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What you describing is only possible for hobby game developers with extremely small scale of a game or development time of 4-5 years. Majority of game developer

by SXX 3y ago

What you describing is only possible for hobby game developers with extremely small scale of a game or development time of 4-5 years. Majority of game developers simply dont have skillset to work with audio, graphics APIs and cross platform support.

JohnFen 3y ago
> What you describing is only possible for hobby game developers with extremely small scale of a game or development time of 4-5 years. This is demonstrably untrue. It wasn't all that long ago that there were no game engines available for use, and yet small devs managed to produce a ton of great games anyway. It is true that a small developer is unlikely to be able to produce a grand AAA-scale game in a reasonable time, though. > Majority of game developers simply dont have skillset to work with audio, graphics APIs and cross platform support. Then perhaps they should gain that skillset? I would have assumed that any game dev is well-versed in doing these things regardless, but if not, isn't that a problem?
- SXX 3y ago
  > This is demonstrably untrue. It wasn't all that long ago that there were no game engines available for use, and yet small devs managed to produce a ton of great games anyway. Audience expectations for production quality of art, animations and overall gameplay has grown accordingly over the years. To become a success game dont have to be best of the best, but it's just cant be much worse than baseline of modern successful games. If there is any indie games that you like and they were released less than 10 years ago please do a little research of how long they actually took to build. There are reasons why one-guy indie game production take 5-7 years. > Then perhaps they should gain that skillset? It's just too many skills and each of them take years of practice. If you take any modern game engine there will be dedicated programmers working on audio, graphics, networking, physics, etc. If you have group of 3 rock start programmer buddies who can work full time for free then you might have some chances, but I doubt you will have any time left to actually make games. Also even with your 3 buddies working for free process of making a game costs money. And if you tell the publishers or investors that your company building their own game engine no one will ever invest money into your project.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    > If there is any indie games that you like and they were released less than 10 years ago please do a little research of how long they actually took to build. I know a number of successful game developers that are counterexamples to your thesis. > If you take any modern game engine there will be dedicated programmers working on audio, graphics, networking, physics, etc. Right, but that's to make a full engine. I'm arguing that you shouldn't make an engine at all. Yes, if you're aiming at high production values, then you're looking at millions of dollars of investment and a full team. But if you're looking to produce an excellent and successful game, the equation can be entirely different. You don't need top-notch graphics, top-notch sounds, etc. You just need to make a great game, and a great game is defined by the gameplay, not by the window dressing. If you're a one-man shop, it absolutely is major factor in terms of what sort of games you can produce. There's no question about it. But it doesn't mean you can't produce excellent and successful games.

by SXX 3y ago

JohnFen 3y ago

> What you describing is only possible for hobby game developers with extremely small scale of a game or development time of 4-5 years. This is demonstrably untrue. It wasn't all that long ago that there were no game engines available for use, and yet small devs managed to produce a ton of great games anyway. It is true that a small developer is unlikely to be able to produce a grand AAA-scale game in a reasonable time, though. > Majority of game developers simply dont have skillset to work with audio, graphics APIs and cross platform support. Then perhaps they should gain that skillset? I would have assumed that any game dev is well-versed in doing these things regardless, but if not, isn't that a problem?

SXX 3y ago
> This is demonstrably untrue. It wasn't all that long ago that there were no game engines available for use, and yet small devs managed to produce a ton of great games anyway. Audience expectations for production quality of art, animations and overall gameplay has grown accordingly over the years. To become a success game dont have to be best of the best, but it's just cant be much worse than baseline of modern successful games. If there is any indie games that you like and they were released less than 10 years ago please do a little research of how long they actually took to build. There are reasons why one-guy indie game production take 5-7 years. > Then perhaps they should gain that skillset? It's just too many skills and each of them take years of practice. If you take any modern game engine there will be dedicated programmers working on audio, graphics, networking, physics, etc. If you have group of 3 rock start programmer buddies who can work full time for free then you might have some chances, but I doubt you will have any time left to actually make games. Also even with your 3 buddies working for free process of making a game costs money. And if you tell the publishers or investors that your company building their own game engine no one will ever invest money into your project.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  > If there is any indie games that you like and they were released less than 10 years ago please do a little research of how long they actually took to build. I know a number of successful game developers that are counterexamples to your thesis. > If you take any modern game engine there will be dedicated programmers working on audio, graphics, networking, physics, etc. Right, but that's to make a full engine. I'm arguing that you shouldn't make an engine at all. Yes, if you're aiming at high production values, then you're looking at millions of dollars of investment and a full team. But if you're looking to produce an excellent and successful game, the equation can be entirely different. You don't need top-notch graphics, top-notch sounds, etc. You just need to make a great game, and a great game is defined by the gameplay, not by the window dressing. If you're a one-man shop, it absolutely is major factor in terms of what sort of games you can produce. There's no question about it. But it doesn't mean you can't produce excellent and successful games.