Porter's World

It's Never Really Finished

One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen in the flash game industry by other developers, is that too many of them feel their games are done far before this is a reality. Such things result in a flooding of insufficient quality games on FlashGameLicense.com, and it also creates a lot of let down for those who are new to the industry when they don’t get much attention. The simple fact is, most “finished games” aren’t truly done, or have plenty of room for improvement that shouldn’t just be saved for a sequel, after all, a sequel can’t exist if the first game never takes off in the first place.

This thought occurred to me this morning when I woke up at the usual time of post 12 PM. I did my routine morning check of newgrounds, kongregate and then FGL. I checked out my topic in the general forum titled “Finished Games With No Luck? Come Here!” which was started by myself to get some of completed games off of FGL that were lacking attention. Many of the games on this list are quality games, they have what it takes to survive in the industry, but they lack the polish needed to properly grab a sponsors eyes. This is what brings me to my main though, as developers, we need to understand that our games are never really done, there is absolutely always room for improvement.

The hardest part in my opinion about game design, is that our (the developer) views on our own games are flawed. We can’t see them for what they truly are, we can’t know for sure if our game is as fun as we think. This is why we need to always expect that our games aren’t done, we need to constantly step out of developer mode, look at the game as an average user as best we can, then increase the production value of our games in every way we see possible, no matter how big or small. If you find yourself clipping an edge 1 out of 10 times while doing a certain jump in a platformer, fix it, chances are 3 out of 10 average users will hit it if you’re hitting 1 in 10 times. Small things like that really get to users and lower their vision on your game as a whole.

An example of extreme refining that I’ve found myself doing lately is map editing. In Epic Shadow Entertainments newest upcoming game Tower of Greed, I’ve created 64 maps for that wonderful beast of a tower. I cannot possibly stress how many times I’ve edited those maps. From appearance issues to finding a jump ever so slightly annoying, I’ve spent hours upon hours just editing maps thought to already be completed. Where I’m not able to share with you how much I’ve done this and truly get my point across, perhaps Andrew can share how many times I’ve sent him a minor update over MSN, go ahead, ask him about it haha. Anyway, this is just one section of the game, just maps. Many developers “finish” a portion of their games and never touch it again, I’ve spent hours upon hours just on our maps, Andrew has refined our engine, fixed up graphics numerous times from scratch and we’ve added additions that were never in the original outline of the game. The bottom line is this, and it can’t be stressed enough, you’re game is never truly done. If you’re still not convinced, think of the last time you saw the most attractive guy/girl you’ve ever seen, is that the most attractive person ever? I doubt it, there’s always room for improvement.

After reading this, you may be asking, “When am I ready to sell my game then?”, the answer is simple, as soon as you truly feel it’s in great condition and sponsors as well as other developers start recognizing it as a real piece of work. There is a point in which you need to decide if it’s worth it to you to spend more time on the game or not, but if it hasn’t sold yet, and you’ve already put in 20-40 hours, you might as well spend a few more getting it in the proper condition for the wild.