[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Author Index][Thread Index]

Re: [pygame] "Colony" Demo



Kris Schnee wrote:
I was asking on GameDev.net about a basic problem with my idea. (104 views, no replies?) I've got the suspicion that my premise for this game system is flawed. I know the included scenarios are junk, and had come up with better ones to implement in the next demo, but am not sure about the basic idea now.
http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=485995

Many views, few comments is normal for the internet, where most people simply lurk (myself included, most of the time).

I don't really play games, not that I think they are bad (I have plenty of friends who I hold in the highest regard who play them) it's just that games don't hold my attention, so I'm probably not the best person to comment, but I can't help noticing that a couple of the most successful games in computer game history (Sim City and The Sims) make the user be Charlie rather than the Angels. It can't be a bad way of doing things.

Perhaps you need an artist to make the appearances more eye-catching. Unfortunately most people are more interested in surface appearance than the deeper stuff of things, at least initially. I'd expect the same would be true of games.

People tend to need a succinct description up front to give them a reason to look more deeply at something. There are so many things vying for people's attention these days that they will quickly move on to the next thing if you don't grab them in the first few seconds. Not many people will download a file, unzip it, and look through to find the documentation. I hope you don't think I'm being rude. I tend to focus overly on details myself, not realising I haven't caught the interest of my audience. I'm not saying that's what you've done, but it might be. I didn't really get what you were trying to do till I read your readme file. Though that might just be because I'm not a gamer.

Best wishes,

	- Miriam

--
---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=------
To understand recursion, you must first understand recursion.
---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=---------=------
Website: http://miriam-english.org
Blog: http://miriam-e.livejournal.com