Nameless Voice on 3/1/2021 at 23:45
My problem is that I've chosen to make a very complicated type of game, and sometimes the amount of work involved scares me out of actually doing anything.
When there are so many things that need to be done, where do you even begin? Doesn't help that I'm not all that good at some of the fields - level design is hard, for example, and so I only progress very slowly when I work on that.
It also doesn't help that I've often had doubts about the premise of the game itself. Does it have too many disparate elements that make it not cohesive enough? Would anyone actually want to play a game that switches between slow exploration, tense stealth, action challenges, research, and puzzles, all without direct combat?
Pyrian on 4/1/2021 at 01:05
I think that last is an unequivocal "hell yeah". But you do seem to have bitten off more than any single dev could be expected to chew.
henke on 4/1/2021 at 09:32
Haha, I'm sorry, Pyrian. :) Clearly you're not shy about sharing your stuff either so I don't think Mark Brown's advice applies to you. I don't have an issue with releasing my games either, but I do identify strongly with feeling like my games aren't any good by the time they're done. Every time I gotta power through that and release the thing anyway.
NV, yeah that sounds good, but also sounds like a lot. I prefer to go for a small ideas that I can try to make as good as possible, rather than taking on big ideas. It helps that most of my ideas are small, and usual just focused on how a thing should move. I do have a few big ideas as well, but I figure I'll save those until September Games are more people than just me.
PigLick on 4/1/2021 at 13:09
Can I ask if you are making any money at all? Breaking even?
henke on 4/1/2021 at 13:15
Me? Buddy, I got it made in the shade! :cool:
Not that I can just sit on my ass or anything, but yeah Stilt Fella sold well enough that it'll support me till the next game is out.
Pyrian on 4/1/2021 at 14:01
Sweet! Congratulations!
WingedKagouti on 4/1/2021 at 15:09
Quote Posted by Nameless Voice
My problem is that I've chosen to make a very complicated type of game, and sometimes the amount of work involved scares me out of actually doing
anything.
When there are so many things that need to be done, where do you even begin? Doesn't help that I'm not all that good at some of the fields - level design is hard, for example, and so I only progress very slowly when I work on that.
It also doesn't help that I've often had doubts about the premise of the game itself. Does it have too many disparate elements that make it not cohesive enough? Would anyone actually want to play a game that switches between slow exploration, tense stealth, action challenges, research, and puzzles, all without direct combat?
Sounds like it would be a good idea to make a couple of more focused and smaller games with a couple of the elements you want before diving into the big thing.
Not only will that cut down on the amount of work needed, it will also make it easier to select where to start. Sure it won't be the super mega awesome thing you have in your mind (I think we all have these ideas for huge games with interconnected mechanics, stories and lots of gameplay), but you'll be more likely to make
something instead of nothing. The smaller games will also let you polish the features needed for their specific genres, which may help when you eventually feel you're actually ready to make that amazing game.
Nameless Voice on 4/1/2021 at 15:40
The problem is that this was my smaller game which would need a couple of the elements/mechanics for a more complicated project. Things... escalated!
Though right now, my main priority gamedev-wise should be putting together a single-level vertical slice. If I have that, then I can add more levels and polish later.
The issue that I had with the various different gameplay types was that originally I had planned to have whole levels dedicated to each one - e.g. a level with hardly any enemies, mostly based on exploring while feeling isolated, and then another level with a heavy emphasis on stealth. I realised at some point that it would make much more sense to just have some elements of everything in every level, even if that means dialling back the sense of isolation by having enemies everywhere.
Yakoob on 5/1/2021 at 13:19
Aaah the inevitable feature creep ;) Welcome to gamedev NV!
To give you some extra tips - scale. the fuck. down. I was in the same boat with tons of unfinished projects until I settled on somethin far more manageable. My first real "completed" game (Postmortem: one must die) is a 45-minute, 2D isometric walls-of-text pallooza, and even that took around 2 years of on and off work ;p
(the whole "having whole levels dedicated to different play styles" is the basic MO for the Cloud game and arguably one of the most fun part of it. But I'd definitely not recommend it as a starter project. Instead, make separate game for each "game mode" and once you knock a few of those out, re-use your ideas, code and experience to build a bigger thing)
If you can give me an example of your typical development process I can give you some more pragmatic tips. My general approach is a very iterative thing common to SCRUM software dev - start with a minimum viable product, shitty placeholders galore and lots of features missing, but playable from start to finish. Then you have a clay that you can play with and mold, filling the missing pieces. The game is theoretically always "done" at this stage, so it shifts your mind from having to "finish it" to "improving what is there." I just hit that recently on the cloud game, and it really relieved a lot of pressure once I could say "ok I can play from start to finish now, this is
a game!"
Speaking of that - I recently partnered with an artist to make a plushie of our protagonist in exchange for a cameo in our game, and the result blew my expectations!
Inline Image:
https://i.imgur.com/EeWI378.pngHere's his Twitter: (
https://twitter.com/mdkarydas?lang=en)
When do we get some stilt plushies ;) ?
Pyrian on 5/1/2021 at 14:00
1) Make stilt fella plushie
2) Hang it from a tiny thread so it looks like it's standing
3) Take picture and digitally remove thread
4) Challenge fans to buy and stand up their own stilt fella plushie
5) ???
6) Profit!