All Channels
Popular

gamerspective

Contributor
CRank: 16Score: 53580

User Review : Game Dev Tycoon

A decent game but not one that will leave you with much satisfaction.

Full review can be found on - http://gamerspective.net/re...

Game Dev Tycoon lets you run your own video game company, starting in the 80’s you will replay the history of the gaming industry beginning with the humble PC to the rise of the consoles. Do you have what it takes to become a leading developer in the gaming world or will you just fall by the wayside like many others?

To start off, Game Dev Tycoon had an interesting introduction into the gaming world, one which can be read in full here http://www.greenheartgames....
The developers actually did something unusual. They released a cracked version of the game onto download torrents which contained a little surprise to anyone who downloaded it, after a few hours the game would start showing error messages in game stating that too many people had cracked the version of your game and then your virtual company went bankrupt. This was an interesting way to drum up some publicity for the game and put a strong message across to the gaming community that it did not endorse piracy.

Back to the game itself, as in every business, to reach the top you must build your company from scratch and make yourself noticed, in this case, through some memorable game titles. The action begins in the 80s, a period of time when the first PCs came out and the gaming industry was flourishing. If you have ever played Kairosofts Game Dev Story then you will feel right at home with this game but it won’t offer anything new, it’s almost like a port to the PC, there is very little to choose between them.
You start the game alone and in your parent’s basement with 70k and a few simple options. The first step in the development process is to pick the supported platform, a topic, a genre and of course, a catchy name that will attract the attention of the game critics. The naming thing I could never be bothered with, I would have maybe liked a random name generator at this point as during the course of the game you will release 50-60 games then you will need a good imagination.

When you’re happy with all of that, you have to choose the graphics engine for your future title. Graphic engines can be simple (text-based) or complex (2D and 3D) depending on the research points. Once you actually begin development, it gets broken down into three stages. During these three stages you adjust how much different areas of the game are prioritised on such as the graphics, sound or the game world. You can prioritise certain areas over others and it makes sense contextually. An RPG would be reliant on dialogue whereas a racing game would not need as much emphasis on that but would on sound. Once you complete a game you can complete a report which tells you the areas that your game is flourishing on or lacking.
Whilst developing your game, you will see design and technology game points starting to be generated. These points will determine how good the game is and will allow you to improve your skills to create better games. During development, you will also generate research points which you can use to unlock new game topics, research new technology and improve your staff’s abilities.
The key to a successful game is a good review and also the relationship between your topic and genre. If you try something new you may fail miserably however trying something new can unlock that big game that will propel you to fame. You may create a mature zombie game for the PC but it may not work on the consoles whereas a casual racing game for everyone may be a better choice.
Once you have finished developing your game you have the choice to trash it or release it, as soon as you click the release the dreaded review scores come in, however this is one of the small issues with the game and for me lets it down a little. The review system for me is a little broken and doesn’t seem to work as well as it should for such a major part of the game. The scores seem to be a little random and don’t offer the feedback that it should, for example it would be nice to see why they thought they should score me a 4 rather than a 7. Why did my very expensive sports simulation fail? Who knows, I am only told it’s not very good and therefore I lost a lot of money. I think there should be a little more depth here maybe some beta testing, focus groups etc to offer a little more feedback before my game fails for no apparent reason.
If you don’t have the fanbase required to release a large or AAA game, you can always use the help of publishers who will grant you a small percentage of the total sales if you meet their requirements. If you fail to deliver a good game, you will suffer various penalties that will drain your budget. The targets they set are normally very difficult and the few I tried have failed.

Even if your game is bad, you can create some hype around it using marketing campaigns. The more money you invest in your marketing campaign, the greater the impact on your sales will be. You can also attend the annual G3 (similar to the E3) convention to promote your games, boost sales and generate even more hype around your company; however this can be quite expensive too.
Graphically the game plays like a browser game or an app offering very little animation and does look a little gimmicky like it was developed for the Facebook generation. It lacks that certain charm I was hoping for and compared to Game Dev Story’s SNES type art work and sounds, the game was lacking. However the menus are crisp and easy to follow and there are no annoying pop ups to get in the way of the game play and the music was pleasant I often found myself humming the song in my head.
I really liked the game’s reinterpretation of popular game consoles and posters in the office reflecting the blockbuster games of the time. I think they missed a trick here, some customisation of the office would have really added to the game, maybe choosing which console you had or a reflection area adding to productivity or an energy drinks machine to add boosts of speed just something to do between developing that next big blockbuster.
I appreciated what the developers were trying to achieve which was to give me a good insight into game development, from humble indie studios in debt to huge studios juggling multiple projects. It offers a pleasant walk down memory lane with some funny company names and even been bought out by EA at one point and shut down (Damn you). Overall for the small outlay of money it’s a good game and will offer 5-6 of game play time however it’s just a bit lacking in most areas and won’t offer much in the way of replay value or overall satisfaction.

Score
6.0
Graphics
6.0
Sound
7.0
Gameplay
7.7
Fun Factor
Overall
6.7
70°

The Gamesmen, Episode 247 – Zombies

Join Amras89 and Hardlydan for game talk and fun! This time, The Gamesmen talk about a terrible game, The Division 2, Devil May Cry 5 lens flare, and an Octopath Traveler prequel. Games discussed are Far Cry: New Dawn, Rocket League, Game Dev Tycoon, 7 Days to Die, and Far Cry 5.

Read Full Story >>
thegamesmen.com
paylituzu2611d ago

ผมกล้ารับประกัน หากทำได้ครบทุกข้อ ก็สามารถเอาชนะเกมคาสิโนได้อย่า งแน่นอน ใครที่กำลังอยากลองเล่นเกมเดิมพ ันต่างๆ ในคาสิโนออนไลน์ ท่านสามารถสมัครได้ 24 ชั่วโมง ดต่อสอบถามฝ่ายบริการได้ทันที เว็บเรายินดีให้บริการเสมอ http://gtzmn.com/gclub-roya...

100°

Game Dev Tycoon adds ultra hard mode where you combat piracy with DRM

Video games development simulator Game Dev Tycoon now has an ultra difficult "Pirate Mode" where your software gets pirated.
Emulating the real world problem of piracy, this advanced option will see reduced sales on all of your games. "Bankruptcy is likely", you are told.

Read Full Story >>
eurogamer.net
2977d ago
Princess_Pilfer2977d ago

Where you put DRM into your games, don't stop piracy at all, piss off the paying customers, and then get hit with credit card charbacks from keys bought with stolen credit cards and sold on the grey market and what's what actualy damages your income?

Because that' what happens irl. The pirate who doens't buy the game was never going to buy the game, and the pirate who does isn't a lost sale.

2pacalypsenow2977d ago

It might not be a lost sale, but it's theft.

I don't know about you but if I spent hours making something and someone just stole it. I would be upset.

kevnb2977d ago (Edited 2977d ago )

while that's true, piracy doesn't have the effect that people keep preaching and is a nice excuse for low sales. Pirates will download any hyped game just to see whats it like, or even sometimes just in case they want to later. Even bad games will get pirated a ton just so pirates can laugh at them.

2pacalypsenow2977d ago

Stealing is still stealing.

rainslacker2977d ago (Edited 2977d ago )

@Kevnb

So you're saying out of the hundreds of thousands of people that pirate, compared to the millions that would buy games, that none of those pirates would end up buying a game if they couldn't pirate it? If piracy were in some way actually eradicated, you believe that sales of games wouldn't actually go up? Would all those pirates just stop gaming if they couldn't get it for free? That seems unlikely.

Piracy probably doesn't hit the bottom line as much as publishers claim, but it certainly does take away from the bottom line, because it's rediculous to assume that everyone that pirates is just a thief, and not a potential customer.

One can try to rationalize it any way they want, but piracy is theft, and it should be fought. Never should anyone just say, "well, no harm no foul, they wouldn't have brought it anyways". That's just giving power to the pirate, and doing nothing to stand up for the publisher or developer.

Princess_Pilfer2976d ago (Edited 2976d ago )

But it has no impact on sales. So it literally is not doing harm. The people who want to pay for it, will. The people who don't, won't. You don't suddenly convert pirates if piracy is impossible, they just don't play your stuff. Which can actually be a net negative, in the case that they'd decided they liked the pirated game and end up buying the rest of the games in the series instead of ignoring them.

Saying "it's theft" isn't an argument.

The same people who decry piracy will often go do stuff like buy keys on G2A, which are quite often bought with stolen credit cards, and because the developers get hit with charge backs on those sales that does *actual* damage. Not pretend, maybe maybe not damage, real damage.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2976d ago
kevnb2977d ago

except in the real world piracy doesn't have the effect that everyone keep preaching.

Eulderink2977d ago (Edited 2977d ago )

xD lmao that they thing think that piracy = lost sales too retarded, if i don't have the money or don't find it worth it i won't buy it. piracy makes it just possible to have it without paying.

kevnb2977d ago

not to mention pirates tend to download everything they have any slight interest in which makes the numbers look inflated, the truth is most people couldn't be bothered to pirate games.

rainslacker2977d ago (Edited 2977d ago )

Yeah, but not all pirates are like you. It's reasonable to assume that pirates would indeed buy games if they couldn't pirate them. Maybe not all, or maybe not the ones that they pirate, but they would buy software or quit gaming, or stick to F2P. Those are their only choices if they couldn't pirate a game.

Pirates are diverse in their reasons for pirating. But I see why too much pride from some pirates who boast about it as if they are somehow justified for theft.

While not everyone who pirates would buy the game if they didn't pirate, it's absolutely stupid to assume that everyone who pirates would not buy games if they couldn't pirate. That means that it does affect the bottom line. It may not be as much as the publishers say, but it is something.

Why are so many people willing to justify theft? If you don't have the money, don't play. If you don't find it worth it, don't pay. Don't just download it because you still want to consume the media....which you apparently don't find worthwhile enough to pay for, but find enough there to waste your time on it.

Princess_Pilfer2976d ago

There are a number of flaws in your reasoning.

You assume that because someone pirates *some* games they pirate *all* games rather than pay for them. This is demonstrably false. Pirates (especially in wealthier nations) buy several times more games than the average consumer. This also unravels your second argument. Because Pirates tend to buy more games than anyone else, it's safe to assume if they couldn't pirate things they'd just ignore them, they *already* spend a lot of money on games and have no actual need to pirate.

See above. There have been studies. I'm not aware of any credible ones that suggest an actual profit loss of greater than 0.3% (without accounting for the pirates who become fans of the series and/or tell their friends about it and convince other people to buy the game btw.)

Something that isn't worth your money =/= something that isn't worth your time. I woulnd't pay for hollow knight because I'm pretty sure I won't like it, but I'd definitely try it for free if given the chance to see if I wanted to buy it.

rainslacker2976d ago (Edited 2976d ago )

There are flaws to all arguments on both sides of this issue because so many people tend to act like one anecdotal instance, tends to be indicative of the entire make up of people who pirate.

But when it comes to people who pirate, any of the reasons given exist within the spectrum. Common sense would suggest that a person who has played a game, particularly in full, is unlikely to buy it later. I know I fell into this category when I was a pirate. I used to be pretty active in the piracy scene, running forums where many gamers traded games constantly. I've seen all the excuses, and I knew enough of them well enough to know they were either full of sh*t, or they were more willing to buy games. I still brought a lot of games, but when I really got into it, I brought much less than I did before.

Yes, there are people who use piracy for demo purposes, or to get around annoying DRM, but from what I've seen, most just do it because they don't want to pay for games. That's why I think that the studies are not accurate. I don't think profit loss is anywhere close to what some of the devs or publishers claim, but I do think that they'd make more if people didn't have a choice except to buy, or not play. Again, that is just common sense.

In your hollow knight example, would you play the whole game and buy it if you liked it? If you would, I feel you fall into a minority of pirates

Anyhow, long comment made short, people have to stop looking at singular instances to make their arguments. Piracy has to be looked at from a whole and a wide spectrum. I don't condone piracy, but I'm find with people who buy a game, and then use the pirated version to get around DRM that causes it not to work. Or those who legitimately want to demo a game with intent to buy should they like it.

Princess_Pilfer2975d ago

I cited studies, I'm not relying on anecdotes. So no, there isn't a flaw in my argument.

https://archive.is/X1n3O
https://www.youtube.com/wat...
https://torrentfreak.com/fi...
https://torrentfreak.com/fi...
https://www.techdirt.com/ar...
http://piracy.americanassem...

Common sense is a logical fallicy. It means "I think it's obviously true and there for it must be true and I don't have to prove it." and isn't a valid argument. You can't discredit the findings of studies with "common sense," properly measured stastics don't care about your feelings or vague ideas on what pirates do or don't do. They don't care about mine either. If you want to disagree with them, read them and point out where the flaws are in how the study was designed.

Because here's the thing, studies *by govenrmnet bodies with a vested interest in keeping the megacorperations who compalin about piracy so much* still can't find a credible link between piracy and lost sales. It's just not a thing. The people who pirate any given product tend to fall into 2 camps. Those who were never going to buy it anyways, and those who will buy it if they decide they like it. Yeah, there is a small subset that will simply never pay for anything that they can get for free, but that's not most of them.

Also, there is no actual difference between a pirated copy of a game and one sold second hand, as far as the publishers/developers ability to make money. Limited supply (at least in wealthy countries) for the second hand copies of the physical product is simply a non-issue so that rebuttal doesn't work, and that's really the *only* rebuttal. Sure you can create a hypothetical scenario in which someone is trying to sell a 30 million dollar album and there are only 3 in exsistance but a copy gets leaked online so nobody wants to buy the album anymore, but that doesn't not reflect reality with either physical or digital goods, these companies create millions of disks and they're regularly traded in, so much so that gamestop throws away big piles of them on a regular basis rather than waste storage space on them.

rainslacker2975d ago

Studies based on respondants who already pirate, and will say that they would be willing to buy a game even though they pirate it.

Sorry, my own experience with most pirates is that they don't buy games they pirate. I've run BBS's and ran hubs where hundreds, if not thousands of pirates made their way through them each month. Most of them went there because they wanted free stuff. I knew some of them to be gamers, and they would buy games, but it was rare to find one that would buy a game after they play it.

That is enough of an anecdote to support my argument, because I know hands down that there are those that substitute buying games in favor of pirating. I always get a kick out of people that pirate and act like pirates are all of the highest moral caliber, or that people who are gamers wouldn't buy games if they couldn't pirate.

That is just illogical by any stretch of the imagination, regardless of what the studies show.

I don't dispute that publishers over-exaggerate the loss in sales, but I also dispute the pirates who act like there is a negligible loss to software sales because of piracy.

Princess_Pilfer2974d ago

Anecdotes are irrelivant.

Even EU the EU government has done studies that can't find the link, and considering the EU government has laws against piracy and stand to risk losing lobying money from the corperations if hey change those laws they have an incentive to cheat and say it *does* hurt sales, and even they can't find a credible link.

I never said *all* pirates will end up buying the game. I'm saying the overwhelming majority (as in 95% or higher) who do pirate the game, either end up buying it or would never have bought it in the first place.

That piracy has a negligable impact on sales isn't an excuse, it's just a fact. Your anecdotes don't matter, and neither do mine. Your experience is irrelivant. The facts don't care about it. Your anecdote is not a substitute for a stastical analasis where all the data points are kept track of and so protected from your biases.

rainslacker2974d ago

It's fine. I accept that many of them wouldn't buy the game regardless, because that lines up with my experience. I absolutely do not agree that many pirates end up buying the game. My experience in the pirating community just doesn't sync up with that. The vast majority just want free stuff that they aren't entitled to, and act like they only do it for demo.purposes. I have more respect for the pirate who is at least honest about being too cheap to pay for a game, because at least they're not muddying the waters

Princess_Pilfer2972d ago

The overwhelmimg majority of pirates who just want free stuff *woulnd't have bought the game anyways.* They didn't care enough to pay for it, so they don't pay for it. Still no impact on sales.

There has been 0 link shown between decreased piracy and increased sales. None. Not in music, not in movies, not in TV, not in games.

rainslacker2972d ago

Yes, but at some point, if the free software isn't available, that would mean that those pirates would have to buy games if they wanted to play. I may not make a difference for an individual title, but overall it certainly would. On top of that, the temptation is just too much for people who game, so they're going to buy something.

That's why the argument that pirates wouldn't buy anything isn't all black and white. I can't see millions of pirates suddenly just stop playing games. They would likely start buying them, and play less than they can through piracy.

Princess_Pilfer2971d ago

They'd simply not buy it. Again, there have been studies. There is 0 link between decreased piracy and sales. They'll buy and play the games they were already going to buy and play. (Pirates by 7x as many games as non-pirates on average.)

You're operating on the assumption that if someone pirates the simply don't buy games. this is provably false. Most pirates by way more games than anyone else and have no actual need to pirate to play games. They pirate things they wanted to try out, or were never going to spend money on.

rainslacker2971d ago

How can the studies show a correlation when there isn't any decreased piracy? The only way to study it is by using respondent data, and that requires people to be honest, which those same anecdotal people obviously not.

No.amount of reasoning can say that people simply would stop playing games if there was no piracy. It defies all logic.

As far as the rest, I'm operating on the assumption that the vast majority of pirates don't buy their games. I'm extending that to say that some, if not many, would end up buying some games if they couldn't get them for free. They wouldn't buy every game they'd pirate, but they would likely buy some, and with millions of pirates that adds up to an increase in sales overall, but maybe not any significantly measurable increase for an individual title

Consider that if even 5% would end up buying the game, for a game that has 100k copies pirates, that's 5k copies sold. Assuming the $60 price tag, that would end up being $30k. I dunno about you, but that's significant.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 2971d ago
60°

Game Dev Tycoon Receives Free Content Update on PC | GameLuster

In celebration of Game Dev Tycoon's iOS release, developer Greenheart Games released update v1.6 filled with brand new content. The last major update to the game, until now, was in 2014.

Read Full Story >>
gameluster.com