/vr/ - Retro Games

why not just create games because you like them?
if you have a unique idea that people like, it might catch on

That's wrong. Indie games are hugely popular now. It's not as common to make games now as compared to the gaming boom of 1982/3, but it is still very popular.

>>3983207
It's never been easier or cheaper to put together a development environment to make your own game. And like others said, there is a huge market for non-AAA indie games. At this point, it's up to you if you want to make fun games or bitch on a Chinese comics forum.

Stardew Valley was made by a single man and it sold two and a half million copies.

>>3983207
>But now such an endeavor is "unprofessional" an all people's attention is turned towards AAA games

I must have woke up in bizarro world because where I came from indie games are always some sacred cow immune from criticism by the gaming community.

Who told you that was "unprofessional"? I mean like actually where did you hear that? Or is that just your own insecurity?
no judgments tho

>>3983207
>But now such an endeavor is "unprofessional" an all people's attention is turned towards AAA games.

lol are you living in the same universe? It's way easier to make and successfully market a small game now than it ever has been and most of the stuff getting played is like that, not AAA.

>>3983384
>>3983404
>>3983389
>>3983331
>>3983252
Shhhh he just woke up from a coma and thinks it's still 2004.

>>3983207
Just copy some retrogame like all the other indie devs and hipsters will eat that shit up like gluten free tofu burgers.

>>3983439
Don't forget to namedrop a bunch of beloved games in your steam description of the game. Hell you could even take it up a notch and make an entire game that's just nothing but references to things that existed in the 80s.

>>3983452
That game is a lot of fun.

>>3983457
Yeah it actually is but the references get obnoxious at times.

>>3983452

What's wrong with capitalizing on the 80s nostalgia fad?

If people want to pay money to feel nostalgic then products will be sold to make them feel that way. Go read that piece of crap "Ready Player One", it's just that in book form and it was a bestseller despite its terrible hackneyed writing

>>3983467
>Go read that piece of crap "Ready Player One",

I've read a few excepts posted on here before and it felt like the author was just spending all day on wikipedia looking up popular lats 70s and 80s things to name drop. He didn't even describe anything it was just along the lines of "And he piloted a robot that looked like the Gundam from the anime Mobile Suit Gundam".

>>3983476

Yeah, it's pretty much that plus Rush's "2112". Which he didn't even get the symbolism behind, like he literally has the character interact with a physical Priests of the Temple of Syrinx who stop people from playing guitar. I wonder if he even listened to it.

Hint: that album is about the Moral Panic, not literal alien space censors

>Shenmue was a game that took a nostalgic look at the earlier era that was the 80's.
>80's seemed so far away when it came out, like it had been a whole different world
>Now more time has passed since Shenmue was released than it was looking back at.
>Time.
>Whoa

>>3983207
Are you ignoring indies completely on purpose or something?

>>3983467
Nothing, nostalgia sells. If you want to be successful in the indie game industry you have to copy retro games and add as many 80s/90s references as possible instead of being innovative. I can name a couple examples
>Undertale
Earthbound copy
>Shovel Knight
Ghosts n Goblins copy
>Hotline Miami
GTA 1 copy

I'm not saying they're not good or anything, but all of these successful indie games have one thing in common. They've been made before.

>>3983539
>Shovel Knight
>Ghosts n Goblins copy

It's much more Mega Man meets Duck Tales. It doesn't have a ton of references outside of video games.

You need to get better at picking cherries if you're ever going to have enough to make that salty pie.

>>3983545
No need to be upset, anon. OP was asking for an advice and that's what he got from me.

>>3983539
>Earthbound copy
oh I wish earthbound had something like memetales' battle system instead of being a dragon quest clone

>>3983553
lol I'm not upset, I'm laughing at you. :)

Just get Gamemaker or something and make some game full of memes targeted towards tumblr and/or furries. It worked for Toby Fox and that Fred guy.

>>3983558
Earthbound isn't the only thing he copied in Undertale he also added a mediocre bullethell combat system and took characters from other indie games.

>>3983570
You find the fact that you can't prove me wrong amusing?

>>3983585
hey man, mediocre bullethell is better than having generic dq combat
I'm surprised no one mentioned the whole talking to your enemies shit was probably taken from megami tensei
instead everyone was singing it praises because "DUDE YOU CAN SPARE YOUR ENEMIES AND STUFF"

>>3983539
I don't remember being on a free roam map stealing cars in Hotline Miami.

>>3983539
>>Hotline Miami
Psychon copy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGhTzeA6Ek0

Which is an Alien Breed copy.

>>3983553
Well, thanks for advicing me to not be innovative. Not that I strived to be.

>>3983602
Probably because Megami Tensei's combat is better due to the fact you can recruit certain enemies and stuff like that. Not to mention that Megami Tensei games are too hard for most people and most of the early games haven't been translated by that time Undertale was released for them to even know that series.

>>3983585
Prove you wrong about what? I don't even know what you think I'm supposed to be upset about. Do you think I care that you don't like some indie games?

I think it's funny you cherry picked the most retro styled indie games and declared that's what they're all like.

>>3983602
Because the only relevant Megami Tensei games at the time were Persona 3 and 4.

>>3983620
>Do you think I care that you don't like some indie games?
I never said that I don't like them.You claiming I said something like that just because I was pointing out obvious ''similarities'' makes you seem mad.

>>3983626
>I never said that

This sentence is why I'm mocking you.

>If you want to be successful in the indie game industry you have to copy retro games and add as many 80s/90s references as possible instead of being innovative.

Are you getting why I think it's funny yet?

>>3983650
I love retro games and I think combining already existing assets together to create something better is a great concept.
And no. Your reasoning is still to vague for me.

>>3983658
>Your reasoning is still to vague for me.

lol

to vague!

>>3983207
http://makegames.tumblr.com/post/44181247500/making-it-in-indie-games-starter-guide

Making indies is easier than ever, but because of that and the internet there's literally thousands made every single day that get ignored because there's simply way too much (even worse with music for example). If you want to work on something "noticeable" you will have to join a big studio, otherwise you better be an expert on marketing and PR. People will say "if you want to make games just make them for yourself" but I understand not everyone can or wants to do that. Dedicating years of your life to making something that no one will ever see? To me, that sucks, but 95% of indie games end up like that.
And keep in mind that a lot of famous game designers/directors were super lucky. Kojima didn't make Metal Gear, he also wanted to leave Konami because he didn't have any creative freedom at first, Miyazaki didn't make Dark Souls (Demon's Souls goes back to King's Field which goes back to Ultima/TES/Diablo etc).
A lot of people in games industry were simply lucky to be at the right place at the right time, but of course hard work is required. You have to work hard, be smart and be lucky.

>>3983762
It just means you have to be really good and make something genuinely interesting. Hard work is the key to it all.

That's not just for getting into video games, it's to do with everything and whatever you plan to do with your life. Competition is high, success is never guaranteed. Use that to motivate yourself and really truly work for what you want out of life.

>>3983207
Be a SJW like Avatar. Create SJW gamu. Beg for donations and never deliver= Bi winning!

>>3983539
>Shovel Knight
>Ghosts n Goblins copy

U fukken wot m8

>Hotline Miami
>GTA1

Oh I see, you haven't actually played any of these games.

>>3983802
>Oh I see, you haven't actually played any of these games.
How is this an argument? I've played Hotline Miami on PS4(pic related) and Shovel Knight on Wii U(the best version).

>>3983802
Maybe he's never played Ghosts 'n Goblins...

>>3983352
it's also a ripoff of harvest moon

>>3983843

I believe it was posted in response to this.

>You can't start with directing one if you don't have money and if you join a company

Of course many indie games will be heavily inspired by other games. That's been true for most games through their history. Mario comes along, explodes and then a million platformers appear. OP is just whining because it's easier than working.

>>3983850
You can definitely make a popular game without significant capital these days, that's true. I just don't like the indie scene. Seems like most of the "big" games are super unoriginal.
Although Shovel Knight isn't bad, it's a far cry from actual NES classics like MM2 or CV. The "retro" look just makes you think that you're playing a new NES game, but it's nothing more than a fancy coat of paint. Checkpoints make the game trivial and the punishment for dying is essentially nonexistent because gold is worthless. Most of the use of gold is tied to purchasing different suits of armor (in different colors, because LOOK! IT'S JUST LIKE MEGA MAN!). At most one of those suits is useful, so the only penalty for dying is having to go back 30 seconds to 1 minute. I don't understand the point of making a game that pretends to be something it's not. Indie developers take all the unnecessary elements of older games (small sprite graphics, limited music) and then slap them into an otherwise bland and derivative game for RETRO POINTS. The reason famous NES games like Metroid are good IS NOT because of their graphics or their chip music. It's because their gameplay is so good yet so simple that it has stood the test of time. These indie developers who ignore what made old games good in favor of more superficial elements make me sick.
This turned into me shitting on Shovel Knight which is not entirely relevant to the thread, but whatever.

>>3983882
>I just don't like the indie scene.
Really??? I hadn't noticed!

>>3983882
I honestly don't care about originality that much if it's a game that improves or re-imagines the formula of another game in a good way.
And you can be original in other ways, such as having a wildly different setting or character deisgns from other games in the genre.

99% of retro games are identical to another game anyways, and I still love a ton of derivative games. Truly 'original' games rarely appear either in the indie scene or the AAA scene, and even then original doesn't necessarily mean good. The last game I can think of playing that was truly original was Katamari Damacy.