True Gaming With all the space simulators coming out, when do you think we will see the next indie/AA/AAA space opera game? |
- With all the space simulators coming out, when do you think we will see the next indie/AA/AAA space opera game?
- Hitman 2016 is one of few AAA games that relies on mastery, and I love it.
- What puzzle genres have already been hybridized by adding RPG and/or civ elements?
- Youtube Channels dedicated to good gameplay/montages
- I hold game companies to a higher standard than mere profit
- Starting a studio and I want to do right by potential players and customers.
| Posted: 27 Nov 2017 08:28 AM PST The amount of space simulators in the last few years prove that there is an interest in space games. Games like Elite Dangerous, No Man's Sky, Star Citizen, Kerbal Space Program, Everspace, Astroneer and Space Engineer, should show there is an interest games that takes place in space and the unknown. Still missing is the games with proper narrative, with Mass Effect on "hiatus", shouldn't there at least be some interest in taking the title as the premiere space RPG? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hitman 2016 is one of few AAA games that relies on mastery, and I love it. Posted: 26 Nov 2017 05:18 PM PST Hitman 2016 comprises 6 episodes, each taking place on its own large map. The first way to play these modes is via their Missions, which feature an overarching plot that continues on from the previous Hitman games. They also serve as a nice semi-guided tour of each level, because various "opportunities" pop up, cluing you into learning more about how each level works. You might overhear a conversation that leads you to the possibility of disguising yourself as a bartender or chef so you can covertly poison your target. But the story missions largely serve as introductions to the level. Sure, if you want, you can keep replaying those levels in an attempt to get feats, which is how the game's progression system works; accomplish certain tasks (like "kill your target and hide the body in one move"), and you gain XP, and every time you level up, you unlock some new gadget for 47 or some new starting location or smuggling drop point to use in that location. Where the game really shines, though, is in the Escalations. Each episode has several Escalations where you have some set of objectives ("kill this NPC," "break into that safe," and so on). Each Escalation has several levels that add more objectives as well as complications that make them harder to accomplish. And saving is disabled, so given how difficult a mission can become once you screw up, this means you'll restart a lot, and end up learning the maps very quickly. My favorite Escalation thus far (and the hardest one I've done) is The Kotti Paradigm. For its final level (spoilers), I had to kill 3 targets, each with a battle axe, while wearing 47's Signature Suit, without using agility (no climbing/vaulting/etc.), without pacification (so if anyone gets in my way, I have to kill them and lose points, or distract/sneak past), and with super enforcers walking around that can see through all of 47's disguises, including his suit. The way I did it was very similar to the above video; I interrupted a conversation the 1st target was having so that she'd quickly walk to the bathroom while I got the battle axe from the adjacent room. On my way to get the battle axe, I unlocked the door leading outside from that room and shot a car while the 2nd target was standing out on his balcony so that he'd investigate the noise the alarm made. I killed the 1st target while #2 made his way down, then got #2 as he walked past the bathroom. I stashed his body in the bathroom, then disguised myself as him (the Sheikh) so I could get to the 3rd floor unperturbed, stashing the battle axe in a stairwell on the way. The 3rd target was one of the people running the auction, so I grabbed the laptop password dongle from the attic and used it to disable the auction laptop before dashing back to the Sheikh's body to retrieve my disguise, then making my way back to the stairwell I stashed the axe in. I got the axe, went upstairs, and hid behind a statue until the auction woman, frazzled about the auction's technical difficulties, walked past, and went down the stairwell, where I threw the axe at the back of her head before I made my escape, completely incognito. Even though I "cheated" by watching a video first, the puzzle solving challenge of roughly figuring out what steps need to be followed is still there if I want to try to get a higher score for a better placing on the leaderboards*. Another mode is Contracts, which are essentially user-generated Escalations. Some of these Contracts can be just as entertaining as the Escalations. And then you have Elusive Targets, which are essentially Escalations that you can only even attempt once, win or lose. You also only have a 10-day window to attempt them before they're gone (I think for a year). I'm gushing about this game because so few like it are made. I think this might be in my top 5. Bayonetta's another strong example. They give you progressively difficult things to do, then add the point system on top of it once simply getting it done becomes too easy. Even if you find some "optimal" easy way of accomplishing something, the complications in the Escalations and Contracts help throw a wrench into those plans and keep the game interesting. What other games emphasize mastery that people might not realize? *: I don't plan on ever playing for score in this game, because Io Interactive does not police their leaderboards. One of the individuals in the top 10 for one of the Escalations definitely has a racial slur (like TheN-wordKiller) in their Steam name. I don't need to see that shit. I asked IoI about it and got no response. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| What puzzle genres have already been hybridized by adding RPG and/or civ elements? Posted: 27 Nov 2017 03:24 PM PST I asked this question in r/gamedev a couple of days back and got some good feedback, but was hoping to see if I missed anything here. A surprisingly rich space in design is tacking on RPG and/or RTS/Civ elements to an established puzzle game core. Earliest mainstream examples of these I believe are Puzzle Fighter (match-3, bejeweled) and Bookworm Adventures. I've gotten a kick out of these games, and was hoping to compile a list. Note that these games should have the puzzle as the standout game loop, not just a minor element in the game. Also not looking for videogame conversions of existing board games, even though those would fit nicely. :) Can anyone contribute to this list? Are there any newer, better games which innovate on the genre? Are there untapped base games that can be used?
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| Youtube Channels dedicated to good gameplay/montages Posted: 27 Nov 2017 12:56 PM PST I know of Rabbit's Respawn, and the videos on that channel are dedicated to games being played creatively and/or with mastery. I cannot seem to find many channels like these, because most are let's plays, multiplayer highlights, review channels, or analysis. I find seeing a game mastered and being played in creative ways much more interesting than the common lets play because it is not a multi part series, but an isolated video to enjoy. It seems like the focus on gameplay is something greatly missing from Youtube. Are there channels dedicated to this type of gaming? Any recommendations? Why are these channels significantly less popular? [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I hold game companies to a higher standard than mere profit Posted: 27 Nov 2017 07:31 AM PST Quite often when discussing player-unfriendly decisions by game companies, someone will chime in with a defense like, "They're a business, their only responsibility is to make money" etc blah. Well, I don't agree - we should hold them to a higher standard than mere profit. (We should pretty much hold all companies to a higher standard, unless they are pure finance companies, whose only function is to make money.) Consider a (private) hospital. A hospital is a business. It needs to make money to survive. But making money is not its mission. Its mission is to save lives, improve health, etc. If a patient dies due to cheap faulty equipment, we do not say, "Well, they're a business, they have to make a profit somehow." We totally say, "This is not a correct decision for a hospital." Similarly, for game companies, their mission is to make entertaining games. They need to make money to survive, in order to accomplish their mission. But making money isn't their mission. So when a game company compromises its mission for the sake of making money (outside of emergency save-the-company-from-ruin situations) we shouldn't defend them - we need to keep the pressure on so that they know we're not going to overlook these sorts of decisions. [link] [comments]  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Starting a studio and I want to do right by potential players and customers. Posted: 27 Nov 2017 07:21 AM PST Hi, I am currently in the beginning stages of creating a game with a technology stack that I've been working on for quite a while now and is finally maturing to the point of being able to create shippable products. There has, rightfully so, been a lot of swirl in the news lately criticizing the way companies are monetizing their games. When I was growing up, you bought a game, you received the game, and that was the end of the transaction. Ultimately this is the model I would like to pursue. People who elect to spend their income on my game shouldn't be penalized for that choice. To that end - I would like to discuss alternate financing strategies with a community to get a better sense for what people find fair versus unfair. My big picture summary is this: I've worked developing software professionally for 10+ years and I've saved up enough to sustain myself doing full-time work on my final game idea for roughly two years given no huge unexpected costs. There's some padding built into the budget for issues here and there, just nothing earth-shattering. Having been in software development for a while, I have a decent idea of the time it would take me to complete various stages of the game; a playable alpha, a few iterations of more polished betas, and a release version. Two years' of funds can get me there if other aspects of life cooperate. When the game is released - I want that to be it. No microtransactions, no ads, no day-one DLC, no loot boxes or any other nonsense. If the game is successful enough that I can continue working on it, I'd be up for something more like expansion packs - i.e., very large new content - but have zero interest in nickel and diming people for cosmetic differences and will absolutely not support any type of pay to win model. In order to build myself a bit of a cushion on the two-year funds depletion date, I've been brainstorming some ideas for alternate sources of income and would like to run them by the community to see what type of reception they receive. While I know a lot of people have had success with kickstarters, I just don't feel right asking people for money. For one, I'm unproven in this space and that could prove to be a hard sell. Furthermore, I simply don't like asking something for nothing - maybe I'm old and out-dated, but it doesn't seem right to me that someone can take a bunch of individual strangers' money on a promise, and then months/years later either not deliver at all, or under-deliver and have a disappointed crowd that won't trust you again in the future. I understand that people get their money back if the product isn't delivered, but at the same time, they could have used that money for anything else in the meantime - heck they could've even thrown it in a savings account and came out further on top than having it sit in an blackbox account for a year just to be given back to them. All that being said - the main idea I've been throwing around in my head is this: building micro-games / experiences with the engine technology that I've been building. The point of this is two-fold. First, it would demonstrate that the technology is feasible, and also help me find bugs/issues in it, and secondly it could be a small revenue stream. My thought is to sell the games/experiences for about $0.99 each with a very clear disclaimer that they are meant to be short-lived and that their purpose is in funding something larger. The reason I keep saying games / experiences is that some of the ideas I've come up for these are things as simple as attempting to create certain atmospheres (scary, happy, sad, etc.) using the engine tech and having the user explore these spaces to attempt to evoke a certain type of feeling. They're short-lived by design, thus very cheap, but at the end of the day, the user is helping fund a larger project and even if the project ends up being a bust, they have something real to show for it. My ask of this community is to take the above and critique it; let me know where it needs improvement, or if the whole idea needs to be rethought from scratch. None of this is possible without community support, so it only seems reasonable to start here and learn what I can to set myself up for the highest chance of success. One of my biggest concerns is around the expectations that app stores, etc., have set up for what $0.99 gets you. I would hate for people to feel cheated, but also feel like this is a better and less intrusive model for the end-user than riddling these micro-games with ads and annoying the user out of any further interest down the road. My other concern is that the time I put towards the micro-games could be going towards the end-goal. I'm ok with accepting this risk because their purpose is to fund the larger project and they will also help refine the technology stack I'm building, meaning the final game product will be in a more refined state. The micro projects will be planned out and time-boxed appropriately so that I know up-front how much time they're setting me back versus time that could go towards the end product. Is this a good idea, bad idea, or somewhere in-between? Have I missed something obvious, or not thought something through to the right degree? I apologize for the word wall, and sincerely appreciate those who take the time to read it and provide feedback. Thank you! P.S. I've been a redditor for a long time (8 year club), but only a handful of folks I work with know that I'm considering leaving to start this venture, and until I get a few more things ironed out, I'm not quite ready to broadcast it throughout the office just yet (where a few more people know my usual username). Future posts will be either through my usual handle, or one I set up specifically for this purpose through the LLC I will form. TLDR I would like feedback on my idea for funding a longer-term project by producing small self-contained micro-games as a funding mechanism. [link] [comments]  |
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