We have nearly 6 months put into it so far…full time. I did about 90% of it and my business partner coded about 10% of it. And we are only about 60% complete.
60% is graphics, 30% is navigation linkage and story overlay and 10% is the game engine.
So all in all…I say an adventure like Riddenhurst is probably about a 1500-2000 hour investment. [import]uid: 9492 topic_id: 17769 reply_id: 77032[/import]
thats a lot of time) i hope to finish within a three months, but then i dont want to make another for some time, better to make a few other genres) [import]uid: 16142 topic_id: 17769 reply_id: 77034[/import]
Thanks Synthesis,
This info is very helpful. I think we should start an Adventure Game forum for folks to post their success/failure stories. FireMaple would be great to hear from as well. I’ve been very impressed with his work on Grisly Manor and the upcoming Lost City game.
I know Grisly Manor was released on 10/15/2010 and to date has sold over 100,000 units at various price points. I believe it started at about $2.99 and has been $0.99 at times. Current price point is $1.99.
Biggest complaint I can see on the reviews is that it is TOO SHORT!
That’s a good problem to have though, in my opinion. It means the audience wants more. I’d rather leave them begging for more, than giving up. Like you said, release more as the audience demands it.
The project I’m getting started on is based on a best selling children’s book series with over 35,000,000 books sold. So I hope the audience brings a bit of demand to the game, but there is no guarantee. Readers don’t always convert to game players.
I’m also curious what marketing strategies you have put in place that have worked.
Thanks,
TheMillerBrothers [import]uid: 114717 topic_id: 17769 reply_id: 77049[/import]
Sythesis,
I forgot to ask. How many screens of artwork had you completed at the time of release? I know Grisly Manor released with about 55 images total. [import]uid: 114717 topic_id: 17769 reply_id: 77051[/import]
@Miller.
Yes, Grisley Manor sold a lot of copies. On his initial release, Joe cracked the top 100 on iTunes. He made a big splash initially. I don’t think his Android sales have done much…maybe 3-5K. He was very successful on Amazon for a couple of reasons (as far as I can tell). He got exclusive access from Ansca when the amazon store first went live. He was the Guinea pig app for Ansca and Corona. Therefore he had zero competition on there. Additionally, he was selected by Amazon as a free app for the day. I think this is where a large number of his downloads came from.
To do it on your own is tough. I’m not discounting that Grisley manor is a solid game and a solid effort by Joe. He struck a nerve by making a simple game that young and old can enjoy. Not to mention…it has a spooky icon and he timed his initial release at Halloween…which I am sure helped out in his early success.
I will be interested to see if his Lost City hits a home run too. I hope it does. But the appstore has just gotten more and more difficult with each month that goes by to get the attention of the market with new titles - IMHO.
Our own sales strategy is based on synergy. We have a handful of pay titles out there with a strong user base that updates regularly. We are now focused on putting some free apps out that are ad and inapp supported in order to get download counts higher and to broaden our user base - and our app portfolio’s exposure. Then we are trying to cross-market our entire catalog between the apps. I have read that 40-50% of new sales come from in-app recommendations (more games sections or in-game ads). Gamers and app users don’t dig for apps. They shop the top 200 or impulse buy from an in-game ad/recommendation or take a recommendation from another user (seeing a game a buddy is playing).
There is no secret recipe out there. Either lightning strikes or it doesn’t. You just have to hope you have your antenna pointed in the right direction so that the lighting hits you rather than the 1000s of other antennas out there trying to catch the same bolt of lightning.
Just my 2 cents. 
EDIT:
BTW: Riddenhurst has 100’s of image plates as it is a free to walk around game…not a sequenced slide show. [import]uid: 9492 topic_id: 17769 reply_id: 77056[/import]