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Show HN: I built an iOS remake of that old windows game SkiFree

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Re: Show HN: I built an iOS remake of that old windows game SkiFree

#41

Post by dpcan »

pnathan wrote: post #36
dpcan wrote: post #27

Me too (sort-of). On Android. 2 years ago. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.selticeapp... My stats: I only have a little over 21K downloads, and the non-ad version has only made a few bucks. Ad revenue equates to a couple movie tickets every so often I guess. Wrote it in Monkey-X for cross-platform functionality, but only ever put it on Android for some reason. I've done no marketing. Never been feat…

I think a big difference is your game isn't as graphically polished - the OP has a buddy they work with and evidently knows more about graphics.. Also, last I looked at the numbers, iOS users pay more money than Android one. (sigh) I'll check your game out next time I'm looking for an android game!

Thanks, I hope you get a chance to check it out. But I have to ask, and I know art is subjective, but why do you find his art style better? I see cubes and triangles. It's probably pointless, but I feel like, if I can see what everyone else sees, maybe my art can get better. Or maybe that's impossible.

Re: Show HN: I built an iOS remake of that old windows game SkiFree

#44

Post by xopher »

dpcan wrote: post #27

Me too (sort-of). On Android. 2 years ago. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.selticeapp... My stats: I only have a little over 21K downloads, and the non-ad version has only made a few bucks. Ad revenue equates to a couple movie tickets every so often I guess. Wrote it in Monkey-X for cross-platform functionality, but only ever put it on Android for some reason. I've done no marketing. Never been feat…

Got the message,

This app is incompatible with all of your devices.

That's five different android devices.

Re: Show HN: I built an iOS remake of that old windows game SkiFree

#46

Post by basicallydan »

Super nice, dude!

I made a port (rather than a remake, like yours, with fancy new graphics ;) for the web which works on mobile: https://basicallydan.github.io/skifree.js. It has the monster and snowboarders.

Yours is much prettier though :D Nice work and well done on the success!

Re: Show HN: I built an iOS remake of that old windows game SkiFree

#48

Post by ronyeh »

dpcan wrote: post #41
pnathan wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a big difference is your game isn't as graphically polished - the OP has a buddy they work with and evidently knows more about graphics.. Also, last I looked at the numbers, iOS users pay more money than Android one. (sigh) I'll check your game out next time I'm looking for an android game!

Thanks, I hope you get a chance to check it out. But I have to ask, and I know art is subjective, but why do you find his art style better? I see cubes and triangles. It's probably pointless, but I feel like, if I can see what everyone else sees, maybe my art can get better. Or maybe that's impossible.

Art and design are subjective, but there ARE color schemes, game design "rules", and UX rules of thumb that will make your app more pleasing to the end user.

A good exercise would be to download/play the top 100 games on the app stores and write a sentence about each one articulating why you think it's a popular/good game. Over time you'll improve your sense of taste for good design.

Good luck!

Re: Show HN: I built an iOS remake of that old windows game SkiFree

#49

Post by ronyeh »

dpcan wrote: post #40
ronyeh wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi! Thanks for sharing. I agree it's important to talk about the 99% of indies who never get to the top of the app stores. I downloaded your app. The best feedback I can give is that it's too difficult to get through the gates with tilt controls. It doesn't give me the peaceful sense of skiing down the slopes (that the iOS game above claims to provide). There is a huge element of luck to it, but the top indie games a…

Thanks for the feedback, it's always appreciated. My high score is 72, the trick is to re-center after each gate ;) Over the last year, I stopped releasing games. I used to just keep putting them out, thinking they were polished enough, because of all this talk about "just launch" and game jams like #1gam seem to encourage the "just make games" mentality. However, while all that is great fun, I've changed my view. I'…

1gam and ludum dare are great ways to experiment with new ideas, but they rarely result in the level of polish needed to succeed on the mobile stores. Of course there are crazy success stories like Flappy Bird, but even Notch spent a lot of time iterating and improving Minecraft. Shipping v 1.0 is just the start!
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