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How I tried to get into game development and failed

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Re: How I tried to get into game development and failed

#111

Post by vvanders »

humanrebar wrote: post #61
bane wrote: post #56

Something lots of people in the tech community get really hung up on is focusing on tech and technique rather than what the technology is doing for the user. There are writeups on here fairly frequently that talk about successful companies being successful despite their product being built on barrels of spaghetti code. This is because those companies are focusing on accomplishing something for the user, not trying to…

> ...anything else is distraction Is it? I was under the impression that many game shops do several releases based on the same code. It seems it would be valuable to limit the incremental cost for extra episodes, DLC, Madden YYYY+1, etc.

They do, however there's one important distinction. Usually somewhere 6-8 months out from ship they fork the codebase from mainline with the discrete intention of not ever merging back.

After that point all sorts of game-specific optimizations go in that would/could break other types of games the engine could be used for.

Also, if you do ever have to rebase on mainline, it's a bastard to do :).

Re: How I tried to get into game development and failed

#112

Post by vkhorikov »

ilaksh wrote: post #91

Getting 7k visits a day and $130 per month is overall a very good start. 80-90+% of people that attempt something like this either never launch or are getting much less traffic. The thing that people don't realize is, there are literally hundreds of thousands of games or apps for people to occupy themselves with. No exaggeration. I am including all the different app stores and also the retro gaming. The retro gaming…

It's not a matter of giving up, it's a calculated choice.

True, the path you described is good, and if I wouldn't have any other options, I would gladly take it. However, I do have other options, and they are more effective, so I decided to go back and focus on them. Doing games at that low margin can't beat those options. Also, it would be a complete change of career path, a quite risky move.

Re: How I tried to get into game development and failed

#113

Post by egypturnash »

Tried it on my iPad just now.

No sound. Really that kills it right there.

Radar is super tiny and hidden beneath my right hand, I could not see it, and I sure couldn't see any dots on it.

Upgrade UI is way too tiny to use. And hidden beneath my left hand. I tried stabbing at it a couple of times and I ended up upgrading the option above what I actually wanted.

Game Over is really unceremonious. It doesn't tell me that if I get back in it'll keep my upgrades. I buzzed around for a few minutes and have no desire to go back in.

Focusing the controls on cardinal directions and diagonals felt really really limiting when I have a virtual thumb stick to use. I never felt like I was aiming in the direction I wanted to, or moving. I have also played a LOT of twin stick shooters, I dunno if this is trying to be one or not.

No sound.

No world. I mean how about trees I can lurk under? Just an endless plain full of boxes and tanks. I guess that's more than Slither.io has, that just has player snakes, but...

No real distinction between tank levels, and what about all that tank type selection mentioned in part 3? I never saw that. I just had a tank. A tank with weird sluggish controls. And no sound. Seriously sound does more for games than art, get some sounds in there.

Or just take that super solid net code and prototype four completely new games on top of it in a week apiece. Programmer art and stub sounds.

Re: How I tried to get into game development and failed

#114

Post by egypturnash »

egypturnash wrote: post #113

Tried it on my iPad just now. No sound. Really that kills it right there. Radar is super tiny and hidden beneath my right hand, I could not see it, and I sure couldn't see any dots on it. Upgrade UI is way too tiny to use. And hidden beneath my left hand. I tried stabbing at it a couple of times and I ended up upgrading the option above what I actually wanted. Game Over is really unceremonious. It doesn't tell me tha…

Maybe go look at actual successful twin stick shooters. For instance playing that made me want to cleanse my palate so I pulled up Assault Android Cactus, which is everything this is not: it's a super cute game with local co-op, multiple characters with very different play styles, and a nice little selection of power ups.

Make some bots that run around in obviously non-tank skins. Weak but numerous, clearly different. Throw in some bosses that require multiple players to destroy. Those two things would make it more amusing when it's empty, AND have a reason to bring friends in. (Name the bosses, keep them down to only a few on the map at a time, if even more than one, keep track of who kills them, hand out medals for doing so)

Right now it's way too slow for this but some kind of Chain Combo mechanism always helps shooters have depth - once you have the basics down you can start chasing high chain, maybe have score multipliers, maybe start showing a visual effect for people with a chain going and offer bonuses for taking them down. (In it's simplest form, a chain combo usually starts happening when you quickly kill several enemies without taking damage; every time you kill an enemy start a timer counting down for a second or three, and if it hits zero then you lose your combo. Play a sad noise when this happens.)

Re: How I tried to get into game development and failed

#115

Post by WalterBright »

hyperpallium wrote: post #93
WalterBright wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was unexpectedly successful in the gaming business (Empire). All I did was make the game I wanted to play, but couldn't find.

"Scratch your own itch"; if you like it, maybe others will too; instant user feedback

I read about Carmack/Romero making Doom, and they also made the game they wanted to play.

Re: How I tried to get into game development and failed

#116

Post by egypturnash »

egypturnash wrote: post #114
egypturnash wrote: post #113

Tried it on my iPad just now. No sound. Really that kills it right there. Radar is super tiny and hidden beneath my right hand, I could not see it, and I sure couldn't see any dots on it. Upgrade UI is way too tiny to use. And hidden beneath my left hand. I tried stabbing at it a couple of times and I ended up upgrading the option above what I actually wanted. Game Over is really unceremonious. It doesn't tell me tha…

Maybe go look at actual successful twin stick shooters. For instance playing that made me want to cleanse my palate so I pulled up Assault Android Cactus, which is everything this is not: it's a super cute game with local co-op, multiple characters with very different play styles, and a nice little selection of power ups. Make some bots that run around in obviously non-tank skins. Weak but numerous, clearly different…

Also stop making your designer draw tanks. Pay her to draw whatever the hell she thinks would be cool on top of the movement patterns you come up with for bots and for the players. Roll with whatever it is. Tanks are boring to draw and full of lots of stupid fiddly details. If you end up with a game about cute bugs and unicorns and squid running around throwing hearts at each other? GREAT. It's got something to stand out.

I mean right now this thing doesn't even have a NAME that means anything, much less any kind of visual appeal.

Re: How I tried to get into game development and failed

#117

Post by jrochkind1 »

georgeecollins wrote: post #65

This is a great example of the fallacy that if you like games and can program a game, you can be a game developer and get any traction. Programming isn't really the hard part, and it gets easier every day. It is true if you can do something technically bleeding edge you will be sought after by game companies and other companies as well. Imagine: I have liked movies my whole life. I read that Paranormal Activity was m…

Sure it did (in your hypothetical story). You made a film, you're a film maker. Oh, you wanted to get rich?

Re: How I tried to get into game development and failed

#118

Post by pharrington »

WalterBright wrote: post #71
dvt wrote: post #43

I don't mean to be dismissive, but here are the main issues I see with the process (and the final product): - Bottom line, the game is not particularly fun, novel, or difficult. You'll notice that games like Flappy Bird, Agar.io, Papers Please, etc. are at least one of the three. Bist.io is not the type of game that will ever go viral. - You spent money on AdWords but didn't spend money on sponsored Youtube, Instagra…

I was unexpectedly successful in the gaming business (Empire). All I did was make the game I wanted to play, but couldn't find.

Yeah, that's the most rational approach to independent game development. You, the developer, are the target audience.

Re: How I tried to get into game development and failed

#119

Post by dvt »

WalterBright wrote: post #71
dvt wrote: post #43

I don't mean to be dismissive, but here are the main issues I see with the process (and the final product): - Bottom line, the game is not particularly fun, novel, or difficult. You'll notice that games like Flappy Bird, Agar.io, Papers Please, etc. are at least one of the three. Bist.io is not the type of game that will ever go viral. - You spent money on AdWords but didn't spend money on sponsored Youtube, Instagra…

I was unexpectedly successful in the gaming business (Empire). All I did was make the game I wanted to play, but couldn't find.

I think this is an awesome point -- and I can't help getting a bit giddy at Walter Bright replying to my comment. I think being passionate about what you're building is one of the best indicators to success (as opposed to something that you want to make a ton of money with).
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