Hi guys,
(Download is available in a post further down this page)I was a frequent reader, but at some point I just couldn't find the time to play around with game development. I think some of it was because I got discouraged by never making anything that was playable.
Recently however, I started again. But I wanted to change my approach. I read the other thread called "What's your biggest obstacle" and I could relate to alot of the problems other people had. 1) Perfectionism, 2) Laziness, 3) Lack of time, 4) Grand ambitions, 5) Lack of skill etc.
But this time, I'll make it different. I'll force myself to make games that's so simple even I can make them. So I had to figure out what game I could make. What would be the simplest game mechanic I could come up with? Games where you only have to press 1 button, and do it repeatedly. A game where all graphics is static, and where I wouldn't care that my lousy programmer art would look like it's been drawn by a retarded monkey.
Then it came to me! Why not make a game about making games? Why not make a game where you are an indie developer who has to fight all sorts of distractions, to make a game.
I haven't thought everything through, so feedback and ideas are very welcome. But this is currently how I thought it would work:
Goal: The goal is to make a game as polished, earn as much cash as possible, all while gaining a a great indie reputation. All this has to be done before the deadline runs out.
How do I make the game? You press the space bar repeatedly.
This increases the code size by a random amount. (0 - 20) However, this will also add to the amount of BUGS in your code. So at some point, your have to stop adding code and start fixing bugs. You do this by pressing another key repeatedly.
At the same time, you also have to manage your Indie Reputation, by being active in the indie community. You do this by pressing another key repeatedly.
This adds to your reputation, which otherwise drops as time goes by.
The last thing that determines the succes of your game, is the amount of marketing you have done. (Also done by just pressing a button again and again
) However, the marketing has a slight effect on your indie reputation.
The idea is not to press all buttons at the same time, but to prioritize between them. So you can only do one thing at the same time. You have to choose to either 1) code, 2) debug, 3) hang around the indie communities on the web or 4) do some marketing (Write some emails etc)
At the end, when the deadline has passed, your "game" is evaluated by a secret formula, which I haven't figured out yet. But it would depend on the 1) code size (How big or advanced is the game), 2) How many bugs are there left in it (How polished is it), 3) Your marketing efforts and 4) your indie reputation.
The result of the calculation would be: How much cash did you earn, peoples oppinion of your game (A range of grades, from "Crap" to "Extremely professional") and the indie goodwill you got.
I started by talking about distractions, and none of what I have talked about could rightfully be called distractions. So what distractions are there supposed to be? I thought about making the boy's mother enter the room and start talking. And when she's there, the player has to answer her by pressing another button. It's not like the player has to answer yes or no, but just keep her in the illusion that her boy is listening by making him say "Mmm", "Yes mother", "Okay", "Yeah..", "Sure" etc. Eventually, she'll go away, and all efforts can again be devoted to making that game finished before the deadline! The idea is that you have to answer her, while still doing some other thing. So you'll answer her while coding, or while debugging, or while marketing etc.
This is the ideas I have right now. The game is meant to be frantic and evoke a feeling of stress. I'm not sure if you guys think it sounds funny, but nevertheless it's my goal to make it, as it should be simple to implement, and then I'll have SOMETHING that's playable, that I actually made.
Community
