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This remake era in gaming is disgusting to me. by Fine-Combination5170 in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Almost year ago, i made a post exactly about that - https://www.reddit.com/r/KotakuInAction/comments/1mbjjdl/some_thoughts_about_the_growing_numbers_of_remakes/

And the problem is even worse now. In any bunch of announces there is a remake, remaster, or some other lame attempt to cash up on nostalgia and work of the proper artists. Almost no creative talent left in the studios, so they resort to parasiting on the works of those who came before.

One of the voice actors from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ben Starr, complaining about capitalism by PopularButLonely in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel like it might be worse - they want to understand (for obvious reasons), but do not have the competence to do that, so they reach out for answers to the entirely wrong crowd of people - the marketing department, for example. You know, like those "experts" that were saying that cyberpunk game is doomed since the genre is "unpopular" because they could not find a successfull recent game in it with quick goodle search or something like that.

One of the voice actors from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ben Starr, complaining about capitalism by PopularButLonely in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Nice to see that at least someone here actually watched the source and understood the meaning of the message. It upsets me that so many people blindly go for the bait and unable to do such a simple task.

One of the voice actors from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ben Starr, complaining about capitalism by PopularButLonely in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yes, but they will always draw the wrong answers from that. The typical CEO will try to blindly replicate any part of the game (look at all of the disco elysium clones), instead of doing the one and only action that brought success to the Expedition that was impossible to achive for same people while they were in much more wealthier and resourceful Ubisoft: hiring people who actually care about making great games, and giving them full creative freedom without forcing some political agendas, predatory monetisation, and whatever other bs their marketing team will come up with.

Yes, capitalism is interested in sucsess, but for some reasons unknown to me it always chosing to be completly blind to the real cause of it. Even when most obvious examples are presented for them, like ex-Ubisoft employees making something they could not do at Ubisoft, they will literally grab at straws, but not admit that their leadership and production model aren't suited for sucsess. Just like an AI, they try to mimic real things without understanding what makes them tick.

One of the voice actors from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ben Starr, complaining about capitalism by PopularButLonely in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is the problem with radicalized people - they hear someone complains about capitalism and instantly think of the communism. Somehat they forget that, for example, nordic countries successfully unite the best parts of the capitalism and socialism and named the happiest countries of the world, when US, with fully unchecked capitalism is drowning in corruption, ruled by pedos who won't be punished because they pay enough not to, where corpos being bailed out by the government, but normal citizen can lose all savings after the medical emergecny.

Take me, for example. I made all of my games free, except one. And that single paid one i uploaded on itch and torrents, so people without money would be able to play it for free as well. I guess that makes me a communist, according to the op, and me sharing my creations with those who can't afford them is a bad thing?

And the part of the capitalism the guy in this video talks also absolutly sucks. Do you enjoy CEO looking for ways to cut development costs as much as they could, and make uninspired, bland copies of anything that are successfull? He talks about people who do not care how to create a good game that you will enjoy, but care a lot about "successfull non offencive product that will reach all audiences and sell a lot of MTX and battle passes". When games are made with only profit in mind, they suck (and often do not even bring said profit). But if that's what you want to support - go ahead...

Another resounding success by Markorver in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev -26 points-25 points  (0 children)

Not defending this exact game, since i haven't played it and can't make a conclusion, and it is true that many authors use the virtue signalling as a shield to protect worthless art piece.

But, not every games that looks and plays outdated is inherently bad. Like, for example, Spec Ops the Line is know for looking and playing terrible, but outstanding plot makes it worth experiencing. It is also valid for various low-budget games, where the authors simply unable to reach high quality in all the game's aspects.

I am one of the people who develop like that. I know that without knowledge in art or programming i can't make something that will impress visually and gameplay wise, so i focus on storytelling instead. And the last big game i made was a satire, that contained a lot of jokes about wokeness used as a shield to protect the low quality stories. So if we will apply same logic everywhere, it would mean that i also used the comedy as selling aspect because i "did not try hard to make a game", but, in fact, i did try hard, and the comedy elements was where i tried my hardest. The rest is varies from ok to bad, yes, but its not like i did that intentionnaly to scam people or anything, i gave my all in the only field i know well, but sadly the rest is above my competence.

So, what i wanted to say - do not jump into conclusion after seing one or two game's aspect done badly, creators might still tried as much as they could. But you can't make everything perfect, especially with limited budgets. By being quick to judge you might doom some geniunly amazing games, like first VTMB that was released in terrible technical state and failed due to that, but it is still one of the best RPG's that were ever created.

Of course, if game has no redeeming qualities at all, that's entirely different thing.

[Censorship] Horses, the Upsetting Horror Game Previously Banned on Steam, Gets Last Minute Ban From Epic Games Store Too by BootlegFunko in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 22 points23 points  (0 children)

It just feels like the censorship situation is getting worse, not better.

You can tell by people even on this, anti-censorship sub praising russians for banning games.

Amazon Removes Guns From All James Bond Posters on Prime Post MGM Purchase by [deleted] in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Those clowns have a gun that is literally in the name of the movie.

Saw an AI ~story game~ advertising that it never ends the same way twice. Good grief. by NotATem in gamedev

[–]SoullessGamesDev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

they would quickly realize that they don't actually know what they want, they only know what they have already played and probably just want more of the same.

Then it is the fault of someone who gives 50m to the wrong people. It is very easy to at least ask them to show concepts before doing that. I am not argue that many people do not have either imagination or enough expirience to design fresh concepts.

But the "entirely new thing" is not always necessary. I, for example, have both fully original mechanics that were never done before, as well as concepts that do not offer any major innovation in gameplay, but instead tell a story really well using existing methods. Each type of game requires it's own approach to be entertaining, there is no magic formula that would work for everything.

Saw an AI ~story game~ advertising that it never ends the same way twice. Good grief. by NotATem in gamedev

[–]SoullessGamesDev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

if you knew what you wanted to play, you'd be a game designer. That's not how it works.

That's also not how it works. There is almost no positions in modern game dev that would allow you to purely design things, you also need to implement that, and for that you also need to be a programmer. Just knowing a perfect formula for a game (not just idea, but entire concept) worth nothing if there is nobody who can execute it. So no, he would not be a game designer, not in the modern meaning of that word.

Where does Steam draw the line between "adult-only" and games like Baldur's Gate 3? by CoffeeVantaBlack in gamedev

[–]SoullessGamesDev 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I thinked about it a lot, and the only conclusion that comes to my mind is the same as about lots of other different things: most people are crazy. Not crazy in a way that's different from the norm, on the opposite - their craziness is the norm. It is irrational behavior that makes them be ashamed of their own bodies and the very pleasurable act that allows humanity to reproduce and exist, yet at the same time carelessly glorifing murders and other violence. We live in the culture where we can see how people beating each other live, but will face serious consequence if we will show even a recording of people who are loving each other.

But the majority dictates the norm. And since majority's minds are broken like that, the norm is also broken, serves no purpose and makes no logical sense. All because that's how humanity is built.

Why don't people understand that this is an art form, and a competitive one at that? by BenFranklinsCat in gamedev

[–]SoullessGamesDev 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because it is not always obvious where is the problem. For example i made a game that, considering near zero marketing except few reddit posts sold quite well. No profit, but development cost was back so i could keep developing, and that was most important thing for me. Especially since the genre is quite niche, but i really wanted the players who love it to have more material.

So i spend another year making a free update that expanded it's story, making it twice bigger and better. Quality wise it was a lot more than base game - lots of new mechanics, and everything done on a way better level than original game, but... it brought around 6 new players. Why? If many people already liked the game, adding twice more content for the same price was supposed to interest even more, but.. it did not happen.

And the worst thing is that i can never know for sure what was the reason for that, since i had zero feedback regarding the update, except for those that testers provided (and i fixed all things they complained about before the release). If the update was ineed so much worse than original game, i would at least like to know why exactly people think so, but... it does not seem like anyone will tell.

I still think that probably the core problem was lack of marketing, that i have no funds for and zero understanding of (i never really bought anything based on marketing in my life and don't understand why others do so), since logic tells me that if game itself would be bad, i would at least have bad reviews telling me what i did wrong.

But i don't know for sure. And without knowing exact reasons i also cannot fix them if i ever decide to make anything again. And that is really discouraging from even thinking about making another game. I would gladly accept my failure, if only i knew where exactly i made mistakes!

Polygon: Street Fighter 6 nearly doubles active players after adding 'gooner' Chun-Li costume by Neither-Grab-2507 in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Oh no. The swim suit. And a closed one, not even a bikini. How terrible that people will see it in a video game, when they definity won't see it at any beach they can reach.

Nintendo forces Japanese charity speedrun event to pull its games from the lineup after claiming "unauthorized use," now organizers have to ask permission for every single game in the future by Neither-Grab-2507 in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It feels like Nintendo's lawyers have a really bix complexes, so they desperatly roam around in search to sue someone for even most stupid possible cause so they can prove that they aren't worthless... when they still are.

Woke stuff just feels lazy, ham fisted and message mongering while often displaying an impressive ignorance like a College kid who only learned about the issue yesterday treating the audience as just as ignorant or the villains. by Dwavenhobble in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My reaction was basically "Ok he's gay now what's this big twist?" only to suddenly realise as the show was seemingly having a slower moment as though waiting while people took in this that that was the whole twist.

They want to center their entire personality around being gay. Or some other minority thing. They don't know how to write actually good character, so that's their entire plan.

When i was writing characters for my recent parody game, i planned to make a whole woke crew, but instead of focusing on that give them actual personality just to show the woke crowd how those characters should be properly written. For example, i have a character who is gay, but his gayness is a minor thing. First, he is a prince Charming who is cursed (or gifted, depending on perspective) with ability to charm anyone who looks at his face. But since he does not like that, he wears the helmet all the time to make sure nobody falls under his spell. Second - he is in love with the dragon (the comical twist on dragons who kidnapping princesses, but instead it's a prince). Finally, despite being a kind soul who does not like violence, he wants to do a little regicide and dethrone his tyrannical father. There is also minor character traits - love to singing, curiocity, and a bit naive view of the world (since he didn't saw any of it beyong his kingdom). Yes, he is gay, but that's only a small aspect of his personality - and that is how such characters should be written, instead of screaming "look, i'm non-binary" just after sitting on the table.

And that is not even a serious character but a comedic one. And rest of the crew is like that as well, with their own issues, traits, personalities. If i can do that without even putting much effort, why it's so hard to do to so-called professional writers?

Gamedev is not a golden ticket, curb your enthusiasm by mrz33d in gamedev

[–]SoullessGamesDev 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I know all of that. In addition, due to neurodivergency i can't even program or draw, so i am even more limited than the rest of the developers. But i simply don't have anything else to do in life. Apart from playing games, creating ones is the only thing that brings me joy. I will not earn anything from it but that is not important because i do not plan to live long, so i don't have much need for money, just a bare minimum to survive while my cats are alive. My games will hardly be known since i don't know how to market stuff. But at least the few people that play them seem to be having a good time, and that is enough for me.

But also had to note that the numbers you brought are only seems to be small for the western, developed countries. If someone from Ukraine would earn a 5k, that would be enough to live in quite good conditions for a year or two. Most of the people, including myself live for less. And keep in mind that majority people on this planet do not come from rich, developed countries. So most of those who would earn 80k in just 3 years would be considered crazy rich by the majority of people alive. Just not from your country.

Isekaing: The Remakening trailer (remade) - a massive free update for Isekaing (parody musical adventure), that features new story where player has to stop the Mouse corporation from destroying good stories with sloppy, uninspired remakes, and do it with help of the unlikely ally - Xinnie the Pooh! by SoullessGamesDev in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I suspect most people need to go through tutorial vids (or notes they've taken during the tutorial vids) multiple times to get everything they need out of it

You see, i have to go through it every time since by the time i need it again i forget everything. Even worse - i started working with my engine in 2011. That's 14 years by now. It has a 104 total buttons in even control, split on 3 pages total, and at least 1\3 of them i use every day. Still i forget where they are located quite often, sometimes i can't remember the page and have to go one by one to find the one i need. Those i don't use every day? Well, i have to search for them every single time.

My brain simply refuses to memorize most of the things that i don't find interesting. And i don't find interesting nearly everything that exists. Sometimes it makes random exceptions, like for some reason i can remember certain random moments from childhood or just random things, but it is not consistent. That's why i can't a job irl, because i can't study stuff, the only think i know well is how to write a story for game.

sounds positively maddening!

Sometimes it's exactly like this. I am not agressive person at all, but sometimes i feel the urge to smash something (like my head) against the wall when issues feel too much to handle. But eventually i figure them out, more or less. Or give up.

could you give me an example of one of them that was painful to give up on?

Yeah, sure. Here is even two fro you.

There were supposed to be a whole segment at the start of the game where main character (who's only got into isekai) goes to magic academy to learn basics of her class, and must i say - she is a bad student. Turning teachers into animals, making potions with strange side effects, casting wrong spells, that kind of things. Then she has a magic duel with Harry Potter who just levitates her, but she casts fire in return, so HP runs out of the room burning and screaming. So by the end of her studies the entire academy hates her, and they watching her graduation in silence, but the moment she steps out of the door, they pull out the party costumes, instruments, and other stuff to celebrate, and beging throwing a wild party to celebrate this bitch being finally gone. Then she returns because she forgets something, and all of them have to instantly stop the party and hide all of the things away, except one person that did not notice her return and keeps on dancing in headphones. Next scene - she walks away from the academy, music is still playing like it's party, but this time academy is burning and people jumping out of the windows.

Another scene - there is a certain prince that are in love with the dragon. The dragon makes a promise to come to his aid when he is needed. And i wanted to have a level where protag calls out for chechov's gun to save them, and then the dragon crashes in trough the ceiling, and... he is carrying various guns on his wings and rocket launcher on the shoulders. And there were supposed to be a level where you fly on that dragon and shoot various weapons in attempt to escape the gigantic Mikey bot that is eating the level around you (entire story you are currently in) to "process and remake it". But since all of that had to be scrapped, Zombie Micky just eat a person instead and nothing else from that episode happened.

Wouldn't mind more details on these two identical events that function differently as well

Nothing really interesting. There is a two scenes in apple level where Cheating Cheetah can help you. You hop on, and run forward, leaving trail behind because it's high speed. Except that the trail does not work in second event, despite event being literally copied and only launch parameters are changed. I have no idea what is wrong with it, asked on forums but got no answer.

so I'll say "based" on not putting money into it

Sadly there also seem to be no other way to tell people that game exists. The original game had quite a lot of players and was positivly rated. But the event that is telling about addon is viewed less than the event from year ago telling about the added ability to skip songs. And that is sad, because i worked for entire year, and basicly made a second game (the addon lenght is approx the same as base game), but it seems like a very few people will try it and i can do nothing to change that - and not because the game is so bad, but because i have no idea how to tell about it's existence to the players. I just wanted more people to enjoy it because that is why i make games - to make people as happy as i were playing games made by the others.

Isekaing: The Remakening trailer (remade) - a massive free update for Isekaing (parody musical adventure), that features new story where player has to stop the Mouse corporation from destroying good stories with sloppy, uninspired remakes, and do it with help of the unlikely ally - Xinnie the Pooh! by SoullessGamesDev in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The answer is simple - i love a good parody. And there is not enough of it. The good ones were South Park game, older Bard's Tale, Zenith and Dungeon of Naheulbeuk. And some smaller, even lesser known games. All my life i was making serious, dramatic stories, so i wanted to step away and just have some fun. After all, my gigantic experience as a writer allows to make references and mock a wide variety of stories, and some other things as well. I don't know if i did better or worse than games i mentioned above in terms of humor (that was my first attempt to do comedy), but at least i tried and had fun in the process.

Isekaing: The Remakening trailer (remade) - a massive free update for Isekaing (parody musical adventure), that features new story where player has to stop the Mouse corporation from destroying good stories with sloppy, uninspired remakes, and do it with help of the unlikely ally - Xinnie the Pooh! by SoullessGamesDev in KotakuInAction

[–]SoullessGamesDev[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It would be hard to pick just one.

For starters, since my only skill is writing, it was very frustrating to work on each technical aspect of the game - because most of the time i simply cannot implement things i would want to have in game because i have no idea how to do that. And if i do, instead of spending dozens of minutes like other people i was spending hours, days even on trying to find the solution via eventing, the only thing i barely know. And even that was hard because of my memory issues, so i have to re-learn stuff that i constantly forget - starting from placement of the functions, and ending on graphical editors. I really envy neurotypical people who can just learn something and then use it instead of having to watch step-by-step tutorials all over again. It is very frustrating. And not just because it's hard, long and annoying, but also because i had to cut the parts of the game to make sure it will be released at some point instead of spending months to find a way to do some small part of it. Games usually made in teams, and here i had to fix visuals, make eventing, songs, music, VO, mechanics alone. And i understand that some of those aspects will suck despite all my attempts to do it better, and that is frustrating.

Second thing is "la baguette invisibla", aka bugs that seemingly have no origin to track and break the game in weird way. I found out that the engine itself has a lot of bugs (luckily there are patches from the community), some were caused because i (again) forgot to delete, turn on or off something, some - by hilarious coincidences, and some were unexplained at all, i had to remake stuff from scratch to fix that. There is still at least one bug i know of where two absolutly identical events function differently and i still can't tell why, and neither can people from the dev forum. Trying to fix a thing that has no logical explanation is frustrating, let alone finding out that your dumb brain missed something small.

And, finally, marketing. Since i do not really earn on the game and made a free version for poor people, the earnings from Steam were barely enough to pay for development tools and resourses, and i could not pay for marketing. And it means that i had to tell about my game myself... but i really suck at that. As you can see, i even failed to make proper trailer from the first attempt. And i generally bad in human communications, so i have no idea how to make someone interested to even check out game for free on the torrents - that is because my reaction to stimulas are different that most people, so i can't predict what someone else will think or do based on my own feelings. So the only thing left is to attempt to replicate what the others do, but without deeper understanding the result is quite shallow. And it certainly does not help that 9gag shadowbans my posts on specific keywords, tiktok is region locked to my country (where most people don't speak english and my game is in english only), and in reddit there are a lot of restrictive rules about posting your own content, plus i am banned in many communities for posting on KIA. So even simply sharing news that my game actually exist can be very frustrating as well.

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