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| Author | Indie Game Endeavours - Outliving Million $ Companies (Read 83051 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Cashed
128 MB  Posts: 192 System 7 Newcomer! 
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on: September 28, 2025, 01:38
It’s inevitably avoiding other interesting subjects during researches. Over the past months a lot of subjects has caught my attention -one of them being indie games. I read how Dwarf Fortress’ development started out in 2002 with simple ASCII -to the complexity it is today. That Stardew Valley, made by one person -sold 41 millon copies. Jack Sather, I Made a Game in Unreal in 14 Days... (No Experience) -made me laugh. Then @nick-glenn, a programmer reached out to him. Jack Sather & Nick Glenn, I Finished My First Game. -(in Godot -part 2) In the comments, from @LayersDeepGame -I learned of that game. Jack Sather & Nick Glenn teamed up and created the channel: Playable Workshop How to make your first Video Game - Getting Started in Godot From Jack, I learned that the game Valheim -also started out by one person. - - - Then I found something interesting. Thomas Brush interviewing, Jeff Vogel: Making Games Alone For 30 Years, Unity vs Custom Engine, Indie Survival | Ep. #046 Jeff shows and explains the custom game engine he created and the scripts he’s been using all the years. He also spoke at GDC, Failing to Fail: The Spiderweb Software Way SpiderwebSoftware.com What Seth Godin has been repeating over and over for years in his Akimbo Podcast -one just needs a 1000 true fans. Back in 2022 I created 7 missing pages —for exposure of the games existence. Later that same year I started the thread, Which Game? —to spark renewed interests in creating new retro games. The thread hasn’t been updated -many new legacy titles has since been made. The Missing Element There’s still one simple thing missing from bridging legacy and modern systems. Systems may have changed —but real games remains timeless. May finally have found that essential element, that’s been on the tip-of-my-tongue for years —always slipping between the cracks. Also don’t miss out on Nightinggale's offer. This off topic section chosen -as it deals with game development on new and old systems. |
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lauland
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512 MB Posts: 674 Symtes 7 Mewconer!
Reply #1 on: September 28, 2025, 18:30
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Yeah, I may bemoan the slower cpus and lack of 3d acceleration on my dear m68k machines, but that's not what's keeping the next great amazing fun game from appearing on them. What's needed mostly is ideas, and a lot of amazing ideas are the concepts of the game, and gameplay, and not flashy graphics. ---- (Now this is a bit off the point you were making, but it is tangential) An awesome game concept I recently discovered was a recently written version of "Missile Command" for the Commodore 64, but instead of defending cities, the game's raw binary code itself appears at the bottom part of the screen. So you are literally fighting for your "life", or at least the game's life. As the missiles inevitably eat their way through your shields, they will strike and overwrite parts of what is actually currently running the game. If you're lucky, they hit less crucial parts, and you can continue playing. But eventually, the graphics routines are writing what ends up being "random" opcodes over memory and things will start to glitch and inevitably crash. The c64's bitmap screen takes up 8k, so the game code itself has to be far smaller than that! Over a quarter a century ago, I actually ran into something like this and if I had been more clever, could have written a game like that at the time. I used to write games for my brother and I to play on our vic20. There were always bugs as I was learning, and in more than one, either the "player" or their "lasers" at some point or other would accidentally write non-screen memory. I either didn't have collision detection working, or didn't detect the edges of the screen right. A few times I think I did overwrite the code. But I never thought to write a game that did that ON PURPOSE!
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snes1423
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256 MB Posts: 458 A Man born of Mechina
Reply #2 on: September 28, 2025, 23:21
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i mean like people are creating new games for 35 year old consoles
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Bolkonskij
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Administrator 1024 MB  Posts: 2023
Reply #3 on: September 29, 2025, 14:41
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Yeah, they create games for 35 year old consoles but it's a labour of love, you can't really sustain your life on the sales - unfortunately! Given modern tools, I wonder what some full-time employees might be able to yank out on these old platforms ... Quote from: lauland An awesome game concept I recently discovered was a recently written version of "Missile Command" for the Commodore 64, but instead of defending cities, the game's raw binary code itself appears at the bottom part of the screen. That is a very interesting twist to a cloned-to-death game concept, love it! That's exactly the spirit that games on these platforms should have. Unfortunately, I tend to see a lot of repetition. Which can be fun based on the execution, but a lot of times it is not. Do we really need the 100th Doom (or Doom lookalike) port to any platform? If you want to show your programming capabilities, at least make things less predictable... don't let the gamer play the Doom guy, let them play a one-shot-and-I'm-dead enemy trying to defend his level against the Doom guy... that kind of thing is what I'd find interesting :-) Also re the opening post - I remember when people some years back were talking about how the small teams have no say and no chance in tomorrow's video game industry, how these bedroom warriors were all a thing of the past. I always rejoice when I hear about these projects succeed, even though it's like a lottery for those programers - usually you lose, but there's this tiny tiny chance you've got. Still, the fact that they make it at all is amazing and wouldn't be possible without the internet.
Last Edit: September 29, 2025, 15:04 by Bolkonskij
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Cashed
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128 MB Posts: 192 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #4 on: September 29, 2025, 21:55
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You are very clever @lauland, but there will always be a time for everything. It’s impossible predicting when that time is ripe. Say you had created it back then, it’s likely it wouldn’t have be received the same way, and definitely not perceived the same way as the recently written version. It’s also very likely it would have been a blockbuster hit years after surpassing the reception the recently version received. You in fact did have a role —I’ll get back to that and elaborate on it in another thread. Time lets people have the time to change their views and opinions. It’s hard to know when luck turns in ones favor -one can only be prepared when it happens. It’s a delicate balance between creating, something people find recognizable, and something completely new many won’t understand -that takes time. Yes @snes you are right, that is true. Speaking of the Neo Geo and titles like e.g. Vengeance Hunters, or Project Neon, etc. These shops acts similar to GOG selling new and licensed titles. It’s very cool, but those prices!  —are for a small niche.Those that offer cheaper options like Evercade -have far more sales. Besides backing crowdfunding, there are other smarter ways of supporting the developers doing these projects. E.g. contributing to the remastering of Double Dragon. @Bolkonskij’s your sustained living comment was spot on. Outliving, and beating big game companies —even modern games. We live in a time where that part has never been easier . . . I will get back to this post tomorrow, to elaborate further on where I’m getting at. P.S. decided to leave OP as is -not editing the double g typo mistake I made in @Nightingale’s pseudonym.
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Cashed
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128 MB Posts: 192 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #5 on: October 03, 2025, 03:35
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Elaboration Part I One of the new games released that caught my eyes was Blah Blob! —The first platformer game made in HyperCard by Brian Kendall. Back then, when I noticed it got UL, I never got around to making a post update. Reviews —(Just Read The Comments) Blah Blob: New 1-Bit Vintage Mac Platformer! Blah Blob! - Modern Mac - - - Official Publication —Watch, Brian deserves the attention. The game included a custom build of Mini vMac, so it could run on modern systems. Judging by the comments -one can never please everybody. Marketing —was his only miss. But Brian, failed to fail —he didn’t give up. He moved onwards and found the perfect setup: A classic Mac (and PlayMate) game engine + dev environment! might even be one that could help him —get public known. HyperCard-based First Person Game Engine —is another example, of stretching the limits of HyperCard. Legacy The choice of which legacy platform one picks to start creating their game in —matters less. Choose the one that feels most comfortable to you. Determine your game audience On Mac, is it for the PowerBook 100 and SE/30 users only? —Those few sales will never be sustainable. If you also want to include legacy platforms —make a simpler game. Price It’s required that you set a price for your game -avoid at all costs giving it away for free. It must, have to, and needs to cost something, or it will have no value to people -and they will respect it less. Demos also includes “giving it away.” Most have experienced choice paralysis from, watching trailers -trying to find the right movie. Launch Launch your new legacy game bundled with a wrapper (compatibility layer) or emulator -so it runs out of the box on modern systems. Research available options for the platform you choose to develop your game on. E.g. if one chose Commodore -currently a great pick, consider using VICE, it dates all the way back to A Blockbuster HIT Modern pixelated games has already been a hit for years -one can check that right off the list. Text and dialogue is a winner, it’s timeless, draws the observer into the game, makes it possible to forget and escape reality. Non-believers —go see e.g. the text-based game, TextSpaced —3.487 Players Online, as I’m typing. Nowadays modern online games are lucky if they even have 300 online. Your game does not need to be an online game —there’s plenty of other tricks to make use of. Audio This is one of the most important parts of any game. Audio makes up for 50%+ of the visual experience of a game. Non-believers —go listen to a GraphicAudio. Imagination This is one of the most important parts of any game. We live in a world with instant access to everything -leaving out anticipation. Having to wait for something is a very important but dying trait. I recall when one used to go for a month, or months, saving up, waiting for the next paycheck. Then taking a trip into town to buy that new VHS, LP, CD, Book, DVD, Game, or Magazine. Not only did one get the item one had been anticipating, but one also got an experience out of the trip into town, and the trip back home again. Most authors tends to explain everything in minute details like telling the reader the colors, leaving nothing left for the readers own imagination. “It was night, as the hero approached the cottage. Inside, a cat was observed.” Your reality will be very different than mine, your neighbors, and the author. What kind of night did you see in your minds eye? How did your cottage look? What color was your front door? What color was your cat? In my universe, my night was stormy and rainy, my cottage was hard to make out, my door was made out of blackened old wood planks and it squeaked when it opened up. The cat I saw in my minds eye was white, and its right ear had orange fur, it was sitting on a chair. Next to the chair, on the floor, it had a blueish crystal glass bowl with a purple fish swimming round. See... Totally different stories. Make use of the pixelated game art. That’s the magic with 1-bit (2 colors) black and white —it leaves room for the gamers own mind to wander of —filling out the blanks. Take those crazy Danes game INSIDE, it consists mostly of shadows —it sold 1.6+ million copies. Play dead —practice that as the game developer. Leave the imagination up the individuals. Promotion Get back when you have a game ready.
Last Edit: October 03, 2025, 04:20 by Cashed
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Cashed
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128 MB Posts: 192 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #6 on: November 04, 2025, 00:44
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Elaboration Part II AI bots —> follow LINK Retro is the Future We will be witnessing; · Collapse of the Big $ Game Industries. · More patents on game mechanics. Similar to Nintendo's recent USPTO granted patents, (US12403397B2) and (US12409387B2) —rejected in a JPTO in Japan. · More leaving subscription and streaming services. · More going back to owning physical copies. · More getting into Retro. Patented game mechanics hurt everyone and hampers progress. Both known game studios and indie game developers and yet unknown upcoming devs have a war ahead of them. I belong among the 80% with an attention span that's less than 15 seconds —too bad you're gonna miss out on the next. Inevitably, some developers will get blindsided and caught up in the reoccuring traps; · Maximizing revenues by implementing microtransactions and DLCs. · Hiring more people for their next project. · Experiencing less (ROI) · Layoffs, then studio closures, or eventually bankruptcy. E.g. Playdead's initial indie startup, first with Limbo followed by Inside, consisted of 8 core developers. Their 3rd game in progress "consisted" of 100 —now 83 employees. If you want an engaging community growing around your game —include modding tools, it prolongs the lifespan expectancy of any game. New Holes Exploits · 2025 LG (the last producer) ceased manufacturing optical drive players and discs. · 2025 Sony stopped production of recordable discs. Research the past —everything that ever ceased to exist became hot again. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. You don't have to be a indie game developer and make an entire new game. MODs Even kids are earning money —simply by selling mods. During our collaboration on Mac.Mod-Paradise, and its burgeoning archive. @Bolkonskij and I found all game assets to be cross-platform. It doesn't matter which platform the game was released on —assets work on either. That means you can create new content for the good old games. They will work on GamesNostalgia games that runs on modern systems. Some games had dedicated level/map/track editors and other modding tools. However it requires one to be open-minded and embracing, as these tools were only available on other platforms—even though the games were played on the Mac side. Don't give away your mods for free, but GOG Mods are free? —Sure, they hope that'll make you buy the game. Set your price —or it will have no value. Entire games can be modded into something that's indistinguishable from the original. The golden era have already happened, —but gold can be remolded and polished to shine again. At some point game studios might wake up —reclaim their IPs. Old studios may reemerge, and create new content for their original games. Retro is here to stay.
Last Edit: November 04, 2025, 00:50 by Cashed
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