Pot of Gold: From Idea to the App Store
JeffreyShimane
Member Posts: 372
Hi fellow GS users!
I'm in the final stages of submitting my first GS game, Pot of Gold, to the App Store so I thought it'd be a good idea to create a thread for it and share my experiences on this journey. I know there are a ton of first-time GS users so hopefully they can learn from my mistakes and draw inspiration that if I can do it, they can too! I will update this thread with gameplay videos, screenshots, and once Pot of Gold is approved (fingers crossed!), promo codes and sales figures.
- Jeff
I'm in the final stages of submitting my first GS game, Pot of Gold, to the App Store so I thought it'd be a good idea to create a thread for it and share my experiences on this journey. I know there are a ton of first-time GS users so hopefully they can learn from my mistakes and draw inspiration that if I can do it, they can too! I will update this thread with gameplay videos, screenshots, and once Pot of Gold is approved (fingers crossed!), promo codes and sales figures.
- Jeff
Comments
A few months ago, I had signed up for a free developer's account, went through some iOS development books, and written some really basic test apps with Xcode. I was planning on making games with Cocos2D as I really wanted to focus on making games like the old school 2D arcade games that I grew up with like Asteroids, Space Invaders, etc. It was slow-going but I was making progress. When I accidentally stumbled on the GameSalad website, I felt like a kid at Christmas. I started playing around with GS, watched all of TShirtBooth's videos, and checked out other games made with GS. I knew then that GS would be the right game development tool for me. Since that time, I've probably spent around 100 man-hours learning how to use GS and creating Pot of Gold (including the graphics with Inkscape/Pixelmator).
- Jeff
Once I started down the iOS development path a few months ago, I started keeping a list of app ideas that I wanted to make. I went through the list and picked Pot of Gold as the best candidate for my first GS game (the gameplay wasn’t overly complex for my still-burgeoning GS skills and the amount of graphics needed were doable). My primary inspiration for Pot of Gold was Activision’s Kaboom! for the Atari 2600. It used a paddle controller (which worked well for that game) but I think using your finger is actually more intuitive for first-time players and just as precise/speedy.
In Pot of Gold, Larry the Leprechaun needs your help filling his pot of gold. You use your finger to slide the pot of gold to catch the falling coins and power-ups while avoiding the red (skull) coins, all within a 30 second time limit. There are bonus rounds within the main timed mode and 2 additional endless modes of play where 1) only red (skull) coins drop and you have to dodge them and 2) only gold shamrock coins drop and you have to collect them all without letting any drop. Everything is random so no two games are the same.
- Jeff
I started the app submission process last night. When I typed in the app name, I got a pop-up message that said the app may get rejected because of the name, Pot of Gold. I assume it’s because of pot’s drug connotations. I can only hope that they see my app has nothing to do with drugs. I finally was able to submit Pot of Gold to Apple last night (hooray!). Of course, this morning, while testing out the last ad hoc build I had made prior to submitting the app, I discovered that the score multiplier was not working correctly (boo!). I had to wait until the status of my app submission changed from Upload Received to Waiting For Review to reject the submitted binary. I will fix and re-submit it tonight.
- Jeff
Small icon:
Timed Play - Main Round:
Endless Play - Dodge All the Red Skull Coins:
Endless Play - Collect All the Gold Shamrock Coins:
Timed Play - Bonus Round:
High Score Menu:
Main Menu:
Instructions Menu:
- Jeff
Keeping my fingers crossed that there are no more issues and Pot of Gold gets approved!
@GLGames
Thanks! My goal is to create games that anyone can play and have fun with. I love huge, complex games as much as the next guy but I think many times, it limits their appeal/audience.
- Jeff
4/29 - Submitted it to Apple (Waiting for Review)
5/5 (8:27am) - Status changed to In Review
5/5 (10:09am) - Status changed to Processing for App Store
5/5 (10:12am) - Status changed to Ready for Sale
When I first submitted the app, I put down 5/5 as the release date. Will it just release by itself now that it is Ready for Sale and 5/5? Or do I need to manually do something (I haven't been able to find a big red launch-the-nuclear-warheads button anywhere)?
- Jeff
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pot-of-gold/id434803062?mt=8&ls=1#
- Jeff
Y4MKFMF476YY
YP74EX3HHJ3N
L9WKFEAJJM7P
LFTNXFTKAHLA
XTJ67AXWRPX9
XNNWRRFFATHE
F7XYP4MKT69L
XHWTNHL3LJRA
6HXNRXF743KJ
YH4EMY4EXRNJ
If you take one. please post which one you took. I would love any feedback. I know some people still seem able to leave reviews after using promo codes (despite Apple's new policy change) so if you could try to leave a review/rate it, I'd appreciate it.
- Jeff