How many levels

chrisal

Ok then here is a question for you all.

How many levels do you think is a good amount for a 99c game???

Let's say for both a platform or shoot em up and a simple puzzle style game

iDeveloperz

30+

quantumsheep

RE: Shooters

I've seen some great shooters at MORE than 99 cents with just six levels in them!

It really depends on how you present them, and how long the levels last. If there's enough difference between them all, enough variety in there, then less is more. Personally, I look at games with 100+ levels in them and think 'what a chore! I have to get through all those???'

(No offence to those who do like those games, and indeed make them. Maybe I'm just a lazy gamer?)

QS

Edit: Additionally, you may want to consider what would make a player play your game again. Usually it's to beat their high score. Or best time.

chrisal

Is it acceptable to release a gmae with let's say 30 levels, and then release an update with more at a later date

iDeveloperz

Yeh anything like that is possible

nulo

yea. you can always add more levels through updates. but how i think is the following.
if you have only 10 levels on your game, but they are fun and have a good replay value, you are much better off then with 20 levels that are not that great, and the player will only play through once.
you shouldn't be worried about numbers. you need to think "for how long will this game be played?"

quantumsheep

Phew! My shooter has 10 levels!

It won't run on your 3G though nulo

QS

nulo

quantumsheep said:
Phew! My shooter has 10 levels!

It won't run on your 3G though nulo

QS

are you making for the iPad!?
I have a iPod 3G, not iPhone

quantumsheep

No iPad version, though I think it'd work very well on one!

AfterBurnett

I'd suggest looking at your favourite games and decide for yourself. I'm with quantumsheep, I tend to look at games with too many levels as a "chore" (although, if a save option is available I'm all for it, can take my time). I believe hours and hours of playability is fine but only in games such as RPGs, where there aren't really any "levels". Some of my favourite games only have 5-6 stages. If it's a shooter, make it a challenge... not so much it's impossible but enough that all stages won't be completed in the first few attempts... same for any action game, really. Yes, puzzle games tend to have more stages but I was recently playing Puzzle Bobble on SNES and found myself getting bored pretty quickly. Basically, I think the old adage "quality, not quantity" applies here... and throw in a dash of "variation" and you'll be sweet. My two cents, anyway

Oh and if your game is for iPhone... keep in mind that people don't tend to play for hour upon hour... the casual game is king on this format. 3-4 hours combined gameplay will be ample.

TouchTiltGames

I'm in the process of finishing my first GS game...Does creating a ton of levels or Scenes increase the app size dramatically? Or does creating a bunch of scenes use instances of an actor instead of copying it for each scene..

aalzanki

My puzzle game have 28 levels which isn't enough.

Regards,

AfterBurnett

My first game will probably only have 6-8 levels... but boy will they be good