2 years to make an indie game?

ok so basically there is this game a lot of people follow(will not say which)but they started developing this game in June 2012 I think, Well they have had many times where they say: "Demo coming next month!" or "Trailer coming soon!" for almost 1 and 1/2 years, Just today they said:
"We really can't wait until this game is done. It's really coming along. Hopefully sooner than we think. We're thinking early spring 2014."
They haven't showed a single screenshot or video, they just mixed / edited a popular recording and used that as a trailer.

Don't get me wrong I want this game to be successful, but it is hard to support a game for over a year that you haven't even seen at all, all they have been giving the fans is 1-2 paragraphs of their ideas, 2-3 times every month

What do you guys think? does it really take this long to at least provide a screenshot or two? or am i just impatient?

 

There's no point in posting this because you're being judgemental over hobbyists and bedroom programmers. There is no point in judging right from wrong at that level.

 

I thought a simple fighting game would take 1 year to make.
LOL @ me.

 

I understand that this may be someone who develops for fun or doesn't take it serous, but They hyped it up from the start,made it seems like this will be "the game", we will always show you guys the latest update, etc, so many fans that have been mislead including me, but i think your right, they might just be hobbyists, I just think what they've done really wasn't right

 

What they did was inherently underestimate the workload of making a game. They didn't to anything "wrong", they just weren't aware.

 

It takes as long as a piece of string.

 

Lesson to be learned: Don't believe the hype (yeaaaah), don't-don't-don't believe the hype. For all those too young to remember this song!!!

 

It's always a problem when someone or a company set themself under pressure with any kind of date as more if it is that socalled bedroom programmer. Everyone who is interested in my project must sit and wait. I'm just showing progress but never would do a guess if I need 2 or 6 more years. I totally agree with nomad again (like always lol)... Same to me nomad

 

A simple fighting game in a year? Yes, maybe.

But your game is of epic proportions with all that customizable stuff and such

 

Aw, thanks man

It's kind of super hard to have precise estimates with large projects
When I think about it, even AAA studios often fail to deliver precise dates ! lol
Speaking of which, I just love how CD Projekt simply put "release date : When it's ready ..." in their latest trailer :

 

been on my game for like 2 years and its still got miles to go...

but then I keep losing interest and stuffing around. Its hardwork keeping at something for a long time, especially when you have a day job as well.

 

One thing indies need to learn (as most large studios do) is to keep their mouths shut.

Sure, you're excited about your game, and you want to tell people about it. And yes, you need more hype than the big players because that's really the only place you'll get your funding from. But no one can reasonably predict the schedule for a huge project, and you end up in situations like this.

Unexpected things come up (especially for inexperienced indie's). Developers shuffle in and out. There is no way you could project a release date until you're nearly there.

 

Ther's also a problem with features or other stuff that just take longer. Today I went to a 3d company to speak about some tools I need. At the end we both agreed that they can't help me because they are not understanding what I need. So I've to do it myself now - that's rough calculated + 6 month.

I agree, James.

 

Agree with that.

One example comes in top of my mind. And that's WarSoup. They showed some early footage of that game and now it seems abandoned after 3 years. And that surprised me.
What they got looked already highly polished and carefully thought out. Plus these guys coming from the industry. It's a bit disheartening to see such promising projects fail.

On the other hand, if you show early footage of your game in a regular basis, you can build up a large fan-base from the beginning and even sell early beta access to your game or get donations etc. (See Overgrowth, Minecraft etc.)

 

Well, there is another perk for indies to show their work early, though indie's rarely use it; and that's to determine whether or not you should even make the game.

Oftentimes, you'll think you have a great idea, but once you get it up and running (that's what prototypes are for), you realize that it isn't nearly as much fun as it seemed in your head.

You can give players a chance to play your prototype to get an objective opinion as to whether or not the game is viable, but I'd suggest hand-picking a small group, explaining that its simply a "proof of concept" and ask their opinions in the end.

 

There's always someone in the world willing to talk up what they are going to do. Far fewer who are willing to talk up what they have done.

But I wouldn't judge two years to be a long time on an indie game. Nor would I say that the game should take this or that many months to complete either. How long was Minecraft in development for before it was released? 18 months? Two and a half years? I don't recall, but it was a long time between first line of code and "it's released!" Admittedly he had sales, and a playable game in the intervening period, but it was still a long time.

It comes down to scope of work, motivation, commitment, talent, skill, planning and so on. I'm making a slot machine game, all told, probably close to 15 months of work. About 3 months of engineering time, about 9 months of artist time, about 3 months of design and project management. But that's four or five people, compressed in to a 5 month time frame. Who would have thought a simple little slot machine game would take so many months to create? Depends on your production values too. 90% of the game was "done" in about a weekend, then the remaining 10% of the game consisting of visual effects and polish took about 3 months of engineering and art and design.

I would say, it's not the time that someone takes to make a game, it's how much it is hyped only to be abandoned because they lost interest or ran out of money. Working quietly on a game you abandon is only wasted time for you. Working loudly on a hyped up game that you abandon then becomes wasted time for everybody that listened to you and gave their valuable attention which was then squandered.

 

Braid.... 3 years?

Fez (gotta be a record), 4 years?

If I could make Jonathan Blow money after 3 years it would well worth it.

 

Sometimes people need to make noise to ensure there is interest in their game, and to get some drive to finish it.

Im at that point now. Ive spent ages working on this thing, and its currently looking good, but I still have a long way to go.. My drive to work on it is currently low, but anytime someone says 'that looks awesome' or whatever, I get a little more enthusiastic about going home and putting a few hours into it.

I dont think Ive even worked on my Unity project in like 2-3 months.

 

The age old saying, "Once you're done with the first 90% of your game, then you have to finish the other 90%".

 

We took 4 years for Monster Truck Destruction, 1.5 of those years was full-time with 2 developers but we started getting the word out in early 2011 and released late 2012

It happens, it's a learning experience. Our next game will have tons of concept art and updates ready before we even start trying to attract a fan base.