The brand new developer philosophy

[anonymous_user_2318816b]

@Gigantoad;161004

Nice, you sure got around in the industry. It seems to me perhaps you got a bit too much of AAA treatment because you sound rather grim. I’ve never been in that industry but from what I read over the years I can absolutely picture what you’re describing. You sound a bit like me when I talk about business software, which is what I’ve spent my time on these past 8 or so years.

However, having spent so much time on AAA you may have missed what happened in the rest of the industry. Indie development is bigger than ever. Pair that with AAA apparently being increasingly impossible to fund without making a loss at the end due to insanely high production costs and you can see a huge shift on the horizon, or already happening. Why does Epic suddenly cater to indies? Cryengine following suite? Valve probably cooking something up too? Why does Autodesk make an affordable version of Maya? None of them want to rely on AAA when (if) it goes down. Why does Microsoft buy Minecraft and push Project Spark? Because they envision a future where the gamer becomes more and more involved in the creation process. There are many such indicators.

These are great times to get into game development and your pessimism isn’t helping. It’s also a bit unwarranted since your yourself are looking to create your own dream game and you’re recruiting people in the very forum that you claim has no real pros because they would be recruited elsewhere. You are a pro and you’re here.

I know it’s not easy to stay positive after the industry has shaped you and thrown you around. Try to get that sense of wonder back that some of the less experienced people here still get when they talk about their imaginative games. After all games are more than just business. In fact wouldn’t it be nice if creating games would become less of a business and more of an art form again? Let people make their naive mistakes and don’t look down on them patronizingly. Don’t treat them as if they all want to make AAA games or get into the AAA industry. I don’t think most of them do. I for one sure don’t.

I’m not asking to stand idly by as people proclaim “something much bigger than GTA 5” with a bunch of free time developers, as has recently happened in the recruitment forum. Some of those ideas are just too mind boggling to ignore and it’s probably wise to inform the person just how insanely unrealistic their expectations are. But you are taking it too far here.

Indie development has always been big no matter what, its indie development and thats the meaning of indie games. If indie games produced AAA games, they wouldn’t be indies. And I disagree with you, as I was once an indie developer myself, I spent years on small projects working my way to the top and now working with the pros.

You said I took it too far, but in reality thats the “truth” and the truth hurts because being honest can be brutal and depending on how you take it, that should help you understand how it works. I am not telling a single person to give up and not pursue . But what I am saying, is people need to realize is an indie driven forum, and those who come seeking glory of instant gratification are setting themselves up for failure.

I’m not here to put people down, I am here to help guide people and express to them how things work and the truth of the gaming industry, is it a walk in the park. hell no. Is the truth going to be gratifying, it depends how you take it. Many people here come here with the mentality that they will create the next best thing, lets drop the charades and just face the fact that about 99% of people are here for that reason, of course they have the passion for game design but they come looking to create a project that everyone will love.

Before working with the major companies I worked with numerous Indie studios as Project Lead, and Studio Manager. Almost all projects failed because the team lacked in many areas. And thats where 99% of all these potential projects will hit, they will get to a part they just cannot possibly pass through. So to assume I am “brainwahsed” by the industry is a very useless comment. I mean let’s be real, the professional industry is much more daunting and relentless than the indie world. So I have seen it all, and know exactly how it plays out.

I wish the best of luck to all developers as its a very difficult task to produce a game from start to finish, but seeing harsh comments that put down peoples ideas and thoughts because they aren’t going to work for free or do that type of work for that specific pay is so idiotic it’s almost a joke to me. I see people like that get fired so fast and never work again because of their idiotic mistakes. Everyone here should be honored to work for free or for low pay, if they dare walk into a studio like that their *** will be on the streets never to work in the industry again.