1st Game submitted - 13 things I learned
debugdesign
Member Posts: 886
Hi Everyone,
Just submitting my first game to App Store but thought I would share some tips I learned along the way to help future issues for you.
1. Keep it under 10mb
This way you can upload it to gamesalad but also the US has a 3g limit on downloads whilst on the move so if its over they will have to wait for a wi-fi area which can lose customers.
2. Backgrounds can be saved as PNG8 from photoshop reducing the png file size dramitcally
3. If you need on-screen joysticks start your project with the tutorial file.
If you think "oh, I'll add it later" then you will see how complicated it is to transfer all the code to your project and its easy to miss things so start with the tutorial file and re-save it.
4. Plan your game in keynote, powerpoint as you can click from screen to screen to see how it all works first. From there you can see how many actors you will need as many times I found myself needing, blood, dead actor, buttons, etc etc
5. It's going to take longer than you think. Don't get frustrated if your game is not completed in a week.
6. Sound - http://media.io/ converts many sound files online and you can select 'smaller' to keep the sizes low
7. Get the 1st level done to perfection first.
Its easy to get carried away and have 5 levels done before you have perfected the first one. but you will find that when you go back to 'tidy up' you then have to go over ALL the other levels making the same changes wasting time. Once you have a perfect enemy, level and logic you can duplicate and increase for the further levels.
8. Test on viewer AND iphone early. On the website, my game ran fast and had 20+ enemies on a screen at one time but the minute it was on a ipod v1 the game stuttered to a hault and I had to go over the whole game reducing it down ALOT.
9. Save in multiple: The software is very unstable and so its wise to have at least 3 versions of you game saved so if one dies, you have not lost the lot.
10. Keep your rules, timers, actors properly named
During the testing phase it can be difficult to keep track of what does what so name the action every time you create one to save time later on. Also, make sure the same actions are in the same place; e.g. if the spawn actor action is on the background image on one level, keep it the same for other levels. I found that enemies were spawing enemies, the health bar was spawning enemies and all sorts which made it very difficult to track what was doing what.
11. Keep it simple. Having lots of actors on a screen at one time is a bad idea so be smart and limit what can be seen at one time as it will slow down everything on the device.
12. Testing - add a number of text boxes which show game attribute figures just outside the game area so when you are testing you can see what attribute is causing a problem.
13. Check the contracts area to make sure you have a 'Paid Contract' as I just noticed I have a 'Free Contract' and I can not find where to add the paid one so god knows what will happen.
Extra: The website http://www.apptrawler.com is currently being redeveloped and so is offering a months free button advertising when its relaunched next week (with a twitter follow). so send them your images, a button advert (85x85) video etc and you might get an review as well...
Just submitting my first game to App Store but thought I would share some tips I learned along the way to help future issues for you.
1. Keep it under 10mb
This way you can upload it to gamesalad but also the US has a 3g limit on downloads whilst on the move so if its over they will have to wait for a wi-fi area which can lose customers.
2. Backgrounds can be saved as PNG8 from photoshop reducing the png file size dramitcally
3. If you need on-screen joysticks start your project with the tutorial file.
If you think "oh, I'll add it later" then you will see how complicated it is to transfer all the code to your project and its easy to miss things so start with the tutorial file and re-save it.
4. Plan your game in keynote, powerpoint as you can click from screen to screen to see how it all works first. From there you can see how many actors you will need as many times I found myself needing, blood, dead actor, buttons, etc etc
5. It's going to take longer than you think. Don't get frustrated if your game is not completed in a week.
6. Sound - http://media.io/ converts many sound files online and you can select 'smaller' to keep the sizes low
7. Get the 1st level done to perfection first.
Its easy to get carried away and have 5 levels done before you have perfected the first one. but you will find that when you go back to 'tidy up' you then have to go over ALL the other levels making the same changes wasting time. Once you have a perfect enemy, level and logic you can duplicate and increase for the further levels.
8. Test on viewer AND iphone early. On the website, my game ran fast and had 20+ enemies on a screen at one time but the minute it was on a ipod v1 the game stuttered to a hault and I had to go over the whole game reducing it down ALOT.
9. Save in multiple: The software is very unstable and so its wise to have at least 3 versions of you game saved so if one dies, you have not lost the lot.
10. Keep your rules, timers, actors properly named
During the testing phase it can be difficult to keep track of what does what so name the action every time you create one to save time later on. Also, make sure the same actions are in the same place; e.g. if the spawn actor action is on the background image on one level, keep it the same for other levels. I found that enemies were spawing enemies, the health bar was spawning enemies and all sorts which made it very difficult to track what was doing what.
11. Keep it simple. Having lots of actors on a screen at one time is a bad idea so be smart and limit what can be seen at one time as it will slow down everything on the device.
12. Testing - add a number of text boxes which show game attribute figures just outside the game area so when you are testing you can see what attribute is causing a problem.
13. Check the contracts area to make sure you have a 'Paid Contract' as I just noticed I have a 'Free Contract' and I can not find where to add the paid one so god knows what will happen.
Extra: The website http://www.apptrawler.com is currently being redeveloped and so is offering a months free button advertising when its relaunched next week (with a twitter follow). so send them your images, a button advert (85x85) video etc and you might get an review as well...
Comments
Here's my addition to the list:
Think out your Attributes as early as possible. Don't use straight values in your Behaviors, as you may have to change a bunch of them later for tweaking purposes.
Perfect example: if you play a lot of sound effects, set up a `SoundVolume` Game Attribute first. Don't leave the default volume of 1 in all your Play Sound Actions, or you'll have to go back to every instance of it to change it when you realize you want to add an adjustable volume control in your game.
Its easy to get carried away and have 5 levels done before you have perfected the first one. but you will find that when you go back to 'tidy up' you then have to go over ALL the other levels making the same changes wasting time. Once you have a perfect enemy, level and logic you can duplicate and increase for the further levels."
This. Absolutely THIS.
I can't stress enough just how essential this is. It takes me a long time to get a second level running in my games. Mainly because once the features are in, I'm constantly testing them to make sure it all works ok!
Even when level 2 rears its ugly head, I'm testing both levels vigorously to make sure everything still works ok and that interaction between levels is working well too. Then level three goes in and the process starts anew!
It's frustrating sure, and you feel like progress is slow. But it pays off in buckets in the end!
Well played, sir!
QS
Dr. Sam Beckett never returned home...
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quantum_Sheep
Web: https://quantumsheep.itch.io
My game is 'The Danger Room' and I had to simplify it from the web version due to speed issues but now it works and although it quite easy, it should be easy to update as I can add new levels, enemies, a high score tables and more.
Will let you know once its approved and any reviews are greatly appreciated.
very good advice....
(and to sort out your free contract, you need to go through the tax and bank account info then apply for paid contract, not as complicated as it sounds only takes a few minutes)
Your tips should be an official guide. All very excellent points