App idea (I know, I know), some specific questions, any response appreciated

sclataglan

Intro -
hi there, lets get the sentence out of the way first, 'I have an idea for an app'. There we go. I also have numerous questions. I will try and make the app idea as vague as I am conformable with but also put in what I hope it may do. Ill then fire off FIVE questions. If people reply to any I am already winning. If you read them and pick one that you can fire off a response to relatively painlessly then go for one. If you think you can help on more than one then go for it. If you need more info then ask or PM me, whatever. If I get no responses at all, Ill surely be a little set back, but I am devastatingly aware that I am starting out here from a position of little knowledge, so must temper expectation.

App idea -
The idea I have is for an app that users register, then navigate a basic menu to a game which has approx ten levels against the clock to get a score. The levels are passed by playing a card type game, lets say a red card appears on screen, user needs to select a red card from a list of coloured cards that are on display at the side of the screen. Match the cards, move to the next level..... It would be a free app but if you wanted to play with more and more colours other than the set provided with the free app then it would require in app purchases...

My ability - I have this idea, that is it. Computer skills are limited to office work, but I have developed a storyboard using powerpoint and have the gameplay pretty nailed on, albeit in powerpoint!! I will need to pay someone to code this – Ill call this person 'the coder'. I am aware, but have numerous questions thereafter... I guess Ill go for it from here, hopefully that is enough to give some background and hopefully some people are still reading to this point!!

Q1 - bits of the app - I have mentioned that this will be a card game, it will have sounds too. Should I prepare visuals of the cards or do the cards get written in code. Like, do I draw the cards, and the card art, and save these in a folder on a back end somewhere, or do the cards ever exist in their own right, as a file, rather than being just a line of code. Same applies for sounds – ought I be thinking of preparing some sound files that the code can point to or does the sound get 'coded' as such...

Q2 - Online and Offline - Is it much of an issue in terms of complicated coding to give an app the functionality to work online OR offline?

Q3 - register at start or only for purchases - Has anyone any experience in terms of when to ask users to register. I would ideally like people to register for the free app from the start but is this likely to get peoples backs up and users might shy away. Would it be better to get users on the app without registering and then only asking to register once they get past the original colours and try for the in app purchases stage.

Q4 - create your own score/leader board- Is it a difficult thing, in terms of keeping some score board for users, to allow them to create their own score boards. EG – I play and my pal in Belfast plays and my pal in Cork plays, Id like the app to be able for me the user to create a score board and ask my two buddies to add their scores. Is this something that can be coded or would it be a pain in the backside?

Q5 - where is the app? - Where does the data get stored – there may be two streams of data here 1 – the actual code for the game and how it runs and any cards that it might point to and 2) the users that register and their details and any score baords that they set up for record keeping. Where is this data, in the cloud, on my laptop??!!

That is all for now!! I hope some of these questions are not offensive to different people on here. The course of action may be to hold off and talk to some coder and talk all this with them, I would just like to have a little more certainty over the few things above, I know that when I need to talk to the coder then the less uncertainty involved then the more of a chance I have of getting the app out there without having to sell off my limbs and organs.

jimmycrackcorm

Why don't you have a look at gamesalad and you can probably develop your app yourself. Check out YouTube tutorials.

The Corinthian

sclataglan wrote: »

That is all for now!! I hope some of these questions are not offensive to different people on here. The course of action may be to hold off and talk to some coder and talk all this with them, I would just like to have a little more certainty over the few things above, I know that when I need to talk to the coder then the less uncertainty involved then the more of a chance I have of getting the app out there without having to sell off my limbs and organs.

Forget about the development for now. First ask yourself first how this app is going to be successful. Why people will want to download it. How it's going to make money.

The various stores are full of well crafted apps. With f-all downloads. If you build it they will come? Guess again. Unfortunately successfully marketing an app requires both knowledge and money, something that many don't realize until they launch and see no one downloading their app and by the time they get their act together they've missed out on the all-important new release period of an apps life cycle.

Then coding alone has it's limitations. It's a game, so that means you want original and eye-catching media. Buying stock assets won't get you far on their own. Can you optimize them? Crop and change them? Are you going to learn how to market and design and code?

And this brings us back to the coding. PowerPoint has nothing to do with coding, so my first impression of you mentioning it is that you're way in over your head. Even if you were able to learn how to use a WYSIWYG like GameSalad (and it can do what you need), that doesn't mean that you'll be able to do anything complex after a three hour sitting. Or three days. There's going to be a learning curve no matter what you do.

So I suggest you go back to the drawing board and look beyond the core 'idea'. Treat it as a business, because at the end of the day, this is what it is - the app itself is only part of that business. Then you'll have a better idea of what you need to do and what you may choose to tackle yourself.

Not wanting to dissuade you, but statistically speaking, the realization of what is really involved is where 19 out of 20 'ideas' people will skulk off and look for a different get-ritch-quick scheme, because apps are not one of them. Whether you're that 1 out of 20 is up to you.