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Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

playadrift.com

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Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#261

Post by ruswick »

alanctgardner2 wrote: post #103
exch wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He/she probably can't. The concept is not new. Here's a flash version of the same game. it is a few years old. [1]: http://www.addictinggames.com/puzzle-games/3dlogic2.jsp

Who says you need completely novel gameplay mechanics to charge money for an app? Surely more polish, hand-built levels and an app are sufficient. Whether OP would make more on ads or IAP remains to be seen, though. An IAP to get more levels would be a good way to hook users.

The overwhelming majority of app users would not pay a cent for any app, much less a game.

Free sells.

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#262

Post by lambda »

ruswick wrote: post #256
phil wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have for years. Believe me, the idea that the app store is a positive feedback loop and you have to clear the inital hurdle to get anywhere is not news to me. But the advice you're giving here is roughly equivalent to telling a young cyclist in their first pro race, "hey, listen buddy. If you want to succeed, you've got to dope. Everybody's doing it. There's no other way."

Except, that analogy is true: purportedly, doping is really pervasive in pro-cycling and is basically necessitated to be anywhere near competitive. The same is true of the app store. It's not optimal, but it's the status quo that tens of thousands of developers face: you can't win if you don't employ dubious means.

By the way, pro cycling had pretty much managed to kick its doping habit. You've seen all of the scandals over the past few years because they got more serious about cracking down on it, and once a few of the top pros were caught, they pointed the finger at the others. I think that most people believe that the last few Tours have been clean.

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#263

Post by ruswick »

mratzloff wrote: post #218

All you guys leaving advice and comments in this thread... download the app. It's much more polished than the website version. I rated it 5 stars, added a review, and referred it to a couple friends. I want to see this game succeed. If you want to support these guys, why not do the same?

In my opinion, the app is not deserving of 5 stars. The mechanics are grating and difficult to use. I spent 3 minutes trying to draw a path on level 10, and every time after rounding the corner a that I did not intend to change would change. After a while, I gave up and deleted the app. It looks nice, but there are more fundamental flaws in the gameplay.

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#264

Post by chii »

VonGuard wrote: post #204
archagon wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, we got similar advice when I was working at a social gaming startup. Apparently, it's not unheard of among growing, venture-funded companies like ours. I assure you, however, that the vast majority of the indie games that make the headlines (Super Hexagon, Hundreds, Letterpress, etc.) don't use these techniques.

Definitely true. And frankly, I only found out about some of the games yer mentioning through the IGF. Festivals and such are a great way to get yer name and game out there, but those are kinda limited to quality, unique games. And, as for Super Hexagon, I'll play anything Terry Cavanagh makes. He is a fucking god. 4-Letter-Word melted my brain.

if you game isn't good enough to be in the IGF then may be it isn't high quality enough to succeed with out cheating the app store. therefore indoor game devs should strive to make these unique games instead of piling same old clones into the app store and resort to cheating to get noticed

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#265

Post by Trufa »

VonGuard wrote: post #130

Hey guys, thought I'd throw in my 2-cents as an Independent Games Festival judge, and as press. First of all, your presentation is terrific. Great art and sound. Top notch, feels like it came from a very talented team. With this game on your resume, you've got a great future ahead of yourselves. Now, the bad part: from a gameplay perspective, your game is not unique enough to win out on its own merits in any app stor…

Why is the most up-voted comment here is one that suggests cheating?

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#267

Post by [deleted] »

VonGuard wrote: post #130

Hey guys, thought I'd throw in my 2-cents as an Independent Games Festival judge, and as press. First of all, your presentation is terrific. Great art and sound. Top notch, feels like it came from a very talented team. With this game on your resume, you've got a great future ahead of yourselves. Now, the bad part: from a gameplay perspective, your game is not unique enough to win out on its own merits in any app stor…

[deleted]

Re: Show HN: 6 months ago I quit my job to pursue indie dev. Here is our first game

#268

Post by erichocean »

lambda wrote: post #262
ruswick wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, that analogy is true: purportedly, doping is really pervasive in pro-cycling and is basically necessitated to be anywhere near competitive. The same is true of the app store. It's not optimal, but it's the status quo that tens of thousands of developers face: you can't win if you don't employ dubious means.

By the way, pro cycling had pretty much managed to kick its doping habit. You've seen all of the scandals over the past few years because they got more serious about cracking down on it, and once a few of the top pros were caught, they pointed the finger at the others. I think that most people believe that the last few Tours have been clean.

By the way, pro cycling had pretty much managed to kick its doping habit.

Okay, that made me laugh. Thanks for adding some humor into this otherwise rather downer discussion!

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