iOS developers?

[Tuism]

Hello hello guys

This is especially addressed to those who're experienced in making iOS apps

I've been wondering a bit about what I do with my spare time. So I thought - why not look into making apps? I know that experienced developers will laugh at me and say I'm just another one of the wannabes, who talk a big game but ain't gonna get anywhere... But hey hear me out

In high school I used turbo pascal (remember that?), and I made space invaders and some kinda match 3 tetris type game with "gravity". When flash's as2 was still popular I used that and built quite a few semi-complex game type things for marketing. After as3 came out I decided not to delve into dev as I didn't wanna take a job making other people's ideas.mi wanted to make my own ideas, so I chased after being a creative director. Now i am one and the job sucks ass, and with the advent of the iOS I feel that development and distribution being democratized, I feel like I can create something of my own.

But, of course I dunno how it works. I looked at getting developers to do my idea but the investment irked me, especially since I don't know how it works in terms of money in, work out. Hour-based charging structures tend to run away from the client, from the cases I've seen. So seemingly the only way I can be in control of idea, cash and output (quality) is if I learned to do it myself.

How realistic is it for someone with a day job and kind of has a life? (not a very drunk one, just a moderate life ) learning objective C and then Xcode and all that... I've just started reading the big nerd ranch guide to objective c...

Am I fooling myself thinking I could maybe put out something substantial after a year of "studying"?

[rl]

Hey Tu, I don't necessarily have any advice for you but curious to see the responses. Funny you mention this because I just thought started trying to learn objective C myself on my free time like 2 weeks ago because I thought if ever I had a simple, bright idea, it could be good pocket money at .99c.

Its pretty complex for someone who has never done ANY programming in the past. I sat down with a friend of the family who has developed a couple good apps and he walked me through some basics and lead me to this website called lynda www.lynda.com/Xcode-4-tutorials/Objective-C-Essential-Training/77860-2.html I haven't got past the first lesson on it but it was great quality (its a 25$ per month cancel at any time website) but way more instructional than random vids on the net and youtube.

Either way let me know how you do and if you catch on the the language quickly and so on

[matavious]

Tuism, I have a few apps on the store that I wrote with the help of friends, and my background is mostly light python coding. I found the Stanford university course on ios programming helpful. Lectures and sample code can be accessed on iTunesU For free:

news.stanford.edu/news/2011/november/itunes-apps-class-111511.html

I have friends at work that have iPhone coding nights on Thursday. Good way to get exposure to the internals.

It was a fun few projects and a great way to make tens if not dozens of dollars per month

[rl]

I also checked out that stanford course, it was too advanced for me since I had never done programming ever before, I'm probably going to check it out again once I finish with the basics.

[Baracus]

It definitely depends on your past experience and the complexity of what you have in mind to build, but there's more to it than just programming, again depending on the quality of final product you are after.

I know from the games I'm working on, even with about 5 guys working on it all day things still take a long time to progress.

GamePlan took the guy a year full time, and on paper it was simple

I'm still well up for doing something like we spoke about a few months ago though! I've still been tweaking the rules a bit for the physical game but I'd probably do it a different way now if we/I went ahead!

[Tuism]

Wow, thanks guys for the response, I'll be sure to check these out! I'm only a beginner but I'll definitely look at the Stanford one if I progress beyond beginner level - I've heard a lot about their courses. I'm waiting for one of their game theory courses to start (not about making games, but game theory like systems theory).

What I have in mind is definitely quality output - I know everyone say that they're perfectionists but I don't see the point of putting out something that doesn't satisfy my vision, and expect others to buy into what I believe. Ultimately for me it's to exercise my own vision and share it with the world!

I've got game mechanism ideas, experience in producing graphics (im a designer > creative director / illustrator on the side after all), understanding of game loops and basic game theory (made a few in turbo pascal and as2), I'm really lacking mostly in actual iOS app dev capacity.

Baracus, remind me of the project you're talking about? Physical? What? let me go dig up that thread...

[Baracus]

Jun 27, 2012 0:12:47 GMT -5 Tuism said:

Baracus, remind me of the project you're talking about? Physical? What? let me go dig up that thread...

Well, the company I'm working with are currently working on the official licensed iOS & Droid versions of Alhambra, Airlines Europe, Navegador and a number of other Reiner Knizia puzzle games, so we already have the engine written for pretty much any mechanic relating to board/card games. What we were talking about was "something" we can all here contribute to to make a really engaging but broader appeal game than ACR. I did send you my idea? Maybe it was just Jools I showed the detail to!

Anyway, I'm working on a 'paper' version of it and it's actually turned out pretty deep, balanced, fun and original, but still logical enough and an accessible theme that should appeal to anyone (almost) - so I think it's a good basis to work from. Anyway I know we each have our own creative visions, so I'm not trying to push the idea to you again - just reminding you!

PM me if you are interested

[Tuism]

Ohhh I remember, that's the thing with the city building aspects? It sounded interesting, but I remember saying it seemed to me too close to ACR/magic, especially following the success of ACR currently!

This engine sounds really interesting, what does it entail? Placing pieces on a board, resolving rules against turns, etc? I guess it's owned by our studio? What's your studio called?

[Baracus]

Jun 28, 2012 7:20:02 GMT -5 Tuism said:

Ohhh I remember, that's the thing with the city building aspects? It sounded interesting, but I remember saying it seemed to me too close to ACR/magic, especially following the success of ACR currently!

This engine sounds really interesting, what does it entail? Placing pieces on a board, resolving rules against turns, etc? I guess it's owned by our studio? What's your studio called?

Yea that's it
It's not really like ACR in the way it plays out at all... It's more city builder and build order/strategy order decisions, less luck of the draw and timing based so feels very different. It's still evolving tho.

Not sure what you mean by "owned by our studio"... is that a typo?
...or you mean if we collectively 'paid for' development with them?

They are called Aidem Media (www.aidemmedia.com) and I've been working with them for over a year on various projects since finding them to make GamePlan for me.

They got about 20 games in production of their own (including 'client' work they do) and we are doing 4 currently and another 3 or 4 kind of slowly in the background

My studio is DesignerApps for the non-games stuff and I'm just deciding on a name for my games company (think I have decided!) so gonna keep that quiet until I buy the domain name

The 'engine' in the way I mean it is really what drives the animations, scoring, rules, AI logic at different 'difficulties', tutorial system, network and lobby for multiplayer, editor for testing, optimisations for performance on older devices, IAP and Unlocks, Achievements, GameCentre etc. Graphics can be what you want, so yeah cards, pieces, switches whatever.

I've enquired how long it might take (estimate) once they know full rules spec and how many elements etc so I have a good idea of costs for coding apt he full game and individual costs 'per card' for art if I need it, but not sure they would sell the engine 'as a whole' if that is what you mean Tuism? I can always ask.

[Tuism]

What I meant by owned by your studio is if that engine was your proprietary thing, like the unreal engine, for example. But you've answered my question so they build games based on the engine that they've written, and you're commissioning them for it? Man I really wanna jump in from a personal point of view, I have quite a few ideas I wanna turn into apps and see if they'd work, but obviously without a team or the dev knowledge myself all I can do is draw pretty screenshots and talk about game mechanics.

If I may, and feel free to not answer if it's getting too revealing in a public platform, I would like to hear a bit about your experience of how you got started in app dev, getting your own team, studio, and now your own game label! It all sounds really exciting, and something I would love to give a real shot at (current job is destroying me from the inside out).

Maybe we should continue this on pm rather

[Baracus]

Jun 28, 2012 15:08:52 GMT -5 Tuism said:

What I meant by owned by your studio is if that engine was your proprietary thing, like the unreal engine, for example. But you've answered my question

Oh, you had typed "our" not "your"

Anyway, will PM you now