Making the game you want to make or need to make?

Taidaken

Hey guys, just wondering a few things, and wanting to see what other people think aswel. Ive been working with game salad for awhile now( i havent brought anything out for ages though..) and ive wondered when you make a game, do you make a game that you have been dreaming to make or do you make a game that you think will do well in the appstore. ive made the whole mistake of rushing a game out the door and expecting huge things only to have things not go my way. and ive been sitting back and watching what other people bring out. somethings look like alot of time and effort has been put into there games, while others have simply rushed a game out and expected big things. ive learnt from my mistakes and have been spending the last 8 months on art and design of my game aswel as learning the in's and out's of gamesalad. And instead of trying to make a game that i think will do well, ive simply just been making a game that i believe i would love myself. So whats everyones thoughts on this?

Taidaken

bump

POM

Well , my thought is make game YOU want to make , and if you make them good enough , i see no reason why they will not do well in the store.
From my experience , every game i made , was an idea in the start , but the final result was extremely different from the initial idea.
Throughout development you basically get lots of inspirations to make the game better , problem is most indie developers want to rush their game out the door and ditch those awesome idea cause "they take lots of time to make" , i was like the once..
My new vision is- let it take as much as it needs, if it makes my game better and more unique , ill do it , therefore my last two games (Spin The Nut and my current RPG ) took about 8 months to make each , so make the game YOU like , just make it good and fun, and don't forget , the Appstore is a crazy battlefield, if a game don't make the success it deserve , it doesn't mean its not good , its the nature of the Appstore , but the better your game , the better your chances .

Good luck .
Roy

quantumsheep

A lot of people here sell far more games than I probably ever will on the app store, so I'm not sure how useful my advice is from a financial point of view.

Personally, I will always make games that I enjoy playing myself. I think people can really tell if you've put a lot of love into a game. It's all in the details!

My personal ideology is that if you spend time on your game, put in little details, make it fun, make it so that you are proud of the game, so that it's at least as good as if not better than most similar types on the app store... well, then you've accomplished a great thing.

Keeping in mind what the potential market is is also important.

Thing is, I could be making a LOT more money as a game designer for a big company. There'd be greater financial security. I'd get out of the house more. Life, in general, would be better.

But I'm more excited about working on my own ideas, and creating something myself that I'm proud of, and it's truly a wonderful thing.

I think FMG's example is one to follow. His games are always of a high quality, and fun too. And he perfectly understands the market.

Also, the biggest question you should be asking yourself is 'Is this good enough?'.

All. The. Time.

Hope that helps!

QS :D

EatingMyHat

It's a bit of both for me. If I think that I have an idea for a game that people would love to play with, thats a game that I would like to do. On the flip side, if there is something that I'm excited about I'll probably assume that other people would be excited about it as well (true or false). Part of the fun of creating something is having people enjoy it. Think of it as cooking... it's fun to see people enjoy your food, its a bit of fun if you made pizza and its great fun if you prepared something that they never tasted.

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jonmulcahy

exactly what QS said. Always try and make a game you want to make. you want to be proud of the game, and working on something you love really helps with that last 10% of the game which seems to take 90% of the work.

beefy_clyro

Its gotta be personal preference, what do YOU want out of it?
If you want to make a quick buck then it can be achieved riding off the success of others, look at all the temple games, doodle games etc.
Ultimately, if you want sustained success then you need to produce quality!
My personal goals now is to make games i enjoy playing, if i enjoy it, especially after designing and play testing the hell out of it for months, theres a chance others will enjoy it too. The way the appstore is, i've conceded to not making much money from it but there is always the chance you may ... you never know. At the end of the day, GameSalad and the Appstore has made it possible for me to fulfil my dreams of creating games. I feel with every release, i get better at something, whether that be something technically, something in game design, the list is endless but with each release, i improve on something from the last!
The ultimate goal for me is to make a well known indie title that has a reputation about it ... That for me would just be soo frickin' awesome!

SAZ_1

Yep gota agree with making a game YOU want... how you go abouts doing that well... in my case half my ideas are far to grand to be done with gamesalad (well they might be possible but would take time and serious effort).. i'd say im not experienced enough just yet to want to attempt them and so i am using my current projects as stepping stones to learn what i need and then i will move forward... its a learning curve.

quantumsheep

@uptimistik

You need a smiley - some people's sarcasm detectors might not be functioning!

Taidaken

Thanks guys for all of your views, money is something that comes into play, but i think your best work never comes out when you base it on just that.
Ive always wanted to make games, and its quite easy to get distracted from an idea you may have, especially when you see someone else doing well with a completely different idea.
But im gonna stick with making a game that i will play and enjoy myself, and hope that others will enjoy it as much as i will.

Again thanks for all the comments, they have gave me alot to think about.

HappyKat78

I would say it depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you're trying to make a living (or at least a ton of money) out of this then you should make what you think will sell - Sorry to go against the grain. If it's just a hobby then of course make what you enjoy. But never assume that what you enjoy everyone else will. I'd say that's the biggest mistake most small developers make. Best position is to find a compromise of course - Something that you think will work in the market but will also be something you will enjoy creating. It's hard for most people to make a game they don't personally like and stay committed to it.

AfterBurnett

I agree with @quantumsheep. You gotta make games YOU enjoy playing. Just don't skip on testing!!!! Maybe you could make more money if you made something to a formula... but the games that tend to do very well are either triple A titles, or very original... the latter being games that the devs were passionate about... not just cash cows.