Your game screenshots scream "tech demo", which is no way to sell a game.
Your game screenshots scream "tech demo", which is no way to sell a game.
The iPhone graphic is swiped from a Kotaku article about iPhone motion controls, and the arrows are kind of terrible, but this is the basic idea. Frankly, the "Gryroscope Controls" is probably too techy for a screenshot ad like this, the text "Motion Controls" would probably sell better with mention of the gyroscope in the app description for those who realize what that is and why it's better than what was available pre-gyroscope:
EDIT: Here's the PSD file if you want to copy the styles or anything: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6692701/gyroscope.psd
Maybe it's just me...
There's a really good article out there about this that I can't track down at the moment, but here are a couple more that also drive the point home:
http://blog.jeybee.com/post/3518620621/taking-the-advantage-...
http://mobile.tutsplus.com/tutorials/mobile-design-tutorials...
> Let’s take a look at an app that has done this well. Here we have Read it Later:
Look at Read it Later's page on a real phone and it's fairly terrible: the text is way too small and you can't zoom in, and again, it makes it more difficult to see what the app actually looks like, which is an important part of my buying decision. (There are screenshots within the "screenshots", but they are also rather small.)
For an easy comparison, Read It Later Free's page has only real screenshots, and I find it nicer.
- Icon looks really bad, needs to look hot.
- The gray graphics make it look unfinished.
- The balls should be nice and round. You have some pretty powerful hardware to work with now, I don't see why they look like they have only 20 faces...
- Fonts don't seem right.
I would also like to add:
- Most iPhone 4 owners didn't buy their device for a "gyroscope" and I'd go as far to say they don't know what it is.
- Are there any other tilt-controls you can add to open the doors for 3GS owners?
- The screenshots don't really paint a picture of what the objective of the game is. Why is it fun? Just a bunch of balls in a gray world does not look fun.
Anyway, I hope you get a lot of good advice and can start selling some copies.
SlideToPlay's shot [1] at the very top of their review is probably the point where everyone stopped reading the review and left. In the AppStore you are up against "Cut the rope" kind of polish, and that's a plank set very high. First impression really matters and the game fails to make it, hence all the problems.
[1] http://img.slidetoplay.com/screenshots/bullseye-factory_4.jp...
Out of curiosity, what led to the bullseyes being spherical instead of cylindrical?
-- PB Winterbottom http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMZyAsVlMoU#t=1m10s
Limbo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCA79zPaQe0#t=30s
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Edit: I got distracted for a bit but here's a moderately quick mockup of some of those ideas:
http://www.meltwizard.com/stuff/factory.png
You could make people "feel" the gyroscopic movement even more by having the UI's movement be slightly delayed from the player movement, like it's following behind on a rubber band (see: first person games which have helmet art, like Metroid Prime on the gamecube). You wouldn't want to make it too crazy since it has to be usable, but adding a little feeling of sway to the surrounding chrome, tied to gyroscope moves, would probably go a long way towards making it feel less mechanical and more fluid.
Sorry for the armchair art direction by the way. If I am accidentally coming across as an asshole, please know that it is not intentional! I like the concept for the game AND for the visual direction and it made me interested enough to crack open Photoshop and start playing around. I don't know if my ideas are particularly noteworthy or if they actually manage to improve anything, but it's what came to mind when looking at the game. Hopefully no offense is taken!
Btw, I feel like I should have a good answer for why the bullseyes are spherical and not flat... but I don't. More to think about there...