The iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch Gaming |Thread4| NOT Doomed

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I tried W.E.L.D.E.R. since it was free the other day and people rave about it.

It appears that if you give them money, you can get higher scores, the more money - the higher the score! That game was deleted pretty fucking quickly.

SpellTower and Enscripted still the kings of word games.
 
Mario said:
I know you want more general commentary on iOS dev viability, but some quick comments below on things you could do that might help Brainsss specifically (excuse me if I come across a little blunt)

- your icon needs to stand out more and be more polished. It is too muted amongst other icons on the store.

- the first line of your iTunes App Store text should be a creative/marketing line which tries to hook the player in and speaks to what the game is, not a compatibility warning.

- put some text callouts on your App Store screenshots that highlight the features of the game (you note screens are an issue on the website already).

- a $2.99 price point is a tough ask as a paid download. Plants vs Zombies can get away with it because it has brand recognition and Popcap's traffic behind it. You should experiment with pricing such as dropping your game to 99c or free (given you have IAP). It doesn't appear like you have done so yet via AppShopper.

- if you aren't converting many people with the IAP, consider dropping the price points of the IAP drastically.

- if you do end up switching your game to free, try to have an update out there first which includes Facebook and Twitter functionality to improve virality.

- beyond that, the paid model is in general becoming harder and harder on the App Store. You may consider moving your game free to play permanently over time. Any new apps I would design with that business model in mind.

- if you can get your game across to other platforms like Android for a low incremental cost, then you should consider doing so (I note you mention this on the website).


In general, the App Store (and mobile in a broader sense) is becoming a harder market because consumer expectations and the quality bar for entry and value for money are going up. It is becoming increasingly competitive.

In order to be successful, you need to think about your business holistically rather than one game at a time. Think about each game and how the design supports the business model and vice versa, how you can fund multiple products to build up a portfolio, think about how those products can build and share a userbase, and think about how that content can be leveraged to deliver increasing revenues over time.

You've learned a lot from your first title, so use that to improve this game and have a better start to the next.

Hope this helps.
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I'm not an iOS developer, but all of this is sensible advice. Great post.
 
Wish I didn't buy DrawRace 2, even for $1 I feel ripped off. I figured you "drew" the race line as the race was going, not before, and then just watching (basically) the cars go around, and with no collision with other cars. I dunno what people see in that game, but I think it sucks.
 
flashburn2012 said:
Wish I didn't buy DrawRace 2, even for $1 I feel ripped off. I figured you "drew" the race line as the race was going, not before, and then just watching (basically) the cars go around, and with no collision with other cars. I dunno what people see in that game, but I think it sucks.
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Try to play a little more at least until you get some faster cars. It's definitely one of my top iPad games.
 
flashburn2012 said:
Wish I didn't buy DrawRace 2, even for $1 I feel ripped off. I figured you "drew" the race line as the race was going, not before, and then just watching (basically) the cars go around, and with no collision with other cars. I dunno what people see in that game, but I think it sucks.
Click to expand...

It seems simple, but it's a game with a lot of depth. Turn the sound on, and try varying the speed of your drawing, slowing to hit the brakes, and speeding up to rocket out of curves. The sound effects give you real time feedback (you can hear when your tires lose grip). I love the way the game allows you to perform, then see the fruits of your labor. Definitely one of the best iOS games out.
 
Robert Ashley said:
It seems simple, but it's a game with a lot of depth. Turn the sound on, and try varying the speed of your drawing, slowing to hit the brakes, and speeding up to rocket out of curves. The sound effects give you real time feedback (you can hear when your tires lose grip). I love the way the game allows you to perform, then see the fruits of your labor. Definitely one of the best iOS games out.
Click to expand...

Is there really no way to "rewind" or fix your racing line while you are drawing it? Its really annoying to fuck up the line, and then having to redo the entire thing. Honestly, I just don't think the game is for me. I definitely don't see how it is anywhere NEAR "one of the best iOS games".
 
flashburn2012 said:
Is there really no way to "rewind" or fix your racing line while you are drawing it? Its really annoying to fuck up the line, and then having to redo the entire thing. Honestly, I just don't think the game is for me. I definitely don't see how it is anywhere NEAR "one of the best iOS games".
Click to expand...

dawrace is amazing but if it's not clicking with you just move on, at least it was cheap for you.

Anyway you only really race 2-3 laps around a track the size of the screen, it's not that hard to redraw a racing line, takes like 8 seconds.
 
flashburn2012 said:
Is there really no way to "rewind" or fix your racing line while you are drawing it? Its really annoying to fuck up the line, and then having to redo the entire thing. Honestly, I just don't think the game is for me. I definitely don't see how it is anywhere NEAR "one of the best iOS games".
Click to expand...

If it makes you feel any better, it never clicked with me either (and I love racing games and working out racing lines!). Grabbed it on day 1, tried to enjoy it but never actually did.
 
flashburn2012 said:
Is there really no way to "rewind" or fix your racing line while you are drawing it? Its really annoying to fuck up the line, and then having to redo the entire thing. Honestly, I just don't think the game is for me. I definitely don't see how it is anywhere NEAR "one of the best iOS games".
Click to expand...

Like most racing games, Draw Race expects precision on the curves and doesn't let you rewind to fix mistakes. It's a skill game, and you have to work to get good at it. Sounds like you don't have a lot of patience.
 
SmokyDave said:
Yup. Haven't done it myself to test but I've read that it can be done. iCade is just basically a bluetooth controller.
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I'm thinking about doing that, too. Except with the HDMI adapter and perhaps an actual BT control pad (as opposed to the iCade). Basically then, you have the worlds most portable emulator (provided you're jailbroken, of course).
 
SmokyDave said:
If it makes you feel any better, it never clicked with me either (and I love racing games and working out racing lines!). Grabbed it on day 1, tried to enjoy it but never actually did.
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That's exactly why I was intrigued by it, the idea of racing by directly modifying the racing line sounded really cool.
 
Robert Ashley said:
Like most racing games, Draw Race expects precision on the curves and doesn't let you rewind to fix mistakes. It's a skill game, and you have to work to get good at it. Sounds like you don't have a lot of patience.
Click to expand...

The problem with this is instead of having a max speed your car can go, guess what, your finger can move as fast as you want. You don't have any direct feedback. I think if I wasn't into racing games, perhaps I'd enjoy this game, but I just don't see the appeal.
 
flashburn2012 said:
The problem with this is instead of having a max speed your car can go, guess what, your finger can move as fast as you want. You don't have any direct feedback. I think if I wasn't into racing games, perhaps I'd enjoy this game, but I just don't see the appeal.
Click to expand...

Yes, but if you listen to the sound, it's very easy to hear when you've reached maximum speed, silly. And, guess what, there are many non-physical feedback cues we have to put up with on a touch screen. Your finger always moves as fast as you want (and to wherever you want it to go!)
 
Mario said:
I know you want more general commentary on iOS dev viability, but some quick comments below on things you could do that might help Brainsss specifically (excuse me if I come across a little blunt)

- your icon needs to stand out more and be more polished. It is too muted amongst other icons on the store.

- the first line of your iTunes App Store text should be a creative/marketing line which tries to hook the player in and speaks to what the game is, not a compatibility warning.

- put some text callouts on your App Store screenshots that highlight the features of the game (you note screens are an issue on the website already).

- a $2.99 price point is a tough ask as a paid download. Plants vs Zombies can get away with it because it has brand recognition and Popcap's traffic behind it. You should experiment with pricing such as dropping your game to 99c or free (given you have IAP). It doesn't appear like you have done so yet via AppShopper.

- if you aren't converting many people with the IAP, consider dropping the price points of the IAP drastically.

- if you do end up switching your game to free, try to have an update out there first which includes Facebook and Twitter functionality to improve virality.

- beyond that, the paid model is in general becoming harder and harder on the App Store. You may consider moving your game free to play permanently over time. Any new apps I would design with that business model in mind.

- if you can get your game across to other platforms like Android for a low incremental cost, then you should consider doing so (I note you mention this on the website).


In general, the App Store (and mobile in a broader sense) is becoming a harder market because consumer expectations and the quality bar for entry and value for money are going up. It is becoming increasingly competitive.

In order to be successful, you need to think about your business holistically rather than one game at a time. Think about each game and how the design supports the business model and vice versa, how you can fund multiple products to build up a portfolio, think about how those products can build and share a userbase, and think about how that content can be leveraged to deliver increasing revenues over time.

You've learned a lot from your first title, so use that to improve this game and have a better start to the next.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

As a game designer who's been working with iOS-centric devs for a few years now, I can say this is all verry sound advice.

The free-to-play part is incredibly important, sadly.

I have my own little project with a few buddies we're trying to get off the ground, but one of them is our programmer and has little knowledge of game programming (he's a very, very good programmer though, so...) so it's taking it's sweet-ass time to get off the ground... Which is why I'm debating learning Flash so I can very quickly prototype some of the ideas I have (and maybe even release stuff with Air, so that would be much quicker!)

And just as a quick note - the icon comment is one of the more important ones. It's one of the things that gets overlooked easily, but you absolutely *need* an icon that will work well against the app store background and that will pop when browsing it. It might sound strange, but it's incredibly important because when someone's browsing the store, they're not looking at the game name but at its icon, and its what catches the eye first.
 
Robert Ashley said:
Yes, but if you listen to the sound, it's very easy to hear when you've reached maximum speed, silly. And, guess what, there are many non-physical feedback cues we have to put up with on a touch screen. Your finger always moves as fast as you want (and to wherever you want it to go!)
Click to expand...

Waitwait "we"? Congratz on the great game! :D

I just also want to add that the game is also a lot of fun for local multiplayer in hot seat mode, IMHO one of the best on iOS for that mode :p everyone draws and then you see the results, it's pretty neat to see whp got the best line/speed :p

I have to agree with most people here, the fact that you can't rewind (neither can you in other racing games if you overestimate your speed) and are bound by what your finger does is a big appeal, it forces you to really get into the game, and as it goes on you get a much better feel for how fast and with what line to get into curves. It's definitely one of the most innovative iOS games I own, if not one of the best.
StarCreator said:
As far as I know you don't specifically embed YouTube videos, but the mobile site will automatically convert YouTube links into embeds.
Click to expand...

Yep. Which, oddly enough, makes the mobile site slightly better than the actual site.
 
Smiley90 said:
Waitwait "we"? Congratz on the great game! :D

I just also want to add that the game is also a lot of fun for local multiplayer in hot seat mode, IMHO one of the best on iOS for that mode :p everyone draws and then you see the results, it's pretty neat to see whp got the best line/speed :p

I have to agree with most people here, the fact that you can't rewind (neither can you in other racing games if you overestimate your speed) and are bound by what your finger does is a big appeal, it forces you to really get into the game, and as it goes on you get a much better feel for how fast and with what line to get into curves. It's definitely one of the most innovative iOS games I own, if not one of the best.


Yep. Which, oddly enough, makes the mobile site slightly better than the actual site.
Click to expand...

I think he meant "we" as in we iOS gamers. We have to put up with many non physical feedback cues. :p
 
Pretty excited about Pocket Planes from Nimblebit coming out on Thursday, I was really addicted to Tiny Tower for quite a while and this game sounds like it has a lot more depth.
 
toythatkills said:
Oh shit, really? Didn't realise it was coming so soon.

Bye life.
Click to expand...

One of the Devs retweeted a link with a story about it so I take that as confirmation, someone one TA said this should be the link but I have no idea if it will work for sure: http://itunes.apple.com/app/pocket-planes/id491994942




Pastry said:
Is anyone making an official thread for Pocket Planes? Should we use #NeoGAF as the name for our flight crew?
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Oh look! A volunteer!
 
Anyone else experiencing huge frame rate drops in Dungeon Village? That game is awesome, but it would be nice if it ran at full speed the whole time.
 
Wario64 said:
Pocket Planes tomorrow night. Oh fuck. RIP Vita and everything else

http://www.insidemobileapps.com/201...es/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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H0rad.gif
 
Cross-posting from the GAF Plays Megaten thread: Shin Megami Tensei 2 is now available on iOS. First one was released back in February.

Both are Japanese-only. To quote the fatalistic description on the app store: WARNING! This is a Japanese language role playing game with no English translation now or ever.
 
Wario64 said:
Pocket Planes tomorrow night. Oh fuck. RIP Vita and everything else

http://www.insidemobileapps.com/201...es/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Click to expand...

A new “Flight Crew” mode also allows players to team up simply by entering the same crew “tag” in the game and then compete in large-scale time-limited events for in-game prizes such as special aircraft.
Click to expand...

Besides the Flight Crew component and the ability to trade plane parts with friends, Game Center leaderboards allow players to compete against one another for the peak value of their airline, their experience level, the total number of miles flown, the total number of flights completed, the longest flight and the most profitable flight.
Click to expand...

Time to start adding GC friends!! add me: panama chief
 
panama chief said:
Time to start adding GC friends!! add me: panama chief
Click to expand...

It's my understanding that you do not need GC names for this one. It should all be going through flight crews, right? As long as we all set our crew to #NeoGAF we should all be in the same group I think.

edit: After looking through the article you do need GC names for high scores. Flight Crews are just for missions, the GAF crew better get me some cool planes!
 
Zia said:
I'm just trying to stomp your game boners into a bloody pulp. : ) Embargo is up late tonight, I think? I'd wait for less cynical impressions.
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It's okay, my enjoyment of tiny tower was essentially nonexistent so stomp that boner away!
 
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