Game Design, Programming and running a one-man games business…

One thing at a time. Wine and Whine.

All that’s written on my big handy Positech Games office chalkboard right now is this:

ONE THING AT A TIME

Which I consider to be something I need to be reminded off. Unfortunately, I don’t naturally look at the chalkboard much. Really it should be written all over my monitor on post-it notes, or on the office door.  On the topic of office doors, it always depresses me that billionaires waste their money on jets or private islands. I’d spend it much more sensibly, like on having replicas of the Deep Space Nine airlocks made as my office door, which I think we can all agree is a far more sensible use of such money.

I was going to write a big tirade here about how the games industry is scarily too hit-driven, and I think there is a bit of a ‘people buying-what other people are buying’ thing going on, but it’s hard to put into words how I see that being bad without it sounding like I’m whining. People on the internet always hate anyone sounding like they are bemoaning their own lot, even when they actually aren’t. I remember all the abuse I got for asking people who had decided not to buy GSB why they had done so.

What I was hoping for was people saying “that’s cool, a guy asking for feedback on his game to win over people on the fence’. Whereas I got ‘This guys such a dick, moaning that nobody ever bought his shit game’.  Which is kinda funny, because GSB has sold easily over 100,000 copies without counting humble bundles. I just like to make my games as good as they can be.

That’s the internet for you anyway.

In any case, I decided not to type up such a rant, even after a big bang marathon punctuated by mixing various bottles of wine, which is the cause of most of my embarrassing rants.

I actually typed that ‘whine’ the first time by accident. Oh the hilarity.


5 thoughts on One thing at a time. Wine and Whine.

  1. I don’t know what it is about the internet. I don’t think there’s a single indie dev, youtube video channel, or blog that doesn’t get a collection of people whining about things. It gets ridiculous, but in the end you just have to remember that haters gonna hate and apply gratuitous use of the ban/block/ignore button.

    Actually, particularly in youtube comments, if people just immediately blocked anyone who left hateful or inflammatory messages, it would be a much better place. But pride gets in the way and trolls get fed.

  2. “I just like to make my games as good as they can be.”

    I think that you said it all with this one… This is why I follow your blog and this is also why I buy your games.

    The internet is a really bad place for hanging out, it brings out the worst in humanity in comment form.

    Also, never forget the one rule for comments in the internet, the weight of 100 bad comments equals the weight of one good comment.

    Keep on doing different games, better games and you’ll sell 100,000 copies every time… the rest can keep on whinning.

  3. Games are too hit driven – but you only really notice this as a developer.

    People outside the industry see good games succeed and bad games fail, and so assume that if you make a good game then it’ll sell by the boatload.

    It won’t.

    If you make a good game you get a chance for it to sell by the boatload, it’s not guaranteed. Nobody notices the great games that don’t succeed, unless you’ve a reason to notice such as following a developer diary or being involved in the production.

    If you make a terrible game of course you won’t even have the chance.

    Here’s a little game development simulator.

    To have a hit, roll 14 on 2d6.

    +1 Your game is good
    +2 Your game is excellent (not cumulative)
    +1 Major marketing campaign (formal or informal)
    +1 Positive critical reception
    -1 Obscure/Experimental subject matter/genre

    It’s not a moan, it’s the same if not worse for films.

  4. Oh, forgot to add:

    +1 Good reputation as developer
    -1 Terrible reputation as developer
    +1 Previously successful game in series

Comments are currently closed.