Five Things Devs/Publishers Do in Demos That Drive Me Away. - by lost_soul
lost_soul on 23/8/2010 at 05:39
@Eva: Ever hear of a little game called Daikatana? It was hyped up big time, was being developed by one of the "lords of PC gaming" and it flopped. It was also published by one of the "big boys".
Whether a game is a blockbuster or not has to do with how many copies are sold and how high the reviews are, not how much it costs to develop, or who published it.
I've meant to try it actually, but just have never had the time to download the demo. Some day I will. It is based on the Quake 2 engine, how can it be bad?
june gloom on 23/8/2010 at 05:59
You know, whenever someone uses the terms "ever heard of" in sarcastic reference to some extremely well-known property to make a point I want to punch them in the head until they stop talking. Or moving.
Quote Posted by lost_soul
It is based on the Quake 2 engine, how can it be bad?
Okay, punchings have been upgraded to tire ironings.
EvaUnit02 on 23/8/2010 at 06:55
Quote Posted by lost_soul
@Eva: Ever hear of a little game called Daikatana? It was hyped up big time, was being developed by one of the "lords of PC gaming" and it flopped. It was also published by one of the "big boys".
It was from the same publisher as both Thief and Deus Ex, Eidos. In fact it was made by the SAME DEVELOPER RESPONSIBLE FOR DEUS EX, Ion Storm. Except by their "main" studio run by John Romero. Deus Ex was made by their secondary studio in Austin. Romero was a massive douche bag whom spent most of his time partying rather than working. He blew loads of money on crap like pinball machines and other luxuries for the office.
In future you should first double check your facts with a quick Google search. So little effort that would've lent so much more credibility to the argument that you're
trying to make.
Anyway, what's your fucking point with this extraneous example? Loads of big Hollywood films have flopped over the years. Just because it's not financially nor critically successful, doesn't mean that it ain't a blockbuster.
Quote:
Whether a game is a blockbuster or not has to do with how many copies are sold and how high the reviews are, not how much it costs to develop, or who published it.
Oh really?
* Deus Ex and Thief were both very ambitious in scope.
* Thief's Dark Engine was quite cutting edge when it was first released, surpassing Id Tech 2's capabilities in a lot of areas.
* Both games were made with big publisher money, as I've stated previously.
Sorry bro, but they all meet the definition.
Mortal Monkey on 31/8/2010 at 13:34
I find less and less reasons to buy a game on release day, and lack of a demo doesn't help.
* Game review embargos. Now you can't even find out if someone else likes the game, let alone if you do.
* Full of bugs. Anything from minor annoyances to non-playable. Sometimes the game never gets patched, but waiting is not going to make it worse.
* Expensive. Why buy the game this month when you could buy hot dogs every day the entire month instead? Re-playing Good Old Games with a hot dog in one hand makes it a whole new challenge.
* It's going to be on the Steam sale eventually. Not that you'd be finished with all the other games you bought on the last steam sale by then, though.
I guess we're supposed to buy the game based solely on the hype. But after being let down so many times, hype doesn't really do it for me. Except if you're Valve.
veryhungryhobo on 31/8/2010 at 21:35
Quote Posted by catbarf
In Doom, a room is a square block with a texture applied to the walls you could make in five minutes. Today, a room takes several people days to produce. A lot of it is expectations, as you said, so a lot of indie games are taking the low-graphics route.
What I wish more indie devs would do is make games in the same vein as Deus Ex or System Shock, shooters and RPGs without ultramodern graphics. Right now it seems more like big companies make shooters, and indies make puzzle games.
Would you play a Deus Ex or System Shock with cartoony graphics? I mean how many people would?
Kolya on 31/8/2010 at 22:16
I would. I think there is room for indie shooters and RPGs with abstract or arty graphics that do not try to painstakingly recreate reality but instead aim for a certain style or mood.
lost_soul on 31/8/2010 at 23:24
People knock the graphics in inde games, but I was pretty impressed with those of Penumbra Black Plague. The only thing I would have changed would have been to increase texture resolution.
Throughout the whole game, you never see a single living human. I've heard Carmack say that it is hard to model convincing humans in games, which is why most of their games have to do with monsters. It is easy to make cool monsters, because you don't see them every day in real life and hence don't expect them to look a particular way.
CCCToad on 1/9/2010 at 00:50
Quote Posted by Kolya
I would. I think there is room for indie shooters and RPGs with abstract or arty graphics that do not try to painstakingly recreate reality but instead aim for a certain style or mood.
And Both Deus Ex and System Shock created certain moods that would have been extremely dfficut to create with cartoon graphics
catbarf on 1/9/2010 at 17:28
Quote Posted by veryhungryhobo
Would you play a Deus Ex or System Shock with cartoony graphics? I mean how many people would?
When did I say it has to be cartoony? Or are you assuming that indie developer = cartoony graphics? Because that's exactly the sort of industry expectation I'm talking about.
Neb on 2/9/2010 at 00:09
Quote Posted by Kolya
I would. I think there is room for indie shooters and RPGs with abstract or arty graphics that do not try to painstakingly recreate reality but instead aim for a certain style or mood.
I was thinking about this recently. I wondered whether small indie projects would benefit from getting artists in to hand paint textures, and not worry about it looking that way as long as the mood of what they're trying to accomplish shines through.
If I was ever making a low budget game in 3D I would seriously consider it. It could possibly make it easier to compete with large studios that are aiming for realism, and also you would be widening the pool of talent that you could hire from.
