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Sometimes I get down about not having a team, but then..

Discussion in 'Game Design' started by BlankDeedxxAldenHilcrest, Jul 15, 2018.

  1. BlankDeedxxAldenHilcrest

    BlankDeedxxAldenHilcrest

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2018
    Posts:
    292
    It can be discouraging sometimes to see AAA graphics come out and know you don't have the manpower to create them. Then I'll come across little gems the inspire my reawakening, something that you know you can do with your own two hands that sells/sold well. Especially in this age of neo-retro and popular garage brewed games where something a little less tangible than 4k textures and thousands of polys is what makes them enjoyable. I see them all the time, usually without thinking about them.

    Take the original StarWars Battlefront 2, an amazing game with amazing figures and an online community that's still alive in any given time of the day. It is undeniably still fun to play today and there isn't one part of it that's so complex as to not be created in single-player mode. Take the Mos Eisley level, it's almost all entirely one single texture. I find myself at certain angles where I can hardly even make out the distinction between the buildings or the ground sometimes. However, will I play that game for over an hour until I'm too hungry? Yeah man I will, and so does everybody else that still enjoys the game online.

    Sometimes it's just a train of thought hidden in the storytelling that sells a game. Hell man, we're in the revolution of video games right now.
     

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  2. BrandyStarbrite

    BrandyStarbrite

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2013
    Posts:
    2,074
    Yeah. Star Wars Battlefront 2 is nice.
    And it's really fun too.
     
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2018
  3. BIGTIMEMASTER

    BIGTIMEMASTER

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    Jun 1, 2017
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    5,181
    Wasn't that a AAA game in it's day though?
     
  4. Kiwasi

    Kiwasi

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2013
    Posts:
    16,860
    Yup. That's the key to remember when looking at old games. For the most part the ones we still play today were large scale AAA undertakings. Something like Star Wars BattleFront was the height of graphical technology when it was released. Its hung around because it also had some pretty decent game play. I still play the original at home, I've had it there for years. (I'm actually surprised that nobody has tried to update the concept, but that's a story for another time.)

    If you look around at any of the old games we still play today, you'll find the same thing. They were the marvels of technological achievement, and also managed to nail the gameplay. This is the same for Diablo or Halo or Star Craft or any of the other games that have survived.
     
    Martin_H likes this.
  5. Joe-Censored

    Joe-Censored

    Joined:
    Mar 26, 2013
    Posts:
    11,847
    Even if you had your own team, it is still best to not judge yourself against games that had hundreds involved in their creation. When you go to create a game, just make sure the main gameplay loop is good, the pacing is good, if it is story driven make sure the story is good, and the overall project and its features are scoped so as to be reasonable to complete within an acceptable time frame for whatever developers you have available (including just yourself).

    Obviously you do have advantages over decade plus old AAA titles, in that you have free or inexpensive resources like a game engine of better quality than what those games often had to have custom made at the time. The problem is though you aren't necessarily competing against those old games, but instead against new games coming out where even the indie devs have those same advantages you do. All you can really do though is try to build a game unique enough to stand out from the crowd, interesting enough to attract players, and fun enough to keep them. You don't need modern AAA quality to do that. PUBG for example looks like garbage compared to any AAA FPS, and has the polish of an abandoned truck left at the edge of a farm, but it nailed those 3 things I just mentioned at a fraction of the development cost of a AAA title.
     
  6. BrandyStarbrite

    BrandyStarbrite

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2013
    Posts:
    2,074
    Don't let the "not having a team" problem, get to you, or make you feel sad.
    As an indie, it might feel like a disadvantage, but it could be a good advantage
    in your favour.

    Also, don't forget to the read the above posters comments.
    They gave alot of good informative hints and advice.
    So read what they have to say.
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2018
    Gigiwoo likes this.
  7. Gigiwoo

    Gigiwoo

    Joined:
    Mar 16, 2011
    Posts:
    2,981
    Discouragement at what you can't achieve is the beginnings of the realization that you are on a long journey, not just an intro-quest. Build a small game (12 weeks), then do it again, and again, and again. Grow your skills, make connections to others, find an entry into a company, and one-day you realize, that you are a part of the industry making those amazing games that everyone is talking about!

    Try, refine, repeat.

    Gigi
     
  8. astracat111

    astracat111

    Joined:
    Sep 21, 2016
    Posts:
    725
    'Also had some pretty decent gameplay'....? Isn't a game supposed to be about fun first and foremost? So why did Candy Crush make about 1000 times more revenue than SW Battlefront 2? Why do more people play Bloons Tower Monkey Defense today than SW Battlefront 2?

    Here are some tips to compete with AAA though:

    Lighting - Make things shiney, from logos to character artwork to environments
    Movement - Keep things moving, clouds, water, grass, trees, 3 frame 2d animation is OKAY but compensate wher eyou can
    Reflection - Make use of reflections
    Color Grading - Make use of this, use baby blue as your primary base color for a natural look
    Depth of Field - Basically like camera focus, make use of it

    Make sure that every shot you have has movement. You can do this through adding particle effects everywhere. Movement, light, reflection, color are the key stimulating things to the brain visually.
     
  9. Kiwasi

    Kiwasi

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2013
    Posts:
    16,860
    Different markets at different times. Its not really practical to compare a game released for console in 2005 with one released for mobile in 2012.