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[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

imo i think that game needed more time, not less -- playing it, i can see that only about 10 months of work went into it. which isn't really long enough for the type of game it is (seems to be about a cat guy exploring somewhere in a submarine and collecting weapons?)

the main things that turned me off from the game are the tutorial (which was way too long and explained things that i could have figured out through experimentation, which kind of insults the player's intelligence) and the first level (which had a few interesting parts and high moments, like saying that people are more valuable than the submarine and fuel, but which became basically a fetch quest). also the music and art of course felt like 'programmer music' and 'programmer art' but you said you did everything yourself so...

but yeah, the main thing i felt when playing this game wasn't 'too much content' but 'too unfinished'. there were a lot of things i thought would make the game interesting if they were added to it or improved, rather than things that would make the game interesting if they were taken away.

[iggie]

Playing the tutorial is crucial to making an appealing game - I like it when tutorials are disguised into the game itself, so the full complexity only appears bit by bit but while you are really playing the game.

I guess time spent on content or late game features is all wasted if someone gets confused or bored during the tutorial and quits. Trick is to have the it engaging and interesting even through the simple tute gameplay. Easier said than done.

As for content/features, I am hoping to be feature complete about 1/3 of the way through my project leaving the rest of the time for beta and content creation. I am hoping this will give a good balance, keeping my features broadly applicable throughout the game and adding a decent amount of depth to the world in content. Most of the game prototypes I have made are all features and minimal content - but in fact most real games are mainly content with a narrow selection of features - so I am trying to hold back on being over featured.

[Klaim]

I've learn so much since I started my project that I can't wait to get back on it (paused for another "shorter" project since the start of the year). The more time I spend doing something else, the more details I clean in my head to simplify everything when I get back to it.

Now, as I explained before, I really think that most games really require "long" time periods to be mature, but also require "short" release iteration rythm.

For example, if you can make a game working in a month or two, then polish it enough for a month to make it showable/sellable, then release it; then work on it 2 more months, polish 1 month, release it... until you aren't motivated enough to continue or any other "good" reason.