The journey begins (about four months ago!)

So first up, why the name? Easy... This blog will be about the trials and tribulations of trying to beat the man... you know... the man... maybe if I say it as 'working for the man' you'll understand what the hell im on about.. anyway, as I said, the whole reason behind this blog is to track my path to enlightenment (working for myself!).. I will keep you in the loop about what im doing, and how its going... (so far SLOWLY!!) 

Admittedly, this will mainly be following my current path of making it as an iPhone games developer, because, well I always wanted to be a game developer, but following that path can be trickey at best, especially when you consider the fact ive always been a PC user and therefore a PC developer. What!? Yes thats right, im a PC user thats converting to Apple... I was always adament Apple was not for me, then I got an iPhone, and that was the catalyst for my conversion. Of course when I got my first iPhone I had no plans to try and develop software for it... That would mean I would have to (GASP!) buy a Mac!

As time has gone on, and Ive realised that there is a big market in smartphone games and that if im gonna beat the man in any way, shape, or form, its probably going to be doing something like this (winning the lottery hasnt quite worked out for me yet, although im still hanging on to that dream!).

But wait! what about Android!? Well thats a very good question. The honest truth is I'm being stubborn about wanting to give Apple development a good go first. I like the platform, ive invested time learning the language, so im going to stick to my guns. Im not saying I wont ever go down the Android path, but for now im concentrating on Apple. This may mean I never beat the man, but thats a gamble im willing to make right now.

So, where am I right now?

Same place I was when I first got my Mac, with the exception of having one game on the appstore, that isnt quite making the millions I imagined. Bummer.

So why am I not making millions!? Thats a tough question, but I guess the main answer is the game aint worth the dollar im trying to get people to part with, combined with low attention. At least Ive learnt one or two things in the last few months about iPhone games though. Maybe the next one will show me the money!

So what have I learnt?

Number 1, and this is a big one... Dont assume people will understand how to play your game. When I was developing the game and showing it to people, they all seemed to understand what they were doing, but that was probably because I was looking over their shoulder telling them what they are supposed to be doing. Turns out, when Im not there, people dont get what they are trying to do... in fact, some didnt even realise what you could do in game.

Number 2. People dont want to pay for your game... yet... If your game isnt free, people just wont try it. I could have the most amazing game EVER, but if no one is trying it, it aint worth anything. In App purchases are the only way to go. If your planning on releasing some games, make them free with in-app purchases as your first release. Dont be lazy like I was and figure you would put it in later. The problem I encountered with this was when I changed my purchase model, the people that had already paid for my game got screwed! The update made the full version they had already paid for go to a lite version with limited functionality. To those ten or so people, Im sorry. I didnt realise this was going to happen. If it makes you feel better, I've paid for my own game twice now! Its probably worth noting here, that since releasing the free version, its been downloaded 20x more (but then I only started with 10 downloads!)

Number 3. Dont do what I did and assume that because everyone youve showed your game has liked it and told you they would buy it, will. My first game wasnt the overnight sensation I thought it was going to be (BUT people told me they would buy it!?...). So what went wrong here? Not really sure... maybe they lied, maybe they were being kind, maybe they would buy it but have no idea its out.

Thats all i've really got for now, but hopefully there will be more soon. Im currently working on my new game so we will see what happens with that.

Until then, you can find my current game Revolver Revolutions on the appstore. Id would say go buy it, but if youre like any of the other 200 or so people who have downloaded it, you probably wont want to part with that dollar...

JL