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Publishing a Commercial iPhone Game, Start To Finish

Posted by timothy on from the alger-would-be-proud dept.

Niklas Wahrman writes with this "motivational story on how a student and part-time developer was able to take an idea and turn it into an Android project and then port to iPhone for commercial release in less than a year. In the article, he focuses on how to get a game done — a problem many independent developers face. During the development of the game, Asterope, he took a lot of screenshots from many of the development stages that show how the game gradually came to life."

38 comments

  1. Cell Phone Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    More like Cell Phone Lames.

    1. Re:Cell Phone Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      The iPhone is actually a rather nice gaming platform.

    2. Re:Cell Phone Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BASTARD
      Please mod that fucker down. It's a goatse link.

    3. Re:Cell Phone Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      The iPhone is actually a rather nice gaming platform.

    4. Re:Cell Phone Games? by rodrigoandrade · · Score: 1

      Agreed 100%. I own a Samsung Omnia with WinMo 6.1 (my 3rd WinMo device - the first 2 were ipaqs) and I just don't get this whole mobile gaming thing this side of GameBoy/DS. Even Nokia's supposedly groundbreaking phone/gaming device, the Ngage, failed miserably.

      We already lead pretty hectic lives in the city, if I have time to play a game, I'd rather be home gaming.

    5. Re:Cell Phone Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BASTARD
      Please mod that fucker down. It's a penisbird link.

    6. Re:Cell Phone Games? by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 4, Informative

      Agreed 100%. I own a Samsung Omnia with WinMo 6.1 (my 3rd WinMo device - the first 2 were ipaqs) and I just don't get this whole mobile gaming thing this side of GameBoy/DS.

      I have a DS which I enjoy a lot, but I would have to say that my iPod Touch is definitely my most played game platform at the moment. I bought a bunch of games for $.99 each (Solebon, Cro-Mag Rally, Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab to name a few). They're all good for a quick gaming session when I have a few minutes to kill. Plus, you have companies like THQ, Namco, Electronic Arts, Atari, Konami, Sega and Hudson Soft developing for the iPod, so it's obviously a hot platform for games.

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    7. Re:Cell Phone Games? by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Penisbird sounds like a fun game, tell me do i get to use the touch screen?

    8. Re:Cell Phone Games? by MikeDirnt69 · · Score: 1

      You got it wrong. It have a joystick.

      --
      Am I eval()? - http://www.monst3r.com.br
    9. Re:Cell Phone Games? by 2nd+Post! · · Score: 1

      Um, if you get the GameBoy/DS, then you get the whole mobile gaming thing. Just because the NGage was poorly designed and implemented and your Omnia doesn't have the right interfaces doesn't mean mobile gaming is bad.

      --

      GPL Deconstructed
    10. Re:Cell Phone Games? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, considering that the iPhone has a touch screen and one button, I'd say fuck you.

    11. Re:Cell Phone Games? by StreetStealth · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think you've hit on why the iPhone/Touch platform may very well explode as a third mobile gaming market.

      You currently have three markets that center mostly around three different platforms:

      Sony PSP: Core gaming - games solidly in traditional genres, generally geared toward longer play sessions.

      Nintendo DS: Casual gaming - some traditional genres, some breakouts, geared toward shorter play sessions.

      Java/BREW: Momentary gaming - traditional genres only appear in abbreviated form; intended for the shortest play sessions; greatly limited by non-game-friendly hardware.

      Nokia made a pass at expanding this last slice of the pie with the N-Gage and failed because they didn't really advance far enough beyond industry-standard cell phone hardware.

      But now here is Apple, who instead of selling a compromise between console and phone, is selling a brilliant phone that happens to double as a number of other things including a game console. Add to that a second model that doesn't require leaving your existing phone, and you can see how they're poised to grab this market and perhaps take a bit from their neighbor, Nintendo.

      --
      Your mind is clear / The things that you fear / Will fade with how much you / Believe what you hear
    12. Re:Cell Phone Games? by strjms72 · · Score: 1

      i agree with that, if i'm out i certainly have things to do, playing on my mobile phone is probably the last thing i have time for.

  2. Good for him. by bigattichouse · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A detailed post-mortem is always a good thing. I have to say I love reading gamasutra's PM's - I get a much better perspective on the projects I do, if I can occasionally see how other people got through theirs.

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    meh
    1. Re:Good for him. by butalearner · · Score: 5, Informative

      A detailed post-mortem is always a good thing. I have to say I love reading gamasutra's PM's - I get a much better perspective on the projects I do, if I can occasionally see how other people got through theirs.

      I agree wholeheartedly. I usually go to GameDev's collection of post-mortems, which includes links to gamasutra's. The "what went wrong" sections are especially insightful.

    2. Re:Good for him. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the contrary, I cannot stand a detailed post-mortem. It inspires more people to get into indie development, which will mean more competition for my title(s) :(

      Oh well, it was still a fun read with very good suggestions. I hope people just ignore them :D!

    3. Re:Good for him. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      What's the point of trying to start a small business like this when in 3 weeks small business owners like me (small software shop) and Joe the Plummer are going to get taxed out of existance?

      Obama is stealing the vote with ACORN, filling voting booths with felons and the homeless. Despite the strongest Republican ticket in history the mainstream media have been brainwashed into giving The Chosen One a free ride. Even Lettermann (who I used to respect) is in the tank for obama, just because McCain had the guts to sort out the financial crisis instead of appearing on a comedy show. And Katey Couric represents the worst style of interviewing, with obnoxiously difficult questions and followups expressly designed to play stump the candidate instead of letting them air their policies and viewpoints.

      If Nobama wins Apple will move to Ireland anyway. We need a corporation tax cut and we need it now. Joe the Plummer is not rich, just an independant voter who will get screwed by the Messiah's socialism. iPhone developers aren't rich too, except for the I am rich guy.

      VOTE McCain/Palin 2008!

    4. Re:Good for him. by WiredNut · · Score: 0, Informative

      Well he's not stealing my vote. I give it freely. As for higher taxes, that is tough for those with net income over 250K in a household, but they are already taxed in the highest bracket I believe, and it will only be a small increase, hardly enough to remove one from existence. As for the free ride, I see plenty of criticism of Obama, if Fox doesn't count as mainstream I wonder why they have a monopoly in the two airport public areas I passed through last week? Holy crap it was a load of talking heads screeching like gibbering monkeys. And of course Katie Couric is a crappy interviewer...the problem was that she was chosen by the Palin campaign, and is one of only a very, very few public interviews she submits to...contrast that to Biden who spews to any reporter willing to sit still long enough. And gosh, if Katie Couric of all people was able to stump Palin, well, I guess that tells us something about Palin's abilities... Wait. Did I just get trolled? Crap me, this is off topic but hella fun.

    5. Re:Good for him. by aftk2 · · Score: 1

      +1 Funny!

      I can't decide whether this is in earnest, is an outright troll, or is a deliberate art piece meant to demonstrate the absurdity of talking points by bunching them all together.

      --
      concrete5: a cms made for marketing, but strong enough for geeks.
  3. Ha ha! by butalearner · · Score: 5, Funny
    A very (probably unintentionally) funny part about this game for the iPhone is the objective (from the game's website):

    10 Levels to stop the Androids' invasion of Earth!

    1. Re:Ha ha! by hvm2hvm · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm thinking it was intentional since the game was intended for Android, for the challenge actually if I skimmed the article right.

      --
      ics
  4. Start to finish... by iminplaya · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does that include its deletion from the Apple store?

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    What?
    1. Re:Start to finish... by iminplaya · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Troll...HAHAHA... So funny to throw something up into the air actually have it hit something. Chalk up another fanboi smacked on the head :-)

      --
      What?
    2. Re:Start to finish... by alexj33 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      The parent post was hilarious! Why did it get modded down to troll???

    3. Re:Start to finish... by alexj33 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Here's a Flowchart on how Applications get permission to enter the App Store.

      http://gizmodo.com/5051273/how-apple-picks-which-apps-make-it-to-the-app-store

    4. Re:Start to finish... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you ever count the number of pro-apple edits on slashdot vs the number of anti-apple edits then you'd take care to be nice to fanbois as they are a rarity nowadays - hunted to the brink of extinction by the vast majority of h8rgirlz.

  5. The title's a bit off by verbalcontract · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The postmortem is mostly about how an independent developer developed a game for Google Android, and has a blurb about developing for the iPhone. From TFA:

    I won't discuss the details of developing for the iPhone. I'm a bit unsure of the NDA so I better keep my mouth shut.

    But this is a great post-mortem about how to go from idea to finished game.

  6. And in the mirror universe... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This "motivational" story could have been somewhat different had Apple decided that the student's project wasn't to their liking in some way (perhaps infringing on one of their own applications - that's always a popular one) and pulled it without so much as an apology.

  7. iPhone. iPhone. and IPhone by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why am I reading Slashdot? Again?

  8. Well done by FornaxChemica · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That was an interesting read. He was very motivated and got to make and release a commercial game, practically all by himself; that's quite outstanding when you think of it, and inspiring too. The hard work paid off, kudos to his dedication (I'm envious)!

  9. Not tech news by EncryptedSoldier · · Score: -1, Troll

    I'm sorry but any story regarding a product with an "i" in front of the name is not concerning technology and is a waste of my time.

  10. Reads like and advert by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Reads more like an advertisement for various "self help" authors and books to me.

  11. the iPhone is THE new gaming platform by mcbevin · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Its amazing how many games are being released for the iPhone *every day* .... just like the iPhone (/iPod touch) platform is supposedly used more for reading eBooks than all the eBook readers together, I think the same is happening for games.

    Of course while the majority of games are pretty budget right now (people in for the quick money), there's some real gems, and some are really making innovative use of the iPhone's touch interface which provides a lot of new gaming possibilities, and definitely suits some kinds of games more than others. My picks so far would have to be Galcon and Fuzzle - both highly underrated (or under-popular would be more correct) games.

    1. Re:the iPhone is THE new gaming platform by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      There are games available for loads of mobile platforms, including phones. It's only because this story includes the word "Iphone" that it gets front page news, as if it were something new.

    2. Re:the iPhone is THE new gaming platform by Doggabone · · Score: 1

      There are games available for loads of mobile platforms, including phones. It's only because this story includes the word "Iphone" that it gets front page news, as if it were something new.

      I can't agree at all with "only includes the word Iphone". It's definitely a piece worthy of Slashdot discussion (or as worthy as any other). There aren't newer mass-market gaming platforms than the iPhone; by it's design the iPhone incites a new approach to designing games; Android IS new; most games for the iPhone are as new as the App Store (which is new); there are still issues and controversies about that App Store and Apple's discretion; the development cycle started on the open platform Android and moved to the closed platform of the iPhone; Slashdot caters to geeks, programmers and gamers and a story about programming a game is just a bloody natural fit on the front page.

      On top of all of that, it's a thorough and good breakdown in the article, and well worth reading exclusive of the other merits.

    3. Re:the iPhone is THE new gaming platform by Draek · · Score: 1

      just like the iPhone (/iPod touch) platform is supposedly used more for reading eBooks than all the eBook readers together, I think the same is happening for games.

      You're not serious, are you? the Nintendo DS is various orders of magnitude more popular than the Kindle, and that's leaving aside the PSP versus whatever eBook reader is second-best right now (case in point, I can't remember any besides the Kindle).

      Fuck, it wouldn't surprise me if a single Palm model would be used more for reading eBooks than all eBook readers combined, that's simply too low of a barrier. But Apple will sooner beat Microsoft on the desktop than surpass (or even be able to directly compete with) Nintendo and Sony on the portable gaming market, and we all know the chances of *that*.

      --
      No problem is insoluble in all conceivable circumstances.
  12. AWSM by USC*Coder · · Score: 1

    WOW, well done!!!! i hope to enter the gaming field myself, currently in school for CompSci. i've done a few small projects....in VB (IK IK, HORRIBLE) but works im a year ahead in my Programming courses, and ive self taught myself a bit of C++ and C#. Inspirational story tho...

  13. disgusting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The most disgusting thing on getting your application on the Apple Store is the time you have to wait to have your application approved (at least 2 to 4 weeks) plus the time you have to wait to have your contracts verified and approved (at least 3 months). This kills any excitement you may have to publish applications. Four month to have your application listed? Of course this is for independent programmers. Companies like Electronic Arts and other have their application approved in 24h and Apple indeed give them special pages and special highlight on the shop. Show Apple the money and you will have their love. Show Apple the passion and you will sit on the shelf and wait until eternity.