I would like to start by saying, I’m not new to Corona or Lua but I never finished a game to call myself a developer. I’m a father of three and a husband of one trying really hard to switch my 9-5 to a full time game developer. What made this a little harder to achieve is the lack of time and also my indecisiveness to stick to Lua or C#, so I spent a lot of time learning C# and OOP (Object Oriented Principles) to start using Unity for the next big thing “VR/AR” but after months now I see the beauty and simplicity of Lua and Corona SDK, when developers say that is much easier to grasp and create games with this wonderful SDK, now I understand what they mean. My question comes down to this, how many of you were able to quit your jobs to become a full time developer and actually make money, perhaps not millions but at least enough to pay your bills (this is exactly what I seek). I always hear success stories, but what is success to you? money? or just being able to have your app in the app store? I’m I asking for too much? I know it’s really hard out there but I would like to hear from some of you that were able to find “success” whatever that means to you.
Can you be successful in Corona v Unity v some other game engine? Yeah sure but the engine makes no difference.
It is about having the right idea, the right execution, the right sales and marketing, on going support and a huge amount of luck.
And in answer to your question… yes.
Certainly Corona and game development in general has changed my life. I’m still not able to completely rely on it financially, but for a few years the income from mobile apps was really good and it helped us buy a much bigger house, and I was able to step down to part-time in my day job. So while I’m not a millionaire, I guess that’s a level of success that anyone would be pleased with. It’s taken a hell of a lot of hard work, and as Sphere Games says, luck. Unfortunately it’s become a lot harder to get your game noticed in the mobile app stores, but the success of Designer City by Sphere shows it can still be done.
And yes, initially, just making a game and publishing it in the App Store was a huge buzz for me. I’d given up programming at 16 after an awful A-level Computer Science course that really put me off. Up to then making games for the C64/Amiga had been fun, but this course was just all theory - stacks, pointers, binary maths, and making boring programs in Pascal that only ever printed text to a console. After that making PC/Console games in the early 2000s seemed horrendously complex and I thought I’d missed the boat until Corona came along and reignited my passion for making games.
I’m still striving for that ‘big hit’ that means I can work on games all day every day, but I think my current Corona project will be my last in the engine. I’ve found Unity much easier to work with than I had anticipated, but that’s probably partly because I’m building on my 6-years experience with Corona. Recently I’ve been working on VR games alongside my Corona project and it’s hugely enjoyable. That’s the key, I enjoy it so it doesn’t feel like work, and if I make money too, then great.
Just experimenting with sports games at the moment - so far I’ve got a prototype tennis & cricket game along the lines of Headmaster (PS4 VR game), but there’s loads of other mechanics I want to try out. If only there were more hours in the day!
So true! I’ve got my second game in alpha and want to start the third…
VR is curious but I don’t know if it will remain forever niche - like 3D TV.
I’m 4 years into my Corona experience and, as I just closed my business last December, hoping to make this my full-time gig. As with all my previous entrepreneurial adventures, I’m defining success as learning, growing and making some cash. I’ve learned a ton and continue to grow. I’ve also made a little cash from my plugin but I’m hoping the impending release of my apps will fulfill my third condition for success.
There are two major pitfalls I see for new developers hoping to become full-time game designers.
First, making frivolous games and don’t stand out from the crowd. These are games that could have seen more success with a little more game-play engineering and often, better graphics, sounds and music. Building frivolous games is a great way to learn and sometimes they become super-successful, but I see developers get discourage after releasing hordes of these games and none of them becoming Flappy Bird.
The second pitfall (I’m in this one) is choosing projects that are inventive and innovative but impossibly complicated and utterly time-consuming. The unfortunate outcome in this category is games that never get completed.
My recommendation to you Antonio is to go for it! Make a frivolous game and learn from it and the make your real game grounded by your prospective in making the first. Avoid those two pitfalls.
One thing that has made life much easier in the Corona world this year was the opening one the marketplace. Buy those plugins, they are great and will save you a ton on time!
Good luck,
Jonathan
Can you be successful in Corona v Unity v some other game engine? Yeah sure but the engine makes no difference.
It is about having the right idea, the right execution, the right sales and marketing, on going support and a huge amount of luck.
And in answer to your question… yes.
Certainly Corona and game development in general has changed my life. I’m still not able to completely rely on it financially, but for a few years the income from mobile apps was really good and it helped us buy a much bigger house, and I was able to step down to part-time in my day job. So while I’m not a millionaire, I guess that’s a level of success that anyone would be pleased with. It’s taken a hell of a lot of hard work, and as Sphere Games says, luck. Unfortunately it’s become a lot harder to get your game noticed in the mobile app stores, but the success of Designer City by Sphere shows it can still be done.
And yes, initially, just making a game and publishing it in the App Store was a huge buzz for me. I’d given up programming at 16 after an awful A-level Computer Science course that really put me off. Up to then making games for the C64/Amiga had been fun, but this course was just all theory - stacks, pointers, binary maths, and making boring programs in Pascal that only ever printed text to a console. After that making PC/Console games in the early 2000s seemed horrendously complex and I thought I’d missed the boat until Corona came along and reignited my passion for making games.
I’m still striving for that ‘big hit’ that means I can work on games all day every day, but I think my current Corona project will be my last in the engine. I’ve found Unity much easier to work with than I had anticipated, but that’s probably partly because I’m building on my 6-years experience with Corona. Recently I’ve been working on VR games alongside my Corona project and it’s hugely enjoyable. That’s the key, I enjoy it so it doesn’t feel like work, and if I make money too, then great.
Just experimenting with sports games at the moment - so far I’ve got a prototype tennis & cricket game along the lines of Headmaster (PS4 VR game), but there’s loads of other mechanics I want to try out. If only there were more hours in the day!
So true! I’ve got my second game in alpha and want to start the third…
VR is curious but I don’t know if it will remain forever niche - like 3D TV.
I’m 4 years into my Corona experience and, as I just closed my business last December, hoping to make this my full-time gig. As with all my previous entrepreneurial adventures, I’m defining success as learning, growing and making some cash. I’ve learned a ton and continue to grow. I’ve also made a little cash from my plugin but I’m hoping the impending release of my apps will fulfill my third condition for success.
There are two major pitfalls I see for new developers hoping to become full-time game designers.
First, making frivolous games and don’t stand out from the crowd. These are games that could have seen more success with a little more game-play engineering and often, better graphics, sounds and music. Building frivolous games is a great way to learn and sometimes they become super-successful, but I see developers get discourage after releasing hordes of these games and none of them becoming Flappy Bird.
The second pitfall (I’m in this one) is choosing projects that are inventive and innovative but impossibly complicated and utterly time-consuming. The unfortunate outcome in this category is games that never get completed.
My recommendation to you Antonio is to go for it! Make a frivolous game and learn from it and the make your real game grounded by your prospective in making the first. Avoid those two pitfalls.
One thing that has made life much easier in the Corona world this year was the opening one the marketplace. Buy those plugins, they are great and will save you a ton on time!
Good luck,
Jonathan