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Maybe we can all build a short guide with the basic rules and recommandations to make an attractive app/game. it would be really cool and could help all the community (me the first :p)

Launching the discussion :p

For my part (it's not exhaustive !! i'm waiting for your additionnal comments !

1. The price :

i often see prices on applications or games that are too high (not only for AppGameKit apps/games). A too high price quickly deters customers/players. So i wouldn't be surprised that some commercial apps/games stay at ZERO downloads... although the app/game quality is correct. So be less greedy

2. Interest of app/game

I know that making an original game isn't easy. And we always want to start to code from scratch without any real idea .. And we want to make a game from small pieces of code we've tried. So, try to have a concept. Maybe your game will be based on another one or on an old one. That is not a real problem but you have to find a way to renew it ... With new commands, a new view angle, or maybe adding some new features to the original game to make it really "reloaded". BE CAREFUL ABOUT LEGAL RIGHTS !


3. Fonts choice

Don't underestimate the importance of your font choice. The default font is good to debug, but not really attractive and make your game to look dirty. Some good and cool royalty-free fonts can be found on the net. And you don't need to be a picasso for this part. Google is your friend. You can do a compromise between a readable font for all devices you plan to deploy which must be relevant to the app/game and a beautiful one (You have "Bitmap Font Creator" that is very useful for AppGameKit and works really well).

4. Graphics/Sounds/Musics

That is the one of the harder part of a game. You all know it... For the graphic's gurus, you have the pixel art. It's a very hard and long work. For the lazy ones (like me) you have the 3D which can render good effects for a 2D game (lights effects, shinyness etc....). In 3D you can do a lot of things with for example : Google Sketchup. The easier 3D modeler in the world for simple things That would be a good start to try it and capturing rendered views in angles you want (there is an orthogonal mode also). For 3D you have also Blender with Sprite Exporter plugin (google it), Fragmotion with his integrated Sprite Exporter (my favorite one) . (i don't speak about 3DSMax or others softwares which are for the most advanced users heh . Obviously you have a lot of tools and resources on the TGC Website (like "SpriteMe" or "Model-2-Sprite" for example).

For those who want to draw everything themselves with PNG Transparency support, there is for example: Gimp (Free) (all OS) , Paint.NET (win) (Free and my favorite !), Photoshop (Linux/Mac) (...Expensive .. but sometimes useful for 2D but also for texturing.. so if you have the chance to own a copy...)

Musics and sounds are also an art. Maybe you have someone near you who can help you but software like audacity (for sound/music editing) is a good start. (for composing part i will be back later with few free softwares)


That's all for the moment

Any other suggestions ?

well i think that if we poll are resources together we can build a app that is very good. This is probly what going to happen any way, but know one wants to do this really it looks like. So soloing a project is good for know. I have currently developed 4 apps, but only one has good graphics.

Ok back to rules.

1. This is the main rule:

I don't know of any rules other then keep the game clean of sexual content and, strong verbal useage of words.

My advise: You are good at programming, STICK WITH THAT!

If you have a good game concept, get people who do audio and artwork to take care of those areas.

I partially Agree with this but... The beauty of life is that you at least try everything

Nice idea MikeMax...

I would like to emphasize on Copyright but you already mentioned it so I will add...

Free Resources: Ensure you check licencing on free resources ensuring both that they are copyright free as in not illegal deviations of copyrighted content... ie... do not go using stuff that looks like Mario or Sonic or Link or Lara etc...

Ensure you always use Royalty free content if you are going down the non-original / not made in-house route, whether you are using free resources or buy to use content.

here is a definition as well as handy links from Wikipedia

Keeping my eyes on this one

Meh, the price is the last thing I look at in a game. Usually if I see a low price I think "what's wrong with this game"?

99 cent games are going to kill the gaming industry. I'm personally going to only work on good games that charge a reasonable price

99 cents is not even in the realm of reasonable unless you're producing garbage.

I agree
Especially the IN BOLD BIT which I bolded

Cost

Or already have high sales...

I used to think that 99c games would be garbage until I played games like Angry Birds and Jetpack Joyride which, while not particularly incredible are very well produced and get great sales.

Games are becoming very throw away items which is bad for the industry but good for small indie developers like most of us who are writing them in our spare time. If we don't make a million we still have fun, if we do we have even more fun

I will re-iterate that it IS bad for the industry though. When you lower the cost of something you lower people's perception of its value.

Gameplay vs Media
This is what making a great game ALWAYS comes down to. You can have the best graphics in the world but if the game is no fun it will just flop.

That said a really great game that's fun to play will not even get looked at without a clearly defined and well thought out style. As always there's a balance to be struck!

Is there a real formula? To an extent yes but then someone will always come up with a great idea that makes you think, "The style is wrong, the gameplay is wrong, the music is weird... but together it's just awesome!"

Getting the right balance at the right time and getting the right exposure is the world's most difficult balancing act. Like juggling six bowling balls while tightrope walking the grand canyon on the back of a horse with the hiccups...