This post started off as a comparison of two of the most prominent methods of indy game distribution on the web today – app stores & social networks – but has morphed into something of a warning shot to platforms who allow their open networks to be ridden roughshot over by games ruthlessly seeking distribution above all else.
I had hoped to discuss some numbers taking both leading Facebook & App Store games as a jumping off point. But one look at my Twitter homepage this morning aroused some angst.
To their credit the realtime stream networks have opened up their far-reaching update networks to 3rd party developers without holding much back. Photos on facebook and throttling search on twitter are by and large minor holdups which would presumably have grave performance issues to overcome first anyway.
But this power in the hands of developers doesn’t come without responsibilities.
Continue reading ‘Indy Gaming & Destroying a Platform’
I’ve seen some how-to guides for getting started writing facebook apps on the web but none really cover everything from start to finish. Even Facebook’s own documentation is somewhat disappointing. So to help others find their way around Facebook markup and the life cycle of a Facebook application here is a simple tutorial.It is a very basic app which aims to display a web image of the user’s choice a) in miniature on their profile, and b) in full on the application’s own canvas page. What is a canvas page? Simply the main page of your application that the user sees each time they click on your app.
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