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独立开发者列举iPhone游戏开发“十不可”

发布时间:2011-06-30 14:34:22 Tags:,,,

作者:Christopher Waite

到今天为止,我已经设计、开发和发布了两款iPhone游戏,目前正在研发第三款,第四款游戏也将于最近起步。我觉得自己还没有足够的经验提出确保游戏获得成功的参考做法,但可以提醒大家在iPhone游戏开发中的十件大忌。

1、轻言放弃

很显然,这一点最为重要。独立开发游戏需要耗费大量的精力,如果你想将其视为职业则更是如此。开发者可能在此过程中会经常产生放弃的念头,但千万别这么做。希望你能从开发中体会到乐趣,游戏发布带来的兴奋感应该会让你在开发之路上继续前行。

2、将音效设计放至最后一刻

rocket_santa(from indiegamemag.com)

rocket_santa(from indiegamemag.com)

我亲身经历过这种困境。《Rocket Santa》的开发时间很紧,而且画面呈现方面的问题使时间愈发不够用(游戏邦注:该问题需要完全重构代码)。我将音效留到游戏提交前数晚制作,仓促工作得出的结果使游戏的整体质量受到影响。更新音效如同将方形图钉打进圆洞那般艰难,你应当同等重视音效与图像和代码的审查。

3、盲目复制其他游戏

你可以从其他游戏中提取灵感,但需要努力做出某些特别的东西。这会让你的作品撇开其他游戏,在App store中脱颖而出。我认为玩家都对App store中的大量复制产品感到厌烦。开发独特游戏确实很困难,但这确实是极具价值的做法。

4、最后考虑营销策略

营销对iPhone游戏来说非常重要。虽然我对外界公布过《Star Fusion》和《Rocket Santa》,但这两款游戏的营销还应开展得更早些。营销不良的结果是,游戏将被商店中数十万的应用所淹没。你需要在游戏发布前先行构建玩家的期待感,在发布当日获取尽可能高的曝光度。

5、只为赚钱而开发游戏

毫无疑问,应用商店能够让你赚到钱。只要游戏足够吸引人而且你愿意花时间做营销和更新,盈利便会随之而来。然而,并非所有游戏都能获得成功,寄希望于此可能让你倍感失望。你应该专注于制作优秀游戏并吸引人们去玩,资金便有望流到你手中,而你也可以继续做自己喜欢的事情——制作游戏。

6、期盼游戏能成为巨作

iPhone游戏成为巨作的可能性已经微乎其微。App Store中的应用数量已达数十万种,要获得足够的曝光率实非易事,但如果你的营销工作恰到好处,获得成功的机会还很多。

7、过于低调地开发游戏

我知道有些开发者不同意这个观点。在我看来,独立开发者不应该秘密开发游戏而期盼在对外公布时成为巨作。大公司可以采用这种做法,因为他们的名头几乎能够确保游戏获得巨大的销售量。这是种与营销背道而驰的做法,你应该在合适的时机与他人讨论并对外公布游戏。

8、听信外人消极言辞

在一生中无论做什么事情,总有些人会贬低你的做法。生活本就如此,而这些人往往无所事事。努力改善自身需要决心和勇气,坚持自己的梦想。

9、放弃学习,止步不前

总有更多知识值得你去学习,这会增长你的技艺,所制作游戏的质量也会得到提高。当然,我知道多数人都有一技之长,但游戏制作各个领域的内容你都应该掌握一些,包括游戏设计、时间管理、图像、音效、代码和营销等。如果你是与其他人合作开发游戏,所掌握的知识可能给他们提供帮助,你自己也可以了解到游戏制作其他部分如何融入整个项目中。

10、因开发游戏而影响生活

坦诚地说,开发者很容易完全沉浸在游戏开发中,忘却周围发生的事情。我记得曾经在某处读过Digg创始人的事迹,Digg诞生的代价是他疏远好友甚至失去女友。我在Stephen King的著作《On Writing – A memoir of the craft》中也读到过类似的事情。King在书中称自己有个与众不同的小书桌,他就在这张桌子上写作。当他开始写作时,书桌便是他生命的全部。这导致他在写作时与家庭生活完全隔离开来。不可让游戏开发侵蚀你的个人生活,最好让美妙的生活为游戏开发添砖加瓦。

以上就是iPhone游戏开发中切不可做的10件事情。我希望你能觉得它们有用,至少能够同意其中某些观点。

游戏邦注:本文发稿于2010年7月11日,所涉时间、事件和数据均以此为准。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,如需转载请联系:游戏邦

10 don’ts of iphone game development

Christopher Waite

To date I’ve designed, developed, and published a couple of iPhone games and am currently knee deep in a third, and as of this weekend a fourth. Whilst I don’t yet feel that I have enough experience to advise you on what to do to ensure success, I can turn it on it’s head and tell you my top 10 don’ts of iPhone game development. Here they are…

1. Don’t give up

This is easily my most important don’t. It takes vast amounts of commitment and drive to develop games independently (especially if you’re trying to hold down a job too). There will be ample opportunity to take the easy option and throw in the towel… don’t. Hopefully you’ll get lots of enjoyment out of developing and the experience of seeing your game out there should keep you going between games.

2. Don’t leave sound design until the last minute

I have first hand experience of this. Rocket Santa had a very tight development schedule and performance issues (requiring a complete refactoring of the code) made the schedule even tighter. I left sound until a few nights before submission and the result really brings down the quality of the game. Retrofitting your game with sounds is like trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Iterate your sound in the same way you iterate your graphics and code.

3.Don’t copy other games

Take your inspiration from other games but try to create something unique. It will help you stand out from the other games in the App store. I think we’re all getting tired of the number of clones in the App store. It’s difficult to be unique but ultimately worth it.

4. Don’t leave marketing until the last minute

Marketing is so important for iPhone games. Whilst I have had exposure for both Star Fusion and Rocket Santa, I left marketing far too late on both. The result is that you drown amidst the hundreds of thousands of other apps on the store. You need to build anticipation before your game launches and then get as much exposure as possible on the day of launch.

5. Don’t do it for the money

There’s no doubt that there is money to be made on the App store. If your game is compelling and you put the work in, the monetary reward may follow. However, this isn’t always the case and banking on it could lead to disappointment. Focus on creating a great game and getting it in peoples hands, the money will hopefully follow and means you can keep doing what you love – making games.

6. Don’t expect to have a hit

It’s getting less and less likely that your iPhone game will be a huge hit. Over the past year your odds have gone from around 50,000/1 to 225,000/1. There is, however, plenty of opportunity to have some success if you can get the marketing right.

7.Don’t develop your game in secret

I’m sure some developers will disagree with this. In my opinion, when you are a small independent developer, you can’t afford to hide your game away expecting it to be a huge hit when you unleash it upon the world. It works for big companies but they often have a pedigree which almost assures them a good number of sales. This ties into marketing and you should begin talking about and demonstrating your game as soon as it’s in a fit state.

8.Don’t listen to the negativity of others

Whatever you do in life there’s always someone out there ready to belittle you. It’s a fact of life that these people are often the ones who don’t actually have the drive to do anything themselves. It takes absolutely no effort to take the easy path but it takes guts and determination to try and better yourself. Stay true to your dreams.

9. Don’t stop learning

There’s always more you can learn and in doing so you’ll grow your skills, and the quality of the games you produce will also improve. Also, I know that most people have a discipline at which they excel but you should try to learn a little bit about all areas of game production (Game design, time management, graphics, sound, code, marketing, etc). If you work with others, this will help you to be sympathetic to their plights and will give you an insight into how other areas of game production fit into the grand scheme.

10. Don’t forget what’s important

Honestly, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in game development that you forget about what is going on around you. I remember reading somewhere about the founder of Digg and how he ended up alienating friends and even losing his girlfriend over the creation of Digg. I’ve also read similar things from Stephen King in his excellent book “On Writing – A memoir of the craft” (if you haven’t already, read it now!). King talks about how he has a small desk, tucked out of the way, where he writes. When he writes there, that is all he does. This allows him to separate his writing from his family life. Don’t let your game development engulf your life, it’s better that it enhances it.

So there you have it, my 10 don’ts of iPhone game development. I hope you found it useful and agree with at least some of them. Any other developers out there have any “Don’ts” they’d like to share? (Source: Bytesize adventures)


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