Writing a good game, a lesson learned. Now full speed ahead!
by Giuseppe De Francesco · 06/22/2010 (2:24 pm) · 7 comments
Creating a successful game is quite a wager. My first one (Astro Match3) has been written in pure XNA, 100% made by me and my kids: artwork, music, SFX, shaders… it has been en axcellent playground to learn a lot of different things about game creation. It has been a good success for a first game, basic and without any artist: a 33% conversion rate is not bad.
Then I wrote and published YASS (Yet Another Space Shooter). I wrote this game polling a lot of gamers for hints, organising as well play booths in 2 malls to get as much feedback I could. The feedback was great… not really the conversion rate: 3%. Actually I hate YASS myself, but I made a lot of effort to match my polls’ feedbacks and people were happy with the result.
So… Astro Match3 is basic but I like it: 33% conversion rate. YASS is very good in polls but I hate it: 3% conversion rate. There is a message here, isn’t it?
Then a few days ago I read an interview with John Romero on Gamesauce (http://www.gamesauce.org/) and so I finally understood. Romero says: “Ultimately, I’m making the game for every player who likes the type of games that I like to play. So, in a sense, I am my games’ audience—or the ambassador for them, anyway. That way, I never have to guess what the player might like, because it’s always what I would like.” That’s quite a statement, and it reflects what happened with my games.
Well… I’m no fool, I know that my personal gaming taste might result in a failure as well, but at least I’ll know exactly what I’ve done and why I did so. The whole interview with Romero is quite enlightening, so have a look at it: it might inspire you as well.
Here’s a very early preview of “Get Out!”: it’s just a little test, the player doesn’t even take any damage yet, but I like it so this will be a huge success :)
Then I wrote and published YASS (Yet Another Space Shooter). I wrote this game polling a lot of gamers for hints, organising as well play booths in 2 malls to get as much feedback I could. The feedback was great… not really the conversion rate: 3%. Actually I hate YASS myself, but I made a lot of effort to match my polls’ feedbacks and people were happy with the result.
So… Astro Match3 is basic but I like it: 33% conversion rate. YASS is very good in polls but I hate it: 3% conversion rate. There is a message here, isn’t it?
Then a few days ago I read an interview with John Romero on Gamesauce (http://www.gamesauce.org/) and so I finally understood. Romero says: “Ultimately, I’m making the game for every player who likes the type of games that I like to play. So, in a sense, I am my games’ audience—or the ambassador for them, anyway. That way, I never have to guess what the player might like, because it’s always what I would like.” That’s quite a statement, and it reflects what happened with my games.
Well… I’m no fool, I know that my personal gaming taste might result in a failure as well, but at least I’ll know exactly what I’ve done and why I did so. The whole interview with Romero is quite enlightening, so have a look at it: it might inspire you as well.
Here’s a very early preview of “Get Out!”: it’s just a little test, the player doesn’t even take any damage yet, but I like it so this will be a huge success :)
About the author
In the software eng. field since 1981, in charge of R&D during last 10 years. IEEE Senior Member (and volunteer).
#2
06/22/2010 (4:30 pm)
I actually read an article by him a few years ago and thought the same thing....That's why I just design stuff for myself. I don't care how well it does, or how much $$ it makes. You end up putting in WAY too much of yourself into any game design project, money and sales can't be the only reason a person makes games. You gotta love what you do. The new space shooter looks good. Hope you have fun with it. 
#3
06/22/2010 (6:18 pm)
I like the independent movement and weapon directions. What's the control scheme on that? 
#4
Either way, once you get to the market, you are at the mercy of the market. You can end up with a product to please the masses that flops or has a fairly moderate success due to mass market appeal. On the same note, you can also end up with a targeted market hit that may even blead over into mainstream (al la Braid), or simply not be picked up by the market as it's too focused to develop a community of players.
Of course it all comes down to what you goals are: Profits first: market acceptance, or fun first: what you love doing. Many times both can match up but you still need to prioritize. And in the end, you should strive for both: A) Make a fun game profitable, or B) Make a profitable game fun.
And a final note: closely monitoring the game industry for now 30 years, I can attest to one thing; Romero is at the top of the list of the industry's bullshit artists. Certainly he's got a talent for creativity, but furthermore, he is a self promoter who convinces companies time and again that he is the magic behind id Software. They hire him, and time and again he does not deliver. So while he may have some wisdom to pass on, I wouldn't look for him for reasons for success and failure ;p
06/22/2010 (10:08 pm)
While "making games I want to play" is a fantastic formula for driving you through a project and getting something you are proud of in the end, that approach can have a limited potential. The games industry is to some degree and fast evolving to become moreso like any other segment of the entertainment industry. If you focus on making what you want to play, you will have something that you are proud of and probably have a higher success rate of completion, but at the end of the day you run the risk of tunneling into a very specific subset of players. On the other hand, you can target a broader audience, but there may be less energy and commitment in development as you aren't making something that holds your soul.Either way, once you get to the market, you are at the mercy of the market. You can end up with a product to please the masses that flops or has a fairly moderate success due to mass market appeal. On the same note, you can also end up with a targeted market hit that may even blead over into mainstream (al la Braid), or simply not be picked up by the market as it's too focused to develop a community of players.
Of course it all comes down to what you goals are: Profits first: market acceptance, or fun first: what you love doing. Many times both can match up but you still need to prioritize. And in the end, you should strive for both: A) Make a fun game profitable, or B) Make a profitable game fun.
And a final note: closely monitoring the game industry for now 30 years, I can attest to one thing; Romero is at the top of the list of the industry's bullshit artists. Certainly he's got a talent for creativity, but furthermore, he is a self promoter who convinces companies time and again that he is the magic behind id Software. They hire him, and time and again he does not deliver. So while he may have some wisdom to pass on, I wouldn't look for him for reasons for success and failure ;p
#5
06/22/2010 (10:42 pm)
Ooh, it looks like fun! Well done Pino! I look forward to playing it! =)
#6
06/23/2010 (2:17 am)
@Richard: that's the common dual-stick shooter scheme allowed by the console gamepad: left stick to move around and right stick to point & shoot. I get the same result on PC assigning the usual WASD or ESDF (extended) scheme to the movement and the mouse to point & shoot (alternatively the numeric keypad can be used to point & shoot). When using the keyboard you'll need some extra code to achieve the inertial drag effect because of the missing analog stick, but it's not hard to get there.
#7
That's why Romero's thinking has been enlightning: why waste my energies in something I don't like when it can be a flop all the same? If I like it and my graphic artist likes it and we are happy with the result... well at least we had fun making the game :) at any rate I'll be happy keeping a 33% conversion rate ;)
06/23/2010 (2:27 am)
@Brian: well... I'm too old to make games for fun :) I've fun playing my guitar or spending time with my family ;) This is just knowledge improvement and business to me. Problem is that your picture of the situation is correct: a good game might flop just like a horrible game might get you rich. Go figure how gamers' mood produces that :) That's why Romero's thinking has been enlightning: why waste my energies in something I don't like when it can be a flop all the same? If I like it and my graphic artist likes it and we are happy with the result... well at least we had fun making the game :) at any rate I'll be happy keeping a 33% conversion rate ;)
Torque Owner Edward Smith
Silencersoft
My favorite space shooting games would have to be the side and vertical scrolling types, R-Type and Tyrian. For over head like this, I like Zone 66.
So generally I don't like this type of space shooter which is more about dodging.