Thursday, September 07, 2006
A huge failure
Mighty Rodent was a huge failure. It's actually made me even less money than my very first game. It was still a better than my first game by miles, but because I spent around $2000 on art and music it's technically in the negative.
Where did I go wrong? Well there are a million possible explanations, but I think the main one is that I put profit first. I've never done that before, all my previous games were created mainly because I wanted it to play myself. It was this lust to make some money that drove me to slap a bunch of cute graphics that didn't fit, and clone most of Heavy Weapon's gameplay.
After this failure I just stopped making games for about 7 months. I just couldn't take it anymore. It seemed like everyone else was getting rich except me.
Well now I'm back and I'm not making casual games anymore. I'm going to make the things I've been wanting to make since I started, but didn't because I thought they might not sell. That doesn't mean I'll forget polish and UI, but it does mean that there will be some more originality in my work from now on.
Where did I go wrong? Well there are a million possible explanations, but I think the main one is that I put profit first. I've never done that before, all my previous games were created mainly because I wanted it to play myself. It was this lust to make some money that drove me to slap a bunch of cute graphics that didn't fit, and clone most of Heavy Weapon's gameplay.
After this failure I just stopped making games for about 7 months. I just couldn't take it anymore. It seemed like everyone else was getting rich except me.
Well now I'm back and I'm not making casual games anymore. I'm going to make the things I've been wanting to make since I started, but didn't because I thought they might not sell. That doesn't mean I'll forget polish and UI, but it does mean that there will be some more originality in my work from now on.
# posted by Neil Yates @ 9:11 PM 
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You haven't failed... you've just found a way that might not work! Don't give up, ask your past customers & players what went wrong and make your aim to increase the quality - and stay dedicated for that.
# posted by 
: 11:00 PM
: 11:00 PM
Trust me... not everyone else is getting rich!
I think Mighty Rodent was not a fabulous game, but a very good one (that I finished!). I think it wasn't as good of a GAME as Desperate Space, but it demonstrated a real proficiency of development. More learning and skills that you can apply to your next heartfelt space shooter to make it truly top of the heap.
But what you should really do is enter the shmup-dev contest so I can smoke you with my awe-inspiring (possibly not even going to be started) entry. Enter LD48 when the next one rolls around (fairly soon, I think). GameInADay or whatever, pyweek if you do python... make game development fun, which is what contests do!
I think Mighty Rodent was not a fabulous game, but a very good one (that I finished!). I think it wasn't as good of a GAME as Desperate Space, but it demonstrated a real proficiency of development. More learning and skills that you can apply to your next heartfelt space shooter to make it truly top of the heap.
But what you should really do is enter the shmup-dev contest so I can smoke you with my awe-inspiring (possibly not even going to be started) entry. Enter LD48 when the next one rolls around (fairly soon, I think). GameInADay or whatever, pyweek if you do python... make game development fun, which is what contests do!
# posted by : 8:33 AM
: 8:33 AM
I experienced the same thing as you with my second game, Pow Pow's Puzzle Attack. It was my first and only intentional foray into the casual game market. I attempted to do a fusion of Tetris and Bejeweled without really understanding the market.I was trying to make a puzzler that had some proven elements but that was also appealing to me. The result was a mish-mash of game mechanics that completely missed the intended market.
I don't play casual games. It's hard for me to distinguish an average casual game from an excellent one (from a gameplay standpoint). So I have no business trying to create games for a market that I can't relate to nor really understand.
Since then, I've been focusing on games that appeal to and inspire me. The result was that I managed to make a pretty unique mini-golf game that was fairly popular on the web game scene. It's made a lot more money than all my other games even though it's not a downloadable.
My upcoming CityScape Battle game has gotten a ton more attention than any of my previous games and all I did was release a little trailer.
The point I'm trying to make is that my business turned the corner once I started focusing on games that were the reasons I became an Indie in the first place. Now I just want to keep learning and get more experience so I can keep making better games. The money will come (it's already happening). I think the same thing is going to happen to you and I eagerly look forward to your next release!
I don't play casual games. It's hard for me to distinguish an average casual game from an excellent one (from a gameplay standpoint). So I have no business trying to create games for a market that I can't relate to nor really understand.
Since then, I've been focusing on games that appeal to and inspire me. The result was that I managed to make a pretty unique mini-golf game that was fairly popular on the web game scene. It's made a lot more money than all my other games even though it's not a downloadable.
My upcoming CityScape Battle game has gotten a ton more attention than any of my previous games and all I did was release a little trailer.
The point I'm trying to make is that my business turned the corner once I started focusing on games that were the reasons I became an Indie in the first place. Now I just want to keep learning and get more experience so I can keep making better games. The money will come (it's already happening). I think the same thing is going to happen to you and I eagerly look forward to your next release!
# posted by : 11:23 PM
: 11:23 PM
Part of the trouble could be that the Mighty Rodent link announcement on your home page actually links to Desperate Space!
http://www.jaggedbladesoft.com/desperate/
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http://www.jaggedbladesoft.com/desperate/
# posted by : 1:30 AM
: 1:30 AM 
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