No worries buddy. But I do think that you should reach out to him directly, he's a really cool guy and i'm sure you would get answers that you're looking for
Looks like I missed some action. I really had no idea things I said would garner such reactions. In any case, the forums as @andre_sprs said are no place for negative comments or interactions. Most inquiries have been made and discussed and only requires a nominal search in this thread and through out the forums. Guess what everyone, I started out from 0 just like most of you and I only got to where I am now by continued research, and hard work. There is no magic trick involved in what I do or have done. And yes my good buddy @Collin Wade Thiessen helped introduce me to people that led to my pub deal. And guess what? This is exactly what I said to do earlier...meet people and just work on making friends. You will NOT do this by becoming angry with people.
I agree that negative comments do not have any place here but I also agree with Kory that as of late, the community doesn't seem to be very helpful (anymore). At least not in public. This is more of a general thing actually. Developers with knowledge and experience are mostly not willing to share anything and that makes me sad. It almost seems a taboo. I know that David already said that he can't talk about it because he firmed a contract which doesn't allow him to do so. But it would be really helpful if new and old developers can get more insights from others and their case studies when it comes down to the second half of our business. If there is criticism I rather would criticize the industry as a whole which seems not to be very helpful when it comes to the distribution and sells. I mean, did you ever look for information regarding publishers, contracts, numbers, revenue, etc.? There are just a handful of threads on the Internet. Most of them are on reddit. Here on this forum the only one who shared his experience was Dan Counsell and that's about it. It's hard to make a good game, but it's probably even harder to make any money out of it. So this is definitely something we as a community have some homework to do.
I'll be honest guys, my main skill in apps is game design; I've not put much effort into learning about marketing or otherwise. I DO study a lot of other topics outside of apps though to increase my general understanding of the world and how everything connects. I don't study marketing or advertising or other things even now. I have only studied game design and Build Box. It is the game design skills that gave me the ability to create a product that publishers would be interested in. I consider game design skills to be the most important skill to have. It is because of these skills that I continue to work on that I don't have to worry about marketing or other aspects of the app business. I think the more you focus on one thing and strive to become great at it the quicker you will become successful. Also know that I do not consider myself any kind of game design guru or master. I know I only understand .00001% of what there is to know in regards to game design which is why I continue to strive for more and more knowledge. When I tell you guys to improve your game design skills, I am also telling myself the same thing. All of us should always strive to improve our skills. I think we all are looking for a magic trick or secret tip in many things in life. The real secret is just keep working hard and be willing to fail until you achieve your goal. I've listed all the same resources I studied plus my thinking on apps and growing as a person. Those are the "magic tricks."
To be honest the only answer I want is how many game can a BuildBox dev dev if a BuildBox dev could dev games?
I agree! Vectology will become a free service really soon. We need to share the love (and build an audience)
It's clear to me that the maker of color switch thought a lot about getting the game in the eyes and hands of people who may want to play it. Rather than looking at just one publisher, he looked at multiple publishers. Then he found a better opportunity, one he considered better because of the potential for getting the game into the eyes and hands of people who would want to play it. He looked at the potential of the marketing strategies that would be used, and it clearly worked, and it worked hand-in-hand with the product development approach the creator took to continually provide loyal gamers with new color switch experiences. I believe it's all in this thread. If you cannot figure this much out from this thread, you should check it again. Thanks @Machine Rises for sharing your journey.
I know Dave as well...before BB when we used...that other desasterous software...that still isn't stable...with no support...or awesome communication that BB staff provides...lol and I can tell you this. That guy has put tons of effort into learning game design and how to work the mind of a gamer...to hook'em and he nailed it. He has even guided me at times and is inspiring to me. Was it "Thinkertoys" I believe was a great inspiration to him ? Pretty sure he told us all that part as well. Oh...and he is a great guy
and "The Art of Game Design" by Jesse Schell... read that book... change your life... wanna make games? read that book... change your life... oh.. and come across buildbox somehow... I don't even remember how i came across bb now... but that was kind of an important step too, but a phenomenon that I call "The Paralysis of Infinite Possibilities" can be cured by reading Mr. Schell's book. Buildbox is a tool... it won't make a great game for you... you have to do that part and just "winging" it won't cut it... just look at the app store... design with purpose and good things happen... @Machine Rises posted that book and Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko somewhere on this forum and it was the first time in my life that I ever paid for that most expensive shipping, so like once you click buy, you hear a knock at your door... buyer's remorse set it before it came on the shipping purchase, but once it came... it changed the path of my career, my life... it changed everything... it gave me direction and purpose and cured my Paralysis of Infinite Possibilities.... I take copious amount of notes when I study it... I still haven't finished it, but it's a journey...
No worries Kory! It's easy to get frustrated in this business and I have been frustrated many times. I used to look at lots of big apps and wonder what the secret was. The secret to any big success is hard work, research, and a willingness not to give up no matter how many mistakes you make. Always learn as much as you can about many topics. I personally study architecture, filmmaking, cinematography, storytelling, and a myriad of other topics. This improves our thinking which improves our results. This happens slowly and organically over time. The key is to feed your brain daily. You will create new perspectives which will help you tackle just about any problem you come across in life.
You know guys, this is critical to understand that success is not finding us for free. In fact we need to find the way to be successful. Keep trying and trying and trying until you get it and in the meanwhile educate yourself the get a higher chance. The so called luck is non existent. People saying a successful man was lucky because they do not see the hard work behind it. But do not be fooled with that. This is not a lottery ticket...
Mike... you say the craziest stuff... It's like... if Confucius had a sense of humor, but no one got it because they don't understand he doesn't take himself too seriously, so everyone lives by this "wisdom" he hands out... when in fact, he's just giggling at everyone...