•Stick Escape™/lite success•

Discussion in 'General Game Discussion and Questions' started by WellSpentYouth, Oct 5, 2009.

  1. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    All I did was put it into the App Store, wait about a week and it did it by itself! I have never paid one red penny for banner advertising or anything, all I do is post a thread here at TouchArcade and rely on word of mouth. Anduril_Ukr made an exceptional description and Dannys95 made a fabulous icon, so I had some help from some great members here :)


    Thank you! Same here, a dream come true:) I am most blessed to be in the Top 10.

    The lite is 6th right now and my full is around 750th I think. Good luck with your games!



    A lesson that I have learned is don't give up. Even after months of being out, tons of hate, many discouraging days/words, you can't give up. Keep trying something new, it might take awhile, but sometime it will click.
     
  2. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    Stick Escape lite has dropped to 20th overall, but it has advanced to #1 Top Free Adventure game in the US, thus, I get my icon in the categories section!
    [​IMG]
    Does anyone know how much that affects downloads? How is it compared to being featured by Apple?
     
  3. Syndicated Puzzles

    Syndicated Puzzles Well-Known Member

    Robert, keep doing what you do and the way you do it. The iTunes store is overcrowded with well polished games that are getting lost! You on the other hand are doing extremely well with your own style of game, perfect what you do and you will thrive! Keep it simple and you will stand out! Don't get lost in the mainstream of the game apps.
     
  4. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    Yes, the App Store definitely has many good quality games. I am in transition mode right now from the style of games that I used to make to Unity 3D. I don't know how the transition will go, but I am hoping that I land on the Unity 3D side, thus bringing a much higher quality game to the App Store.
     
  5. ktfright

    ktfright Well-Known Member

    Dec 18, 2008
    587
    3
    0
    Student,Rapper,Game Dev.
    Hawthorne,California
    keep it going. when my games come out, i hope they get buzz like yours.
     
  6. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    Thank you! From what I have seen, the icon, description, and screenshots are key. Best of luck with your games!
     
  7. Mr. Crazy

    Mr. Crazy Well-Known Member

    Sep 15, 2009
    3,254
    12
    0
    England
    I think the name was good too.
     
  8. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    The name Stick Escape? Thank you! Believe it or not, my mom came up with that name :)
     
  9. GregH

    GregH Well-Known Member

    Sep 12, 2009
    479
    0
    0
    Add me to the list of other devs impressed with what you've accomplished. It is no small task to actually finish a game and to have it so high in the lists is simply amazing. Great job, keep learning, don't get discouraged (I can see you arent of course!).
     
  10. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    #30 WellSpentYouth, Oct 14, 2009
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2009
    Thank you! I did a little math last night and I figured out that approximately 1 out of every 789 people in the US has Stick Escape lite. That is going by the CIA's 2008 estimate of 300,000,000 people in the US. Of course, it is probably a little less than 789 now, but it gives you a general idea.

    Yes, I need to learn from this and continue to grow my programming skills :) Well, I have to say that I am disappointed in the poor reviews/ratings, but I am very busy with school, friends, and family that I don't have time to get seriously discouraged. I don't get easily discouraged, especially by the reviewers who have 20 reviews and they are all 1-star, but it is when people I know and trust say it is the worst, that is when I get down. I am young and I am still learning, so I have years to perfect my skills. This is a great experience for me and it will make a perfect addition to a job application :)

    EDIT: Paper Toss got a front page here at TA when it reached 6 million downloads I think, it has always been a dream of mine to reach the front page here and I hope to do sometime! Here are a few of my goals as an iPhone programmer(no particular order):

    1. Get on the Top 100 Overall √

    2. Get #1 in a subcategory (or of all games:)) √

    3. Get a front page on TouchArcade _

    4. Get featured by Apple _
     
  11. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    Wow! One thing that comes with popularity is a ton of people trying to get you to use their marketing system or implement their advertisements into your game.


    For example, a lady from mobclix emailed me and I told her in several emails (she kept responding and wouldn't take a no) that I was not interested. Finally I took my name off of the mailing list, but her emails kept coming in, so I deleted them.

    I thought that I was rid of mobclix once and for all, but they had another trick up their sleeve. I got an email from another moblcix person (a guy this time, I think. His (her?) name is "Nitin") saying the same thing as the first lady, I responded and told him what happened and that I should be off the mailing. He said that he was sorry and that he would get me off, but he continued to make offers to me. LOL, what do I have to say in order for them to stop? I know if I don't respond, they won't reply, but that just seems rude :confused:
     
  12. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    In case anyone is wondering how much being #1 Free Adventure Game helps, it doubled the full versions sales, but did nothing to the free versions downloads. I thought that it would be the other way around, but this way I get the money instead of just seeing the numbers :)
     
  13. DaveMc99

    DaveMc99 Well-Known Member

    Mar 1, 2009
    4,761
    0
    0
    Seattle, WA USA
    That is interesting. Congrats on getting your game noticed by so many people.
     
  14. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    Thank you! I think the reason that it affected the full version's downloads is because the free version's icon is the same as the full version. Basically, it shows the icon of the full version (and free version, same icon) for the Adventure Game icon in the Categories section of the Mobile App Store. Thus, when people see the full version, they remember seeing the icon, so it interests them. I don't know why it wouldn't affect the free version too, but I guess that is just how it goes.
     
  15. kohjingyu

    kohjingyu Well-Known Member

    Mar 20, 2009
    1,770
    0
    0
    Student/Developer
    Singapore
    Is Stick Escape made using OpenGL?

    Have any lite versions harmed your sales?
     
  16. sureshvs

    sureshvs Well-Known Member

    You've got an amazing attitude while dealing with negative comments. Just wanted to drop in and say that. Congrats!
     
  17. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    No, Stick Escape just uses Obj-C to get the job done :)

    No, in fact the Stick Escape lite has multiplied Stick Escape's sales 25x!!!

    Thank you!
     
  18. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    The Stick Escape lite update is out! After 2 weeks of wait, the hundreds of thousands of people who play Stick Escape lite will be at peace because they now have instructions, a storyline, and the super easy level 1!

    Now we are waiting on the free version of iScreamer!. Also, I am trying to put together a more obvious clock, some people have said that they didn't get that the "thing" in the upper left was a game clock. Did the clock make sense to you?
     
  19. WellSpentYouth

    WellSpentYouth Well-Known Member

    Jan 11, 2009
    1,363
    6
    0
    iPhone programmer
    App Tech Studios, USA
    Well, does anyone have thoughts on the update? Is it better? Worse? Any thoughts on the clock? Did you understand that it was a clock?
     
  20. kohjingyu

    kohjingyu Well-Known Member

    Mar 20, 2009
    1,770
    0
    0
    Student/Developer
    Singapore
    Great job, WellSpentYouth. I can't believe that you used Obj-C, I would have thought it was OpenGL from the look of it.

    Were your other games OpenGL, or using core animation? Stick Escape is core animation, right? :)
     

Share This Page