my occupation. In general, I change the scope of work about every 3-4 years, this is not an end in itself, just an area in which I achieve any success, it starts to be a burden.
I decided to try myself in the development of mobile games. And in a new quality for themselves - at the level of their own startup. Since it was not the first time when I started stuffing cones in a little-known area, I knew that with high probability the first project would be:
Therefore, as a first game, a simple but original idea was needed to deal with the minimum time and financial losses at least at a basic level with the pitfalls of mobile gaming.
After busting through the head of the games I've ever played and which “hooked” me, I chose SeXonix (I think many of the former owners of 286/486 computers can remember this remake with the erotic slant of the world-famous Xonix game). The problem was that I did not remember the name of the game, and to find it or the original arcade on the web by describing the search engine for the rules of the game turned out to be quite a trivial and, unfortunately, not solvable task for me.
')
Without knowing the name of the game, I could not find Xonix clones in the App Store either.
Rubbing his palms, became determined with the performers.
The logic was as follows: the game is primitive, the square moves, there is a line behind it, the circles fly — you can easily make a primitive design for such a game. Download beautiful balls, find a beautiful button in the vector for a player on the network is not a problem. Well, then why on the first project, on which you want to risk minimal money, spend money on a designer?
Error, and no less "hard" than the first. A good designer can make even the most primitive interface attractive to the user. The opposite is also true - a bad designer can even make the most thoughtful interface unbearable to the eye. As it is correctly written in many articles on the promotion of mobile applications, the first thing that a user sees is the game icon and its screenshots / video. Therefore, the graphic component of your game should be at a good level.
The logic was again simple: there are many gaming frameworks, most are cross-platform, which means you need to make a game under the two most popular platforms and, thereby, significantly expand the audience. Since the rate in monetization will obviously be on advertising, a large audience of Android phones is very suitable.
In general, this logic is valid for most game ideas, but as it turned out, not for everyone. I was unaware of the technical aspect of the “engine” Xonix, according to which the size of the playing field in the logical cells along which the main character square moves, must be the same on all devices. Because of the zoo in the proportions of the screen for Android phones (and because of my desire to support also the iPad), the playing field of the arcade cannot occupy the entire accessible area of ​​the device screen not horizontally or vertically. The attractiveness and convenience of playing on the small screen size of the phone suffered.
In the course of working in the web studio, I was attracted by an iOS programmer from Ukraine, who was a real pleasure to work with on one of the applications. He took on many aspects of iOS development unknown to me at that time, patiently explained a lot, and indeed did his work responsibly and on time.
He had no experience in the gaming industry, but he had even more experience in programming in general and for iOS in particular. We agreed that he will begin to understand the chosen framework and in parallel will begin to develop, in general, a simple game. As a result, after 2.5 months of mutilation (yes, I am very patient), he signed that he was not able to quickly and easily figure out a new area for himself and would prefer to move along the trodden path, at least during the current life stage.
Now I understand that I was lucky that he stopped mumming me and I was able to find another programmer. Even if in his launch in the work on the framework he had some kind of breakthrough, thanks to which he would begin to work fully on my project, then this would only aggravate the matter considerably.
A good and experienced “game” programmer, whom I brought to the project to replace the Ukrainian, not only did a good job, but also helped me with a lot of tips on the gameplay and game interface. As a new-born sucker, I wanted to include a bunch of small options that I looked at in other toys: sharing in social networks, some other SMS / email sharingware, etc. All these things are necessary, but they can be realized at the stage of updating for the game, which has already gone to the masses. Or at least they can be implemented in a game with good and planned advancement. Thank God that he dissuaded me from them, it would have slowed down the work on the project and would have resulted in additional costs.
The same programmer, after developing a prototype, opened my eyes to me that I was developing a wheel - a simple remake of Xonix. I was stunned, but decided not to turn off the project. I decided to bring it to the end, since the main goal was the experience extracted from the project. But if you really make a clone, then do it qualitatively. This was supposed to be a real sequel, not just another copy.
Different types of enemies (including shooting guns, teleporting balls), different types of obstacles, game bonuses, three-star level passage assessment system, level packs were invented. Of course, from the point of view of graphic attractiveness, my Cool Xonix is ​​far from ideal, but from the point of view of gameplay, I think I made the most exciting version of Xonix I’ve played (and I watched them at least 3-4 dozen).
Recently I read an article according to which, according to statistics, about a third of all suicides are rooted in perfectionism. Perfectionism is a good thing, but in moderation. I did not expect that my involvement in the development of game levels, selection of background photos, etc. will be so substantial. Yes, I wanted to plunge into the development of the game with my head, then to "keep my nose on the wind" in subsequent projects, but if you consider the development as a streaming process, your involvement in the development of game content and gameplay should be either minimal (hire a person) or you must cope with your perfectionism (if it is, of course, present). At least at the stage of launching the game. If the game is worth the candle, then later it will be possible to make an excellent update of the game.
Before launching the game, I had an idea to see what kind of traffic a simple launch of applications in the respective markets could give. Extremely stupid idea, if she visits you - chase her away from yourself, you know what kind of rags. For many reasons. I will indicate only two main ones:
The next mistake I made was the simultaneous application delivery to both markets. Google Play moderation is not long (my game appeared in the market a few hours later), which cannot be said about the App Store. As a result, all the time while the game was being moderated in the App Store, I had the opportunity to scribble letters about the release of the game to sites that specialize exclusively in Android games. In my next project, I will make a conditionally simultaneous release.
Also in the next project, I will get in touch with the “overview” portals not after the release of my game, but at its final stage. I realized that the mobile game requires comprehensive promotion immediately at the launch stage.
In conclusion of the article, I will cite a few tips arising from it for beginning igrodelov:
I would be grateful for the opinions expressed on the conclusions I formed.
Purpose of the article
- Prevent others from repeating their own mistakes;
- Get a side look at the findings.
About myself
In the recent past, I ran a small web studio for several years. We tried to do non-sample sites, corporate web services. Sometimes it turned out quite successfully. Also released a couple of mobile applications involving freelancing programmers. Last fall, it was time for me to change my occupation. In general, I change the scope of work about every 3-4 years, this is not an end in itself, just an area in which I achieve any success, it starts to be a burden.
I decided to try myself in the development of mobile games. And in a new quality for themselves - at the level of their own startup. Since it was not the first time when I started stuffing cones in a little-known area, I knew that with high probability the first project would be:
- longer than I imagined;
- harder than I thought;
- more expensive than I thought.
Therefore, as a first game, a simple but original idea was needed to deal with the minimum time and financial losses at least at a basic level with the pitfalls of mobile gaming.
Error # 1. Choosing an idea for a game (basic strategic mistake)
After busting through the head of the games I've ever played and which “hooked” me, I chose SeXonix (I think many of the former owners of 286/486 computers can remember this remake with the erotic slant of the world-famous Xonix game). The problem was that I did not remember the name of the game, and to find it or the original arcade on the web by describing the search engine for the rules of the game turned out to be quite a trivial and, unfortunately, not solvable task for me.
')
Without knowing the name of the game, I could not find Xonix clones in the App Store either.
Rubbing his palms, became determined with the performers.
Error # 2. The decision to make the design yourself
The logic was as follows: the game is primitive, the square moves, there is a line behind it, the circles fly — you can easily make a primitive design for such a game. Download beautiful balls, find a beautiful button in the vector for a player on the network is not a problem. Well, then why on the first project, on which you want to risk minimal money, spend money on a designer?
Error, and no less "hard" than the first. A good designer can make even the most primitive interface attractive to the user. The opposite is also true - a bad designer can even make the most thoughtful interface unbearable to the eye. As it is correctly written in many articles on the promotion of mobile applications, the first thing that a user sees is the game icon and its screenshots / video. Therefore, the graphic component of your game should be at a good level.
Error # 3. The decision to make the game cross-platform
The logic was again simple: there are many gaming frameworks, most are cross-platform, which means you need to make a game under the two most popular platforms and, thereby, significantly expand the audience. Since the rate in monetization will obviously be on advertising, a large audience of Android phones is very suitable.
In general, this logic is valid for most game ideas, but as it turned out, not for everyone. I was unaware of the technical aspect of the “engine” Xonix, according to which the size of the playing field in the logical cells along which the main character square moves, must be the same on all devices. Because of the zoo in the proportions of the screen for Android phones (and because of my desire to support also the iPad), the playing field of the arcade cannot occupy the entire accessible area of ​​the device screen not horizontally or vertically. The attractiveness and convenience of playing on the small screen size of the phone suffered.
Error # 4. The decision to start working with a proven and qualified, but not experienced in igroindustry programmer
In the course of working in the web studio, I was attracted by an iOS programmer from Ukraine, who was a real pleasure to work with on one of the applications. He took on many aspects of iOS development unknown to me at that time, patiently explained a lot, and indeed did his work responsibly and on time.
He had no experience in the gaming industry, but he had even more experience in programming in general and for iOS in particular. We agreed that he will begin to understand the chosen framework and in parallel will begin to develop, in general, a simple game. As a result, after 2.5 months of mutilation (yes, I am very patient), he signed that he was not able to quickly and easily figure out a new area for himself and would prefer to move along the trodden path, at least during the current life stage.
Now I understand that I was lucky that he stopped mumming me and I was able to find another programmer. Even if in his launch in the work on the framework he had some kind of breakthrough, thanks to which he would begin to work fully on my project, then this would only aggravate the matter considerably.
A good and experienced “game” programmer, whom I brought to the project to replace the Ukrainian, not only did a good job, but also helped me with a lot of tips on the gameplay and game interface. As a new-born sucker, I wanted to include a bunch of small options that I looked at in other toys: sharing in social networks, some other SMS / email sharingware, etc. All these things are necessary, but they can be realized at the stage of updating for the game, which has already gone to the masses. Or at least they can be implemented in a game with good and planned advancement. Thank God that he dissuaded me from them, it would have slowed down the work on the project and would have resulted in additional costs.
The same programmer, after developing a prototype, opened my eyes to me that I was developing a wheel - a simple remake of Xonix. I was stunned, but decided not to turn off the project. I decided to bring it to the end, since the main goal was the experience extracted from the project. But if you really make a clone, then do it qualitatively. This was supposed to be a real sequel, not just another copy.
Different types of enemies (including shooting guns, teleporting balls), different types of obstacles, game bonuses, three-star level passage assessment system, level packs were invented. Of course, from the point of view of graphic attractiveness, my Cool Xonix is ​​far from ideal, but from the point of view of gameplay, I think I made the most exciting version of Xonix I’ve played (and I watched them at least 3-4 dozen).
Error # 5. Perfectionism in the development of content and gameplay
Recently I read an article according to which, according to statistics, about a third of all suicides are rooted in perfectionism. Perfectionism is a good thing, but in moderation. I did not expect that my involvement in the development of game levels, selection of background photos, etc. will be so substantial. Yes, I wanted to plunge into the development of the game with my head, then to "keep my nose on the wind" in subsequent projects, but if you consider the development as a streaming process, your involvement in the development of game content and gameplay should be either minimal (hire a person) or you must cope with your perfectionism (if it is, of course, present). At least at the stage of launching the game. If the game is worth the candle, then later it will be possible to make an excellent update of the game.
Error # 6. Errors with the launch and promotion of the game
Before launching the game, I had an idea to see what kind of traffic a simple launch of applications in the respective markets could give. Extremely stupid idea, if she visits you - chase her away from yourself, you know what kind of rags. For many reasons. I will indicate only two main ones:
- Google Play (as far as I figured out) has no such thing as new games, especially in categories. There is the concept of "best new games." At the moment, there are so many publishers and they have such significant promotion budgets, that the most "weak" of the "best new games" (500th place in the ranking) have a few tens of thousands of installations. Thus, if you simply publish the game on Google Play - no one will notice it.
- In the App Store, everything is somewhat different, there is a corresponding category, but it can only give impetus to your game. In order to appear in the "Best New ..." category (= make money on the game) you need to start promoting the game before it is published.
The next mistake I made was the simultaneous application delivery to both markets. Google Play moderation is not long (my game appeared in the market a few hours later), which cannot be said about the App Store. As a result, all the time while the game was being moderated in the App Store, I had the opportunity to scribble letters about the release of the game to sites that specialize exclusively in Android games. In my next project, I will make a conditionally simultaneous release.
Also in the next project, I will get in touch with the “overview” portals not after the release of my game, but at its final stage. I realized that the mobile game requires comprehensive promotion immediately at the launch stage.
Tips
In conclusion of the article, I will cite a few tips arising from it for beginning igrodelov:
- Play games. Try every day to play several new games. This will not only develop your outlook on the game, but also, perhaps, will suggest new ideas for your own games, will reveal errors in those already developed.
- Do not start working with programmers / designers / illustrators / animators if they have no experience of participating in the development of mobile games. The option “I have four carriages of experience, as we go along, sort out what’s what” will not work. Believe me, it is quite enough that on your first project you will not have experience in the game.
- If some ancient game lasted in your memory, the name of which you do not remember and you are thinking of implementing its development for smartphones:
a. Make every effort to find existing implementations. It is very likely that you are not the first.
b. Consult with gamers, most likely, they are quite easy to tell in which direction to dig. - For your first project, choose a very simple game - without having to generate a bunch of content, develop game levels, level packs, artificial intelligence, etc. Let your first "pancake" be small.
- If you are not a designer, then do not be tempted to make the most primitive design for a primitive game. A weak graphic component will alienate users and they will not appreciate the gameplay of your game. As a result - you can not fully promote the game.
- Do not waste time and money on the first draft on the numerous additional minor functions of the application, as expected. Concentrate on the main thing - the gameplay of the game and its graphic appeal.
I would be grateful for the opinions expressed on the conclusions I formed.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/250745/
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