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Why Game Developers Should Finish What They Start

Posted by simoniker on from the get-on-with-it dept.

Michael writes "Too often, hobbyists and open source programmers take on game projects that they can't hope to finish. Freshmeat is rife with games from developers who have bitten off more than they can chew. So I drafted an article which takes a look at the major roadblocks to successfully completing open source and hobbyist game projects."

4 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. It's my own time so I'll do what I want by Chris_Jefferson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As an amateur game developer, I can tell you I've got more half-written games around than I can count :)

    The reason why people give up is quite simple.. it's fairly easy to get a 80% complete game, and see what it's like. The last 20% however takes 50x longer to do, is really quite boring, and by that point I've had a new idea for a "greatest project ever!", and have decided to go and write that instead :)

    One problem with games that other programs don't have so much is that most games (with the except of fairly free-form RPGs like nethack) is that most people will only play them once or twice, so if you write a game and release a 70% complete version, then 4 months later release a 80% complete version, very few people will re-download and re-play the new version, which is one reason people find it so hard to motivate themselves to finish them, and not just go and write something else.

    Now pardon me while I try to get and think of another great idea for a new game and start to write that one!

    --
    Combination - fun iPhone puzzling
    1. Re:It's my own time so I'll do what I want by Corngood · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A friend of mine helped me out writing a little game/demo. He wrote me a schedule and harassed me on a semi-daily basis. I never finish my hobby projects, but he was so much help that I actually made a pretty good demo, which helped get me my first game industry job.

      If you can get people interested, even if they aren't actually contributing to the project, they can be a big motivator.

  2. The title is just plain wrong by BoxedFlame · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The article is about HOW to finish a game, not WHY.

  3. Software Design by Nyhm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In defense of good software design, there is something to be said for system components that are not inter-dependent. Good design means there is some hope of debugging the system. Achieving this should not take a "bleary-eyed programmer" all night to do it. If this is the case, your software design phase failed.

    Oh, wait, there is no mention of software design in this article...

    I keep forgetting that game development is not about producing good software, but about efficiently pipelining your artistic assets. This misconception transcends this little article. For example, Game Developer Magazine is a worthwhile publication, but should really be called Game Artist Magazine.