BLACK HISTORY MONTH
How to get started in apps and games
It’s a question every developer faces at some point – who can I get to test this? For Taiwo Omisore, the answer was literally sitting in front of him.
Omisore was making his first game, SpaceBots, in his spare time, during an hour-long daily commute to his former job as a retail buyer.
“I used to see the same people every day on that train and I would just go up and down the carriage asking people to test my prototype. I got some really good feedback from them!”
Since those early days, Omisore has released six apps – from the colourful arcade asteroids of SpaceBots through to social experiment Who Am I and viral hit 1 Chance, in which you have just one attempt to get high scores in 14 mini-games.
Omisore taught himself to code before pivoting to a career in software development, while continuing to make his own apps in his spare time.
He wants to encourage more people like him who don’t have a background in development to give it a try and bring their ideas to life. So, we asked him for his top tips on how to get started making your own apps and games.
Dive in
Omisore grew up loving videogames, but with no idea where they came from. “It was just never something I really thought I could do – you see actors and football players on TV, but certain jobs? You have no idea what it is or how to get into it.”
He learned to code from books at the local library, and his curiosity led to his family’s purchase of their first computer. “We were some of the first people to get the internet – people on our street would come round just to look at things online.”
“As long as you have an internet connection, you can learn anything,” says Omisore. “There is an amazing community out there – join a forum or ask questions on Twitter and most of the time you’ll find someone who’s willing to help.”
So should you just get online and dive in? “Go for it. You don’t know until you try.”
As long as you have an internet connection, you can learn anything.
Taiwo Omisore, creator of [i]1 Chance[/i] and [i]Who Am I[/i]
Make it your way
It’s important to make something original, says Omisore. “What’s different? What hasn’t been done before? What will put a smile on someone’s face? I try to build things I know I will enjoy making,” he tells us.
Anyone can have a great idea – as he’s found when mentoring school pupils on how to make their own game. “They were so young. I was nowhere near as capable when I was 11 or 12 years old!
“Every single one of them – even the ones who thought they couldn’t do it at first – had amazing ideas. I was taking notes!”
Get as much feedback as possible
It’s important to get early opinions on your work-in-progress. You might not have a train full of potential testers to draw on, but friends and family are a good place to start. Though it can lead to some surprises: “I think my dad got the lowest score in the world on 1 Chance. He scored 10 per cent, which I didn’t think was even possible.”
This feedback continues even after you’ve released your app. Omisore’s players have reached out with enhancement ideas and bug fixes – “I’m super grateful to the community for helping me out on that” – but some messages are more personal.
One of Omisore’s apps, Who Am I, asks users to consider and answer that very question. “I get emails every week from people who used Who Am I and have shared really touching stories,” he says.
It’s such a great feeling being able to put something out there and see your name on it.
Taiwo Omisore
Put it out there
After weeks or months of work, it can be daunting to actually release something you’ve made.
“I don’t think it’s ever truly finished – it’s like a piece of art. You could always add another stroke or make the colours a bit lighter. You can just keep adding to it.”
But don’t be afraid to take that final step.
“It’s such a great feeling being able to put something out there and see your name on it, and know that anyone in the world could download it. It still gives me goosebumps.”