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Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

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291–300 of 375 posts

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Should unreal give away their work for free? What is your argument. They don’t take a single royalty until $1mm and 5% is not a wild number considering it’s making use of the engine. Heck steam takes 30% which is much more egregious but factoring in costs of running steam, payment processing and the free marketing its almost always worth it. Share a counter argument to how it should be please.

There's many ways that are better than royalties. Just sell the engine as a one time purchasec have a non-profit foundation where sponsors fund development, etc.

If they sold it as a one time purchase this kid would have never been able to use Unreal.

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm saying it's not a "happy problem":)

There is this high correlation with low quality comments and smiley faces, that and when people like to insult others and put a little winky face at the end. You are simply making up nonsense. It is not a lot of work as most likely sales are being driven through a handful of platforms. Reporting is simple and no different than doing your taxes. It is very much a happy problem. Similar to having to pay more taxes. The…

You're calling my argument insane, you're saying my comment is low quality, and imply I'm the one insulting. What is my argument then, in your opinion?

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#293
post #59

I always wonder how a solo developer can source high quality assets like these, plus develop a full game with them. In this case did the dev create the assets or did they purchase them from a freelancer? How much would purchasing this many assets cost?

Almost every time I see a halfway polished “solo developer” game, they did not do all the work themselves. Especially, they usually hire out the music, maybe other sounds, and much of the artwork. Sometimes they also have freelancers doing marketing and such. Sometimes even some paid help writing the software. I highlight this not to bring those developers down, but because I think it’s important people understand ho…

The Stardew Valley dev did do everything himself though

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But it is free up to $1mm in revenue. Anyone can go and download the engine and use it as much as they want free. It is really smart and honestly $1mm is a generous entry point to capture a royalty for everyone involved.

They could have just sold the engine, even a subscription is better than royalties. If my game sells more it doesn't cost Epic any more money.

I know you’re trolling but come on. The entry price for what you are suggesting would never be obtainable for folks like this kid. You can absolutely negotiate pricing if you are a big enough studio but for hobbyist they let you use it for a royalty. It’s great because it opens it up for everyone. If they charged a fixed fee it would have to be at a very high price.

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It only works when starting with open source to show to LLM. To monetize my modification, I would not make mine open source. If the licensing allows for it I’m fine.

If the LLM does the work, why should someone pay you when they could use their own tokens?

[deleted]

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure as long as we acknowledge that this isn't really free it's just deferred payment

Not deferred payment for most devs as they do not reach the 1 million revenue

For "the best train sim ever made" they probably reach it.

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#297
post #161
post #34

This is a 1 person job?! It looks practically photorealistic. That's absolutely wild.

> It looks practically photorealistic. what has improved a lot recently is the physically based rendering - specifically, the lighting. Looking at the steam page, this train game has that type of lighting. Another game that uses similarly realistic lighting is https://store.steampowered.com/app/2406770/Bodycam/

When the dev for BodyCam posted his initial streams, I thought it was fake. Also was a solo dev though I think he either has a partner or a team now

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#298
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This couldn't have happened 10 years ago. I agree. Something similar could have happened 30 years ago, and it did, see Transport Tycoon (or a lot of early games). But from 2000 to 2020?

The difference between today and 30 years ago is that if you are an individual developer, you are at the complete mercy of a single company (Valve), who can force you to do essentially anything they want for the privilege of publishing on their platform, with no meaningful alternative, and zero recourse if they say “no”.

I don't follow gaming news closely. Are there examples of this being a problem that I can read about?

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's many ways that are better than royalties. Just sell the engine as a one time purchasec have a non-profit foundation where sponsors fund development, etc.

If they sold it as a one time purchase this kid would have never been able to use Unreal.

If Adobe sold their suite as one time purchase many creatives who can just afford a monthly subscription couldn't use it. Does it make it a great business model.

Re: Train sim created by just one person is being called the best ever made

#300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is this high correlation with low quality comments and smiley faces, that and when people like to insult others and put a little winky face at the end. You are simply making up nonsense. It is not a lot of work as most likely sales are being driven through a handful of platforms. Reporting is simple and no different than doing your taxes. It is very much a happy problem. Similar to having to pay more taxes. The…

You're calling my argument insane, you're saying my comment is low quality, and imply I'm the one insulting. What is my argument then, in your opinion?

If that’s all you have to respond then you sir are the one with no argument. I have listed my points multiple times. All you keep saying is “they could offer it at a fixed price”. Well that price would be well above any hobbyist. It is kind of an insane argument. They have had fixed pricing before without royalty and usually that price is north of $1mm. Free + 5% is pretty amazing. There is enough competition in this space that you could always go elsewhere.
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