Making Games for Nobody

General Discussions
#1

Hi guys,

I have been quite passionate about game development as a hobby for about two years now. It has always been a solo hobby and one motivated by the satisfaction of making things work. I have never really considered the idea of making a game that people might actually want to play as most of what I have experimented with are clones and other tools for learning.

However, as my skill has increased over the years, the possibility of making something that people might be interested in has weighed on my mind a bit more. I don’t want that thought to become a motivating factor as it could potentially ruin the hobby for me.

I was wondering what motivates you guys. Do you strive to create something for other people? For possible financial benefit? For intellectual satisfaction? How do you feel when you finish a project that polite friends and family members have a look at but you might be fully aware that people generally wont be interested?

#2

When I started out, I made the games that I wanted to play that just weren’t there. Mostly it was self indulgence. As time progressed I started to think more and more about the possibility of making enough money to do it for a living, and the result was Revenge of the Titans, where I set aside some of my self indulgence and had a good think about how to make something that was more generally fun for others to play.

Unfortunately making games with the sole intention to sell them is really just like any other programming job. Since RotT I’ve completely failed to actually make a new game, focused as I have been on trying to make a living from it. I’ve reverted back to self indulgence and “hobby” programming for the time being to recover my mojo.

Cas :slight_smile:

#3

That’s some good insight there. Makes me think that maybe I have spent a bit too long learning things for the sake of learning rather than actually making something I think is awesome.

#4

I write games partly for the programming challenge. For example, Verbal is a word-puzzle game which relies on a Trie-based search for word combinations - I started out wondering how Scrabble word finders work and it led to writing the game.

I wrote TinyChess because the challenge of writing a chess AI had been nagging me for 25 years.

I’m working on Vanguard because I am interested in creating arbitrarily complex AIs that will interact to form an even more complex social web.

On the other hand I write games because I am interested in game design and playability. So I tend to pick my battles regarding programming challenges. For example, in Vangard collisions are very simple AABB interactions, I don’t use any fancy algorithms for pathfinding, and I keep graphics complexity to the bare minimum.

#5

Small aside: I find that if one is using all sorts of fancy algorithms for basic gameplay then it is highly possible that it is far more complicated than it needs to be. One of my favourite WTF examples is people using physics engines just to get a character to jump or push a box around. My other favourite is people writing pixel-perfect sprite collision routines.

Cas :slight_smile:

#6

My current project started with trying out what I can achieve for Android (wanted something basic game-ish on Android)

It grew and grew to become something completely different but it is still very interesting for me to work on it. Even if there are huge parts refactored now and then because of the age of my own code.

Currently I do{ work(); }while(!finished()); since I simply have fun doing it. One big goal is to earn enough money with it to pay the external costs of it completely (server + certificate which are about € 200,-/year - everything that comes in is from ads in the app) but I’m not stressed with that since I used to spend more money on other hobbies (and still do) :wink: And there is still a lot to do and the backlog grows everyday.

Accidentally hit enter and posted to early, hence the edit…

#7

i have in game development since 2009 and i do what i do because im a passionate about videogames, there is a part that motivate me like the challenge, but im thinking about create profesional games, im actually cration a game library because i want to know all the parts that are inside a videogame, but i would like earn money creating games.

im in my job a Java Web Developer but as a job i made it for living, still i think a videogame system have much more dificulty issues, i mean its more complex make a respetable videogame than a web application.

#8

A while I worked on game projects in the hope to become famous. Very unsatisfying idea overall, in hindsight.

Now I try to work on games only when bored, because all hopes that I had linked to game development have failed so far. I still hope for appreciation, but unlike 20 years ago there are so many people making games nowadays, it’s really unlikely that I can score in this competition.

#9

What do you mean ‘a game people want to play’? You play your own games, right? Are you not a person? Make games for yourself. Don’t worry about anyone else. There’ll always be at least one other person who will enjoy your game. Eventually, you might make a game lots of people enjoy and make some money with it, but keep in mind success will take a lot of effort. :smiley:

#10

When I started I didn’t even finish any of my projects. I would always get somewhat close to finishing the core of the graphics and input and then I’d learn that all of it can be done better.

My current game VSim isn’t exactly made FOR anyone, I just love cars and I wanted a good racing simulator for my Mac.

#11

Do you use any libraries for your projects? It sounds like you enjoy building the technology as much as the product itself…?

I personally get a lot of my satisfaction out of programming the physics of games, but it was disheartening when I experimented with Box2D and saw 20 lines of code acheive the results that I spent weeks on. It was a bit of a buzz-kill.

I think the issue that I have here is that I spend so much time testing my own game that by the time I finish it, I have become a master of my own universe. By the end I have more of a painters appreciation of a finished painting.

I hadn’t seen this game yet, that is an awesome project!

#12

I avoid low level coding and will use any library that simplifies graphics or sound or networking. That kind of code is for people who did Comp Sci. An English Literature graduate like myself should focus on more creative aspects like gameplay and mechanics! I like the puzzle-solving aspect of programming, not the nasty business of feeding arrays to sockets or graphics cards. :slight_smile:

#13

As a Computer Systems engineering student, I do get a nerdy thrill from the low level stuff, but only once to wrap my head around it. Do you use any particular sound library? That is an area that I haven’t the interest to explore.

#14

Hi

I make games for my own pleasure but I do my best to drive them useful for others (mainly for the developers). I take into account the suggestions of other people as long as it doesn’t denature my projects. As I want to make everything work correctly, I end up with fixing bugs and maintaining numerous parts of the software stack, i.e the sets of Java bindings (JogAmp), the engines (JogAmp’s Ardor3D Continuation, JMonkeyEngine, …), … I’m happy when I learn that some people play with my games but I don’t elaborate the gameplay and the story to please them. I want to be the first fan of my games. The alpha version of my game satisfied me because it was good enough to make me happy a few minutes a day when playing with it whereas the pre-beta version is more sophisticated but more boring for the moment. As I want to allow other developers to reuse my code, I spend a lot of time in documenting it and I create some tools to allow them to create their own levels, their own characters, …

#15

I try to make games for myself, but always get side-tracked on some very specific game mechanic side project (the current one is yet another combat mechanic… hehe).

I would never create a game for other people because I don’t like people. I’ve seen some horrible behaviour from backers of certain kickstarters lately. The vision of game devs are just not respected, and backers treat the devs as voodoo dolls. No way would I willing walk into that kinda of furball.

#16

[quote=“ags1,post:4,topic:55681”]
I read your post and felt like I’d wrote it! I find it fascinating trying to program the AI in aliens - the idea of just making aliens more numerous and harder to kill is a bit of a cheat in my eyes. Also, if you get the chance, have a play with my little chess program.

[quote=“unlight,post:13,topic:55681”]
Personally, I’ve recently started to use TinySound and find it easy to use and very efficient.

[quote=“unlight,post:1,topic:55681”]
I wish it were for financial benefit! I like to write old style arcade games to play in arcade cabinets - I get a great amount of personal satisfaction creating something that looks exactly like what I was after. This is balanced almost perfectly by the complete lack of interest by the general public. I have had people build arcade cabinets around my games and I found that quite a confidence builder though. I hoped that steam might allow me to release games (and sell them) to the public but I haven’t quite got to that yet. Hey ho.

#17

There are ways! The intersection between “your ability”, “a desire to make it”, and “commercially viable” is small, but definitely present!

Cas :slight_smile:

#18

It sounds a bit like a Venn diagram - I suppose if the shaded part of the diagram happens to align with the ever changing desires of the public then there’s a possibility of making money. I’d still call that luck though :wink:

#19

Top secret: it is luck.

Cas :slight_smile:

#20

Which horrible behaviour from backers have you seen? Please can you explain to me what you meant?