DreamLab said: For those who have the pro edition of Gamesalad, is it worth it? For the price. Please leave a comment and why it would be worth it if so.
I mention the strengths of the professional behaviors in the updated version of The Unofficial GameSalad Textbook. (App version available in iTunes!) Basically, if you're successful with iAds, you could actually make more money with a free app than a paid one.
It's very hard to get noticed. How do you beat all of the 99¢ apps? You make a free one! With roughly a penny for every two impressions, it's like building your own penny arcade. The tricky part is to encourage repeat plays.
Also, there's the marketing factor. If you have a lite version of your app. You can encourage more upgrades to the regular version with the OpenURL behavior.
For those two behaviors, it's not terribly difficult to get back the $499. You'd need to make about $1.37 in iAds revenue or lite upgrades per day. That's not terribly difficult to do, if your apps are good enough.
Think about the alternative. With a 99¢ app, you make the one sale and that's it. (GameSalad doesn't have in-app purchases yet, but I suspect that would be a Professional feature if it's added.) But with iAds, a player can keep making money for you as long as they're loading / clicking advertisements.
I think Open URL in Professional is like investing $499 in marketing. The best way to promote your games is to do it from the iTunes store. Use free apps like a trojan horse, encouraging players to buy paid apps.
I think @ $99 coming from a legacy licence it's worth a punt for the iAds. (Unity3D did a similar thing making the paid entry version free, but offering the iPhone version at a reduced price) Bate & Switch ???
I can't see the full price $499 pro version selling that well unless they offer a little bit more. (Splash screen maybe, lol)
Hopefully my next app will help pay for the pro edition. What's your opinion on the game art?(to everyone) Like do you hire someone, do it on your own, if so how long does it usually take? It's taking me awhile to complete mine, but I'm a perfectionist.
Of course its risky but i do it as i love to develop games, it was always my dream as a kid to make games! Its not my full time job, i budget for what i can afford. Some do ok, some dont, speak with a few members on here and they've done very well. The appstore is a lottery and a game itself!
beefy_clyro said: The appstore is a lottery and a game itself!
The iTunes App Store is not a lottery. It's not gambling because gambling involves random chance. The iTunes App Store involves skill. If you make a really good game, it usually does well. Sure, there are random factors that are beyond your control, but that's true about most things in life. By making good decisions, you can minimize risk.
I do treat it like a game though - where the scoring is in real dollars. App development is also entertainment for me. Instead of playing Farmville, wondering how a virtual garden is turning out, I'm growing apps.
@Photics - I disagree! It is a lottery in a hypothetical way, no matter how good your game is, there is NO guarantees, it will sell and many great games have not done well. It is a gamble to invest a lot of time and money into a project, again, there is no guarantee it will pay off.
I have just completed my 1st year on the appstore and i have certainly approached it like a game, i have released in different genres, apps as well as games to test the market and gauge the response. I am still in testing, about to see how iAds works out for me, i have learned a lot in the year, no where near enough but 1 thing i realised straight away ... there are virtually no guarantees. Thats what makes it great though, little indies such as ourselves can compete side by side with the big devs and can achieve success!
beefy_clyro said: @Photics - I disagree! It is a lottery in a hypothetical way, no matter how good your game is, there is NO guarantees, it will sell and many great games have not done well. It is a gamble to invest a lot of time and money into a project, again, there is no guarantee it will pay off.
There's a difference between business and gambling. To show you, here's a look at two of the biggest surprise flops of GameSalad.
1) Jungle Bug - This was a pretty sharp looking game, but it didn't really find that much success on the iTunes App Store. So what? The game was resold to another developer. You can't do that with a lottery ticket.
2) Mini Cannon - This app got nailed by the "Release Date" error. But also, this was an experiment for GameSalad. It seems to have failed. However, that gives them knowledge. It lets them decide. Do they really want to be in the marketing business? Wouldn't it be more profitable for them to focus on building better software or a better website?
Also, isn't Mini Cannon like Angry Birds? I think that's a tough sell - especially during Christmas time. Players could just pick up Angry Birds Seasons or Cut the Rope for 99¢... or play Fragger for free on miniclip.com. I don't think Independent Game Developers are going to win by attacking well-known games head-on. Instead, the gaming experiences should be unique.
But so what if Mini Cannon doesn't do great right away... that game could easily be repackaged. Street Fighter wasn't as popular as Street Fighter II. You can take a failed game, improve on it, then relaunch - like Mini Cannon Deluxe. And again, the game could simply be resold to another developer or relaunched with iAds.
There are also other platforms. There's the web, Android, Mac and PC. There are plenty of markets to find success.
Gambling doesn't work that way. The more you invest, the more likely you'll lose. With App development, I think it's the opposite. The more you work at it, the better you can get. If you're building better games, the more likely they are to sell.
You can make the ad disappear by deleting the actor that uses the iAd behavior. I don't recommend that though. I'm thinking that you might not get paid for an impression if the ad doesn't stay on the screen long enough.
The iAd behavior will match your scene, showing an iAd that's 320x50 or 480x32. You get to choose if it's on the top or the bottom of the screen.
@photics - i agree with what you are saying. I didnt intend for it to be meant literally like the lottery. i.e. you buy a ticket with random numbers for a chance of winning money, once its gone thats it. I said it hypothetically to show my opinion that investing in anything to a degree is a gamble. It may work it may not. Lets say i invest my time, money for art, money for sound etc to make a good game. Once released it could easily not sell, no matter how good it is. I could pursue other options for it, port to other platforms, but again, it may not pay off. Thats the whole lottery remark, there is no guarantee for success, the appstore is not a guarantee, theres a lot of devs trying but if it was guaranteed to pay off and make lots of profit, everyone would do it.
What I am trying to figure out is if there are any features other than the iAd service included with the membership. I don't need ads, so if that's all you get I have no need to pay for the membership.
I updated for the current stuff but also for what I think will be in future versions. I hope in the year we will see support for Games Center, in app purchasing, server linking as pro functions.
I am not really concerned about the splash screen. Nobody sees it in iTunes. Every commercial game has several splash screens or logos before the game.
tenrdrmerMember, Sous Chef, Senior Sous-ChefPosts: 9,934
Except if you are willing to pay 500 bucks fore a non working/senseless iAd function and a rather redundant linking function.
I think its worth $99 to have access to those "senseless" functions for the next year as well as any thing else that gets added. I dont think its worth $500 now but maybe in the future. Only time will tell
I think iads is a quality killer. Let's be honest. Gamers prefer to see the game. Not have annoying ads. But I guess if the app is free then that's a small price to pay. I never click on ads because I'm interested in playing the game. It is a risky decision. Maybe if u had two apps. One thats great and one that's not all that but fun to use. Then decide which one ur going to use. Or maybe just make a great game. Free with ads. And a paid one with added bonuses like extra levels and what not
tenrdrmerMember, Sous Chef, Senior Sous-ChefPosts: 9,934
iAd's are actually pretty cool IMO. I always click on them when its something that looks interesting because when your done you get to go back to your app instead of it closing and opening a web page. one I opened was like a mini game that allowed me to download a couple free songs from itunes. I think apple may have cornered the market with iAds since they are the only ones with that type functionality at this point. I believe as people realize there is a difference they will begin looking at them more and more. Especially if they keep interesting content.
$499 is too much if you don't know how to use the software yet, which is my case. I'll publish a couple of games first and if everything works the way I want then I'll consider paying the fee. This is like considering buying a Ferrari when you still don't know how to drive...
Comments
It's very hard to get noticed. How do you beat all of the 99¢ apps? You make a free one! With roughly a penny for every two impressions, it's like building your own penny arcade. The tricky part is to encourage repeat plays.
Also, there's the marketing factor. If you have a lite version of your app. You can encourage more upgrades to the regular version with the OpenURL behavior.
For those two behaviors, it's not terribly difficult to get back the $499. You'd need to make about $1.37 in iAds revenue or lite upgrades per day. That's not terribly difficult to do, if your apps are good enough.
Think about the alternative. With a 99¢ app, you make the one sale and that's it. (GameSalad doesn't have in-app purchases yet, but I suspect that would be a Professional feature if it's added.) But with iAds, a player can keep making money for you as long as they're loading / clicking advertisements.
I think Open URL in Professional is like investing $499 in marketing. The best way to promote your games is to do it from the iTunes store. Use free apps like a trojan horse, encouraging players to buy paid apps.
I can't see the full price $499 pro version selling that well unless they offer a little bit more. (Splash screen maybe, lol)
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does iAds really do the trick ? i mean i dont think there is that much percentage of connected devices
assuming iads needs internet
and is there a demo about the usage of iads in game salad
just to have prospective on how to integrate it
I do treat it like a game though - where the scoring is in real dollars. App development is also entertainment for me. Instead of playing Farmville, wondering how a virtual garden is turning out, I'm growing apps.
I have just completed my 1st year on the appstore and i have certainly approached it like a game, i have released in different genres, apps as well as games to test the market and gauge the response. I am still in testing, about to see how iAds works out for me, i have learned a lot in the year, no where near enough but 1 thing i realised straight away ... there are virtually no guarantees. Thats what makes it great though, little indies such as ourselves can compete side by side with the big devs and can achieve success!
1) Jungle Bug - This was a pretty sharp looking game, but it didn't really find that much success on the iTunes App Store. So what? The game was resold to another developer. You can't do that with a lottery ticket.
2) Mini Cannon - This app got nailed by the "Release Date" error. But also, this was an experiment for GameSalad. It seems to have failed. However, that gives them knowledge. It lets them decide. Do they really want to be in the marketing business? Wouldn't it be more profitable for them to focus on building better software or a better website?
Also, isn't Mini Cannon like Angry Birds? I think that's a tough sell - especially during Christmas time. Players could just pick up Angry Birds Seasons or Cut the Rope for 99¢... or play Fragger for free on miniclip.com. I don't think Independent Game Developers are going to win by attacking well-known games head-on. Instead, the gaming experiences should be unique.
But so what if Mini Cannon doesn't do great right away... that game could easily be repackaged. Street Fighter wasn't as popular as Street Fighter II. You can take a failed game, improve on it, then relaunch - like Mini Cannon Deluxe. And again, the game could simply be resold to another developer or relaunched with iAds.
There are also other platforms. There's the web, Android, Mac and PC. There are plenty of markets to find success.
Gambling doesn't work that way. The more you invest, the more likely you'll lose. With App development, I think it's the opposite. The more you work at it, the better you can get. If you're building better games, the more likely they are to sell.
1 question though
what ads layout options do i have ? and does it stay there at screen or disapear after x sec ?
The iAd behavior will match your scene, showing an iAd that's 320x50 or 480x32. You get to choose if it's on the top or the bottom of the screen.
so is about 15 seconds exposure enough ?
and can i include one at each level lets say
this can get really money generating tool
?(? right name gamesalad studios )
Except if you are willing to pay 500 bucks fore a non working/senseless iAd function and a rather redundant linking function.
Are there any other features?
I am not really concerned about the splash screen. Nobody sees it in iTunes. Every commercial game has several splash screens or logos before the game.