Indie-Resource.com

Hey guys..

Today im here with a problem that i hope this is not just my problem.

So.. i "finished" a game.. not yet 100% but its playable, but i hope to add more features.. so the problem is.. till now.. i see no reason for people playing my game.. it isn't fun at all ... just a player.. shooting bots that barely make a move...


Why am i feeling this.. is this normal? What should i do?

Thanks a lot for your support and i will release Open Source soon.

Is this your first game (or game of this type if you have worked on PBBGs or something else before), or one of your first? If so, that is entirely normal, and I would suggest to simply move on to bigger things. Very few developers make games that really hold people's attention on their first outing

If it isn't, then it likely just needs some things to spice it up. "Fun factor" is elusive and hard to pin down. Heck, even many commercial studios can't turn out fun games and they have sometimes millions of dollars at their disposal! Try to think of some unique angles to add to it that you haven't seen before, and then tinker with them until they feel right. Sometimes it is just the feeling of the game that is off and needs some changes.

However, some quick suggestions on common ways that games can be fun is that they move fluidly between different different tasks of play, they can have multiple ways to meet an objective or multiple objectives to meet, they can require balancing different tasks such as collecting power-ups to keep up attack power needed to keep steadily encroaching enemies at bay (preferably moving smoothly and easily between tasks, as mentioned above), they can have variety in the order in which things happen, they can have online leaderboards to encourage competition, etc. Just think about what makes some games you like fun!

Well thanks a lot, it is not quite my first but for now its the second "official" despite i never released one, i just gave to friends.

What stops me from adding stuff i think fun it's the coding limitations, sometimes i dont know how to do something, and im using a library that is nothing like.. let me see.. like OpenGL or something.. Im using Allegro that has pretty good tutorials and support but the library itself is not very good to big games.

Another thing about fun in games.. sometimes... i get too competitive and i forget the fun part, i just care about wining and owning Its my style But sometimes i have fun

Thanks for the reply

Well, it's a bit like doing guitar lessons and then...not playing like Hendrix right after you finish the first lessons.

You need to be your own cheer squad. Look at what you have accomplished - even if it's small is is MORE than having done nothing at all. If you had sat in front of the television blankly staring, you wouldn't have made what you've made. You HAVE built something. All games are products of ACCUMULATION...simply TINY bits added onto other tiny bits, slowly piling up. You have to value the tiny bits, because that's what games are made of. So value what you have created. As said, you could have made nothing at all and just watched TV. You have done more than that and can consider this all the elements you have built up so far each as accomplishments and their total as an accomplishment!

Excuse my use of caps lock - its for the purpose of forcefully encouraging!

You can think of how a pizza base is kind not exciting to eat by itself, but it is important and you can't have a pizza without it. You've assembled a base and that is an accomplishment!

If it is your second real game, I would just move on I am sure you have learned a lot, but don't worry about fun factor. In the end, it will be little more than a demo compared to what you will be able to make 2 - 5 projects down the line. Be proud of what you made (like Callen said), but don't sit and split your brain trying to make it fun. Judging by what you said about not knowing how to add certain features, I would say the fun will likely come in later as you add more tricks and skills to your development repertoire. For example, for now, you said you only have enemies coming in straight lines. Eventually, you will learn about Bézier curves, and could make those enemies come in kaleidoscopic, symmetrical waves, which would make it more fun.

So don't sweat the fun for now. Be happy with what you have, and know you will probably benefit most from returning to the first development cycle step with a totally fresh idea, a bit bigger and more ambitious. I think you will be ready for it

wow, indie-resource, not just a big nice community, also a inspiration center

You guys are awesome to keep a self-esteem high.


Im happy because this, i think it is the project that i spent more time and effort, and it pays by itself.

Thanks a lot, and today as i was walking on the street i got an idea from a woman and a baby to a new game And this time, i think it will be fun as hell.

Thank you for your support.

Anything that you do where you have learned something is of value. You have learned how to take a project and work from start to finish. This means you understand what to do the entire path of the way. This means now you will be able to start fresh, new, and even design a game that has those features you want in it. Most of the work you will find won't be the programming, but in the actual design of the game.

I am one to talk, as I don't have anything to show the community (yet). I am working on a project right now and have been for the past few days here. Just haven't been posting to the blog here on the site, as Halls has disabled it for now.

It is good to see others complete a project and then move on to their next. You can be one of the few who can say that they have completed something. Instead of the majority who have started a project and have either lost interest, or dropped it.

Awesome job!

Any idea that came from watching a woman with her baby sounds like it has to be good, since the inspiration is not obvious (like if you had been watching a WWII documentary) lol Shigeru Miyamoto (the maker of Super Mario Bros) for the inspiration for Pikmin while working in his garden. Sometimes the least obvious sources of inspiration are the best!

Well, i can share with you the concept of the game.

It goes like this: Its basicly a race between 2 woman, with a baby car, then use it to win the race, with nitro or rockets attachments you can increase your speed and stuff.. It will be fun to play i think

Awesome! Particularly using nitro methane as a power boost for a baby cart! That is one hell of a mod-happy mom!