Devolving state of game development - are indies safe taking chances?

Thrust · 2005-04-20T21:06:30

Hi, Im Mark St. Jean, programmer for ShoeString Games (A Subsidiary of EDI Game: Ethereal Darkness Interactive), I am only Seventeen years old. I have recently been given a great opportunity in this business and I would like to express myself here a little bit and get some positive feedback relating back to this topic. Let me unwind and get started here. I myself have currently been given one of the greatest opportunities of my life. I've been an independent game developer for about two years now. I have yet to reach gold on any project of mine, or my former development groups. Through GameDev I have met a local here. His name is Raymond of EDI Game: Ethereal Darkness Interactive. He has taken or former mislead team (known as WastedInk) and turn us into, as of right now, a well organized and dedicated team now known as ShoeString Games. We went from a lackluster 2D game and are currently working on a beautiful 2D Isometric RPG using EDI Games' Flare 3.0 engine. It is currently in development with ShoeString Games under the supervision and direction of EDI Games. We have been given almost complete control of our project, down to what things are meant to look like, to the level design, even to the heart of the game, the story itself. This opportunity we have been given is so amazing to us we feel that we should take advantage of this opportunity. Going from a hobby project to a future commercial game is a large step for us and we want to address a few problems with the way the gaming industry is going at this current time. Let me elaborate. If you were to go into a video game retailer and look on the shelf's you would see what I would consider a tragedy to our industry. In the past year we have come to see the release of the same game over and over again with slight changes. There was somewhere of 5+ W.W.II games release, as well as the recent release of Dynasty Warriors 5 and Kessen III (which after reading about and checking reviews are the exact same games as there predecessors). It seems that our industry is stuck in a rut where we cannot successfully release unique games without severe risk. Some independent developers have stuck gold, such as the release of Katamiri Demochy* and Alien Hominid. It seems to me that there aren't that many developers striving to make unique games that can give new enjoyment back into the gamer but would rather go with something already tested and approved by the fans based on previous sales. This brings me to my point. In the position I have been handed and the freedom of our project that we have control of I ask if it is safe to try something new in an already tainted genre. We are currently developing an RPG that we see as being unique to the market. Something that we haven't seen before in the gaming industry. With gameplay and story involved we believe that we can create something that nobody has played before and will enjoy as much as the first time they played an RPG, or an adventure game, or even a sports game. We are striving to put originality into gaming these days. What I am trying to do is cause an awareness of the problem I believe we are facing and create a positive discussion of things that we can do to prevent and change the state of things. I will start: Our Project: PRO - We are using a story telling approach that we believe has never been used in gaming before. Our story isn't focused on the cliche of "The one destined hero realizes that he must save the world" or "The lead character takes his sword, runs into a mob of enemies, and for the first battle of his life seems to be able to tap into a classic power known as 'magic' that nobody in the world except for your enemies and teammates knows exists." We are also using different types of gameplay for an 2D Isometric RPG that strays from the point and click, go from point A to B, kill this boss, and move on. We believe our vision not only pokes fun at the cliches but creates an atmosphere and emotional connection that lures the player into the game, similar to a feeling you would get the first time you watched your favorite movie, heard your favorite song, or saw your favorite movie. We are also not striving for a number one seller. We are aiming to create a fun gameplay experience, even if that mean making a 10 hour RPG instead of dragging itself out with repetitiveness and every so often dropping in a shocking moment to convince you that you must keep playing through the boring parts just to see what's next. CON - Creating a 2D Isometric RPG is not only dated for its time but it has been done to death. We are trying to counteract this problem with giving off an art direction that hasn't really been used a lot or even used at all. We are also trying to create a more involving world where you aren't just walking around a "map" or an "area" but you are actually experiencing the character in this world that you have never seen before. I ask you, shed your insight on this problem, or what you see can change the way things are going these days.