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I have often tried to compare Webcomics artists with say Independent game developers or app developers. They ought to be similar but yet so different. I think i

by arocks 14y ago

I have often tried to compare Webcomics artists with say Independent game developers or app developers. They ought to be similar but yet so different. I think it boils down to the effort required in generating content. It is quite hard to regularly churn good games or apps like a webcomic artist would despite all the higher level tools that we have today. I think once it becomes easier to convert a game design into a working game say in less than a day, then we would have the rise of artist-centric games as an industry.

archgoon 14y ago
I wish Dresden Codak took a day to produce. I think you're underestimating the time it takes to produce a webcomic, especially ones that aren't independent, gag-a-day format.
RyanZAG 14y ago
I disagree heavily - converting a game design into a working game in less than a day means that all of the real work was done by an automated tool. You can build houses the same way - an architect designs a house and then it gets duplicated into a suburb with all the houses looking nearly identical. House prices plummet and nobody wants to live there unless they can't afford better. So sure, you could have a functional game in an hour off some automated process... but it's not going to be art, and it's probably not going to be fun to see the 3rd game come off that tool, let alone the 300th. Webcomics work because there is no automation. You start with a blank page and you create everything on that page by hand directly from your imagination. Games that do the same (unique indie and older games, such as minecraft or king's quest) are always far far better than some auto generated box2d jumping game that are all the rage these days. These little quick games are fun for all of 2 minutes before you close them and never look back.
- arocks 14y ago
  I think it would be hard to visualize using existing tools. Imagine the jump from assembly language to scripting languages. The effort required reduced by many orders of magnitude for the exact same result. We don't have such game creation tools yet. We only have cookie cutters like RPG Makers or game engines mods. So probably this is just a wishful dream for now.

by arocks 14y ago

archgoon 14y ago

I wish Dresden Codak took a day to produce. I think you're underestimating the time it takes to produce a webcomic, especially ones that aren't independent, gag-a-day format.

RyanZAG 14y ago

I disagree heavily - converting a game design into a working game in less than a day means that all of the real work was done by an automated tool. You can build houses the same way - an architect designs a house and then it gets duplicated into a suburb with all the houses looking nearly identical. House prices plummet and nobody wants to live there unless they can't afford better. So sure, you could have a functional game in an hour off some automated process... but it's not going to be art, and it's probably not going to be fun to see the 3rd game come off that tool, let alone the 300th. Webcomics work because there is no automation. You start with a blank page and you create everything on that page by hand directly from your imagination. Games that do the same (unique indie and older games, such as minecraft or king's quest) are always far far better than some auto generated box2d jumping game that are all the rage these days. These little quick games are fun for all of 2 minutes before you close them and never look back.

arocks 14y ago
I think it would be hard to visualize using existing tools. Imagine the jump from assembly language to scripting languages. The effort required reduced by many orders of magnitude for the exact same result. We don't have such game creation tools yet. We only have cookie cutters like RPG Makers or game engines mods. So probably this is just a wishful dream for now.