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I’m only making business card sized games now

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Re: I’m only making business card sized games now

#141

Post by Jolter »

magoon wrote: post #10

This reminds me of early BASIC games that would run on IBM PC, compatibles, and other early computers with BASIC interpreters. I remember one such game that was almost exactly this.

I recall typing this exact game into the old Amiga, in the AMOS Professional interpreter, from a code listing in some magazine. It was not a very long code listing, but significantly more than 960 bytes! It had sound effects, too, and I think it scrolled the opposite direction. I guess that made it a racing game, not a skiing game.

Re: I’m only making business card sized games now

#142

Post by muzani »

dkersten wrote: post #124
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

20 hours for Rimworld? I've spent nearly a hundred in there and never even got close to endgame. That is a sandbox game without an end - however, one with constant entertainment though. But I feel you about longer games starting to feel like work. I really want to like the Witcher 3 for example, but there's just so much content in there. I've started my playthrough two years ago and still haven't gotten to the end of…

Hah! I think I’ve spent about 500 hours in Rimworld and haven’t come close to the endgame. I’ve never gotten any of the spaceship parts or anything like that.

I've played Rimworld since the Kickstarter beta. Back in the old days, it was possible to finish the space ship over the weekend. I guess the game has also crept much larger and added more filler.

Re: I’m only making business card sized games now

#144

Post by muzani »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #114
Cthulhu_ wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

20 hours for Rimworld? I've spent nearly a hundred in there and never even got close to endgame. That is a sandbox game without an end - however, one with constant entertainment though. But I feel you about longer games starting to feel like work. I really want to like the Witcher 3 for example, but there's just so much content in there. I've started my playthrough two years ago and still haven't gotten to the end of…

Yeah, 20 hours for Rimworld seems impossible. I never got to the endgame, and I think on one playthrough I had something like 70+ hours before my colony collapsed. The game is hard. Good to know about ME:A; I was a huge fan of the original ME trilogy, but didn't pick up Andromeda because reviews made it feel like not worth the time and emotional investment. Maybe I'll reconsider.

I didn't mean winning though. I meant closure, as in you can crash and burn and still have fun. If you went through 20 hours of failing in Fallout 4, it wouldn't nearly be as fun.

Re: I’m only making business card sized games now

#145

Post by jobigoud »

KilledByAPixel wrote: post #50
stickfigure wrote: post #16

In fairness, he's optimizing for "fun to write", not "fun to play". It reminds me of a cartoon I saw 25 years ago, "the perfect airplane" drawn from various perspectives: * The perfect airplane (pilot's perspective): Super sleek jet fighter. * The perfect airplane (mechanic's perspective): A giant pile of access hatches in vaguely airplane shape. * The perfect airplane (builder's perspective): A 2x4 with another 2x4…

Do you think great artists make things that are fun to make, or do you think they really just try to make stuff that other people will enjoy?

Not just artists. This is relevant for probably anyone with multiple successful side projects.

Finding stuff at the intersection of the set of things fun to make and the things other people will enjoy is the hardest part of deciding what project to work on. It's a skill. You need to have a lot of ideas to find one landing in this sliver.

Re: I’m only making business card sized games now

#146

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

coldtea wrote: post #97
skellera wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When did this opinion start taking such a hold? Out of all places, I didn’t think HN would be so anti-games but I’ve been seeing more and more people saying this here. Could someone who feels this way expand on why they have such a negative view on games? Just curious if it’s personal, cultural, or something else? Also, is it directed at complex games with storylines, online multiplayer, or mobile games meant to pull…

> When did this opinion start taking such a hold? Out of all places, I didn’t think HN would be so anti-games but I’ve been seeing more and more people saying this here. HN has many grown-ups, which might skew it a little from the "games all the time are great / custom game rig" demographic. > Also, is it directed at complex games with storylines, online multiplayer, or mobile games meant to pull as much value as pos…

It's an old and tired adage by this point but it seems it falls to me to be the "time spent doing something you enjoy is never wasted" guy this time around.

Re: I’m only making business card sized games now

#148

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

jwagenet wrote: post #52
skellera wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When did this opinion start taking such a hold? Out of all places, I didn’t think HN would be so anti-games but I’ve been seeing more and more people saying this here. Could someone who feels this way expand on why they have such a negative view on games? Just curious if it’s personal, cultural, or something else? Also, is it directed at complex games with storylines, online multiplayer, or mobile games meant to pull…

I’m not anti-games, but as I went through college and then started working full time I found I first ran out of time for games and later had lost most of my interest. Now a days I feel like I get more value from exercising, socializing (which can include playing games on the same tv!), or need to do other things (chores, projects), so I can see where the sentiment that games are “a waste of time” can come from.

Indeed. Working out and socializing face-to-face are where it's at. That said, I will find the time for a big AAA game if it's a franchise I already love (DOOM, Deus Ex, Half-Li.. nevermind)

My scarce gaming time these days seems to be spent playing stuff from the 80s/90s and arcade games that I can pick up and put down easily. I don't even do mobile games, the grinding and dark patterns annoy the hell out of me.

Re: I’m only making business card sized games now

#149

Post by dkersten »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #48
skellera wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When did this opinion start taking such a hold? Out of all places, I didn’t think HN would be so anti-games but I’ve been seeing more and more people saying this here. Could someone who feels this way expand on why they have such a negative view on games? Just curious if it’s personal, cultural, or something else? Also, is it directed at complex games with storylines, online multiplayer, or mobile games meant to pull…

I for one love video games. When done right, they are my favorite art form. I am "anti" any game that uses psychological tricks to get me to keep playing. And for stuff like Celeste, Gris, and Hellblade and Portal that keep me engaged by providing an inherently fulfilling experience.

Lately I’ve been finding that I enjoy very story-centric games more and more. I loved Night in the Woods, Detroit: Become Human, Red Dead Redemption, Life is Strange, God of War and others for their story telling ability. I still play other games and am a big fan of FROM SOFT games (although they have incredible storytelling in their own way), but the story-heavy games suck me in like no TV series or movie ever has. I think it’s a mixture of interactivity and simply being longer than a movie that makes it easier to connect with and care about characters.

As an aside, I almost hated Celeste. I’d given up on it and uninstalled it, but was prompted to try again by a YouTube comment (of all things) and when I did, a few screens after where I stopped, it got good. Incredibly unbelievably good. I’m glad I gave it another chance!

Re: I’m only making business card sized games now

#150

Post by SmellyGeekBoy »

dalbasal wrote: post #88

It's interesting that a "business card sized game" is still interesting in 2019. IE, there will be people who want to play it... a game that would have been at home in 1978. I think there's a parallel here to film/tv. You can make a billion dollar "avatar." People like those, but there's always room for a "blair witch project" or a "clerks" that someone can decide and make.

The massive success of YouTube vlogs would be another great example.
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