Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are you talking about? Just hit the button to close the game.
On the demo, the button doesn't appear for 5 seconds.
Strange, there's an exit button right there in front of me straight away on my demo version.
When Game Development Stinks
51–60 of 98 posts
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#52Re: When Game Development Stinks
#53I think the phrase is a little overworn and misappropriated but I think it's a little bit applicable here: "The customer is always right." Recently I've seen this phrase thrown around more as a customer service mantra, and in those cases I don't think the customer is actually always right, though it may be the best course of action to act like they are. In the case of a customer liking or disliking your game/app/widg…
The customer is always right, but the customer is not always aware. Getting noticed is the great challenge of the age.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#54There are a few detractors from Ultratron in here - and that's fine, I know it's absolutely not everyone's cup of tea - but often the reason given for not "liking" (for want of a better word) the game are specious. I can summarise some of the perplexity that arise with five words: Explain the Binding of Isaac.
Binding of Isaac starts off with some elements of classic Rogue Like gameplay that also has a dual stick shooter battle mechanics and is finally topped off with an action adventure dungeon exploration and upgrade system.
It is made from three classic successful genres all seamlessly blended together.
Content in the game is given to the player at just the right rate of flow. Dozens of initial play-throughs each reveal new items, and on subsequent plays the player begins to understand how to start combining items together.
Then there is the masterfully done difficulty curve. Facing the game straight on results in death, it is only through understanding of items and upgrades that the player has a hope of surviving, with each new discovery extending the player's life span by just a little bit more.
Then finally there was controversy around the game that got it great press coverage, press coverage which was excellently taken advantage of through very well managed sales and deals.
Binding of Isaac isn't a surprise at all. It isn't just a well made game, it is a well made game that gradually unfolds before the player at just the right pace.
So far from what I have seen in this thread, the primary complaint about Ultratron is the pace at which it ramps up. It sounds like people are saying the demo never really ramped up, which is fairly disappointing for a dual stick shooter. Dual Stick Shooters should create a sense of outright fear at times, and pretty early on in the process. Sure have the first level be a "here is how you shoot!" and that level should be over as soon as the player learns how to shoot.
The next lesson? "Here is how you run away. You'll be doing a lot of it."
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#55I worked in the game industry between 2000 and 2006, mostly on MMO titles.
This is a simple supply and demand problem.
There is a HUGE supply of young males who want to work in the gaming industry, and the customer demand for games of the quality which they can supply is insufficient.
This is why you have so many gaming schools that can't actually take all the potential students who want to join, but very few of the graduates can actually get jobs.
In the last few years, there have been so many great games that I can't possibly play them all. This has been lamented by many in recent times. There are just so many people working on games that there are a ton of great games out there, and some of the really good games get ignored because of the pile-on effect that a few of the great games get.
I should note that Puppy Games titles are awesome and work on Linux.
Not related: Lately I've been playing FTL a lot. It's awesome too.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ultratron actually came out originally before Geometry Wars.
Interesting! When did it come out?
Ah my mistake, I was referring to the 360 release of Geometry Wars (I've never actually played it, mostly coz I've never owned a console!)
The original was 10 years ago now. Think about that for a moment! Some of the people who are actually old enough to buy a game with their own credit card now were only 8 years old when Geometry Wars first appeared. Crazy.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the demo, the button doesn't appear for 5 seconds.
Strange, there's an exit button right there in front of me straight away on my demo version.
I downloaded the Linux version of the demo a few days ago from your site. Maybe it's a Linuxism or version-specific.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#58Re: When Game Development Stinks
#59I'm a little sympathetic but .... * Making games is like making music, movies, books, etc. in that the odds of you having a hit are very small. Thousands of people try, few are successful. * I've seen a several articles about games here on HN that have been about "me to" games. Clones of clones of clones. The authors want us to pat them on the back for making a ripoff? Sorry. Make something original. Personal opinion…
Er, I think you meant to compare http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6gmgExmJbM
I'm not sure what you're trying to show me. Robotron has 8x more stuff going on in any shot.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#60So few Mac games make it down the transom that I do take note when they show up on Steam's list. Ultratron was one of them, though I didn't buy it because it didn't seem like something I'd be into. Whether or not the game deserves to be a blockbuster, it indeed stinks when hard-working developers don't have much of a net or runway to finally craft the next big indie hit. That said, there still seems to be opportuniti…
I bought Ridiculous Fishing out of curiosity for the water-themed game mechanics, but it's a very poor game, specially with the coins/store crap. It was sitting at the top of featured games, makes me think it's success has more to do with the names behind it than the game itself.
There's poor games and there's games you don't like. Ridiculous Fishing is a very well designed, very polished example of a game of its type.