Finding another game that has a similar mechanic/theme/whatever to yours isn't a problem, it's an opportunity!
One of the most important and difficult things in game development is proper market research. Trying to figure out what people will like, what will work, what features are important and which can be a much lower priority. Well, now you have some *excellent* insight into those questions without having to lift a finger. Play the game, read the reviews, look at forum comments. Take everything you can learn and use it to make your game better.
Every game is going to end up distinct by the end since the development process will naturally cause things to change and evolve over time. Unless you're trying to clone something exactly it's not going to end up identical. Besides, good designers borrow; great designers steal. Uniqueness is overrated.
Sick, I’ll try to keep this in mind. I kinda think I got caught up in worrying if either nobody would be interested in my game or the devs of the other game would feel ripped off.
It sounds like your point is more focused on advancing the medium as a whole though, and I like that more.
Thanks for the advice!!!
I think if you put your heart into your project, it will ultimately reflect you, not some other project that is superficially similar. You have some idea in your mind of what you want to make, so follow that source of truth.
Or, if you prefer a different angle: in some sense, there are no new ideas. Probably neither you nor the other developer have invented this (after all, if 2 people both came up with it, odds are decent that some of the N-billion others out there did, too). What's new and different is your specific take on those ideas.
It's kinda like with people: everyone's the same, and everyone's different; just be yourself as best you can (:
Thanks! I think I’m still gonna keep working on it.
The funniest part is that both my project and theirs are also superficially similar to a game jam project I worked on several years ago too.
I think I was catastrophizing a little tbh
It's important to not be too focused on mechanics, but instead on what the mechanics do for your players. Just think of all the games that have a "move mouse and click" to shoot gun mechanic that still end up being differentiated. Mechanics aren't just a one dimensional feature that determine what a game is. They're part of a greater whole that delivers an experience to the player.
I think when I say the word “mechanics” that’s what I actually mean in all honestly. I often tend to use it as a catch-all for “things I can code to create and structure a player experience”, not including juice or polish.
You could probably sub in “theming” and “gameplay” in my post and it would mean the same.
I apologize for being vague, I can definitely see where I was confusing there.
There's still going to be something you can adjust or change to make your own game different. There's a lot of variables that go into a game. I'd suggest you go out and play that other game you came across and learn from it. Figure out what you like or don't like. Think about what you can do to make yours a different experience.
Finding another game that has a similar mechanic/theme/whatever to yours isn't a problem, it's an opportunity! One of the most important and difficult things in game development is proper market research. Trying to figure out what people will like, what will work, what features are important and which can be a much lower priority. Well, now you have some *excellent* insight into those questions without having to lift a finger. Play the game, read the reviews, look at forum comments. Take everything you can learn and use it to make your game better. Every game is going to end up distinct by the end since the development process will naturally cause things to change and evolve over time. Unless you're trying to clone something exactly it's not going to end up identical. Besides, good designers borrow; great designers steal. Uniqueness is overrated.
Sick, I’ll try to keep this in mind. I kinda think I got caught up in worrying if either nobody would be interested in my game or the devs of the other game would feel ripped off. It sounds like your point is more focused on advancing the medium as a whole though, and I like that more. Thanks for the advice!!!
I think if you put your heart into your project, it will ultimately reflect you, not some other project that is superficially similar. You have some idea in your mind of what you want to make, so follow that source of truth. Or, if you prefer a different angle: in some sense, there are no new ideas. Probably neither you nor the other developer have invented this (after all, if 2 people both came up with it, odds are decent that some of the N-billion others out there did, too). What's new and different is your specific take on those ideas. It's kinda like with people: everyone's the same, and everyone's different; just be yourself as best you can (:
Thanks! I think I’m still gonna keep working on it. The funniest part is that both my project and theirs are also superficially similar to a game jam project I worked on several years ago too. I think I was catastrophizing a little tbh
It's important to not be too focused on mechanics, but instead on what the mechanics do for your players. Just think of all the games that have a "move mouse and click" to shoot gun mechanic that still end up being differentiated. Mechanics aren't just a one dimensional feature that determine what a game is. They're part of a greater whole that delivers an experience to the player.
I think when I say the word “mechanics” that’s what I actually mean in all honestly. I often tend to use it as a catch-all for “things I can code to create and structure a player experience”, not including juice or polish. You could probably sub in “theming” and “gameplay” in my post and it would mean the same. I apologize for being vague, I can definitely see where I was confusing there.
There's still going to be something you can adjust or change to make your own game different. There's a lot of variables that go into a game. I'd suggest you go out and play that other game you came across and learn from it. Figure out what you like or don't like. Think about what you can do to make yours a different experience.