Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cas didn't write Ultratron and mentions in the article he mainly writes flash and iOS games.
I thought Cas was a java programmer? Am I wrong?
Aye that's me.
When Game Development Stinks
31–40 of 98 posts
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#32Aren't gorgeous looking Robotron clones kind of a dime a dozen since Geometry Wars?
Ultratron actually came out originally before Geometry Wars.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#33It sounds like there is a need for a good indie game publisher. Someone that can find good indie games and get them the publicity they deserve.
And that publisher is... Steam. The trouble is even with the might of all those well-targeted customers there's still only a few thousand sales to be made - and thanks to the sudden change in the pricing of games in the last 5 years or so, you can now only make 1/10th of the money from a sale that you could before.
In my original posting I wasn't really trying to complain about the situation; just showing the facts and figures, and the ultimate conclusion of course, which is that we're not making any more of them. Probably. It is quite fun.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#34Is it possible that the market is now so saturated with games of all kinds that it's simply hard to find enough customers to care about each separate product? Between smartphone app stores, Facebook games, a half dozen different consoles, an endless supply of entertainment through Steam, Kickstarter and (basically free) Bundles of all sorts, it must be really difficult to stand out without a truly unique product and phenomenal marketing.
As some of you folks pointed out, it's turning into a race to the bottom similar to the music industry, where people won't even play your product for free, even when it's really high quality. Think of all the games you accumulated through Steam sales and never even touched. It's a brutal war over the spare time of the average gamer, and it's highly contested space.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#35Is it possible that the market is now so saturated with games of all kinds that it's simply hard to find enough customers to care about each separate product? Between smartphone app stores, Facebook games, a half dozen different consoles, an endless supply of entertainment through Steam, Kickstarter and (basically free) Bundles of all sorts, it must be really difficult to stand out without a truly unique product and…
It used to be that there was only a very narrow market for games, but now there is casual, hard core, mobile, tablet and console, desktop, MMO's, indy, web. But to offset that the market is also much bigger and more inclusive. There are people that now pay for video games that would never have bought a Nintendo or an Xbox. If you want to make money in video games you have to find a niche and give that audience quality versions of what they want.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#36Is it possible that the market is now so saturated with games of all kinds that it's simply hard to find enough customers to care about each separate product? Between smartphone app stores, Facebook games, a half dozen different consoles, an endless supply of entertainment through Steam, Kickstarter and (basically free) Bundles of all sorts, it must be really difficult to stand out without a truly unique product and…
The market is saturated by mediocre-to-average games. There's plenty of room for truly great stuff.
Just today we heard about Banished, a beautiful city builder game in development by one guy which has hardcore PC gamers (jaded creatures indeed) very excited:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/03/22/simsettlement-ban...
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#37I'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 but Ultratron does not look even as good as the game it's supposedly cloning, Robotron 2084, which has way more "visual lollipop of swirling color that leaves your eyes sparkling and pixelated for hours". Compare
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZZRjdfh4_4
vs
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#38Is it possible that the market is now so saturated with games of all kinds that it's simply hard to find enough customers to care about each separate product? Between smartphone app stores, Facebook games, a half dozen different consoles, an endless supply of entertainment through Steam, Kickstarter and (basically free) Bundles of all sorts, it must be really difficult to stand out without a truly unique product and…
It used to be that there was only a very narrow market for games, but now there is casual, hard core, mobile, tablet and console, desktop, MMO's, indy, web. But to offset that the market is also much bigger and more inclusive. There are people that now pay for video games that would never have bought a Nintendo or an Xbox. If you want to make money in video games you have to find a niche and give that audience qualit…
It would seem that the niche we chose is a bit shite :) But that's why we're abandoning it.
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#39Why would the author expect big sales from a polished version of a 30 year old genre? Look at his competition: Here is another $4.99 game in the action/indie category http://store.steampowered.com/app/211400/
The recent big indie hits are genre defining or at least have very unique gameplay. (minecraft, ftl, etc)
Re: When Game Development Stinks
#40Is it possible that the market is now so saturated with games of all kinds that it's simply hard to find enough customers to care about each separate product? Between smartphone app stores, Facebook games, a half dozen different consoles, an endless supply of entertainment through Steam, Kickstarter and (basically free) Bundles of all sorts, it must be really difficult to stand out without a truly unique product and…
I don't know about games but in indie music the market used to be saturated by free mediocre music, and now it's starting to become saturated by free good music. But not because the musicians want to generously give all their music away for free, it's because they're all chasing the same goal of "if I give some away for free, the marketing boost will make up for it". And as more people enter the market, that belief gets less and less valid. I think there might be a lot of parallels with game-making. A popular thing to produce but the "game theory" behind it is tough as everyone races to destruction. I keep hoping that something like repeated-prisoners-dilemma will happen, where producers collectively decide to act in a way that is in everyone's best interest.