Category: Games Business

A Celebration, Some Closure, and Giving It All Away

Posted on by Chris

2023 marks my 40th year in the games business, making games pretty much continuously since 1983. Yes, I’m old. To mark this auspicious occasion, I’m hanging up my debugger and retiring from game dev (yeah, right). Obviously I’m still gonna mess around with the odd prototype here and there (told you so), but I don’t think I have another full project in me. My last published game, Immortal Darkness: Curse of The Pale King, was the best, most satisfying project I ever got to work on in my long career. Given the resources I had at the time, it’s as close to the game I always wanted to make, as I could get. Because I’m retiring, I also retired the game from Steam, and now I’m giving it away for free so more people can play it (link below). Think of it as a Holiday gift. I’m proud of the game and I reckon it’s a good project to end on.

You can download the game from here;

immortaldarkness.com

Because this silliness involves my game, I planned on writing a Gamasutra blog as a followup to the other dev blogs I’ve posted on there. Sadly they shut their blogs down, so here it is below instead. Enjoy!

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I originally wrote a series of blogs over on Gamasutra, about developing and publishing my game, Immortal Darkness. I want to talk about what’s next for the game, getting closure, and moving on.

We published Immortal Darkness in November 2018, to high hopes and expectations. If you read my last blog post on here, you’ll know that things didn’t really go as we hoped. The game languished and the company we set up to develop the game, withered and died. People went their separate ways, and I ended up owning and managing the game personally. The game has sat on Steam for the past 4 years, now selling a couple of copies a month, and slowly falling into neglect. The version of Unity the game was developed on is old and tired, and there were cracks showing. Updating the game on the Steam store became a problem, and its issues and need of a refresh sat in the back of my head, pecking at me to do something about it.

I’d not played the game for a long time, essentially ignoring it and hoping it wouldn’t break. But then one evening about 2 months ago, I randomly fired the game up and spent a satisfying and enjoyable 4 hours playing through the first 6 levels or so. That play session brought back a lot of good memories and also a little sadness, of dashed hopes and dreams not realized. We’d planned a sequel, with even grander scope and story, but that all hinged on the success of the first game, which sadly never happened.

When we decided to make the game originally, it was very much a passion project. Something my partner and I had always wanted to make, and so we poured everything we could into its creation. We were just 2 guys with very (very) limited resources, and development was slow and difficult. Both Damon and myself are old pros with careers going back to the 80s and 90s. We knew what we were getting into when we started the project, and we were seasoned enough to push through all the hard stuff, and ultimately we pulled it off. It was never really about the money for me personally (well maybe a little), because I really just wanted to make something cool that people could play and enjoy. I love the idea of willing something into existence; creating something from nothing and having it become part of poeple’s lives and experiences. That’s always been a big motivator for me, creatively.

I wont rehash what I’ve said before too much, but when the game didn’t do as well as we hoped, and all the air got knocked out of us, it took a long time to recover. We questioned the quality of the game, the design, the art, the coding… but now the dust has settled years later, I think it was mostly a lack of exposure, marketing, community, and awareness. Not that any of that was the fault of the people helping with those aspects of the project, rather it was simply a lack of money. All the stuff you have to do, after the game is done and published, costs a lot of money, and frankly we were left with a pittance to spend by the end of development. My partner took it harder than me, putting an end to his indie developer aspirations, as he threw himself into his full time game dev job. For me, it was disappointing for sure. I wanted two things for the game. First, I wanted lots of people to play it and (hopefully) find some enjoyment in it; delighted by a trap or puzzle we’d labored over. Second, I wanted to do more. I wanted to build a small independent game dev studio, and make the sequel. I’ve had a pretty good career in the games business, spanning almost 40 years (yeah, I started in 1983). I have a long history of making games and being involved with startups, and I have nothing to complain about. I’ve done it all, and I’ve had a fantastic time doing it. But I still wanted to have my own, small, indie studio, making cool games that I wanted to make. That’s probably most developer’s dream. So that was the hardest hit for me, and despite being an old, cynical pro, I still had the hope that Immortal Darkness was that one lottery ticket, that if it hit, might fund my dream studio.

As I sat there, playing through puzzles and traps I’d completely forgotten about, fondly remembering the joy and pain, and challenges of coding them, it struck me that maybe I could still satisfy that first hope I’d had for the game, namely more people being able to play it. It was created to be played, after all. That’s its only real purpose, money aside. So I decided there and then that I would just give the game away for free. It would certainly be easier to do that than try and resurrect it commercially. It also fit nicely with my plan to retire the game (and myself), plus it’d make a cool, fun Holiday gift to everyone!

Fast forward 2 months and the game is finally available as “freeware”. I retired the game on Steam, and put up a website where people can download the game for free. Even this seemingly simple task took time. Fixing old bugs and tweaking stuff in the game, getting the game retired, winding down my partner agreement with Steam, making a website, creating EULAs and installers… But now it’s all done and the game is available to download and play.

Untangling the game and myself from Steam was a process. I had to post an announcement and assure Valve that the version of the game sitting in people’s Steam Libraries would continue to work as expected (it will), and that I will continue to offer support via email, etc. (I will). I completely understand the need for this. The customer is king (to a fault), and they have to be OK with the change in status of the game. Removing the Steam dependency freed me up to fix long standing bugs and make some improvements to the new, free version, including additional keyboard controls (WASD) that people had been asking for forever.

All that said, and as cathartic as this has been, I still believe it’s good to be rewarded for your work, and I’m not someone who hates money at all. I’ve provided several ways for people to show their appreciation if they choose, offering ways to “tip” using various payment systems. A big “Buy Me A Coffee” button is on the title page. It’s the only nag there is, and I don’t think players will mind it too much. Of course I’m not banking on it making any money. That’s not the point of this exercise, but it’s there if people want to use it.

So think of this as my Holiday gift to the world (Awww, bless). I hope you enjoy the game as much as we enjoyed making it. Cheers!

You can download the game from here;

immortaldarkness.com

Advice For People Wanting To Make Games

Posted on by Chris

What advice would you give someone wanting to get into the games business?

I get asked this question a lot.  My first thought is, don’t bother. But that’s just my evil, English sense of humor talking. I recently did an interview where this question was asked again. This pretty much boils down everything I think about the subject ..

I’m a programmer and have always been a programmer, but I’ve worn many different hats over the years. There are a number of really important things you need, in order to succeed in the games business. First and foremost, you need to be good at something, be it programming, design, art, whatever. Obvious right?  You’d be surprised. You need to be smart and be able to problem solve and talk intelligently to other people. You need to be flexible and adaptive and be able to turn your hand to things outside your skill set or comfort zone. You need to be resilient and able to cope with stress and long work hours. But most of all, you really, genuinely have to love making games, and really want to do it. In fact, I’d say, unless you live and breath making games, and carry around a notebook where you sketch design or art ideas, or write programs, while on the bus or sitting waiting for your latte, don’t bother.

There’s a BIG difference between playing games and making games.  People often get that mixed up. Playing games is fun, and if it’s a well made game, you don’t see the complexity or pain that went into making it.  Making games is also fun, but it’s not all fun. It’s hard and there’s a ton of BS you have to deal with and there’s a massive amount of really tedious stuff to do, especially towards the end.  It’s not glamorous at all, despite what you see in the indie dev documentaries, and a lot of people don’t realize that or understand that until they give it a go.  That’s why most people who try and make a game, never finish one, or eventually make something that’s kind of crap.  You have to have a genuine—and I hate to use this word, but it’s appropriate—passion, to make a game from start to finish.  It’s the only thing that will get you through the process when things look bleak or get too difficult.

Beyond that, if you’re looking at this as a career, then start with a computer science degree.  It will give you a solid, academic foundation to build on.  Then go to vocational school, or college that has a games program, and learn the basics.  Experience what it’s like to build something from start to finish in a team.  Make friends and network.  Get involved with the local game dev community.  This all ties back into my first point about living and breathing game dev.  It really is a lifestyle.

Finally, be good at something. The games industry is a meritocracy.  You have to be good to succeed (unless you’re a manager  I kid, I kid), and if you’re not good, it will be apparent very quickly.  Specialization adds value.  As a coder, if you’re a 3D guru, a math whiz, an AI savant, or a physics genius, you’ll always be in demand.  Don’t get me wrong, good, solid gameplay programmers are equally important, but there’s more competition for those roles.  As an artist, you better be good.  No other discipline wears it’s skill on its arm than art.  If you can’t draw or code, most likely you want to be a designer. You better be a damn good designer if you want to succeed, because it’s highly competitive, and the game dev schools spit out hundreds of designers each year. If you want an edge as a designer, understand the other disciplines, and learn how to talk to programmers and artists.  Learn to code or script.  Be good at communicating your ideas verbally, and through drawings. Good, technical designers are worth their weight in gold.  If you can’t do anything, but you’re good at communication, organization and making other people do you bidding, become a producer or manager.  Do a business management course and learn about project structure.

Words of Advice: Working in America

Posted on by Chris

I get hit up quite often by students or other young adults, for advice on getting into the games industry. I was asked today, by a student in the UK, about working in America. I thought I’d share the soul crushing advice I gave him ..

Working in America can be tricky, particularly for someone fairly new to the business. It costs a lot of $$ for a company to sponsor someone and bring them out to work. Typically, a company will only consider doing this for someone really experienced or really good, or both.

Having drive is good, because you’ll need it to realize your dream of working in America. You need to approach this methodically, and start by building your resume. Unless you get really lucky, you’ll have to put time into your craft. You need to get some titles under your belt, and start building a reputation. It’ll be a slog and you’ll need resolve.

You could also try working for an American company who has offices in the UK. If you’re good, an opportunity may arise where the company will sponsor you to work in America.

There may be another route too, but it would involve some financial outlay, and becoming a student in America. You could choose to study art and technology at a college out here, and see what opportunities come out of that. Los Angeles has some fantastic schools here, for example “Art Center”, or “LA Film School”, and many graduates end up working for companies like Disney.

At the end of the day, there are no short cuts. The business is a meritocracy, so if you’re good, you’ll probably do pretty well. It just takes time to build a career and have opportunities open up to you.

A Rambling Rant About Games and The Games Industry

Posted on by Chris

Developers
Developers
Is the game industry about to change radically? There are a lot of pundits that seem to think it is. I spent a long time making mainstream games on consoles, and the only people making any real money were the publishers, the company owners, and sometimes the IP owners. That is, if the game made money, of course. I don’t really know that many people who got rich from making mainstream games. A few here and there, and they were all owners of companies or the IP owners.

Now, most AAA titles and mainstream games have to be a sure bet, and rely on proven franchises, or designer celebrity. Publishers are careful with their money, they’re nervous, and will avoid any risk. Meanwhile, development costs spiral upwards, as teams get bigger and the next iteration of “Franchise X”, has to do more and more to keep distracted players engaged. As things get leaner, Publishers squeeze developers, cutting margins, cutting costs, and simply treating dev studios as a throwaway resource.

Developers, often frustrated by creative and financial limitations placed on them by publishers, are turning to alternate funding models for projects. We see Kickstarter, crowdfunding 100s of games and development projects. To date, Kickstarter has funded over $100M in game projects. That is an astounding figure, especially when you consider, that most of that money came from players. Those sorts of figures represent serious money, and huge potential. Publisher should be paying close attention, for sure. Kickstarter is proving that it’s possible to fund and create games that people want to play. Perversely, of course, that could also end up stifling creativity.

It’s never been easier for people to make games. Cheap tools, technologies, and knowledge, are so readily available now, that developers are able to concentrate on the idea and the game, rather than the tools and tech needed to build it. Anyone who is motivated, can get some friends together and make a game. The independent, back-bedroom dev team has always existed, but there seems to be a resurgence or renaissance happening right now. So many people I know and respect, are walking away from mainstream game development, and pitching their hats into the Indie Games ring. And they always give me the same basic reasons for doing it, they are tired with the grind , inflexibility and lack of creativity and control they have in their day jobs.

So, we’re back to where we began. It’s a long cycle that I’ve seen before. We have AAA and big box games becoming harder and harder to make profitable. Publishers are cutting costs, and limiting their investment to “sure things”. They are squeezing development companies or internal studios to meet profitability targets, and they are nothing more than line items on a P&L sheet. All this madness fuels a deep dissatisfaction among developers, developers who are creative and passionate about what they’re making. It gives incentive to this new generation of unhappy, disenfranchised developers, to go do their own thing, and change the World!