4 ms·

That 1% figure is hilariously wrong, but I agree with your point. Indie game dev is hard. If you "waste" too much time early on doing "the right thing" for task

That 1% figure is hilariously wrong, but I agree with your point. Indie game dev is hard. If you "waste" too much time early on doing "the right thing" for tasks that can wait like localization, your game might not make it off the ground. So most accomplished English-speaking indie devs assume English and QWERTY layout to start because it's one less thing to think about while you're trying to get a barebones game running. The less defensible outcome is when the QWERTY assumption remains 'til the end, and the devs just want to ship the damn thing already, so the proper alternate keyboard layout/non-360 controller/etc. support gets cut and the burden is pushed onto the users. This sucks, but is somewhat defensible because if you are a gamer in France or whatever, you are probably used to needing to switch your keyboard layout or rebind your keys in the same way that English players of Japanese PC games are used to needing to use a Japanese locale, or that people with non-360 controllers are used to needing to use an XInput wrapper: we hate it, but we've already dealt with the problem once, so doing it again isn't a big deal.

clarry 12y ago
> we hate it, but we've already dealt with the problem once, so doing it again isn't a big deal Some of us hate it and just don't play these player-hostile games. I think that games that are meant to be played will respect the player and treat her dearly. Games that exist just for the buck though... oh well.
- ANTSANTS 12y ago
  Would you really not play if they give you the option to rebind keys? I've jumped through many worse hoops trying to play Japanese games that I was under no delusions of being the target audience for.
  - clarry 12y ago
    If they don't give me the option to rebind keys... I used to jump through hoops myself. For example, I rebound keys in some older Touhous by disassembling and modifying the binary. These days I just can't be bothered. There are more games than I could play in a lifetime, so I have plenty to choose from. And if/when game developers treat me like shit (whether it be with DRM or something else), I'm principled against playing their game. "Go away, you're not our target audience, we don't care about you." I try to focus the little time I have on games whose authors really want everyone to play and enjoy. The more effort they put into that, the more attention they deserve. If they respect my freedom, that's better still. And that is my idea of humble. I hate how the word is used to market a bundle of games on sale... Truly caring about the player is one field where the indie scene could really shine, compared to the big corps who mass-produce big titles for the biggest market. Unfortunately even the indies seem to have other priorities.

clarry 12y ago

> we hate it, but we've already dealt with the problem once, so doing it again isn't a big deal Some of us hate it and just don't play these player-hostile games. I think that games that are meant to be played will respect the player and treat her dearly. Games that exist just for the buck though... oh well.

ANTSANTS 12y ago
Would you really not play if they give you the option to rebind keys? I've jumped through many worse hoops trying to play Japanese games that I was under no delusions of being the target audience for.
- clarry 12y ago
  If they don't give me the option to rebind keys... I used to jump through hoops myself. For example, I rebound keys in some older Touhous by disassembling and modifying the binary. These days I just can't be bothered. There are more games than I could play in a lifetime, so I have plenty to choose from. And if/when game developers treat me like shit (whether it be with DRM or something else), I'm principled against playing their game. "Go away, you're not our target audience, we don't care about you." I try to focus the little time I have on games whose authors really want everyone to play and enjoy. The more effort they put into that, the more attention they deserve. If they respect my freedom, that's better still. And that is my idea of humble. I hate how the word is used to market a bundle of games on sale... Truly caring about the player is one field where the indie scene could really shine, compared to the big corps who mass-produce big titles for the biggest market. Unfortunately even the indies seem to have other priorities.