Here’s an inspirational story for you: a detailed chronology of the journey of the game Asterope from concept to the App Store by way of … the Google Android Challenge!
It actually took a while until I started working on the game for real. The deadline for the Google Android Challenge was the last day of February, if I recall it correctly, and although the idea was vividly with me for January I could not get myself to start working on it. I think it had to do with me needing some time to rejuvenate after having stopped working part-time. I almost gave up on the idea with the deadline nearing so quickly, but then Google decided to postpone the deadline to April 14th after they released an update to their SDK. This got me motivated to do it – to take action on the opportunity!
That didn’t work out quite as hoped — although it did get rated in the top quarter which is, well, better than not being in the top quarter, but that’s about it; but then along came the iPhone!
After the iPhone SDK was released I instantly knew that I had to port my game to the iPhone. I could not let Asterope sit still and collect dust on my hard drive…
I instantly fell in love with the device, it had the most beautiful UI I had ever seen on a phone. And it just worked! I’ve had seven Nokias in the past but never have I been as impressed with a phone as I was with the iPhone. It’s just a huge step forward from anything previously on the market.
In late August I had the iPhone, a Mac Mini to develop it on and time to make it happen. Time to roll up my sleeves. I could not let myself pass on this opportunity. And I tell you it felt almost scary knowing I might have everything I need to make a commercial game with potential to make a lot of money.
Heartwarming story, isn’t it? I think we should all reward this young fellow’s ambition by buying his game immediately:
h/t: Slashdot!
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