GOING COMMERCIAL?

Sounds good, it would be interesting to know how many copies of To The Moon and Spelunky were sold, but if like Dyhalto writes :
" in the future, as long as the internet stays the way it is, this will change. People will be able to produce their art and earn a moderate living from even a limited audience. ",
then it's not all that important, I guess.

-

-Do you make games for money?
No. Simple enough answer.

-Given the chance, would you work on commercial games?
Before I did my course in Games Art & Design I'd have said "Yes, I would jump at any opportunity afforded to me!" since completing that course some time ago, I now say "Not a chance in Hell!"

The way the industry currently operates and the salaries and hours involved? Not to mention how that three year course almost entirely killed off any and all enthusiasm I had for video games? Count me out.

-Do you aspire to make games for money one day?
See the above.

-Why would you NOT make games for money?
I do not have the time/ effort/ skill required to make a game worthy of charging people for with entirely original assets, made in a "legitimate" and "relevant" engine to be released on a similarly "legit" and "relevant" platform.

Also, when making games for money you're making the kind of thing that will sell, you're not saying anything personal.

I like dicking about in RM2k3 because it's fun, because it's personal, and because I make stuff primarily for me.

In case anybody want to see donation system in working, here's the link to all the Dwarf Fortress donation report

They started doing this since 2007. Here's the number of donation during the past months.

January: $3689.27
December: $5468.33
November: $3199.46
October: $2503.28
September: $2793.95

If you've tried the game, you'd know that the game is mediocre by today's UI design standard ( all ascii arts, terrible control using alphabets on the keyboard only) but the game found its niche target. People who paid for the game paid after they've played the game, so there is no case of buying the game and feel that you've wasted your money on a crappy game. Every cent they made, they know that it's from people who truly appreciate their game and want to support them.

While you might say that this is an exception, there are more examples like this as I mentioned in earlier post. Admittedly, there are not many examples, but this is probably due to how risky and crazy it sound, releasing your game for free and just accepting donation. Nevertheless, it works for animator, game developer, and musicians, as far as I know.

author=flowerthief
A common complaint I hear about any game I ever make is that it's Windows-only. Which I am sympathetic to; lack of any cross-platform support is the thing I like least about Rpg Maker. I wonder how much potential audience one loses by being Windows-only? When it's a free game you can shrug that criticism off, but if it's a commercial game I imagine you need to care about being accessible.

I think the number of mac gamers is growing. While you don't lose many audience, I have a feeling that currently mac users appreciate your game more than window users, probably because of how rare it is to find a game in mac that is non-casual.

I really think you'd benefit a lot more if you switch the engine to renpy though. It's cross-platform, and all visual novel/renai features are already implemented for you. Heartache is a game that depends on fanbase, so to spread it to as many platforms as possible would help you find more fans easier.

-Do you make games for money?
Nope. I´m just making them because of I have a strange need to be creative.

-Given the chance, would you work on commercial games?
Without a doubt. Give me a place at Square-Enix right now and let´s build it up again to what it once was.

-Do you aspire to make games for money one day?
This thought have always struck me. It would be a giant plus if I could, but I think it´s limited to merely a dream for now. I don´t have the patience to learn any scripting language (except perhaps Ruby, but... yeah.)

-Why would you NOT make games for money?
If there is a project I feel very deeply about. Like the one I´m working with now (not the Zelda project). I don´t creat this one for money. I do this to prove myself that I actually am good for something in this life.

-Do you make games for money?
apparently. i think there's a difference between "making games for money" and "making games where money is a by-product" because the former implies that the pursuit of money is the main goal. it's not. the main goal is being able to support myself on what i do. the quote isn't "money is the root of all evil," the quote is "the love of money is the root of all evil." i don't love money. it's pretty cut and dry when you break it down.

-Given the chance, would you work on commercial games?
yes, with a caveat: i do not intend, and will never intend, to work for any large video game company. i disabused myself of that notion long ago.

-Do you aspire to make games for money one day?
already doing it. baby steps.

-Why would you NOT make games for money?
collaborations and small, experimental projects are nice to release every once in a while! they serve as portfolio builders as well as a nice treat for fans that follow your games.

also quoting this because it's fuckin' true

author=TFT
game design school is a waste of time and money when human beings in the indie scene are making splashes. 1 course of college could probably pay for 1 indie game. i find it staggering how people will spend thousands of american dollars to go to digipen only to end up handing sandwiches to blizzard employees when they could have taken that 1% of money from school to create a project with full creative freedom.

god save the games.