Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Quick Tip: Ready, Fire, Aim!

I ran across this article a few days ago titled Start to Finish: Publishing a Commercial iPhone Game by Niklas Wahrman. Interestingly, Niklas didn't initially develop his Asterope game for the iPhone. It started as a project for a Google Android developer competition and he didn't win, but I like to think he's raking in the big bucks now that it's available in the iTunes Appstore.

I think the most important point he makes is for the independent developer to take a "Ready, Fire, Aim!" approach to development. Simply put, don't over-plan, over-design, or over-engineer. It's easy to get caught up in the design of the game engine, the layout of the world system, and minute details. But getting bogged down in the design phase ("Ready, Aim, Aim, Aim..." as Niklas puts it) can be a major inhibitor to getting the job done.

I've also seen it mentioned in a couple different articles that getting the graphics nailed at the beginning, giving your early prototypes a polished look before working on gameplay mechanics, can be a big motivator to continue working on your game. Food for thought.

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