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After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

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Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#231

Post by adventured »

chaostheory wrote: post #215
Ygg2 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, it isn't. Public health is just difficult to fund. Especially on a shrinking population.

This is the same conclusion I came to. Many Canadians are now against immigration due to their housing crisis. What they don’t realize is that Canada has been hit with a demographic bomb in the 1970s that other countries are now only starting to experience. Ie without immigration, the retired elderly will soon outnumber working age adults who contribute to the economy and tax revenue They only have two choices now: *…

Three.

Increase productivity (per capita output), increase taxes, specifically pursue high income society development paths (including on who you allow to immigrate, such that high income immigrants promptly become high tax contributors).

Canada is more or less already doing this. They'll likely just have to boost taxation further.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#232

Post by losteric »

fooqux wrote: post #211
todfox wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After four years working on my retro game nearly full time, and several launches, I still don't understand marketing enough to understand what to do differently. A lot of the advice out there is something like: "create a community" or "go join several communities" or "get to know other indie devs on Twitter". To me, this simply feels fake. I don't really participate in any online communities. I spend enough time in f…

>but what's the point of working so hard if nobody gets to enjoy it but me? I have been struggling with this myself. Not just about programming but other creative pursuits as well. Recently it has been photography. I take pictures while knowing whatever I'm looking at has a far better picture on its wikipedia page. I suppose we're supposed to take some sort of fulfillment in the process of creation itself? But that j…

> I have been struggling with this myself. Not just about programming but other creative pursuits as well. Recently it has been photography. I take pictures while knowing whatever I'm looking at has a far better picture on its wikipedia page.

> I suppose we're supposed to take some sort of fulfillment in the process of creation itself? But that just goes back to the old koan of the tree falling in the woods. If I create something, but nobody ever sees it, did I create it at all? Doesn't feel like it.

I think these questions come back to "what is the meaning of life?", no?

Among many things, I enjoy hiking. I also know for a fact that thousands of people have been to every place I go and none of my trips will ever be publicly notable. That's OK. When I hike, I enjoy the journey... exercise, clean air, calm views, quiet space, one with nature, and the ego-scratch of reaching a summit... my experience feels good, deep in the bones and belly. What more could one want? If no one knows about the trip, does that invalidate or lessen my experience?

I carry the same perspective to creative pursuits. The mental exercise, honing skill, going from nothing to something - some moments are frustrating, but in aggregate it feels good. At work, I do find capitalist realities corrupt the creative joy, but I accept that as part of where we are as a society.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#234

Post by adventured »

unity1001 wrote: post #189
chaostheory wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had the wrong impression that the EU’s healthcare system was working well compared to North America. It’s terrible to learn otherwise.

The capitalist European governments that are being elected are privatizing healthcare. The first step for doing that is defunding public healthcare to make people say that 'it doesnt work - its better in private hospitals'. Then you say you have to privatize the entire system. It also funnels people to private hospitals early - when you defund public healthcare and force people into long wait times, they have no opti…

Most affluent European nations have seen net negative economic growth for the past 15-20 years, and in some cases for a generation (France and Britain).

Now they're commonly seeing population contraction or flattening.

They already have high taxes.

They're in deep shit and it has little to do with Capitalists taking over their healthcare systems. The math was always going to take them here. Only per capita economic growth to offset the aging and population shrinkage can save them, short of epic scale high income immigration.

30 years ago Germany's GDP per capita was ~$26,500. That's $57,000 inflation adjusted. The projected GDP per capita for Germany in 2022 is $48,000.

30 years ago France's GDP per capita was ~$23,800. That's $51,300 inflation adjusted. The projected GDP per capita for France in 2022 is $42,330.

30 years ago the UK's GDP per capita was ~$20,500. That's $44,200 inflation adjusted. The projected GDP per capita for the UK in 2022 is $47,300.

30 years to end up with a net contraction or otherwise close to flat. And these are supposedly the economic giants of Europe. In some cases it's even worse than it seems per capita, as eg France has added nine million people in that time; the UK has added ten million people.

The same scenario is playing out for nearly all the affluent European nations.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#235

Post by linuxftw »

todfox wrote: post #210
shaftoe wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds interesting. What's the game?

Hazmat Hijinks. If you happen to visit the website and see the Nintendo Power-esque PDF, tell me, shouldn't that grab the attention of the right person? I know I don't have the best social understanding but I thought I nailed that one. Marketing is just so opaque. I would rather write an OS from scratch. At least I know that can be solved given enough time.

I watched the video on the site. I didn't care for the music, very jarring. Most of the graphics were bland such as all the gray blocks.

When I think of the fun NES games I played, they were not puzzle games. They were TMNT 2, Mario (obviously), TLOZ, Contra, Metroid, Megaman. Those are more action games, not puzzle games.

While watching the video, I couldn't really understand what was happening. You showed gameplay, but what was going on was indecipherable.

Anyway, maybe the game doesn't appeal to me, and it does to others, IDK, I don't spend much money on games. From time to time, I'll spend a couple dollars on a mobile game if I enjoy it. Maybe you should change your marketing to make it F2P and users can purchase the full game after 4 or 5 levels via in-app purchase.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#236

Post by aschearer »

todfox wrote: post #200
dabeeeenster wrote: post #76

So this happened to a guy that worked for me. Loved video games, super talented front end dev. Made a horror game in Unity at evenings and weekends with his best friend. Launched it on Steam. Very low sales. But he learnt a huge amount about marketing and game design based on player feedback. Designed a second game, put all the marketing learnings into it, 48 hours after launch the biggest streamer on twitch was stre…

After four years working on my retro game nearly full time, and several launches, I still don't understand marketing enough to understand what to do differently. A lot of the advice out there is something like: "create a community" or "go join several communities" or "get to know other indie devs on Twitter". To me, this simply feels fake. I don't really participate in any online communities. I spend enough time in f…

Assuming the game is "Hazmat Hijinks: Total Meltdown" on Steam. Here's some tough love:

The video takes way too long to get to gameplay. Screenshots do a poor job explaining what the mechanic is. I've read the capsule image, watched some of the trailer, looked at several of the screenshots and still can't tell you what the gameplay loop is. Sort of a top down puzzle thing? With a "match the color" mechanic? The art is not good enough by a mile. OK I just read some of the "About This Game" -- no one cares how many hours of gameplay, if it's so novel why can't you explain that better than "always something new", which is redundant. Surprises also feels like it's just more novelty. The first point about various suits is not exciting, why should I care? Having a handful of people really love it isn't sufficient. I had a game on Dictionary.com that people played hours daily, still couldn't make money from it.

Stepping back, I think there are ways you could vastly improve your marketing, but is it worth it? Take the "L" and move on to your next project. Use what you've learned to improve and "make great stuff." It's better to move quickly, learn, and make better and better stuff until you've hit on something that works. At least I wish someone had given me similar advice back in the day.

PS All this is coming from respect and recognition of the incredible amount of hard work and sweat you've committed to the game. You're a bad ass for working so hard and completing a game!

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#237

Post by atomicnumber3 »

spacephysics wrote: post #153
serverholic wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Healthcare and basic income are crucial for moving towards the next stage of civilizaiton. Like you said, I'm really glad it worked out for them but so, so many people don't get so lucky or are willing to take such a big risk. How many more dwarf fortresses could we have if we gave people the safety net to follow their dreams? Instead of worrying about basic necessities like food, shelter, and healthcare.

I agree there is a problem with high healthcare costs, and food costs especially now. However what we saw with covid stimulus and unemployment wasn’t the “everyone’s now an artist” outcome that is suggested with UBI. We definitely saw creatives able to express and build their visions into the world, thanks to the money and additional time. But we also saw, and still have ongoing, many people who choose not to work [0…

Covid was not a great experiment. The stimulus checks were 6+ months apart each and would barely pay rent for the month in which they arrived for anyone not living in a shoebox. And UE has a lot of stipulations about you spending all your time trying to get a new job.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#238

Post by serverholic »

spacephysics wrote: post #153
serverholic wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Healthcare and basic income are crucial for moving towards the next stage of civilizaiton. Like you said, I'm really glad it worked out for them but so, so many people don't get so lucky or are willing to take such a big risk. How many more dwarf fortresses could we have if we gave people the safety net to follow their dreams? Instead of worrying about basic necessities like food, shelter, and healthcare.

I agree there is a problem with high healthcare costs, and food costs especially now. However what we saw with covid stimulus and unemployment wasn’t the “everyone’s now an artist” outcome that is suggested with UBI. We definitely saw creatives able to express and build their visions into the world, thanks to the money and additional time. But we also saw, and still have ongoing, many people who choose not to work [0…

A wage slave is going to have a hard time adjusting to freedom.

That might seem a bit of an extreme statement but the reality is that as soon as children enter school they are steadily stripped of their creativity in favor of discipline and obedience. They are raised in a capitalist society where they are told that their worth is tied to their job. And they spend a huge chunk of their lives doing what their boss tells them.

As far as the stimulus check, these were people trying to survive a global crisis and managed to get a break from the drudgery of their degrading, exploitative jobs.

You can't make claims about human nature without considering the context in which these events are occurring.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#239

Post by ancapsfascists »

adamnemecek wrote: post #197
brundolf wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The flipside is that it's a lottery. Steam is overflowing with new indie games every day, and many very good ones die in obscurity. You really have to get lucky and go viral But yeah, the entry fee for that lottery is at a historic low, which is still great (especially for hobby devs who don't care about the rest!)

Is it though? Show me a good Steam game that isn't selling well.

Hellion.

Re: After 20 years the Dwarf Fortress devs have to get used to being millionaires

#240

Post by fnordpiglet »

ghaff wrote: post #125
fnordpiglet wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are assuming no compounding. You have to model it as an annuity.

If you're assuming withdrawing at a safe withdrawal rate you're assuming you're not compounding. You're assuming a safe withdrawal rate from principal/dividends/interest that will, on average, leave the principal constant. Of course, if you're older and are not looking to pass down money you may be fine with drawing down principal to some degree. So, yes, $2m should probably be modeled at about $80K income per year b…

I said an annuity. An annuity would draw the principal down as well, and you generally make a drawdown assumption that leaves you with some safe margin for extended life and maybe some inheritance.
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