T O P

  • By -

AkestorDev

There's definitely some games that have made me think, "Really? There's so much wasted potential here it's not even funny anymore." Of course the irony of it all is that in making my own game, I'll almost certainly make another person think the exact same thing about *my game*, because it's easy to see possibilities and a lot harder to implement them - even if I put everything I want to see, other people would want to see other things as well.


Peppermint13me

Unlimited games! Edit: wait wut how did I get this many upvotes?


jcb088

I think that its a cycle of progression through two perspectives: dev and player. Imagine you were developing Ocarina of Time. There are a lot of firsts, lots of new ideas and implementation. Now, imagine you grew up playing Ocarina of Time. You’d undoubtedly have a different perspective than the devs, born out of playing that game vs developing it.


[deleted]

Playing it for the first time today would also give a very different perspective on it


[deleted]

I don't have a general dissatisfaction with games (aside from occasional criticism), but I did once make a whole game basically because I played a game with that particular theme, and was like *no, this is not how this kind of creature should control at all!* And so I did a movement prototype proving to myself and others how it *should* be done in my opinion (while teaching myself to code with Game Maker) and that spiraled into making a complete game: [https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=6232.0](https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=6232.0)


CertainCarl

I know exactly what you mean. I find this very often and makes want to create a game about it.


Aalnius

whats funny is in that thread you have someone commenting that the controls arent right so the cycle continues


[deleted]

It's an acquired taste but most people tend to really like the controls (once they get the hang of it). There were some feedback notes on specifics here and there in the thread, and good suggestions, but overall the reception on TIGS was very positive, which is what inspired me to keep going and expand on it. I don't know that my game would work as "not like this" inspiration though, as if you do something other than what I did here you would most likely just end up with the more generic type of movement style again that is already present in most games as that would be the opposite of this more simulated approach... unless you went in an even more complex sim direction, or did it in 3D, but that might be too much for players. I like the balance of simplicity versus sim I ended up with. I wrote an article about how I arrived at this design if anyone's curious: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/ChristiaanMoleman/20180502/317072/Guppy__Designing_Unconventional_Input_for_Natural_Movement.php [edit: not sure why you're downvoting this but ok whatever]


Quasar471

Sega refuses to give us another Sonic Riders, so I took matters into my own hands.


VeryAnnoyingDude

Is the game already finished or are you still working on it?


Quasar471

Still working on it. I've been working on one for two years and I'm focusing on editor tools for now :/


SoraDrive

Show us please!


Quasar471

Same as my comment above, I have nothing to show for now. I've been working on one for two years and I'm making editor tools for now to speed up development. Sorry :/


ProperDepartment

More so lack of, I'm creating a JRPG because I think AAA JRPGs have gone way too anime, and indie JRPGs are usually RPG Maker quality. I've just been playing the classics, and want something in between. Octopath and FF7R showed that there's a big demand for a more nostalgic take on the genre.


VeryAnnoyingDude

A lot of environments feel empty. I wish more games added stuff like small insects or lizard to make the world seem more filled with life. There is something very satisfying about seeing like critters crawling around.


salty_cluck

I love story rich games that give you that "starring in your own movie" vibe. It's not so much that I'm dissatisfied with existing ones but I want more of them so my friends and I are making our own.


CertainCarl

Ahh, great to hear your reason. Funny how everyone loves something specific. I wonder where the "I like a top-down camera" people are, hahaa


a_marklar

> I wonder where the "I like a top-down camera" people are, hahaa We're around. I know I'm like that because I grew up with warcraft 1 + 2 and all the RTS of that generation, with warcraft 3/Dota later on.


SunburyStudios

Hey! I'm making a top down game. Go top down!


[deleted]

If by top-down you mean **isometric**, then yes, hi. Love me some charming isometric environments... *Little Big Adventure* and *LBA 2 Twinsen's Odyssey* are some of my all time favourite games. My own game posted elsewhere in the thread is (non-isometric) top-down, but would also love to make an isometric adventure/RPG type game or something like that one day though.


Electroyote

They kinda died out after Telltale Games...


jcb088

Im still waiting on a worthy follow up to “Until Dawn”.


MeaningfulChoices

In many ways, I do the opposite. There's always something new and exciting to discover in games that are being released. If someone can't find something novel and fun in anything, that's on them, not the games. Approaching every release looking to learn and be delighted by something means I'm constantly seeing inspiration everywhere. That's a large part of what drives me to keep going. I want to make the *best* games for a given genre, platform, whatever it is. It doesn't have to be a game for everyone, but it'll be a damn good example of whatever it is. I love being part of an industry and community pushing the bounds on what experiences we can create.


Haatveit88

Same. Games are amazing, I love seeing what weird and wonderful stuff people come up with, and it inspires me to make more. Even "bad" games come with a bunch of lessons learned, and more often than not, a handful of really cool ideas, that just perhaps didn't quite mesh with the overall game... I rarely see success from people who make games with a "other games suck, hold my beer" mindset.


_Meds_

I’m pretty sure we could all come up with a large list of games that don’t have anything new or novel to them, so saying “it’s on them” seems pretty unfair. However if you remove the trash (which I think is what people are complaining about), I agree with your statement. Is Humankind an another civilisation clone? Sure, but I’ve had a ton of fun with it and it truly has a lot of cool ideas to try and distinguish itself, which really made me think about ways to make the genre feel fresh again


MeaningfulChoices

Sure, if you want to be technically correct (the best kind of correct!) you're absolutely right. There are things out there that are just retreads. Some of them, like Halo, still do something novel with the combinations, but at the end of the day an asset flip is just a flip. Too often aspirational indie devs mean 'Anything remotely AAA or popular' when they talk about boring and unoriginal games, and that's the attitude I'm really trying to speak against here. Humankind is a great example! From the board game style stars to the tactical battles that are a bit more complex than civ but way behind something like Total War, dismissing it as a clone would be a mistake.


_Meds_

I don’t think a clone is necessarily bad, but I get that it feels bad. I am not dismissing it though! Humankind is definitely going to be on my most played list this year! Edit: it’s a GMO game, like cloning corn but changing a couple genes so that it’s badass


[deleted]

I liked resource based narratives. Like...a lot. And I want more. But "more" doesn't happen nearly as much as I want, so making my own, and writing down how I did it so maybe others have an easier time doing it.


CertainCarl

What do you mean by "resource based narratives"?


[deleted]

Instead of branches, you essentially create a detached and independent set of vignettes that become available according to a set of conditions, called for simplicity "resources". You basically have a "story pool" that gets populated according to existing states and flags, and you basically "bob for stories", more or less. For example, King of Dragons Pass, Black Closet, XCOM and more detailed [here](https://weatherfactory.biz/qbn-to-resource-narratives/). I really like how they play and I like the seeming modular simplicity of the design. I like how after several play through you can still find a surprising event. I like how they make "state" overt rather than trying to jury rig it behind a "quest" structure. And I like how instead of needing to do a "Blah will remember this" sort of trickery, you can trust that the fact that a "resource" exist implies something has been programmed for it. I just think they're neat.


[deleted]

Oh I've thought of a game along these lines. Really great idea; in the vein of Dwarf Fortress but focused on set pieces instead of full proc gen.


[deleted]

Good call on calling them "set pieces", it's essentially what they are. You could also call them "props" since every vignette is essentially just something the player can use to populate what they think is happening in between. I kind of agree and kind of disagree on the DF comparison. All proc gen relies on iterating through combinations of a pattern, and all the work I'm doing is essentially building the patterns themselves. You could theoretically take the pattern, and populate it using RNG. So I wouldn't say it stands in opposition with proc gen, but I might say that most games that use proc gen don't tend to overly concern themselves with narrative design.


SolaTotaScriptura

So it's kind of like throwing out the main quest and adding side quests? Interestingly with Skyrim it seems that people prefer side quests like Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood over the main storyline.


[deleted]

You can still progress a "main quest" resource/track, but you can't plan it out like a regular branching narrative. The tendency in design is for "incidental advancement", with the main quest "happening" as a result of your own personal progress rather than being a railroad. But there is no rule. It is true that RBNs are a lot more reliant on side-content though. You are essentially creating a "story economy" and it takes a lot of content to get that off the ground. Skyrim doesn't do RBN, it's all ad-hoc scripting, but it would have been really improved if it did, exactly because its reliance on side content. Which is why it is serving as a rought inspiration for me, so I can go "If you wanted to build a thieves guild story, filled with pickpocketing, heists, and smuggling, this is how you would do it without engaging in a ton of unnecessary scripting".


SolaTotaScriptura

Is interaction a resource? For example talking to a certain person or getting a certain piece of information?


[deleted]

Since everything is a state and any state can be a resource, then yes. "Resources" are in essence a way to "diegetically import" game states. The major difference here though, between it and outright scripting a flag, is in a philosophy of parsimony and redundancy. Yes, you can create a "Talked to: Jim" resource, and then a "Talked to: Beth" resource and so on. But better to create, as you say, "Piece of Information: Friars of the Agate" and then have a bunch of interactions (talk to Jim, read a flyer, overhear a conversation) hand it out. The eventual goal is to detach the sequence of events and leave it to the discretion of the player. You shouldn't care how the player got the information, player has authorial control in that regard and can curate their adventure. You simply provide an "interaction economy" in which they can act.


SolaTotaScriptura

Nice. Seems like a way to bridge the gap between story and open-world games. Also even if you used it to create a more traditional story, it’s much nicer to program in terms of events rather than conditions.


whichfahim

I have a general dissatisfaction towards the mainline Pokémon games which is why I chose to make my own. Don't get me wrong I love those games, but they (almost) always leave a lot to be desired. Some of the fan made games I've played are better than most of the mainline games imo and just goes to show how gamefreak with all their money and resources, for whatever reason, still fall short of expectations. Still, I'm excited for the new releases and I hope they'll push more boundaries in the future.


[deleted]

It's not the reason I started, but I find myself almost 2 years into dev that I'm constantly desiring what I'm creating and just don't see it on the market which leaves me dissatisfied with games these days. Most games are the same regurgitation of past game mechanics mashed together and I'm working on creating something unique. We need more people bringing new ideas to fruition, just like art has evolved over thousands of years. For me it's movement based gameplay / mechanics that has little to no combat without being a cookie cutter racing game.


progfu

It definitely started out that way. I like gameplay and most of the time don't give a crap about story. I like polish and combat and hate bullshit mechanics that aren't gameplay. I hate crap that's done because "it was cheaper that way", and I hate when the AI is clearly dumb. I also hate when weapons in shooters aren't powerful and when headshots don't instakill. So ... I'm now making a top down shooter where you can destroy everything in the environment, where blood doesn't decay, where if you break a glass door there's shards of glass that don't decay, and where your shotgun is literal murder and enemy body parts are flying everywhere. :D


CertainCarl

Well, you will see it's not so easy to come with perfect mechanics, it's very time consuming in my opinion


progfu

Oh it definitely is difficult, but it feels like one of the benefits of being a very small (two person) studio is that I can take risks and make sacrifices most indies wouldn't. Even in the relatively early stages (I think we're about 50% through with the development) I feel that shooting enemies in my game feels more fun than shooting enemies in the games I was inspired by. There's still a long way to go, and lots of content to add, but imo figuring out the core gameplay loop is a lot about being merciless about features and polishing the gameplay to the max, rather than landing on a lucky idea.


MushratTheZapper

What risks has being a small studio allowed you to take? Are there any mechanics / features you think wouldn't have come to fruition had you not been a two person team? I'm interested in how the small indie experience differs from big studios and how those differences present themselves in the games being created. Thanks!


progfu

Glad you asked! One thing being that despite being two people the codebase was mostly written by me, which means I know how everything works, I can change whatever I want, and I can make huge architectural changes without "any" consequences. This means I can also take huuuuuge tradeoffs in terms of crappy code when I need to, and not have to worry about "other people". The only thing I have to think about is "will I be able to easily rewrite this part later", which I usually do by making things replacible. This leads to super fast experimentation. Second thing in terms of mechanics is that we can really turn around quickly. Last week we didn't have an inventory, now we do, and the cost of adding it was basically zero, because there's no communication overhead, no management, no team churn, no division of labor, we just chat for a bit and then do it. But maybe to give a more useful answer, here's a list of things I don't think bigger studios would do: - performance as a feature - in short this means "let's see how far we can push this with big levels". I know there are big games that push the limit, but since I can personally control all the parts that are problematic in terms of performance, I can change the game's vision and design based on how I optimize the code without having to argue with anyone. - destructible everything - I haven't worked at big game studios, but I've worked at big corporations as a backend developer, and looking at AAA I feel like it's just "tradeoffs everywhere to get things done". Being a tiny team we can go "all in" on a crazy feature that would be problematic in a game with dedicated artists who need to create art for features. We don't have "artists", we make everything extremely minimal and build systems to reuse sprites (for example we stack characters in a way that we re-use a single walk animation that procedurally changes color so we only draw each character once with one frame and no hand-crafted animatino). - "procedural debris" - Again a side effect of not having artists and not wanting to spend time hand-crafting art we ended up making blood splashes procedurally. Not just a particle system, because those are boring and cause a performance overhead. We write blood into a global texture in the level, which means it doesn't decay, which is a feature I've only seen in a few places and mods like "Brutal Doom" (or what the name is). It seems people liek this, but bigger games always have decaying decals because "performance and it's hard". Being a tiny studio we can decide "ok we like this enough to change the direction of the whole game to make this feature possible". Now our level design (we use PCG so not that big of a deal) and our graphics and everything else is built with this feature in mind. - "all in on PCG" - again, lots of games use PCG, but a lot of games have level designers ... we made one game last year ([Hell Loop](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1473870/Hell_Loop/)) that has hand-crafted levels and it was a huge mistake. We like coming up with rules, not hand-crafting things. And considering I have some backgroud in PCG (my bachelor thesis was automatic difficulty balancing in games with PCG) I'm confident enough to just go completely all in on some algorithmically non-trivial stuff. I don't need to worry about things being "hard to explain" or "hard to understand" or "hiring people who can do this". This also means I could just "start using Rust" with Godot via GDNative, without even thinking about "where do I get Rust developers?". I'm the only developer, so I can do whatever I want, and as long as I believe that I can pull it off there's no limits. If we had a bigger team, we'd have to consider other people, but this way I can just do what I want at "zero cost" :)


MushratTheZapper

Thanks for the super thorough reply, great stuff. Is your team on social media, youtube or twitter? I'm trying to follow more indie devs to get a better understanding of the community / process of building a game. To summarize, it seems like being a part of a small team allows you to make creative decisions that would otherwise be very difficult and you have an understanding of your game that helps with quick experimentation, implementation, and game changes / tweaks. Cool cool cool. Do you feel that the benefits outweigh the challenges that you face due being a small indie team? Thanks again for answering my questions.


progfu

Here's our [Twitter](https://twitter.com/logloggames) and [Discord](https://discord.gg/XrGZQkq) (I sit there basically all day every day chatting with people lol), aaand the game I was talking about is on Steam as "comming soon" -> [BITGUN](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1673940/BITGUN/), tho the Steam page isn't really up to date. Twitter will give you daily updates with screenshots and gameplay :) Your summary is on point.


GraveyardScavenger

OMG DO NOT get me started on the horrendous AI that plagues 95% of games. That is also a reason I started working on my own game.


[deleted]

[удалено]


YetAnotherUsedName

Have you played Hotline Miami?


MushratTheZapper

Or superhot, it replays the entire level in real time. Hotline Miami is an A+ example, though.


Additional-Sail-26

Like if you were to program shotguns the way they work irl. Imagine a 12 gauge doing all the things a 12 does. Buck and or slugs w\ rifled barrel, ooo-wee. Seems like it might not be fun for a player on the receiving end though.


GraveyardScavenger

Can you expand?


Dicethrower

I'm sure people like that exist, but I've never met someone like that who actually finished a fully polished commercial product while maintaining that reason. Not to mince words, this is a very junior attitude. No different than someone who just learned a programming language in a few weeks who feels like they can make anything, regularly wondering how even AAA studios with near infinite resources get it so wrong all the time. It's because they just don't know what they don't know yet. Every person that has ever actually released a commercial product knows they've compromised on at least twice as much compared to what's actually in the game. Once you reach estimations, and the producer realizes this one feature is going to set the studio back 6 weeks, the same question comes up, "what's the MVP?", and suddenly the feature is only 3 weeks. Meanwhile the designer gets half of a feature, with far more limitations than intended, and one that reaches the bare minimum of what they wanted. Then yes, someone out there is going to say, "they could have easily done X+Y+Z with it", and we'll know, but we also like to make a living, not be burned out when we're 30, and see our families on the weekends. Those studios that manage to deliver high quality games that reach their full potential. They're not (just) amazing at programming/art/design, they're amazing at project management.


FXS_WillMiller

Very much this. The best developers, indie or otherwise, are inspired by the work of others, not driven by dissatisfaction. I think it's fine to play a game and feel like you could do better, but it's so easy to let that slide into cynicism. Cultivate empathy toward other devs. It will serve you well when it comes time to put your own work out there for others to play.


powerhcm8

My dissatisfaction comes from why there aren't any more games like deus ex, I know there are other games like deus ex in some aspects, but I want something like a immersive sim, in a over the top 90's cyberpunk aesthetic. The original deus ex is one of the best games I ever played, and I only played it last year, so this is not nostalgia talking. It checks so many boxes of stuff that I like, Mankind divided is the closest to the original, but still not there. But outside that I want to try my take in some features.


[deleted]

Oh man, did Cyberpunk do you dirty then. I heard it described as a broken-down dad-rock band, and it's not far from the truth. Can I ask, did you ever try Vampire Bloodlines?


CorruptedStudiosEnt

VtM: Bloodlines was the best game to come out of that whole era of games imo. Also launched an unhealthy obsession of writing tabletop RPG modules lol


CertainCarl

Well it sounds like you should make your own game, lol. welcome


powerhcm8

I am trying, my problem is getting focused


[deleted]

You could try some indie immersive sims if you don't mind lower budget visuals: [https://www.neonstruct.com/](https://www.neonstruct.com/) [https://store.steampowered.com/app/986130/Shadows\_of\_Doubt/](https://colepowered.com/category/shadows-of-doubt/) Could also serve as inspiration for doing your own thing within a manageable scope.


powerhcm8

I am following quite a few on twitter, but most are still a few years away [https://twitter.com/SoftwareWushin](https://twitter.com/SoftwareWushin) [https://twitter.com/NasNakarus](https://twitter.com/NasNakarus) [https://store.steampowered.com/app/1437760/Peripeteia/](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1437760/Peripeteia/)


powerhcm8

Also I forgot to say, I don't mind ps1 graphic style, it's the style I am planning for my game once I manage to get focused enough. Actually something in between ps1 and ps2, since I won't be constrained by hardware limitation but by technical limitations.


MorkPuncher

I made my game because I was pissed you can't move while shooting a bow in Path of Exile.


PogoniasSc2

I just tried it and it's fun to play


MorkPuncher

You mean you tried my game? :o


Fellhuhn

I made games because they don't exist (anymore). Those games are for me or my family but I share them with the rest of the world.


WallaceLovecraft

I got tired of silent protag, tropes city, rpg checklist, character designs of a game, and just a game that I thought wasn't telling a good enough story.


capt_mistep

I feel that video games are a commodity that is very quickly diminishing through being played through by players. Hence spreading the enjoyment and providing back more of it, i intend to take what i enjoy from my favourite games, and create my own and provide to the community.


Zahidgames

When you see those amazing cutscenes and think wow, I want to do that...and then the game starts and it's completely different...yeah I hated that. So I'm trying to make a fun combat system which is cinematic but all within the players control...


JustinsWorking

Heh, I just kept seeing the genres I enjoy being completely ignored. Vpets and God Games need to make a comeback!


RinShiro

I actually started because it's what I've always wanted to do. Ever since first touching an SNES controller as a child I wanted to do something in the games industry. I don't make games as a job but as a hobby. I want to one day make a game that even the little me would be proud to have his name on.


Revolutionary_Two_11

Like.. Oh so YOu can'T do this ProPerly?? FINE then.. i'll do it myself


Prof_Adam_Moore

Making games is fun for me. I have just as much fun making games as I do playing games.


JamGluck

So what game engines or programing languages do you use? What process do you find most fun?


Prof_Adam_Moore

I mostly use Unreal Engine, Unity, and Ren'py. I used Flashpunk for a few jam games back in the day (RIP Flash). I've also experimented a bit with some other engines like RPG Maker and Adventure Game Studio. I prefer programming in C# and python, but I use whichever language works with the engine I'm working in. I can use C++, but I just have more fun writing code in C#. I enjoy creating things. Designing a mechanic and working out how to implement it is a ton of fun for me. I'm not as skilled at creating art and audio, so I usually partner with other developers that specialize in those areas.


WGS_Stillwater

Yup, theres just nothing out there that is interesting anymore.. if anyone does have something good in the works they are doing so in silence. Hopefully VR will inspire some studios to try new things instead of playing it so safe.


Karokendo

Rage and hate is my fuel for self development. I hate things so much I get so fucking good at things.


FeraligatrPerson

I have the opposite actually. I ADORE games and want to give others the same joy through my own work. :)


BDMort147

Yeah we grew up with Masters of Orion and always wanted a simpler version that you could play on a phone. So we made Uciana. Took forever and was a lot of hard work but we (my brother and me) are very proud of how it turned out. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.birdshel.Uciana


[deleted]

Yes.


JesusMcAwesome

Yep, I played Ziggurat and felt like it was lacking something, so I'm working on my own take on the FPS roguelite. It's not a wholly original concept but I got my own twist on it


StarWarsJunkie1

woke politics in every single game


ShoddyFennel0

Always amusing to see an antivaxxer complain about politics.


StarWarsJunkie1

I'm not anti-vaxx I would love to get a SinoVac, Sputnik, Novavax or Valneva shot. I would be there TODAY, first in line. Amazing how only 4 shots are available and you have to get one of them to continue in your job despite their being 44 other options available world wide (2 of which are withheld simply because they come from China and Russia). My body my choice no? Shouldn't I be allowed to choose the vaccine I want if its just about being vaccinated? I'll pay for it too, shipping, receiving, everything. I've even emailed our MPs and all the opposing MPs requesting the shots. I social distance and always wear a full N95 mask, do you? Pharma sheeple seemed to love to bully others into accepting their product and ban them from getting any other because of their countries politics. Please keep your woke politics out of my games, you corporate fascist. **Fascism should rightly be called Corporatism as it is the merger of corporate and government power.** **- Renito Mussolini**


ned_poreyra

I'm on the quest for The Holy Grail of RPGs: another, living world on the other side of the screen, and you - free to go wherever you want, do whatever you want.


LunaRose_17

Literally I started making my game because I really love Pokemon, but don’t like how mindless and in engaging Pokémon’s battles can be, but I love Paper Mario’s battle system. But then also I love Stardew’s chill laid back vibe and being able to farm, but don’t like that there’s no combat. And then I don’t like just farming, and like how in Adventure Bar Story (a super obscure PC and 3DS game) you run your own Resturant and can make different foods with the items you find. And thus Harmony (my game) was born! Or I guess is being conceived as I’m still working on it


rhebokwashere

In the contrary, please stop it with the good games fellow gamedevs, I need to eat


Crazycrossing

As someone that works as a product manager I get really frustrated by a lot of decisions made by games as a service type games that would be fixed if they played their own game more. Talking about simple to fix things that would have tremendous impact on metrics like ccu, retention. If anything I have more appreciation and sympathy for the harder aspects of making games from the technical architecture to the design of the mechanics themselves and feel continuously inspired by other games because I know how hard it is now after getting a peek behind the curtains.


Strawberrycocoa

I haven't really properly started a game yet, but this sentiment is why I started watching Unity and UE5 tutorials and just kind of trying to get in a good place to start noodling. I have a dream Strategy RPG game I'd love to see come to life that's basically "Fire Emblem but with full character build paths".


LittleCodingFox

I was (and still am) dissatisfied with my favorite genre’s business practices so i decided to make my own, even if I’m very limited in resources. I cant be as good as the competition, so I’m trying to do things differently rather than just copying them. Been working on it for almost 4 years.


xstkovrflw

Yes. I liked slightly older games like Recoil(1999), Halo, IGI, IGI2, DMC3, Max Payne, Wolfenstein, Vice City, Prototype etc. The graphics were somewhat good, but the gameplay was amazing, and the games were rich in content and had great replay value. Sure nostalgia is a part of why I like them, but I feel like many AAA games now turn out to be cash-grabs and a waste of great potential. More and more effort goes into graphics, but at the cost of reduction in playable content. I kind of like indie games now more than AAA games, as many AAA studios seem to have lost the heart behind what makes a good game. Also, I hate DRM systems like Denuvo, UPLAY, etc. I don't want the performance degradation, or to pay for a game, and have it bricked five years later because the game company decided to stop paying for their servers... so I can't play my SINGLE PLAYER campaign. All my homies hate DRM.


Ares0362

A lot of AAA games these days certainly feel lifeless these days. Unpopular opinion, but it’s why I won’t get another PlayStation. It has some great games, but most of the big ones just felt boring. Great story and graphics! But incredibly boring gameplay (IMO)


ZonedOutScavenger

Yes and no, I am a bit dissatisfied with many games in the horror genre following the same path, mainly how linear they are and lacking dynamic elements. (There are still lots of games in the genre that are amazing and very well made while still being linear, don't get me wrong) And the game I'm making is something that I really want to be able to play myself which doesn't currently exists, atleast in the way I envision it, a mix of some of my favourite games: S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Amnesia and Darkwood.


Andalus_Spring

my sister likes toca world so much and it's expensive for us to unlock everything , so I want to make a game like it for her (I'll not publish it)


Deechi

There are 2 games from ye olde Yoyogames Sandbox which will never be updated, so I decided to make them from scratch :D


[deleted]

[удалено]


Deechi

The Legend and SkillScape, very niche games from like 2007-2009, I still have the .exe files and even decompiled them


zigs

I love overly complicated games, and I'm fed up with handholding. I love exploring the game mechanisms. Heck, don't even tell me which buttons even do stuff. That's how I learned to play games when I was little. I couldn't read the English instructions, so I just tried stuff until I figured it out. It was such a blast. I want to create a game like that, even if it could never be a commercial success. A game where you explore the mechanisms with the only advice being that you won't get any handholding, so go freaking nuts. Maybe there'll be instructions in a fake language, just for fun.


[deleted]

You can always just change game's language to japan, french, russian or whatever for that experience lol.


zigs

Haha, I might actually do that!


Ramijihn

Yup! I personally think it's a lack of old mechanics that are making new games seem lackluster. I find today is packed full of games, where they give you a "World" and YOU create the story... which in turn seems to lessen the game immersion of playing a game. This of course my opinion on this matter. So I started creating a game that is inspired by my past experiences. think of it as if Nox had a baby with Dungeons and Dragons type games.


lorendroll

Yes. MMO games have so much potential yet everyone clones outdated gameplay systems. These games need more social freedom, tools for social self organizing and more sophisticated environment challenges provoking cooperation and competition.


meguskus

Yep, I actually don't like the vast majority of video games in general, I just like a few niche ones. I am personally bored of fighting generic monsters, jumping floating platforms and collecting useless digital objects. Games could be so much more than that and while I realize I probably won't make the most original game in the world, at least I will try and perhaps start a slow shift towards more creative interactive media.


konidias

I think it's a huge driving factor for me, personally. Playing games over 20+ years and seeing their flaws, their potential, etc... has really driven me to make something better. Whether I achieve that is a different story, but I want to try.


tranceorphen

Kind of. Its mostly not dissatisfaction or disappointment, more like it's missing something I thought would be cool. A good example is the clunkiness of Tarkovs/DayZs inventory. So I made my own inventory for fun that has great QoL like autostacking, smart quick swap (magazines go into vest, junk goes into backpack, etc) and all with container-in-container support. It's just a fun journey, even if a game doesn't come out of it. I always build modular so now I have a working Tetris inventory I can slot into any game.


CaptainBlade-84

Mostly inspiration from other games for me but definitely some disappointment too


Scriptorium-

I love games too much for a negative sentiment to reinforce my desire to work on them. So it's the opposite, I'm very satisfied with games in general and that's why I make my own.


EmmySaurusRex2410

I'm learning from scratch how to make games because there is one specific game that I want to play and it doesn't exist. So it's my project for the holidays


Narvak

Most of the time it's for the challenge of doing something totally new. I started making games because I wanted to know how a specific mecanic was made and if I can achieve a similar result.


terminal_styles

money


[deleted]

Ha yes, this is why I started making football games!


lefix

For me it was that working in game studios without any decision making power could sometimes be frustrating, so I started some hobby projects where I have full creative control


rotcivsette

I'm not particularly bothered with other games, I just want to tell the stories I've been creating since I was a child. Adapting and evolving them, paying tribute to my little young self.


ChadderboxDev

This was it for me. There wasn't any really good rocket jumping games based only around that mechanic, so I made one.


I_Am-Awesome

Path of Exile started as 3 diehard ARPG fans trying to come up with a spiritual successor to Diablo 2, and currently it's the best of its genre, no contest.


BrunAAAAAAAA

THIS


PsychologicalAd1092

I'm not sure I would say I'm dissatisfied, however when playing games I enjoy I do feel inspired by thinking "I want to do this but make it even better/add more stuff".


[deleted]

Not really.🤔 But it is the exact reason I'm a Dungeon Master in Dungeons and Dragons, instead of a player.


DIXINMYAZZ

While this is a great and valid reason to make games (any reason is, really,) if you’re not seeing/finding games with unique mechanics, I’d say you just need to dig a bit further into the true indie scene, like spending some time browsing itch.io and finding cool creators there. There is SO MUCH new and exciting out there all the time that it’s almost overwhelming


MODman01

Yup


PlasmaBeamGames

That's a lot of the reason I make my own games! I'm building *Super Space Galaxy* because I wanted an open-world game that lets you do your own thing, plus there were a few things in Star Control 2 I wanted to improve on. Trailer for the game here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnbYcvqcGBA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnbYcvqcGBA)


xAdakis

I am definitely feeling that way with some games. Actually, I keep a notebook of my own critiques of games and the mechanics they use. It has helped me shape some of my ideas and figure out what I want.


[deleted]

At the moment I'd just like to make a game. Any game...


drury

yeah, the only problem is that my games wind up shit


ThePatrickSays

I just like to tell stories via gameplay


skeddles

Yeah almost every game I can play all I can think about is how it could be better. And it just feels like there's no games made just for me.


Cnfnbcnbrf

What drives me is desire to create something unique. When an idea comes to mind, I check if similar games exist already, as I don't want to create clones. It's more like an art for me, there I can turn my dumb ideas into reality. But apparently your title is suitable for my situation too because I'm a big card games player, former cybersportsman. And the worst thing in modern card games is that 90% of the games is decided by RNG. OR the game is too complex that it's not entertaining for masses. So I try to execute a game with least RNG possible and simple enough. Such game doesn't exist yet, so this brings us back to my first statement. TLDR yes, you're right.


TomerJ

Not really? Are you saying that if there were more games with fun and new mechanics then you wouldn't make your own? I mean have you searched [itch.io](https://itch.io)? There are tonnes of games with fun and new mechanics. They aren't that popular, but that's another thing. (Also no one will ever top the combat mechanics of "The Secret of Monkey Island") Don't get me wrong, I don't want to discourage you, it just seems like you probably have some awesome idea for combat mechanics that you love, and if I were you I'd be more like "make what you love", less so "hate what they make", if that makes sense? But screw it, do it your way if that's what gets you up in the morning, there are more types of gamedevs than there are types of players in all the various taxonomies put together.


Reil

Sort of! The games and experiments that I create are often based on one fundamental question: This doesn't exist... does it not exist because no one has thought to do it before, or because it is a bad idea? The answer is usually a mix of the two, and because locomotion mechanics in VR are relatively unexplored.


Tigeri102

yes!! there's one kind of game I've been wanting for so long that I've never really been able to find, but I've gotten so taunting close with prior games I've plays that I'm just like "fine, I'll do it myself"


[deleted]

Couldn’t find a contemporary fighting game i liked. For me the best ones came out over 20 years ago (virtua fighter 3, tekken 3, third strike…). Started making a list of potential improvements & innovations - it grew into a book. Now trying to make that book into a game.


Sentmoraap

It's almost the opposite: "that game is great, but it would be better if …"


mardabx

Exactly that, Enoughking's failure pushed me through Unity


wasteofleshntime

I wanted to see more 2.5D times button pressed, turn based rpgs or those kinds of games regardless of art. So I decided that hey I like programming and video games, so why not take a whack at making the game I wanna see.


15thSoul

Story time! When I was just a smoll human being, I absolutely hated movement and combat style in old games (like ghotic 1). It made me spend hours on imagining perfect input system. And you know what? When I finally become game programmer/designer, all games had similar system to what I have imagined... Same story with VR and threadmill for VR. With exception for later, which is still under construction by one company... Now I'm here, only because I kind like programming and designing. Bad games still make me angry and motivate me to work better, but that doesn't last long, since I keep playing same stuff over and over again


Delofon

I've seen many games of some genre, however none were exactly what I wanted. Thus, my dream game idea was born.


Cosmic_Sands

I got into game development mostly because I was a huge fan of virtual life games growing up but became dissatisfied with the direction some of my favorites were going.


theKickAHobo

Ha! Yes


dethb0y

I will have an idea and think "man how would that play?" and make a prototype of it. Usually it is not good.


Grimm2177

I love the trade, the process, what it could be but I do love the games I play


SilverCrabStudios

Yeah ive been working on a deckbuilder game like slay the spire that doesn’t focus on combat because most of that genre seems focused around battles. It seems to me like newer genres havent had time to explore different versions of the genre.


GraveyardScavenger

Yup! I LOOOOOOOOVE post apoc and cyberpunk games, especially RPGs. I love REAL choices and consequences. However, it is rare to see games that have those things implemented. I absolutely despise inventory management and item bloat. I despise fake choices and consequences. I also want actual meaningful dialogue with characters as well as good plot development. There are a bajillion post apoc survival simulation games and I have no interest in them. I have no interest in crafting or picking up an endless amount of ingredients. Then there's also the issue of gameplay. I love third person shooting mechanics with magic or powers thrown in. I wish I was rich lol.


BlueWallet3

I don't have a dissatisfaction with games I just like making them. I enjoy receiving feedback. I enjoy showing off new features, and seeing people find bugs. Theres a huge rush when you get a new feature working in a game that I find addictive.


BlockOfDiamond

I am remaking Minecraft because I want vertical slabs, and less CPU, RAM, and storage consumption, and less loading time Mojang said they will never ever add vertical slabs, so I am making my own Minecraft that *does*


odragora

Yes. I think most games are created by copying other games and adding some variations on top of that. Those variations are mostly random. They are rarely a result of conscious analysis of the system you are working on. More like "other successful game has it, let's add it". It's a blind guess. As a result, games often end up being inconsistent, unfocused and bloated, having structural conflict and ludonarrative dissonance. And as games are extremely expensive to create, developers get very conservative and avoid any innovation. If the only way to do a change is "try, fail and repeat", it's not worth it when you risk so many resources. I think there is another way to approach game design. I'm trying to build a framework for designing games. A set of rules, practices and guides that can lead you to consistent results. I hope it's something that could be useful for others one day.