‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game • Hacker News Board

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#41

Post by saganus » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:26 PM UTC

lambda wrote: post #23

david_shaw wrote: post #13

Interesting story, but I'd hardly call this "sacrificing his fortune." The title led me to believe that perhaps there was some sort of looming intellectual property or non-compete battle -- instead, he just spent his money in development efforts for his next game. That said, the game looks great -- and I'm sure he'll be very successful with this one, too.

Yes, this could be more accurately described as "investing his fortune", or if you want to focus more on the risk (as game development is a risky business), "bet his fortune." Loved Braid, quite interested in trying out The Witness; hope it doesn't take too long to come to a platform I can play it on, as I have neither a Windows machine, nor any consoles, nor an iOS device.

I think part of the reason they consider he is "betting" or "risking" his fortune, is because it probably has a lot more risks than a "simple investment". i.e. he's not taking his money and putting it in a Fidelity investment account, he's spending money to create a game that might very well not sell more than a few copies and not make the money back.

I guess people see him as "winning the lottery" with Braid, so now spending that "lottery money" is seen as a foolish move. However I think that spending/investing your hard-earned money in something you enjoy (developing games) is the best investment one can do, even if you do lose all your money.

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#42

Post by sp332 » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:28 PM UTC

frandroid wrote: post #29

justintime2002 wrote: post #7

"Jonathan Blow's beautiful, distinct 2008 platformer Braid is largely regarded as the original indie game" Really? I find this difficult to believe, considering the success of Cave Story back in 2004.

The whole early PC gaming industry was indie games... Infocom, Sierra On-line, etc...

How do you consider Infocom and Sierra to be "indie"?

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#43

Post by Svenstaro » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:34 PM UTC

irishloop wrote: post #25

espadrine wrote: post #12

Jonathan Blow is also passionately into the creation of a new programming language to compete with C++, with an emphasis on performance and ease of use. https://www.youtube.com/user/jblow888/videos

Haven't many tried, and failed, to compete with C++ when it comes to gaming?

Very few have tried to compete in that exact field actually. This is what makes Rust so attractive.

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#44

Post by 27182818284 » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:36 PM UTC

everyone wrote: post #37

frandroid wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole early PC gaming industry was indie games... Infocom, Sierra On-line, etc...

yes! wtf!! id, commander keen, duke nukem, shareware etc. etc.

My thoughts were more like it was the first indie game because it was the first game I recall being referred to as "indie"

Before that they were just "games" or "a cool new game" or stuff like that. I dunno.

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#45

Post by pjmlp » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:36 PM UTC

irishloop wrote: post #25

espadrine wrote: post #12

Jonathan Blow is also passionately into the creation of a new programming language to compete with C++, with an emphasis on performance and ease of use. https://www.youtube.com/user/jblow888/videos

Haven't many tried, and failed, to compete with C++ when it comes to gaming?

As a C++ fan in the C vs C++ discussions, I remember the days it was despised by game developers...

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#46

Post by kelukelugames » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:36 PM UTC

archagon wrote: post #39

gavanwoolery wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've followed him for a while and I think it might be a little more complicated although this is definitely how it might come across to the average person. He is blunt, and seemingly socially detached at times, almost in a Carmack-ish way. I don't see this as a bad thing really, just a different type of personality. Most of the best programmers I have known have this kind of personality. Also, as mentioned his new la…

I've found his Twitter very frustrating to follow sometimes, but I also learn a ton from the things he links to and talks about. For example, I'm certainly not in the anti-OO camp, but his perspective keeps me on my toes and has been informing my programming decisions to a degree. He also seems like a good person in general — just one who happens to be an old school programmer with a very specific view on how things…

Why doesn't he like us?

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#47

Post by Retra » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:37 PM UTC

archagon wrote: post #36

justintime2002 wrote: post #7

"Jonathan Blow's beautiful, distinct 2008 platformer Braid is largely regarded as the original indie game" Really? I find this difficult to believe, considering the success of Cave Story back in 2004.

This is very true. However, I recall it being in the first crop of commercially successful indie games: World of Goo, Super Meat Boy, Castle Crashers, Braid.

All those remind me of Steam. Which was new at the time, yeah?

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#48

Post by icefox » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:38 PM UTC

lambda wrote: post #23

david_shaw wrote: post #13

Interesting story, but I'd hardly call this "sacrificing his fortune." The title led me to believe that perhaps there was some sort of looming intellectual property or non-compete battle -- instead, he just spent his money in development efforts for his next game. That said, the game looks great -- and I'm sure he'll be very successful with this one, too.

Yes, this could be more accurately described as "investing his fortune", or if you want to focus more on the risk (as game development is a risky business), "bet his fortune." Loved Braid, quite interested in trying out The Witness; hope it doesn't take too long to come to a platform I can play it on, as I have neither a Windows machine, nor any consoles, nor an iOS device.

At the same time it is sobering to learn that one of the more recent wildly successful indy games only made a few million at most.

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#49

Post by malkia » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:38 PM UTC

irishloop wrote: post #25

espadrine wrote: post #12

Jonathan Blow is also passionately into the creation of a new programming language to compete with C++, with an emphasis on performance and ease of use. https://www.youtube.com/user/jblow888/videos

Haven't many tried, and failed, to compete with C++ when it comes to gaming?

From my experience, its usually mix of different languages. What ships in the final build might be C/C++ with Lua, custom script + some other custom text formats.

Just an example.

Then there is Unity, and plethora of frameworks where you write in some language and then it gets translated into another and there are just too many variations.

There are still games shipped done in Borland Pascal for that matter :)

Re: ‘Braid’ creator sacrifices his fortune to build his next game

#50

Post by ericd » Fri, Feb 06, 2015, 9:38 PM UTC

archagon wrote: post #36

justintime2002 wrote: post #7

"Jonathan Blow's beautiful, distinct 2008 platformer Braid is largely regarded as the original indie game" Really? I find this difficult to believe, considering the success of Cave Story back in 2004.

This is very true. However, I recall it being in the first crop of commercially successful indie games: World of Goo, Super Meat Boy, Castle Crashers, Braid.

Doom was pretty commercially successful...