I am posting this because I am really thinking of quitting the game biz and to going to scientific research of AI and robotics. The golden time of making games is long gone. Everyone and their little brothers are making games today. Alone or as a small company you simply can''t push the border and so you are doomed to make and use boring old technology. You need a big budget to do anything new. AND YOU DON''T EVEN GET PAID WELL FOR THE BORING REUSAGE OF OLD TECHNOLOGY. Yes sure. Making games is fun nonethless, but if you talk to your friends and they are earning 5000$ > for doing $%§", you ask yourself why you are doing this. Please correct me if I am too pessimistic, but I am really thinking about getting a good JOB and get paid MONTHLY. And there is definately much reputation to earn with research in AI and robotic.

>The golden time of making games is long gone.

I feel it''s just beginning again. A new garage movement is happening. Look at places like here, www.garagegames.com, the new deal between LithTech and Real Networks, etc, etc...


>Everyone and their little brothers are making games today.

Everyone and their little brothers are "talking" about making games. Few actually follow through.



>Alone or as a small company you simply can''t push the border


Actually, alone or in a small company is the only way you can push the border. Working for a big developer tied to some publisher''s purse strings stifles innovation.


If you are basically interested in money and chasing fame in some area then you are better off doing something else. You can always come back to games once you get older and find out those things aren''t that important.

I don''t think everyone is making games. everyone is trying to, but completing a game is completely different than talking about it.

JoeMont001@aol.com www.polarisoft.n3.net

I think the Anonymous post above sums it up quite nicely.

There has never been a better time to be in the gaming industry. Games are getting better and better and I believe we have only begun to innovate. Game genres are starting to blend together and I think we'll see more and more non-gamers playing games in the near future.

The bottom line is this: Do what you love to do and everything else will fall into place.


Edited by - Web811 on September 2, 2000 1:26:25 PM

I think you can make a game by yourself or w/ a small team, and do it in spare time (assuming you have it). If games are not your only income, and is a hobby that makes a little pocket money...it''s worth it I think. As long as it''s enjoyable.




"NPC's are people too!" --dwarfsoft

"Nazrix is cool." --Nazrix first, then Darkmage

I agree with Nazrix. In fact, it''s what I am currently doing. It takes a lot of effort, but if it''s your hobby that is no problem.

The advantage you have over the big companies is that you don''t have to pay a lot of wages for all your employees. That means you don''t have to sell so many copies to profit from it. And it''s not that bad a hobby even if you don''t sell anything, since most hobbies tend to cost money anyway!

I feel that a lot of people don''t really ''go for'' the movie-type game scenes (sure, they''re nice, but I would swap them for a better storyline or more quality time playing anytime), and all the other high budget stuff. Gameplay is really very important to a lot of people. And for a good gameplay it doesn''t really matter how big your company is, but it''s more to do with the quality of the idea and things other than graphics and sound effects (you don''t *need* speech in a game to make it a good one)...


Kind regards,
Maarten Egmond.

My thoughts exactly megmond. For me, I'd rather work on games more than watch TV or crap like that. When you get a game to do some of things you want then it's so rewarding that it's worth even if it doesn't make you rich

Also, if you're not working for a big company you have more creative freedom which is very important.




"NPC's are people too!" --dwarfsoft

"Nazrix is cool." --Nazrix first, then Darkmage

Edited by - Nazrix on September 2, 2000 3:21:01 PM

I have felt very similar to the poster in recent times. I head a small UK dev company thats struggling to get by, and it is crazy to think how much can be made if you go work it IT support or something similar (esp if you have an MCSE :-)). It also seems impossible to compete against the big boys. recently I was driving down the highway and saw a huge Lara Croft ad on the side of a truck - puts my shareware banners in perspective i can tell you.
However its not all doom and gloom. People DO buy and play games that offer nothing more than good gameplay. Rollercoaster Tycoon wasnt cutting edge anything, but it made a mint (one guy coded it) and Deer Hunter didnt cost millions either. There is a sizeable chunk of the gameplaying public who like me hate all the FMV crap clogging up otherwise good games. (SHOGUN- when i get an offer of an alliance, just tell me, dont make me wait agonising seconds to load a tedious FMV clip from the bloody CD every time...). I LOVE Age of empires II, it dosent need any FMV, dosent need 3D acceleration even, but it does have fantastic gameplay.
The ''Big Boys'' routinely release games that need the latest 3D cards, have cutting edge xy and z, yet have unusable interfaces, hours of needless FMV, and take up 500MB or more to install. This is crazy.
Im not making megabucks from indie games, but I know a few people who make a pretty good living from it. I dont think that now is a good time to be leaving the industry, although it may be a good time to be joining.
Go to my site---buy my games---you know you want to---

http://www.positech.co.uk

I am starting into the game industry as a hobby, making the design documents in my spare time and doing what I enjoy, making my imagination fly. The so called "gaming industry" doesn''t have to be a biz in its totality, instead, a way of life or whatever you might want to call it. But if the games i design come out cool, i might get some stuff into my portofolio and get some cool job.

Wouldn't living in your own video game be cool?

Hey if you aren''t making any money and you want a
family it may be a good idea to get a real job.
At least we won''t have to listen to your complaining
anymore.