Piloteer is ridiculously silly. You try to control an unruly jet pack. Hilarity ensues when trying to "fly" this over zealous contraption in order to do a number of crazy tricks, and land without dying. It's a game of mastery, with a great feeling of satisfaction when you finally land that perfect series of maneuvers.
QWOP. You like QWOP don't you?
Yes, Piloteer was at least partly inspired by QWOP. I love the contrast between the simplicity of the controls and the complexity of the mechanic. I wanted to explore that contrast with a jetpack mechanic. Plus, I really love the trial-and-error method of learning how to play QWOP. It frustrates a lot of people but I see it as a fun challenge.
How old are you? What's your professional and educational background?
Thirty. Graduated from Indiana University in 2009 with a Music Education degree. I taught elementary and high school music for 5 years after college. Meanwhile, on the side, I began composing soundtracks for indie games. After a year or so of that, I realized I wanted to try making a game of my own. The problem is that I didn't know anything about making games or programming. So I taught myself over the period of about a year and a half, culminating in my first game Polymer, which I released in 2012. After my second game Pivvot (2013) I decided I wanted to try going full-time indie, and I have been ever since!
What technologies/frameworks did you use to build Piloteer?
Unity with C#.
How long did it take to build?
About 10 months.
How much lifetime revenue (gross) has the game generated on iOS?
~$60k.
How much lifetime revenue (gross) has the game generated on Android (if there is one)?
~$2k (didn't get any features or anything).
During the sale and development of Piloteer, what was one of your happiest moments?
I went through so many iterations of the landing code. I wanted the landing mechanic to feel satisfying, difficult enough to seem realistic, but easy enough not to alienate everyone who plays it. At times it was too easy, too hard, too wobbly, too stiff, etc. etc. etc. Somewhere in the middle of the development period, after many months of tweaking the landing mechanic, it finally felt right. This was a great moment.
Your saddest moments?
After sending out the beta of the game, I got a long response from one of my good friends. It had many great points about the game that I took to heart. However, it made me realize how much work was left to do on the game. Up until receiving that response, I was under the impression that I was getting close to finishing the game. Turns out I had many months left of work, and his response really helped me realize it wasn't even close to ready. It really threw a wrench in my plans. In hindsight, I'm extremely grateful for that response, because it resulted in a much better game. But it was tough to come to terms with at the time.
What tips do you have for those that are just starting with programming and game development?
Keep making games. Just keep making them. Over and over. Lots of little games. A few bigger games. Participate in game jams. Participate in gamedev community events. Go to GDC and meet people. Use Twitter (don't be spammy). When launching a game, hire someone to do your marketing/PR. Be creative. Experiment. Have fun.
We may have a couple of ad men reading this interview. Any tips for them with regards to marketing a game?
My main marketing tip is to hire a professional. So many indie developers think they can handle marketing on their own, but often have no idea what they're doing. A lot of developers also think that if they're game is good, it'll sell itself, but this is really the exception to the rule. If you'd consider hiring a professional for music, art, programming, etc., why wouldn't you hire a professional for marketing and PR?
You went for a premium game as opposed to a game that was free with IAP. Why?
So far I've made only premium games. The kind of games I've wanted to make so far have really fit the premium mold. I wanted Piloteer's experience to be about learning how to fly a jetpack through trial and error. Free games tend to need more external motivation to keep bringing back players, and that's just not the kind of experience I was going for with this game. Piloteer also fit the premium mold because of its finite structure. It's a game that (with enough practice and effort) the player can complete. Free games tend to be more focused on endless mechanics. I may make a free game in the future, but Piloteer just wasn't right for that model.
Given hindsight is 20/20, would you have done anything differently with regards to building and selling Piloteer?
I spent too much time on things that were unnecessary for the game's completion. For example, there were a bunch of obstacles that I created art assets for that I didn't end up using in the game. I wish I hadn't focused so much time and energy on things until I was sure they were going to be in the game.
You are one of the few people that I know of that have been featured by Apple as a "Free Game of the Week". This is a big deal. How many downloads did you get during that time period. Did it help your premium sales after you went back to paid?
Pivvot got about 2.5 million downloads during that period. Piloteer got around 1 million. Being a part of that feature is actually very helpful with premium sales, as it seems to really extend the long tail. So, while there's a week of "lost" revenue, it is well worth it in the long run.
Any other tips with regards to getting featured by Apple? Any "must do this or don't come crying to me" kind of stuff?
In my opinion, the most important thing by far is just creating an incredibly polished game. If your game isn't good or polished, you're probably out of luck. Add a good marketing person to a polished game will hopefully get you on Apple's radar!