We have narrated introductions now. We didn't hire voice actors. The Mac Text Edit program does text to speech and has some fine accents. You can download more. There are some paid apps that enhance this but we were quite satisfied with what you get natively from Mac.
So we have Root speaking now with a wonderful British accent and Princess Kroma has a Scottish accent. : ) Will add a few more speaking parts to the scenes for different things but sparingly as it bloats the file. Of course, many people play with the sound off as they play at work, so we have the text there. : )
Omber is coming along. Am using First Person for Real Time battles and have been fine-tuning them. Now you can see one of my party members---Root (the tree) engage a goblin who is in our way. : ) Will be adding more party members and have finally figured out how to place them using First Person and Real Time battles. This is more exciting live but want to get more done before making a video.
Haven't had time to do a video yet as have been working on customization---you can now choose whether your player is male or female, change your class, see your weapon and shield swing at the enemy in battle-----pic doesn't show that as I couldn't snap it fast enough on my iPad.
and-----you can input your Name. : ) That part was remarkably easy to do. : ) I love my Action Bar. : )
Great screenshots, Catacomber! Actually, I have further questions on selling iOS games, if it's OK with you. So I'm basically a writer who'd like to cross over to semi-commercial gamedev (meaning budget games) a bit. Just tell me if I can bother you or not with biz type questions. :)
You're welcome to bother me. : ). Because I have partners and therefore responsibilities I have to run my indie game-making as a business. Still learning though as with all other things in life.
OK, thanks. So these questions refer to iOS games exclusively. (I know that Android is a radically different situation.)
-- You said that market saturation is not a problem. But is it lucrative enough as of 2015 to create iOS indie games full time? -- Is Touch Arcade the single most important portal for promotion? What about other sites? -- What about Twitter, reddit, tumblr and the rest? These are a must when promoting PC games, but do they help at all with the iOS crowd?
Anything that promotes your game helps with the iOS crowd so Twitter, Facebook and making a video for your game and having your own YouTube channel are all important. Having your own website helps too but I've found that nothing seems as important as Touch Arcade and of course making good game art for the screenshots in the asset store. You can also now include a video there. I haven't tried other sites for advertising but we are building up a kitty for that for Omber and we'll use that kitty to advertise exclusively at Touch Arcade.
I would say that as 2015 the iOS market is not lucrative enough as an Indie game maker to quit your day job. The saturation is not a problem to make some income if you either have a hit and/or quantity and a following. We make a decent income worthwhile enough to continue because we have 13 or 14 games in the Apple Store. We partnered with Redshift of Hungary to make our Quest expansions and we have been doing that since 2007. We all have day jobs though and none of us have quit them. I use almost 90 percent of my game income to plough back into development because assets are not cheap. : )
I think one thing many people forget with the iOS market is the sheer number of players out there all over the world and apple wants to make them happy. you should take a look at the types of games that apple features. You'll notice that many of them are free but with either advertising and or in app purchases. So you have to think about that. You can overcome the saturation if you can offer a game that might peak Apple's interest so they'll feature it or as I said with a natural hit or quantity so you have a following.
My advice is to ease into the market with the best game you can make but don't go broke making it and don't quit your day or night job until you have the income to do it and it seems steady. Like making a blueprint of a game make a business plan. And be practical. : ) it's really hard to do it solo but it has been done. It's better though to work with a few people you work well with and trust.
On the Unity forums there seems to be a consensus that the mobile games market is hopelessly saturated. But then again most of the forum regulars seem to be idle dreamers with few or zero published games under their belt. :) Your advices come from years of experience though.
don't quit your day or night job until you have the income to do it
I'm a freelancer which allows me to allocate some quality time to indie gamedev if it seems to worth it.
Old saying---80% of success is showing up. : ) I've loved making games since someone showed me how to place a house in a scene and go in and out of the door. : ) You've really got to love what you do and love talking to people about what you do and show up--that is get your game out there. : ) But I'd also say that 100% of our games originated in idle dreaming. : ) The idle dreamers in the Unity forum may not be as idle as they seem. : ) Just weaving their visions together until they're ready. : )
We had some luck also from at least one Touch Arcade review--the Quest Gold includes two or our Zarista games expansions--the article says we did 16 expansions. I can only count 13 but time has passed and maybe I forgot a few. But you have to start with a good game and then you need some luck imho. : )
Old saying---80% of success is showing up. : ) I've loved making games since someone showed me how to place a house in a scene and go in and out of the door. : ) You've really got to love what you do and love talking to people about what you do and show up--that is get your game out there. : ) But I'd also say that 100% of our games originated in idle dreaming. : ) The idle dreamers in the Unity forum may not be as idle as they seem. : ) Just weaving their visions together until they're ready. : )
what cata said is absolutely true you have to sell your self and reach out to people in this industry to be successful. Its a matter of how much your willing to do and how well you can sell your product. also how much your willing to put into the game your trying to create. i my self have pulled in 2 people who are really skilled in what they do my composer and the person who is helping me develop the rest of my systems , and when the time comes i have a voice actor from England who is doing the main characters voice for cheap money. I wouldnt have been able to bring any one on if i didnt reach out to them. like cata said its all about the passion. and if your lucky and you come up with innovated ideas to bring in to the game your developing you might get lucky and have a hit game from the get go. with all that being said. your games looking great cata!
Thanks. I'm glad that everyone likes the graphics. All my betatesters love the graphics. We also have many quests and am a story maven so working on devolving the story and now that I have the mechanics working reasonably well, getting all the quests and levels in.
This is really a wonderful forum for a wonderful game editor. Thanks to Gil and everyone who has helped me here.
the iOS market is not lucrative enough as an Indie game maker to quit your day job.
Then it's unlikely that I'll enter the iOS market any soon, as the PC/Mac market seems much more promising. By their own admission, even some novices make a decent living off releasing somewhat innovative visual novels and adventure games for PC/Mac.
Well, with a little bit of tweaking and polishing the controls, you can easily port an iOS game to PC/Mac and e.g. market it via Steam for extra sales ... same goes the other way round :)
Once you have your game ready for one platform, it's not that much time/work you need to adjust it's control to other platforms.
Please consider rating/reviewing my products on the Asset Store (hopefully positively), as that helps tremendously with getting found. If you're enjoying my products, updates and support, please consider supporting me on patreon.com!
Yah, it's so easy. Some day when I have a free few hours, I'll try porting The Omber to Android. : ) I know it works on Android. Just haven't had a chance to work with that platform much yet. I have the license. : )
So we have Root speaking now with a wonderful British accent and Princess Kroma has a Scottish accent. : ) Will add a few more speaking parts to the scenes for different things but sparingly as it bloats the file. Of course, many people play with the sound off as they play at work, so we have the text there. : )
Should have a video sometime soon.
and-----you can input your Name. : ) That part was remarkably easy to do. : ) I love my Action Bar. : )
Actually, I have further questions on selling iOS games, if it's OK with you.
So I'm basically a writer who'd like to cross over to semi-commercial gamedev (meaning budget games) a bit. Just tell me if I can bother you or not with biz type questions. :)
-- You said that market saturation is not a problem. But is it lucrative enough as of 2015 to create iOS indie games full time?
-- Is Touch Arcade the single most important portal for promotion? What about other sites?
-- What about Twitter, reddit, tumblr and the rest? These are a must when promoting PC games, but do they help at all with the iOS crowd?
I would say that as 2015 the iOS market is not lucrative enough as an Indie game maker to quit your day job. The saturation is not a problem to make some income if you either have a hit and/or quantity and a following. We make a decent income worthwhile enough to continue because we have 13 or 14 games in the Apple Store. We partnered with Redshift of Hungary to make our Quest expansions and we have been doing that since 2007. We all have day jobs though and none of us have quit them. I use almost 90 percent of my game income to plough back into development because assets are not cheap. : )
I think one thing many people forget with the iOS market is the sheer number of players out there all over the world and apple wants to make them happy. you should take a look at the types of games that apple features. You'll notice that many of them are free but with either advertising and or in app purchases. So you have to think about that. You can overcome the saturation if you can offer a game that might peak Apple's interest so they'll feature it or as I said with a natural hit or quantity so you have a following.
My advice is to ease into the market with the best game you can make but don't go broke making it and don't quit your day or night job until you have the income to do it and it seems steady. Like making a blueprint of a game make a business plan. And be practical. : ) it's really hard to do it solo but it has been done. It's better though to work with a few people you work well with and trust.
I hope that helps you.
On the Unity forums there seems to be a consensus that the mobile games market is hopelessly saturated. But then again most of the forum regulars seem to be idle dreamers with few or zero published games under their belt. :) Your advices come from years of experience though. I'm a freelancer which allows me to allocate some quality time to indie gamedev if it seems to worth it.
: )
http://toucharcade.com/2014/09/04/rpg-reload-file-004-the-quest-gold/
Our expansions are 2d--trying to accomplish the same thing now in 3d with Unity and Ork. : )
Follow the game Development on Twitter https://twitter.com/Fore_Lore_Games
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This is really a wonderful forum for a wonderful game editor. Thanks to Gil and everyone who has helped me here.
Once you have your game ready for one platform, it's not that much time/work you need to adjust it's control to other platforms.
If you're enjoying my products, updates and support, please consider supporting me on patreon.com!
The Quest List so far for The Omber----
http://www.catacomber.com/index.php/forum/omber/4487-the-omber-quest-list