Today, they (RPG Maker Web) finally announced the results of an IGMC contest that occurred last June/July, and lasted a month. The aim was to make a game in a month. It was a grueling experience, and not one I would want to revisit, especially as I now have nothing to show for it. Read on.
When the contest results were announced, I feverishly scrolled down the page to see who the winners were, and shared them via chat channels and posted congratulations. However, upon looking at the contest entries, I couldn't help but feel a little bit sour. I suppose it reveals the fickleness of the games industry.
Essentially, in the RPG category, a third-place prize winner was a mainly-RTP project with mostly just the music and battle system going for it. Comparatively, it feels like I put more effort into my project and I know others that did too, so after a while of contemplating the results, it began to sink in.
The game won because it was preferred by these judges over games I know that were higher quality.
The games industry favors games that provide a sense of fun, entertainment or excels in one area. No matter how good these things are sometimes though, your game can be sidelined. Final Fantasy 12, for example, had excellent graphics but some didn't like it for its gameplay and thus dismissed it - even though I loved the gameplay.
Generally, what I'm trying to say is that game development is one of the most fickle and unpredictable industries you can imagine. You can put hundreds of hours into a game, and lose it all because players don't like something in it, or feel it isn't worth sharing. This leads to lost productivity, hours and money. Many companies have gone bankrupt. Many lives have been destroyed. Simply because of the player's opinion.
And this isn't even counting the market's over-saturation.
It's not worth it for me.
Zendir 3 will be my last game.
Essentially, in the RPG category, a third-place prize winner was a mainly-RTP project with mostly just the music and battle system going for it. Comparatively, it feels like I put more effort into my project and I know others that did too, so after a while of contemplating the results, it began to sink in.
The game won because it was preferred by these judges over games I know that were higher quality.
The games industry favors games that provide a sense of fun, entertainment or excels in one area. No matter how good these things are sometimes though, your game can be sidelined. Final Fantasy 12, for example, had excellent graphics but some didn't like it for its gameplay and thus dismissed it - even though I loved the gameplay.
Generally, what I'm trying to say is that game development is one of the most fickle and unpredictable industries you can imagine. You can put hundreds of hours into a game, and lose it all because players don't like something in it, or feel it isn't worth sharing. This leads to lost productivity, hours and money. Many companies have gone bankrupt. Many lives have been destroyed. Simply because of the player's opinion.
And this isn't even counting the market's over-saturation.
It's not worth it for me.
Zendir 3 will be my last game.