Then limit your ideas. If your new idea will change the gameplay and make it far better, then implement it. But if you keep adding new features, it will never be finished.
The other thing you could do is accept that you will most likely never finish a game, other than a basic pong clone or pacman etc… This way you can add in new features until you eventually run out of ideas. Look at most successful games, most of them have some form of DLC so the game stays fresh. No one really wants to play a game for a long time that they’ve already played a million times over, unless the game is suited towards that style. For instance, frogger, pacman, Mario, pokemon…
[quote=“opiop65,post:21,topic:45422”]
Do you mind elaborating a bit more on this point?
I mean, I know that some games are continuously improving with DLC. There was a time where there was no such thing as DLC. Even though some DLC is used to introduce new features, (even though I cringe when those features are already available on the disc,) most of it is used to do bug fixing and character/item tweaks.
DLC is more of a double-edged sword.
On one hand, it can be used to introduce new features, fix bugs, and add content to the game. On the other, it can be used to rip people off of their hard earned dollars. Sometimes, I wish games were pushed back to the old days in where when you bought a game, you knew that your purchase was the exact same now as it would be 100 years from now. You don’t have to rely on the service being online in order to get the latest update.
I think the only games catered to DLC is MMO-like games. That is, the games that always require an online connection. They are always updating with new content at least every month and are the ultimate form of DLC. Sometimes, they bring out the worst in gaming and become infinite time sinks too. Or, maybe I’m just misunderstanding your example?
I guess I didn’t think the whole DLC thing through.
I guess what I was trying to say was that you’ll probably never “finish” a game. Sure, you’ll get all the features you wanted to get in for release, but I believe that there are always new things you can add, and I think it’s silly to limit yourself and say you can’t update the game after it’s out.
I mostly just want to post in solidarity. I’ve been trying to work in java both formally and informally for over a year and all I’ve managed to produce is a 5500 lines of code no one wants to play.
What I wish I’d done/had the social skills to do? Found a team of like-minded individuals and sat down with them to work on some project, any project really. Just so long as I had more consistent exposure and some people to tell me when I’ve gone foaming at the mouth crazy or am making things 600X harder than they need to be.
@chaucer I think what you need to take from your experience is that aiming a game at too small of a target group is going to end badly, or with very few people playing your game. Especially because it is text based, which really no on plays anymore unless they are really good. So, combine MLP and your game being text based, and you are basically just asking for disappointment. I have to break it to you, most people find MLP childish, and no one wants to play a childish game, especially on a more mature forum such as this. If you want to actually get players, you need to aim broader and study your target group before committing to developing a game for as long as you did.
The text adventure part I can see, but I respectfully disagree about the MLP issue, simply because there is actually a fairly vibrant community of game designers that make work for the MLP fandom. No, seriously, check this out:
Also in general, I know it’s all up to personal preference, but I think that a lot of things that we classify as childish are still really popular as games (Mario certainly has hung around a while : ) )
As for my specific adventure being childish?
Well… The game starts out with you as a wounded soldier groggily waking up from bed after a heroic, but treasonous act has left you horribly crippled. Over the course of the story it deals with issues of race, cross cultural exchange, trauma, LGBT issues, religion, and courage in the face of powerlessness.
In short I know it sounds weird, but if you’re skeptical I’d encourage you to check it out! It is fun! For serious!
And as for the text game being 5500 lines, yeah I admit it, a lot of it is string literals, but I also spend a long time and a lot of effort keeping track of the player’s choices. I admit, the if statements are a bit absurd, but they really make the story change as the player makes choices, plus there is a lot of ascii art and exploration.
Sorry, but I still disagree. But, I won’t argue with you. All I’m saying is that you chose a very slim target group to develop for, and then you advertised on the wrong forum. Don’t expect to get many players from here.
