Yakoob on 18/7/2013 at 00:18
The timeline isn't the most unique, but it's also not horrible like most indies, there is potential there depending on what you do with it. I'd play to find out :) Hmm I'd actually really love to check out the game, are you doing closed beta testing or something? (Btw we are on Postmortem if you want, just holler!)
Quote Posted by Flux
Lots of good ideas, thanks folks really. Looks like I buried myself in some sort of cave to get the demo & prototype done and forgot about having some fun. I'll consider these all.
My only aim is to have this game out, and make a small income out of it so that I can hire few more people to do more "stealth levels" as I did enjoy making [snip]
Ok that whole post leaves me confused. On one hand, it sounds like you DO have a clear vision for the game - you say you pretty much built it all (sans cutscenes), got a playable prototype/version, have a team, and all your design docs. Seems like an accomplished "make games not engines" type stuff.
Then you say it's more of a stealth system/resources without to be used onto something you have not decided on, defaulting to scifi, which is kind of the opposite of what you just outlined before and producing/management / PR / marketingmore of "made an engine don't have game."
So just a bit confused. But eitherway, with all the stuff you got done, Briareos H's advice sounds most sounds, it seems like you just need a good producer to take all that and move it forward with a plan. I'm almost tempted to get involved given all I've seen here, and producing/management / PR / marketing is exactly the stuff I've been doing and learning on my own game for few months now :p
Speaking of that I've done tons of research and got a bunch of links about indie game dev, PR, approaching press, etc. if you're interested (tho it sounds like you're not really into that yourself saying "you dont want to make a name for yourself in the industry" which, btw, I dont think is a good approach if you actually do want this game out and people playing it).
EDIT: IT also reminds me of how I got to where I am with Postmortem, after years of "tinkering" and engine/tool making and "having fun" but not really getting anywhere. Wasn't until I sat down, picked one of my design docs that seemed most feasible (not necessarily my most desired) and got it to a fully playable alpha version (from first menu, through game, all the way to end credits), even in a rough, content-missing, terrible broken state, that things started really moving forward. I do have a "origins of my game" type devblog post actually coming soon if that's some food for thought :)
Nyctophobia on 18/7/2013 at 02:47
Looks like a lot of fun. I know I'd buy it.
Flux on 19/7/2013 at 07:34
Yakoob, thanks a lot for your interest, let's share experiences and stay in touch. I'd wonder about your greenlight process, keep us updated.
I made the mistake of sending a "proof-of-concept" video to publishers, they regarded it as "full game ready to be finished". My naive mentality was to ask a question like, "within our limited funds we can do this, this and that with UDK, what do you think?" and they asked for a demo. Then, without focusing on "proof-of-concept" part, they quickly went into to discuss it as "beta version of finished game"...
I realized my mistake when I read comments from them, and here as well, along the lines : "the voice acting requires re-work". I'd assume this would be obvious to the publishers that I'm using an absolute place-holders in that department.
I think I misunderstood the whole "get some feedback as early as possible" idea. Also, I think I'd have a bit right to throw in some cool music & make the video exciting even though I'm showing "possible features".
I wanted make sure we have some working guns & tools and solid ai, show it and then dwell into "core-design"...Why the other way around, because from mods I know the perils of "enjoying concept & story work right from the start" where crew members discuss 3423427651 times over features where the programmer will never be able to cut.
That's why I sat down with a programmer, solely, to execute every possible "working elements I'd need for a stealth-game"...With the right "unreal-scripter" you can do wonders, especially when you have limited funds. For such a game, I've tried/perused almost every engine known to mankind.
Now, we have surveillance camera systems, turrets, zombies, cyborgs, certain weapons & tools, working objective & inventory system, even flawless working saving & loading system...custom kismet for puzzles..Now I won't have to worry about coding-wise for the time being.
So this kind of "base" can go either in Amnesia's direction or Riddick's direction. Meanwhile, publishers showed interest but their response added more to confusion...However, I'd personally have more stealth, more suspense and less-action. I'm also open to suggestion about direction, hence in need of co-designer...
I know I'd should have had very solid & firm concept right from start but with such limited funds and had a situation of "finding the right programmer", things got tangled up. Finding the right "udk scripter" was also the matter, finally we got the right person. But that process was also difficult, because before him, I've been literally scammed by con-artists posing as "udk programmers"
After two years of such struggle, I can freely go in any direction I want since I have some sort of "solid base" to work with. We have a machine gun and knowing the fact that I can ditch it now is kinda very liberating.
Now, time to focus on "real design"...
It's good that Zylonbane posted about Routine, I like their minimalist approach, if that's the right word. We show and reveal too much in our video, I understand it now, even though I wanted show our "technical possibilities & design achievements", people regarded it as "final game features"
Quote:
"you dont want to make a name for yourself in the industry",
by that I meant I have no desire to be "the next-hip designer who rocks the twitter with his latest colorful puzzle-jumping game on the iphone"...I'd happy to make new add-ons for my game, either sell it or give it away freely, as long as I can have enough income...
Briareos H on 19/7/2013 at 08:26
I'm not sure that "working out" a game from a set of existing systems and assets is the best way to go but eh, it's going to be an interesting try.
At least I understand where you're coming from and where you're at right now. I'll PM you, perhaps there is a way I can be useful.
Yakoob on 19/7/2013 at 21:32
Flux, definitely! And thanks for clarifying your state and rationale.
To be perfectly honest, from my experience, you seem to have taken a kinda backwards approach. You're right that "over-concepting/designing" a game/mod is bad and can go forever, but the solution to it isn't skipping it altogether - it's having a clear lead with a vision to focus such design. With your current approach you got a bunch of awesome tools but... what if you finally decide on design and realize half of them don't fit or you need new ones? That's a lot of time and effort you might have wasted.
I mentioned in my post I used to do the same (I actually now have a pretty flexible 3D engine I built with inventories and conversation systems etc.) and why I never got anywhere with it. But I also didn't sit down and over-design my game - instead I started with a solid and complete, but feasible design of what *I* want (not "my team") and then made a fully playable prototype of 90% before recruiting anyone else. This way, I had a clear vision and design for the game to guide it's development, and had something to show off and entice people with that was an "actual game," not just concepts, long design docs, or loose tools/systems.
Of course, I dont claim to be any sort of game design guru, just sharing what , after years of tinkering, finally worked with me. Hope it helps and keep me posted when you figure things out :)
henke on 8/8/2013 at 07:58
Those are some gorgeous environments. :)
SubJeff on 8/8/2013 at 08:46
Seconded. Looks great.
You getting it published yet?
Flux on 9/8/2013 at 08:39
We're at least 1 year away from release but the team is expanding and thanks for the comments:)
