BAD SERVICE

drobinson1

Game salad freelance developers rush your project. Don't pay them! They want all the money up front and communicate through email! No phone call, no Skype, NOTHING! I had a original game that would have been successful but the images were stretched, game play had errors with equaled bad reviews and app store rejection. I emailed game salad about other things and never get a response. !@#$% GAME SALAD!

ohtukrw

@drobinson1 said:
Game salad freelance developers rush your project. Don't pay them! They want all the money up front and communicate through email! No phone call, no Skype, NOTHING! I had a original game that would have been successful but the images were stretched, game play had errors with equaled bad reviews and app store rejection. I emailed game salad about other things and never get a response. **** GAME SALAD!

You seem really dissatisfied what was the developer's nickname and the game's name?

jonmulcahy

Why are you mad at Gamesalad when you were taken advantage of by a developer??

NNterprises

You can work with some real good people on here... don't think it has anything to do with Gamesalad or the developers as a whole.

Phones don't usually work since everyone is worldwide. My artist's prime hours are like 1-4AM my time so email works best. But i've had multiple people do skype.

A lot of developers don't even need up front payments, it's all how you work out your contract... some even do little to no payment and they work off of % equity (how much you make)

Now you know I guess...Good luck with life

jonmulcahy

Never ever ever pay everything up front. Ever

If they are a respected developer they will probably be 50% up front 50% on completion.

If it was a new person I would do 25% upfront. 25% at first mile stone. 25% at second milestone and 25% on completion.

jamie_c

I'm sorry to hear you were taken advantage of, but it's not the creator/publisher of the software who is to blame. A couple thoughts:

If you paid through paypal you can work with them to get all or part of your money back.

On future projects work payments like @jonmulcahy suggests above.

AlchimiaStudios

@drobinson1 said:
Game salad freelance developers rush your project. Don't pay them! They want all the money up front and communicate through email! No phone call, no Skype, NOTHING! I had a original game that would have been successful but the images were stretched, game play had errors with equaled bad reviews and app store rejection. I emailed game salad about other things and never get a response. **** GAME SALAD!

@jonmulcahy said:
Never ever ever pay everything up front. Ever

If they are a respected developer they will probably be 50% up front 50% on completion.

Also, most freelancers would offer this 50/50 compromise by default or something similar. Surprised this wasn't the case.

It could be your offerings weren't high enough to command a developer who cares enough to see it through correctly. Or maybe you hired someone who wasn't as experienced as they claimed.

Either way it's unfortunate to see you take this out on Gamesalad when it seems to mostly be an issue with who you chose to hire as a developer.

A second thing to consider: When you make a mobile game, it's a good idea to test the game beforehand, even if you didn't develop it. And to test on multiple devices. That way you can avoid bad reviews and issues before you send it off to be live on the stores!

Armelline

Personally I take a small deposit to secure my time (never more than about $80, often much less, deducted from the total cost, not in addition to it), then split the project into agreed upon chunks which I request payment after the mutually agreed completion of. That keeps the risk taken by both parties very minimal. I'd never even contemplate asking for full payment up front.

I also make myself available on Skype pretty much all day, every day. I've found doing things that way make it far easier to get feedback regularly and ensure the project is completed exactly how the client wants.

Please don't assume all GS freelancers are alike.

Icebox

@drobinson1 said:
Don't pay them! They want all the money up front and communicate through email! No phone call, no Skype, NOTHING! I had a original game that would have been successful but the images were stretched

I just love these threads for some reason , I hope you solve your issue. Hopefully you will have another original idea that will be successful. Don't blame the engine though its great and as mentioned earlier , not all GS freelancers are alike. Good luck

Dues

@drobinson1 said:
Game salad freelance developers rush your project. Don't pay them! They want all the money up front and communicate through email!

That's not fair to all the serious freelance GS devs here on the forums.

You happend to pay (everything upfront) to someone who wasn't serious, but that does not give you the right to blame every freelance dev there is.
Im not even going to give an example of how stupid your statement is, because I hope that you wrote this rant when you were not thinking clearly.

It sucks when someone takes advantage of you, and as others have said, don't pay everything upfront. Also make it a habit to do a thorough check of the person you are going to work with and give your money to.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

There are a handful of very long term reputable for hire developers on here. You should ask before you hire someone. Most of us who do this kind of freelance work have heard this same story 100 times from clients who finally come to one of us.