3 star hell

Acupwnture got mixed reviews. I admit I knew there would be trouble with the difficulty, even after I tweaked and retweaked it. I totally fell into the "well I don't think it's too hard, so what if I made it" fatal trap of game development. I think the game makes for a somewhat complicated 8 minute trial but a good experience once you get past that, and even a great one for Puzzle Fighter fans. On top of that, no one really wants to buy falling block games anymore. So all in all what we have is as relatively high rating for an indie game, a good conversion rate and terrible sales.

I don't like the way Microsoft handles the indie games, plain and simple. The top rated list is a list of 20 games and always has been. At one point there was 200 games on the market and the top 10% got on there. Now there are 1100 and growing rapidly and only the top 1.8% get on there with the bar being set at 4.25 stars. So does that mean in three years, games with ratings of 4.5 or higher, despite how old they are will still dominate the list, making it almost impossible for new games to get on there? Shouldn't the top rated list be converted to the "All time great" list and have a seperate top rated list with say a 3 month turnaround. Give some of the great 3.25 -3.75 star titles a chance to shine, because many of them are worth playing but never get a chance to sell any copies beyond the first 3-4 days.

First Meeting

Today we had our first RPG team meeting. There were a lot of ideas and I'd rather have too many good ideas than not enough. It's interesting managing a bigger team. You start off with just yourself and the idea that making a game would be a cool idea. You start doing stuff and then realize that there's other stuff that goes into making a game that you can't do. When I discovered that I couldn't really draw, I started thinking, "Well maybe you can make a game with 2 people." 2 eventually evolved into 4 and we were able to make a game with good graphics, sound and logic. Still, we made a game that was a bit too hard and complicated for our own good. If there is one thing I would encourage it's don't just make a game that you would want to play. Also, have strangers try out your game, friends are too biased and give you a false sense of thinking that your game is great, when in fact they're just so proud of you for accomplishing something cool. Another problem is that my friends are all very good at games. When some of them were having trouble beating easy on multiple attempts I should have listened to the alarm going off in my head.

Anyhow, now 5 people has turned into like 7-8. I want to keep it about here until we feel the need to really do big games, but for now I'm comfortable managing this size team. The meeting was awesome, and not just because of all the ideas, but because of the respect people gave each other. Everyone felt comfortable speaking their piece. The open forum is a scary thing, because often times it just descends into disaster. If you don't understand the personality types in the room you're going to be in trouble.

Alas, playtime is over, and it's time to work. These things always start off really fun, especially when the ideas are loose and free-flowing, but now there's a lot of work to be done. Still I'm not quite dreading making a map editor, before this meeting I kinda was.

On a side, if you really want to get your mind off everything, watch an episode of Fringe. I mange to get so involved in that show that I stop thinking about all the stress that comes with making a game.

Welcome

Welcome to my game development blog. I hope to share some insight into the process of making games and share our own trials and tribulations throughout the process of making our second XNA game.

A little background. I have a masters degree in Computer Science and a BA in english. How that happened, I do not know. I first started wanting to make games about 10 years ago as a sophomore in college when a few friends of mine were obsessed with the game Super Puzzle Fighter II turbo. It was one of the last games to really be played in the arcade where you had a bunch people lined up, finding unique ways to throw a quarter onto the console in order to play next. It was also the last time that I was able to beat those Rutgers kids in any video game. I wanted to make the game better, and reduce the luck element, so I had an idea. Fast forward 10 years and the game came out. It looks like the image at the top.

What I should have said is, "Hey, maybe I shouldn't make a puzzle game in ten years because no matter what I do, the market is supersaturated and no one will care." Still, at least I have a game for me.

The next game will be an RPG, which is a completely foolish endeavor for a second game and more well reserved for a fourth game. But, I don't care, and while releasing Avatar Fortune Cookie is tempting, this seems a little better. And guess what, there is actually a market for these games. That game Breath of Death VII did really well, and I have to say it's the best $1 RPG I've ever seen. Funny, quick and unique, even though I can faceroll my way through combat and it looks like a early prototype version of Dragon Warrior and Phantasy Star. A solid first effort though, and a team with the potential to have a long lasting effect on the indie games community.

I'm starting the tile map today and will be having a meeting of the minds on Sunday in a chaos format. What that essentially is is a chance for everyone to speak there piece about what they think should go into the RPG. Then it is my responsibility to crush dreams...no, forget everything I said.

I am making a promise not to lose my sanity this game, this blog will determine my success. I will not be completely successful at maintaining that, but I think this team will be successful in delivering a quality RPG.