With no experience, it's going to be tough. You need to learn basic C first, in my opinion. I don't know of any specific books, but perhaps someone here will know of some. To keep your interest up, I suggest watching tutorial videos that interest you. If you're still interested after learning a few things, then you may have what it takes to make an app. It will take work though.
From what I've heard, Unity and Torque are scripting engines that will do alot of work for you. But I really don't have any specific knowledge about them. Maybe someone else in the thread, or in the forums knows more. But yes, you can make games with them. You may be able to download demo copies to play with.
Little White Bear Studios: I haven't tried your lite version (I prefer to just get the real deal), so I don't know how it works, but at the end of it, does it have a splash screen advertising the full version? This may alleviate those emails concerning 'too short a game'. Something on the lines of: "Do you want more? Download the full version which has 414 puzzles! *link*". You know, like how console games do it. Speaking of which, I think the success of iShoot Lite is the balance of what is included. It's probably just enough to whet appetites, but the game itself has that X-factor that makes people want more. I find console game demos do more to turn me off purchasing. Ethan: Congrats on your success - Wow, I'm really happy for you! (I was wishing you well in another thread somewhere). Seems like a dream. I was going to say that knowing the developer can work on this full time, makes me want to buy it more (the only reason I haven't is that I have to limit myself, seeing as I have bought 7 Cities and haven't even played it yet). I will some day, as I love scorched Earth. Now I can tell you directly! Knowing that other improvements such as online or whatever is drool-worthy. Knowing that you post on this board and can keep up the hype will undoubtedly score well with people here. Consumers (especially Apple consumers) love to see the developers have a face. Participating in the community here will keep the app live on the boards for a while, which will hopefully maintain the momentum in the store for weeks ahead. I think that's the thing, for whatever reason it is a hit, once you have that slight push, momentum from the consumers will drive it on. And the genius is, you still have room to drop the price to boost sales! (Don't do it too soon though, because that kicks up a stink, and makes people resent purchase, or suspect it will drop further). I think frequent sales of apps makes some people simply wait for another sale. Well, whatever it is you;re doing, it must be right. Congrats!
Yep, when they complete the sample puzzles, it pops up a message telling them about the full version, with a "buy" button that leads directly to the game on the App Store. There's also a "buy" button on the Info screen. So yeah, even with all that, I get emails.
I quit my job before my first app even went on sale! It was risky but has paid off. Some stats, from November to today: 875,000 downloads for iFishing Lite 500,000 downloads for Blue Skies Lite 43000 sales of iFishing 26000 sales of Blue Skies (has been out since September so this is not total sales) I now have 5 apps in the store and pull in about $1500-2000/day. For December and January so far I'm getting 90k. I was only getting 60k/year at my old job. I think it's easy to get excited when your app sells quickly. The real test will be to see if it can continue bringing in decent sales for the rest of the year. The lite versions have definitely helped. It's much cheaper than paying for google ads per click. If your app is 99c then the cost per click for an ad could be more than that. I get a few emails about basic iphone things too, like how to delete apps.
If he stays at no. 1 for 5 weeks he'll have made over a million dollars! I wonder how much he gets from the other appstores...
Wow congrats, I'm impressed, it's stories like this that are making me get back into programming and hopefully making some as well. Seriously you deserve it and I hope it continues to go good for you...
It's amazing what the apps store is doing for entrepenuers, almost like a dotcom 2.0. My nephew is pretty good with computers and he is now trying to figure out if he has the know-how to create an application. The kid's in high school so he obviously doesn't have much money to put into the project but hey, if a high schooler can make Scifly, then there is certainly precedent for young success.
As long as you have an Intel Mac, money really doesn't have to be much of an issue. Minus a cheap Mac, the cost of my game was about $150.
I've gotta agree with LWB. In this particular case, it's a simple decision because he made $200k in 1 week (WOW!), and being at number 1 for this long, it's likely he will bring in around $500k by the end of the year. Given his circumstances, it's a no brainer. However, if you're already making a comfortable $150-200k+, have been with the job for many years, have a wife+kids, mortgage/cars, and are the sole provider, then the decision is not that simple. If I made $100k in 1 month based on 1 app, I might be tempted to quit, but I wouldn't. It's all about sustainability. On the App Store, with a single title, you can make $50k in one month and $5k the next month (and it usually only goes downhill from there). You can't do any kind of serious financial planning when it's such a roller coaster. Having multiple apps out helps diversify the risk, but the point is that coming up with a "iShoot" or a "Koi Pond" depends a lot on luck and timing and many other factors, and it's very difficult to replicate this. Look at the chopper guy (David Frampton) for example and his followup "duck duck duck" after he quit to work on this full time. Even in the cases where you have an established studio and have made a boatload of money like Brian Greenstone/Pangea, there's no guarantee that your next release will be a huge success (eg. antimatter) If I were making $30-40k a month CONSISTENTLY with multiple titles, I would be much more inclined to quit my job, then if I made $200k in one week with a single title. Again, a lot of factors play into this. If I were 25 and single and making $70k at a job that I'd only been at for 1-2 years then the decision would be completely different.
Congrats Ethan! Your decision makes perfect sense to me. I'm really surprised by the reactions here too.
Nice job Ethan... I left my day job years ago, I cant believe that most are saying that they need more than that. Its ridiculious unless they really have a sweet setup work wise...! Im struggling along right now,the Windows Mobile market fell out a bit because of some little shiny phone and its AppStore, but have a lot of IP from those other mobile platforms and am hoping I can get a solid catalog to even get half the success that some here are experiencing.... (Actually, if any of you need a contract developer on a project... hook me up... ) Its still one of the best thing I have ever done...
Heh 3 out of 4 members of Team Phobic left their jobs to start our company... big risk but it is what we have wanted to do for as long as we can all remember. It is much more rewarding creating your own job then working for some company. I'm the only member who has a "real" job, I do consulting and it pays the bills... plus the extra I invest in our company till we are more self sustaining. People could very well sustain themselves by having a few GOOD apps out there... we are doing okay with just two but it certainly is tough. It is a little frustrating though to see apps made in a few days or weeks make way way way more then something a whole team makes in two months, but we are also building a brand name and don't ever have to rely on luck for our apps to sell, not to say we wouldn't mind getting lucky :-D Best of luck to you Ethan! (edit: not trying to say your app made #1 just through luck, I haven't tried it yet, I really mean good luck with your new job :-D)
Some of us do, yes. Been working there ten years. 200k is not very much after all the taxes, medical, retirement, etc. that I'd have to pay. It's inconsistent income, which is not a chance I can take, with a wife and three kids. But yes, I'm sure everyone has a price that will make them comfortable. More power to him, but personally, I'd have to see sustained sales before making such a decision.
