Can a FPS be done? what kind? I was about to make a Metal Slug clone but then someone said that ain’t happening this century if I do it alone.
My next best thing is a FPS since UE4 already comes with a FPS template. What kind of FPS is realistic?
This game should also be able to make me money when I sell it on Steam aswell. But I need to know the scope to aim for.
My investment time into this game is 5 years. I plan to release it in 2023
Just gotta keep the scope smaller is all. Metal slug had about a bazillion frames of animation and high detail to the graphics. The amount of time spent building so many frames let alone animating them all will run the time on the project right up. To do that you would definitely need more than one artist working full time on it.
So by comparison a game like gradius or any other horizontal space shooter would be very light in scope. There is FAR less animation and far less frames for each object as a result. Because of that doing a game in that style is much much easier to handle as a solo developer. This is just one example though. Another great example is castle in the darkness. There is very light animation involved in it and the game was developed by one guy. It has the exact same thing in common with the first example.
FPS is not actually a bad idea it might be a bit heavier in scope than my examples here but it also isn’t a huge thing like metal slug would have been. You could realistically build a FPS that is playable and continue to expand on it over time with either patches or future games that can take advantage of the previous work you have done. So while the first game might not be exactly what you want it can easily get the ball rolling for bigger better projects over time thus eliminating the issue of having to pour all the time directly into a single release all at once.
Just remember though you aren’t alone with this issue of scope and trying to find a good starting point is something many many of us have done. Just keep asking the questions you are because you are on the right track and there are a lot of helpful people around here to guide you along.
^ WOW thanks dude, this forum is a huge difference compared to Unity Forum. Over at Unity I would have been met with an immediate “you want to build a game for money then you won’t sell any copies and you are wasting your tine” Even though nobody is saying they are building a game specifically for money you know? there is such a thing as building a game that is great and something you yourself would play or buy and then looking to make money off that in return. But over at Unity forum its always “you won’t get anywhere with wanting money” type of attitude if you know what I mean.
I have decided on a FPS, thank you for confirming that it would be much more realistic to complete a FPS game, maybe once I can present something worth playing, something fun and something that looks acceptable maybe I could launch as a Steam Early Access?
I currently have a Day Job in a warehouse Monday to Friday it pays a little over minimum wage but it pays my living expenses so I could actually afford to learn programming and art and build a game in my free time.
I have studied Steam Spy at great detail over the years, and what I have come to notice is there is one trend and that is no matter how much **** a solo made FPS title is, it ALWAYS outsells the equivalent of anyother genre. For whatever reason the FPS genre is hugely popular. This one guy made a FPS title in 1 week using a UE4 template and managed to sell $2000 USD worth of copies on Steam.
I shall build something like a Half Life clone.
yeah man basically what we all know is that we don’t know lol. I think everyone here has the same ambitions we want to make good games and people here are all willing to trade information and help one another succeed. There is a whole lot to be said for team work. If all we did around here was tear each other down how far do you think any of us would get 
If I were you, I will create an FPS where the main character is a ball that you can push around in mazes. Full of mines, traps etc (this will not require a lot of 3d assets).
Haha 3D marble madness he says! I like it though. But even if you want to make a standard fps it isn’t super hard. You need a player and some enemies be it generic people or strange aliens/monsters and a few levels.
Just remember you can build a handful of maps and a limited number of enemies and as long as the small amount of things you have work and work properly you can keep expanding on it from that base content. Focus on functionality first even above art and other assets. You can add the art and other things once the game actually works and you can start off small with assets like I mentioned. That should help keep the initial scope of the project small enough to manage solo. Once you get a functioning game though you could easily pick up extra help right here on the forums. I would bet money if you can show you have a decent base to work with other guys with the same goals would want to join you.