The Games Industry thread.

[DrSpike]

Have you tried running in a window? Anyway, patch is out Monday by all accounts.

[duke o' york]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
The developers are putting a lot of $$$ in making eye candy. The stupid thing is the more glitter they want to add the easier it is for the game to go wrong - more bugs, IOW. Civ 4 is no exception, I think it's the graphics part that's crashing the game on my box.

I don't mind having less glitter if that means a game with less bugs. 2D graphics, even.

Play Civ 2!

[Skanky Burns]

Its different gameplay though. There is now no ZOC for one, the quest for strategic resources was all but non-existant...

[Zero]

The developers are putting a lot of $$$ in making eye candy. The stupid thing is the more glitter they want to add the easier it is for the game to go wrong - more bugs, IOW. Civ 4 is no exception, I think it's the graphics part that's crashing the game on my box.

I don't mind having less glitter if that means a game with less bugs. 2D graphics, even.

Originally posted by DrSpike
You can be sorry all you want - it wont change the fact that the rise of the casual gamer is responsible for many of the trends you dislike. I consider it indisputable.

Its not just casual gamers. its more than that.

When I hear the word game, I think of games like tetris, street fighter 2, poker and monopoly. Something in where a player has a complex problem/challenge to solve and to deal with.

game to me isnt a interactive movie nor new season to buy graphics card. And i dont want to flame SP players because not all SP games are at fault... Tetris can be very much be a game in my definition in single player but most of them have been pushing for that story plot depth which wasnt existant in old schoolz of gaming and was PERFECTLY FINE.

Not that story within a game is bad.. but theres just way too much emphasis, whats wrong with unamed marine whos killing massive legions of doom? Does it really need New ID engine thats rediculously gorgeous and in-depth story about alien race and mars expedition to hide a craptastic game? Why not spend all that time making the game half way fun and challenging?

nobody today pays attention to the gameplay, not even here in poly, which should be like the epitome of gamers paying attention to gameply and balances... I dont even think game developers understand game balance either. It seems to me they are being tuaght how to design art and story elements of game more in education they recieve and completely neglect gameplay.

[DrSpike]

I don't remember posting that. It does sound like something I would say though.

[Zero]

i think, everybody ruined the game industry... everyone is guilty of all the casual elements in games.

and for the hardcorest of hardcores, they are guilty too. They always complain about how good the prequels were (im guilty), game developers listen to them and release craptastic game that is no different from previous and nobody is interested because they dont care....

[child of Thor]

Hey Zero - don't be too depressed. In my last 4-5 years as a jaded game player(growing slowly more so all the time ) - i've discovered that there have been loads of great games i've missed over the years.

Now part of my gaming fun is tracking down these rare and difficult to find gems(like on ebay or bargin bin/carboot sales etc).

Games wise i seem to gravitate towards games that came out no later than the late 90's.

Its very rare for a title released later than that to hold my attention for long(usualy because i will have finished the game in a dozen hours or so - as that is what its been designed for!).

Still keep your eyes open, try diferent platforms(I've been impressed with the breadth of gaming experiences on the GC as compared to the Xbox for example.) and dont be afraid to have an old pc lying around to try the older games on - heck even emulation is helping keep my gaming passion alive in this rather corporate, often stale and 'bang per buck' orientated games industry.

So dont despair - if you work hard you really have alot to be happy about as a 'jaded' gamer.

And to use a starwars quote cause i'm sad and think you can find one for most occasions

"The more you tighten your grip Tarkin(big Games inc), the more systems(discerning punters) will slip through your fingers" - which i'll use to mean more probability of smaller devs having a growing audience to make games for, so better for gaming, and gamers as a whole.

[child of Thor]

an excellent article here at gamasutra:

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051121/zimmerman_01.shtml

Now the challange to change the current dev/publisher relationship(often exploited+exploiter respectively) lies really within the hands of the developers imho.

If you like what this article has to say/highlights - what are you prepared to do to make it more a reality? The publishers wont change out of 'good faith' as they have the most to lose.
So what will you do about it? I know what i would do

[DrSpike]

Shoot the publishers?

[Urban Ranger]

Publish on the 'Net.

I mean the developers.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Zero
and for the hardcorest of hardcores, they are guilty too. They always complain about how good the prequels were (im guilty), game developers listen to them and release craptastic game that is no different from previous and nobody is interested because they dont care....

You answered your own complaint.

If they release badly written and/or designed games of course nobody would care, esp us.

[DrSpike]

I think you kinda missed his point there UR.

[Zero]

the problem isnt its badly designed. its actually good. Too good that friggin developers arent willing to risk screwing it up.

[child of Thor]

Originally posted by DrSpike
Shoot the publishers?

not quite what i was getting at.............although maybe you could start with some of the people from the big publishing giants.......just to get the ball rolling and make some of the devs a little more brave over thier demands in trying to rebalance the dev-publisher relationship?

[DrSpike]

Maybe light torture would be more appropriate than shooting.