Saturday, 22 September 2012

Why I Think My Game Idea Sucks

One of my friends posted this http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_221/6582-Why-Your-Game-Idea-Sucks and I instantly thought "YES! Thank you! Someone actually said this!" Now, I'm not hating on everyone's game ideas, I just think people get too attached to their idea and refuse to start making it until they know it will turn out to be exactly what they want it to be. This causes them to wait, and wait and wait, for the AAA producer and the programming team that made their favorite childhood games to come along and make their game. But this has almost no chance of happening in the real world, and their brilliant game idea never gets made. This is why I've given up on thinking about the best, most innovative, meaningful game I'd want to make. It's just never going to get made.

As our first year Creative Writing professor said "You have to kill your babies". By this,she meant that no matter how great your idea is, it may not be good or plausible in the real world. Think of it this way; even if you are the lead designer at your own studio, your team may not be skilled enough to bring your dream to life. And unless you are a mufti-millionaire you will not be able to afford the best and brightest in the industry.

That's why "If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself". Actually, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself, and while you do that, realize that there are some things you can and cannot do. The best way to make your brilliant game idea into a game is to start making it yourself. Don't wait for the planets to align and floods and plagues to take out the people who are in the job-positions of your dreams. Just get programming and make your game. Then you know for sure that it will get done (if you work till it's done and don't quit). You can even get a small team together to help you if you have the funds. But know that it will not be easy. Know that it may not turn out exactly how you'd dreamed, and learn to accept this.

People see things like "Indie Game, The Movie" and think "oh jeez that sounds hard, but they made it big so I can too". I don't think it works that way though. Take a moment and think about all of the people around you who would like to try to make their own studios and games. Now think of the indie developers in the industry that have made it big. There don't seem to be very many compared to the people that must try to make games. They think "Oh, it's easy and fun. I can totally make millions". There are so many things that could go wrong and so many obstacles one must face to make a good, successful game that gets published and widely distributed. The odds seem incredibly low.

That's why I don't particularly care what games I make for GDW, because all I want to do is make a game. That's why I'm here. It doesn't matter if it's a first person horror game or a maze game or a space shooter. It doesn't matter. Art assets need to be made, levels need to be designed, and most of all, the engine must be programmed and scripted. That's what I'm here for; and I know our game won't turn out perfect.



No comments:

Post a Comment