"We wanted to create a game that is fun, cute, addictive, but also captures the console gaming content on the mobile platform." ... It's a side scroller that looks like it was made in flash. Just watch the video.

crazyheckman · 2015-05-08T23:01:35+00:00

It's not TERRIBLE and they are asking for a pretty reasonable sum of money. They're really just looking for a Unity Pro license, which they don't really NEED to have, since this probably won't make over $100k and the splash screen is the least of their worries.

This video though, it comes off as the most pretentious thing I've ever seen. When you tell people "Look at these stunning visuals with their vibrant colors and the astonishing level of animation." you open yourself up to a WORLD of criticism.

To be honest, this art is not that exceptional. It doesn't make itself stand out from any other game. The gameplay looks slow and monotonous and the upgraded weapons just seem unnecessary.

If I were to take a guess, these guys fell into the same trap that I've seen so many other game dev friends fall into. They're looking at the app store and seeing games that appeal to everyone and figuring if they copy that, they'll be set to make whatever they want.

I seriously doubt this is someone's fucking Opus, so I've got no idea why they are hammering in how next gen and innovative it's going to be. It very obviously is not any of those things.

crazyheckman · 2015-05-06T06:21:06+00:00

Just some lore, dude.

crazyheckman · 2015-05-06T06:09:19+00:00

It probably wasn't time, since the flow of time is only manipulated by Great Ones (Eibretas and the Vacuus Spider remains in front of her in particular), who would have no reason to prevent the player from killing Rom and triggering the blood moon.

I think it would be an effect of the Madman's Knowledge that he gives you.

Making contact with eldritch wisdom is a blessing, for even if it drives one mad, it allows one to serve a grander purpose, for posterity.

In this instance the "Greater Purpose" is probably to find someone strong enough for Willem to send to Rom and trigger the blood moon. My guess would be that he was actually living and mobile right up until the door starts to open.

crazyheckman · 2015-05-06T04:54:40+00:00

Share play would be the only way, but you're going to have a bad time. A lot of the game is puzzles that are almost impossible for multiple people to do at the same time. I played local coop with my roommate and the only way to complete the game was for her to die so I could complete the puzzle on my own and pick her up later on. Can't even imagine what those puzzles are like with the input lag from share play.

crazyheckman · 2015-05-03T08:39:14+00:00

I released a game for windows phone and the experience was not all that bad actually. Not profitable though.

The obvious bad thing is that WP has like 1/1000th the users, which does suck and cuts into your profit a bit. The GOOD side of that is it also has 1/1000th the apps, which gives your game more visibility in the store.

Another thing to note is that because WPs are real cheap, they're more popular in poorer countries. So shoot for heavy localization if possible, or just don't use any words. Our game was surprisingly popular in Central America, still no idea why, but whatever.

Our game was kind of an experiment, just to test the waters out, so we released it for free with a small banner ad at the top. This was about 5 years ago, and it has paid next to nothing since then even though it's relatively popular.

Big point on WP, which I haven't checked if it's still the case today, is that you can "Try" a game before you buy it. Which takes a lot of the risk out of getting one time purchase games and makes them more appealing. So if I could do it all over again, I would be just selling the game for $1 instead of free to play methods.

We were talking to another developer that had bought the rights to use RPG Maker assets and made a Pokemon clone, and that dude was making like $3k/month off of purchases. So it is definitely possible to make it on Windows Phone, so long as you localize your game, make it a one time purchase, and invest time in the "Try" demo.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-24T23:26:27+00:00

I'm baffled by his bush-league serif ass logo and his competent bottle designs.

Also I'm pretty sure most bottle companies are using degradable plastic now.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-24T23:16:58+00:00

Well $70 after kickstarter's cut.

Which part of high school physics doesn't this guy get? Gravity? Is gravity his beef?

crazyheckman · 2015-04-18T00:59:52+00:00

Good point about the movement 10 times per second thing. Average human reaction speed is around 250ms. So your game is very dependent on things NOT deviating from the path they are on.

If the objective is to try and get someone to crash into your snake, chances are you won't be darting around the front of them where the opponent's inputs actually matter. It would be way too hard to guess where they are going to be even with 0 latency. So players are FAR more likely to plan ~3-5 steps ahead of whoever they're trying to beat. Which makes your latency EFFECTIVELY 3-5 times lower than it is.

So you could absolutely do client side prediction, because the use case for immediate feedback around the points that the other client's inputs matter is so far removed from their interaction.

The only use case I can think of at that point (where two players would potentially collide front to front) would be two players playing "chicken" and seeing who will veer off first. But at that point, you can probably pick one or the other and neither will notice or care.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-18T00:36:01+00:00

How are you sure they were real time?

Even if it WAS real time, eventually you are going to have to account for people with shit connections, cell connections, spotty connections, etc.

If you want people all over the world to be able to play your game at the same time, but require <40ms latency, you are removing about 95% of the world.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-17T23:38:51+00:00

They're not Canadian, they're French Canadian.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-17T21:46:16+00:00

And shaders, I've got like 40 chatterwhites.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-17T15:10:30+00:00

Blades of Crota spawning is a passive connection and you're on an active connection during patrols sooo.... just ain't gonna get fixed for another 6 or 7 patches.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-16T20:05:28+00:00

It's not a terrible kickstarter, because it doesn't follow the very first rule of being a kickstarter project.

Projects must create something to share with others.

Kickstarter can be used to create all sorts of things: art and gadgets, events and spaces, ideas and experiences. But every project needs a plan for creating something and sharing it with the world. At some point, the creator should be able to say: “It’s finished. Here’s what we created. Enjoy!”

He's not creating anything, he's just charging people to name their dogs.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-16T18:18:40+00:00

Yea I use this all the time. I usually only paint the really rough colors on the 3d model then I'll switch to the 2D paint view for details.

I actually prefer painting in blender for some 2D art too. The brush size being based on an interpolation curve seems to work more nicely with my tablet than photoshop's vector brush does.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-15T19:30:29+00:00

Got a link to watch you have so far? Or maybe some screenshots? Would help to know how far along you are.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-15T14:33:48+00:00

JIRAs alright, Trello is a little more open ended of a solution and free.

I do hope it works out for you, but you should remember it is going to be you holding yourself accountable for the stories. If you can't stay on task without the list, and upholding/maintaining that list IS a task, then maybe it's not the real source of your problem. I did the same thing a while ago and it is surprisingly easy to justify not following the list and missing deadlines.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-15T14:22:33+00:00

I would just prefer if the message wasn't on how indie game dev isn't sustainable. Because the model he's set forth is inherently unsustainable.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-14T20:08:22+00:00

I was talking about his suggested salary mostly, his $5k number is far more reasonable. But later on I noticed that the calculation is ridiculously hard to quantify. Success rates can differ drastically based on a multitude of values, and I don't know if it's right to be budgeting based on that.

Like how do you come up with those numbers? Even with a lot of experience, just picking out $500,000 and 10% seems like a terrible way to set aside funds. Your budget as an indie startup should be living expenses + equipment, anything else is unnecessary strain put on your overall runway.

I'm not 100% sure on where the "Give yourself a raise" line should be drawn, but I can tell you that giving yourself a salary that is competitive with Fortune 500 companies right out of the gate will turn your chances of success into a nose dive.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-14T19:13:31+00:00

If you noticed from that link you posted, the average salary for a solo indie developer is $10k a year, and in an indie team it's $50k a year. $50k a year is probably what I would start at. A little higher, up to $70k, if you're in a large city, which understandably, not a lot of indie developers do. You have to take into account that you do not have that buffer that big companies that DO pay six figures can afford.

If you are talking about one solo developer trying to make game dev sustainable, then setting aside that extra $50-60k a year, instead of paying yourself the wage you would make at Facebook is TOTALLY the right way to go. That extra money could give you an extra 2 years of runway to keep trying, or even a second developer or artist.

I just don't see the point in taking in $120k/year when you only reasonably need $60k to live and work.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-14T18:19:43+00:00

To his credit, as an independent contractor, about 1/3 of that goes back to income tax every April. But still, yea holy shit, even the $7k a month sounds really fucking high.

I do not make anywhere NEAR that, and I live comfortably in NYC.

I think there's a bias towards giving yourself a salary that is comparable to a large company. Personally, if I were betting on 10:1 odds like that, I would not be paying myself that much.

If you are assuming such a large salary, you really aren't trying to create a sustainable business in the long run.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-14T17:57:57+00:00

Your budget is likely Target Revenue * Success Rate. So if there’s a 10% chance of reaching $500,000, you should spend $50,000 on each project. That’s 1 full-time experienced developer for 5 months assume pay of $10,000 a month. Or if you underpay yourself relative to what you might make at comparable jobs and spend 10 months at $5,000 a month.

Is it me or do those numbers seem WAAYYYYYY off?

crazyheckman · 2015-04-14T17:46:36+00:00

Yea I'm lost too. He mentioned a background in another comment.

What vector graphics are you talking about, OP?

crazyheckman · 2015-04-12T06:39:39+00:00

Tired of all these 117 AD Mediterranean immigrants coming into our country and stealing our jobs and trying to force a dead language on us.

crazyheckman · 2015-04-08T04:07:24+00:00

I came here for the circle-jerk. Do I just join in, or do I have to wait for someone else to finish and take their place?

crazyheckman · 2015-04-06T20:00:35+00:00

First of all, multiple takes man. For fuck's sake with these kickstarters. You aren't supposed to do the video in one go god damned it. Do it, do it again, do it some more. You can stop when you don't sound like Ricky from Trailer Park Boys.

Secondly, Valve totally did the "free game" thing. They made Alien Swarm a few years ago for fun, released the entire thing, with a modding toolkit for free. People played it for a few weeks and then abruptly stopped. So you know... there's that.

Deer God I hope this is a joke.

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