Learn Lua for iOS Game Development London, UK

We Got Mentioned on the First Page of Jayant Varma’s New Book – Learn Lua for iOS Game Development

Not long ago Apress released “Learn Lua for iOS Game Development” by Jayant Varma. Since we know Jayant, we got his book as soon as it hit the shelves. Imagine how pleased we were to see the author thank Fanstudio’s founder Andrei Buta on the first page of his book for making it all happen. Here’s the story.

A year ago, Fanstudio’s founder Andrei Buta was approached by an agent from Apress, a publisher that specializes in IT, software, and app development. The publisher was looking for iOS developer from London, UK and asked Andrei to write a book about iPhone and iPad app development. They wanted Andrei to come up with an idea for a book and get it published.

Unfortunately, Andrei was too busy with other projects, so he couldn’t allocate the time to write the book. That’s when he thought about Jayant Varma, a talented and experienced programmer whom he knew from various game development forums and conferences. Andrei thought that Jayant would be interested in writing the book. He was right because Jayant accepted the offer from Apress and wrote a great book about iOS game development.

We want to thank Jayant for his kind words and wish him the best of luck in writing and software development alike!

iPhone Game App Development London – Working with Fan Studio

Working with Us

A great idea is not enough to make a great iPhone app. Fan Studio is an iOS app development company with offices in London and Romania that knows how to turn your idea into success. We know everything about app development for iPhone and iPad, and we will find the best way to create your dream app or game.

Why Choose Us

We understand that there are quite a few UK game app developers to choose from. So we thought we’d give you some solid reasons to work with us:
We are an Apple Certified Developer
Three of our iPhone games got featured by Apple on the front page of iTunes
Our apps get to the top. For example, TrafficVille 3D is among the TOP 25 apps in the Role Playing category in the USA, the UK, France, Ireland and Germany.
We are an official member of TIGA (The Independent Game Developers Association) and UKIE (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment).

How We Work

At Fanstudio, we believe in taking the right steps at exactly the right time. That’s why we have defined clear iPhone game app development stages.

Starting the game development for iPhone process

So you’ve decided that you need iPhone application development services. That’s when you should pick up the phone and get in touch with us. We’ll organize a meeting where we’ll discuss your ideas and the best way for us to make them come to life. And then we’ll move the process to the next stage right away. All discussions are strictly confidential, so you won’t have to worry about any of your concepts leaking out, ever.

Analysis and proposal

Now that we know your iPhone application development ideas and ambitions, our analysts will start analyzing the market, business trends, iOS user preferences, and a number of other factors to find you the perfect solution. We will then put up a proposal that will give you several choices, let you study our plan for action and see what we expect from the final result – your iOS app or game.

Agreement

When all the details have been polished out, we will prepare all the paperwork. There will be an agreement for us both to sign plus every step of the app development process will be documented, so that nothing gets overlooked. And our dedicated project managers are always there to help if you have any questions, concerns or amendments.

The iPhone application development process

Before we start the actual app development process, we’ll meticulously analyse the market and every single detail of the project. We will check and double-check the initial requirements, develop a clear business sector goal, and work out the most efficient way to create your app.

When we are done with the analysis, we’ll move on to developing the strategies. This includes refining both development and marketing strategies for your application development iPhone challenge. Defining a long term strategy is essential to the app’s success and we have the people who have extensive experience in creating and promoting top rated iOS apps.

Once your app project is handed over to our app developers in London, the team’s Project Manager will define the project’s scope. The team will then find a way to maximize the efficiency of the whole process and start with the most important parts of your app development. We will launch the specification process, which will ensure that the project is checked at all stages and all your ideas, objectives, and requirements are met.

Prototyping is the next stage of the development. During this stage we will work on design mock-ups and the initial user experience map. This is a very important stage of iPhone or iPad game development that is designed to ensure that the game or app will match the user’s vision of the final product, that it will work seamlessly on all iOS devices and that the project passes initial quality assurance. When all that is done, we will move on to coding.

Coding is a complicated, multi-stage process. First the pre-alpha version of your app will be developed and checked. This version will be a rough sketch of the actual app in terms of features and functionality. We will then move on to creating the alpha version, which will have most of the functionality and which you will be able to show to your clients and co-workers. And finally we will deliver the beta version, which is basically a build of the app that you can deliver to end users and get some community testing and feedback. We will take all the feedback into account before we issue the final release. But before your iOS app is released, we will need to do all the quality assurance and testing.

Testing is a procedure that is designed to confirm the quality of the newly developed app. Its goal is to ensure that all the features work as they should and there are no malfunctions or bugs. At Fanstudio, we have the best quality assurance engineers that just love finding bugs in games and apps. So, if there was anything that our developers missed, the QA people will nail it and we’ll fix everything right away.

When your application is done, we’ll present you with the final result and release the app along with all the necessary technical documentation. And if you ever need tech support, just let us know. Unlike a lot of iPad game development London companies, we always provide all the necessary support to our clients, 24/7.

TrafficVille 3D – 1.0 for iOS – New Traffic Control Game

London, United Kingdom – Fan Studio, the London-based games app development studio behind hits such as TrafficVille HD and Magnificent Alfie have just announced a new addition to their popular TrafficVille series. This new iOS game offers even more entertainment because of the stunning 3D graphics and goes by the name of TrafficVille 3D.

TrafficVille 3D brings more fun to your fingertips. The game follows the same playing mechanic as the original title, players are given control of a busy intersection via 6 traffic lights where they will have to safely guide the traffic and avoid car crashes.

Prevent crashes by tapping the traffic lights. Changing the lights at the wrong moment or not paying attention to the Firetruck can throw this puzzle game into chaos.

As you progress through the levels the traffic lights become time controlled and do not stay Red for more than 7 seconds.

Earn Points as you play to unlock Apocalyptic bonuses: the Tsunami Waves which will flush the entire traffic and saves you from a potential crash.

There are 2 modes included in the game: Day and Night. The Night mode becomes active if you play TrafficVille 3D after 7pm.

Features:
- FIRST 3D traffic control game where cars are turning left/right and you control up to 6 traffic lights
- Two modes: Day and Night
- Universal 3D app with FULL HD/Retina Display
- GameCenter with Leader boards
- Control 6 Traffic lights
- Play with over 10 type of vehicles: 6 car models, firetrucks, trains, airplanes, helicopters
- Apocalyptic bonuses: Tsunami waves that will flush the traffic (more to come soon)
- Beware of firetrucks, airplanes or helicopters!

TrafficVille HD [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/trafficville-3d/id599294385?ls=1&mt=8]
Official website [http://www.trafficville3d.com]

Fan Studio is a certified UK Game App Developer and a verified member of the UK Association for Interactive Entertainment (UKIE.org.uk) and TIGA.org (the trade association representing the UK’s game industry). We’ve been around since 2007, which means that we started developing games and apps for iPhone as soon as the first iPhone was released by Apple in June 2007. Our iPhone game app development team consists of five devoted and enthusiastic members (two graphics designers and three developers). We are a boutique company and always work as a true team on all our projects.

50 days ago / Tagged: iOS Game App Development London, TrafficVille 3D iPhone Game App Development UK 1 0

TrafficVille 3D – new traffic control game by Fan Studio

Keep the traffic flowing, avoid huge car crashes and see how high you can get up on the leader board in this totally addictive game.

Do you think you can make it? Think again!
As you progress through the levels the traffic lights become time controlled and do not stay red for more than 7 seconds.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
★ FIRST 3D traffic control game where cars are turning left/right and you control up to 6 traffic lights
★ Two modes: Day and Night
★ Universal 3D app with FULL HD/Retina Display
★ GameCenter with Leaderboards
★ Control 6 Traffic lights
★ Play with over 10 type of vehicles: 6 car models, firetrucks, trains, airplanes, helicopters
★ Apocalyptic bonuses: Tsunami waves that will flush the traffic (more to come soon)
★ Beware of firetrucks, airplanes or helicopters!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

HOW TO PLAY

Prevent crashes by tapping the traffic lights
Get points for safely guiding the traffic
Clear the lane when you hear the Fire Truck’s siren!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/fan.studio

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/FanStudioUK

iPhone Game App Development

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62 days ago / Tagged: app store games, traffic controller, TrafficVille 3D 4 0

How To Hire A Great iPhone App Development team

Hiring an iPhone app development team could get time consuming if you don’t know the basics. You’ll want to make sure that you choose an iPhone app development team that has a good reputation from the start, and one that will do the job promised for the proposed price, and on time to boot.

Below are some tips to help guide you along your journey.

1/Get an Apple ID
Register as an iPhone Developer. If you plan to sell your app, you’ll need your own developer id to configure your bank account for direct deposit. The iPhone app development company you hire will then submit the App on your behalf to the App Store for approval.

2/ Sign for Confidentiality
All iPhone application development teams should sign NDA’s.

If you feel that you want to protect your idea, get a NDA in place. Sometimes an NDA is not necessary if the idea is already in the app store.

3/ Define your Requirements
Make sure each iPhone application development team is estimating on the same functionality, spec and/or business requirements. A good practice is to have a document ready to give the iPhone application development team – this could be a simple bullet point list of functionality, an RFQ/RFP, a flowchart, a .jpg mock up (or a hand drawn fax), an email – really anything that will help put every bidder for your project on the same “page”.

4/ Be Available, Be Serious
When you fill out a lead form or quote form on a website and leave your phone and email, be available and ready to talk about your project in detail when the iPhone application development team contact you. Be serious by doing your homework – research if there is a similar app in App Store already and think about how much you realistically can to budget to hire an iPhone application development team.

5/Agree on Price
Nail down an exact finished price before the project starts and get it in writing. Make sure each party understands how payment will occur, and when. A typical and fair payment schedule is 40% down, 30% at a development milestone and 30% at submission to Apple.

90 days ago 2 0

Developing for iPhone: Is the Gold Rush Over?

iPhone Game Development London

Despite Android’s growth in popularity, the iPhone is still the most popular and the most desired device and the iOS remains the preferred mobile operating system. There are more than 400 million people using the iOS and the number keeps growing. Therefore, it’s not surprising that iPhone game development London is a very profitable niche. But that’s true only if you do everything the right way.

A lot of people think that developing an iOS game is a get rich quick scheme. They think that all they need to do is develop a game and submit it to the App Store. Well, this may have been the case when the App Store was first launched. But now there are more than 700,000 apps available for download. This means that it’s not all that easy to make your iPhone game sell, especially with all the changes made to the iOS6 App Store. So, is the iPhone game development gold rush over? Not exactly. But you really have to know what you are doing in order to succeed.

The iPhone Gold Rush

When people started developing for the iPhone and the gold rush began, it was enough to have a few basic tools and some patience. The gold was there, lying pretty much everywhere. But now when game giants like Electronic Arts and Zynga arrived to the market, it has become increasingly difficult for independent developers to get lucky. And don’t forget that there are already tons of massively popular games like Temple Run, Angry Birds, Doodle Jump and so on with which you’ll have to compete. True, you get word of game development for iPhone success stories every now and again, but they are few and far between.

iPhone Game Development Tips

Before you start developing your game or hire a UK iPhone game development company, you will need to do a lot of market research, have a look at your competitors and identify your niche. The idea for your game needs to be creative and unique, otherwise it won’t have any chances to succeed.

So, what advice is there for novice iOS game developers? Here are some tips from industry professionals.

Graeme Devine, an Apple guru and veteran, says: “One of the things that makes a successful iPhone game developer or iPad game is to actually use the device in a way that was meant for it to be used. It seems simple enough, but most game developers forget that. They immediately rush to put a virtual d-pad on the screen, put something in between the user and the world that they’re playing in,” he began. “If you look at every Apple application, from the photo application to the weather application to the stock thing, there’s no interfacing between you and whatever you’re playing with… you’re directly manipulating the world. The games that do the best, Angry Birds in particular, really pay attention to that. They really use that touch environment really, really well.”

Another thing that matters is a clean, easy to use interface because that’s what iPhone users are looking for.

“Users expect direct, clear interaction on the iPhone. I’m sure that’s a software rule in general, but on that touchscreen especially, I was surprised by how simple, clear, and direct everything really had to be, and how when I made changes in that direction, how quickly and clearly users responded. I think, apps like Angry Birds, Jetpack Joyride and Temple Run succeed in large part because they are so exceptionally clear and straightforward.” – says Mike Schramm, the developer of Antithesis.

In addition to the actual development, you will need to price the game correctly – if the price is too high, it has to be justified. Otherwise nobody will download the game. As a rule, inexpensive games like Angry Birds, which costs $0.99, top the downloads list. The game grossed more than $10 million and this number is growing.

The bottom line is that if you have a creative idea for an iPhone game, if you work with professionals who will help you design and develop a top quality product, and if you are prepared to maintain and update the game regularly, you have all the chances of creating a game that will become the users’ favourite.

171 days ago / Tagged: developing for iphone, game developers london, game development for iphone, iPhone game development, UK iPhone game development company 3 0

iPhone iOS6 App Store Changes: What it Means for Users and app development companies London

While this is most certainly frustrating for users, it’s even worse for game app developers. A lot of app and game development companies London, including some iOS app developers in London, complain that the changes made to the App Store caused a noticeable drop in sales. The main reason for that is the new search feature that only displays one search result per page instead of a list, and inconsistent search results that keep fluctuating.

The release of iPhone 5 and iOS6 is still one of the most popular tech topics discussed on the Web. When the new iOS6 was first released, a lot of people were excited about it. However, for some the excitement quickly changed to disappointment because of the changes to the App Store that came with iOS6 and Apple’s acquisition of Chomp.

The changes made to the App Store affected both users and developers around the world, including London app developers. iPhone and iPad users are still trying to get used to the new horizontal scrolling and cards that have been introduced instead of the search results list. This change makes the search slower, as the user has to swipe through every single search result. But that’s not the most frustrating thing about the updated App Store. What users find increasingly annoying is the changes in how search works. Not only has it become difficult to find the app they want because of the new way search results are displayed. The worst bit is that brand new iOS game development and app releases are often impossible to find unless you have a direct link. While this is not exactly a new problem, it has become worse with the release of the iOS6 App Store. Basically, new releases even from famous iPhone game development companies take several hours (sometimes up to a day) to appear in the search results.

In addition to that, the new iOS6 App Store’s search results now significantly vary from country to country. This is a significant change, especially for non-US developers. A lot of London app developers say that now the number of downloads in a certain country affects the app’s position in the search results. If there are a lot of downloads, the app will be higher. But if there are only a few downloads in a certain country, there is a good chance for the app to be buried. For example, if a game has a lot of downloads in the UK, it will be high in the UK search results. But if there are only a few downloads in Ireland, the game won’t be nowhere near the top in the Irish search results.

The size of the App Store with more than 700,000 apps and games doesn’t help either. This works against both developers and users, making it hard for the users to find what they are looking for. Surprisingly enough, searching for an app or a game using its exact name doesn’t work well anymore because iOS6 App Store returns off-target search results. Again, this varies from country to country, but users complain that they often have to swipe to the third or fourth search result to find the app they were looking for.

So, what does this mean for iPhone game development companies? First of all, it means that their submission process and marketing strategies have to be revised. Swipe cards mean that now the developer has a better chance to use app or game description to attract users and encourage them to download. In addition to that, there is a better opportunity to market new app features.

Another big change is that now stuffing keywords into game titles won’t help. The new layout is responsible for that because there is no room to display longer titles that use keyword stuffing techniques. Basically, titles have to be kept short, as longer titles get truncated. For example, “Angry Birds Free” fits on the swipe card, while “Angry Birds Seasons” doesn’t and gets truncated.

And last but not least, reputable game developers UK suggest paying extra attention to App Store SEO (ASO), which is becoming increasingly important. With the changes to the App Store, being proficient in ASO can give London app developers a huge advantage over the competition and help them appear at the top of the search results.

178 days ago / Tagged: app developers london, app store ios6 4 0

Magnificent Alfie one of the Top Paid iPhone Games in USA

We are happy to announce that, 5 days after the release of our latest endless runner iPhone and iPad game, it became one of the Top Paid iOS games in the USA.

Magnificent Alfie for iPhone is currently ranked no 34 in Games – Adventure category.

Overall, Magnificent Alfie is ranked no 415 out of 750.000+ apps.

Thank you for your support!

213 days ago / Tagged: ios app developers London, ios app development, ios game developer London 8 0

Magnificent Alfie coming soon to the App Store

Join Magnificent Alfie as he escapes from the circus!

Alfie was kidnapped as a baby and sent to the circus, where he had to perform daily for the amusement of the crowd.

But now, he has had enough! He wants to escape and be free – can you help him on his perilous journey?

Pilot Alfie as he pedals his way to freedom. Each jump will bring him closer to his goal of escaping the terrible circus and his horrible masters.

Help him avoid obstacles like rocks, cannon and cactuses as he uses his skills to get away. Alfie only has a limited supply of fuel, but he’s sure he can find more on the way.
Guide this journey of a dog and his aero-unicycle to victory and freedom from the terrible circus.

Ladies and gentleman, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no it’s the Magnificent Alfie!

Magnificent Alfie combines outstanding physics and high quality graphics to offer you an unforgettable experience and endless gameplay for the entire family.

KEY FEATURES:
• Addictive gameplay & hours of fun driving the aero-unicycle.
• Innovative gameplay mechanics
• Game Center, Twitter & Facebook integration
• Beautiful HD graphics and scenes
• And MAGNIFICENT ALFIE

Become a Fan on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MagnificentAlfie

Questions or Comments?
Visit our website at http://www.magnificentalfie.com

***Please remember to rate us any time an update is available! Thanks for playing!***

238 days ago / Tagged: game development for iphone, iphone 5 game development, magnificent alfie for iphone 4 0

Fan Studio iPhone Game Development in the press LS:N Global

Free apps boost consumer spending on Video Games

By Calum Ross
Washington DC – Global spending on video games grew to $25bn in 2011,
according to the Entertainment Software Association. ‘The most important factor inﬂuencing this rise is the number of free apps available to the public,’ explains Andrei Buta, CEO and founder of iPhone app and games developer Fan Studio.

‘The App Store is now dominated by free apps that let users pay for extra features.’ Consumers buying free-to-download games on social networking sites and digital devices spent nearly $4bn on in-game upgrades in 2011. The ﬁgure, published by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, is expected to rise a further 8% this year.

Andrei stresses that traditional game developers will have to rethink the way they release their products as more consumers turn towards free games with extra payable content, and if they don’t keep up with the changing market, they risk becoming irrelevant. The rise of gaming culture is providing brands with exciting new avenues to engage and motivate consumers. To learn how your company can use the principles of game design and gaming systems to develop stronger consumer relationships, read LS:N Global’s Ubiquitous Gaming Culture macro trend.

Download the article

322 days ago / Tagged: Trends that innovate and inspire 5 2