Starbound-Less

2010 Was the year I finally understood where AAA title games are pointing to, And I didn't want to go stand in the spotlight of the Angry-Gamer to rage about games not going out as I wanted them to be.
That's the year where I started playing Indie games non-stop, And now when I see the Indie industry takes PC gaming seriously, When i look at games like Starbound, Terraria, SMB, BoI, I just know i made the right decision.

Chucklefish, can't wait to put my paws on your Refined game, but don't rush it, I'm a programmer myself, and I know that if you want a better product, you have to wait longer.

 

Oh, I see. I apologize, English is not my native language and there still are a couple of words I don't really know and "boundless" was one of them it seems. Nicely played with words now that I understand what you did with the title! xD

 

Well said mate, I have also witnessed where Big company games are heading these days and I decided to try Indie games to see if they were better, and so turns out they were, so now I spend as much time on indie games as I do on large company games.

 

Story of my life, except for the "being able to draw something coherent" part.

 

opps just realized that my reply could have sounded like a condescending remark rather then an explanation. Sorry if it sounded that way. :/

 

Rest assured. I didn't see it as being condescending at all.

 

I have gotten more hype from what the devs have given us here than any major retail game I have followed. Expecting a news feed every week is a bit much if you ask me. I don't know why some people get so impatient.

I'm sure they plan on informing us of things as they are ready to be shown. I would rather see finished content and know it is complete and stable rather than get globs of tid-bit of features.

 

+1 just to agree with OP and be part of thos awesome opiniated thread.
that and even if id like to, i got nothing to add, only that i agree plenty with OP

 

to lazy to read lol

 

It is great to see that people actually agree with my opinion, however, people liking my writing style was rather unexpected, but a welcome treat

 

I agree with your sentiment, but I think the biggest reason we're so hyped is not that they are releasing information and being open. (A lot of big games are fairly open.) I think it's that the game just looks like a blast!

I think one of the strangest things in the game industry is how developers constantly market games like this:

We have X features and this features let's you combines stuff and this features will be so "innovative."

Why do I only get to hear about what features are in your game? I don't really care what features are in the game, as I only have one question for you: "Will it be fun?" How come old games never had extensive features list, but were popular and always fun. Could you imagine Megaman 2 trying to be marketed to today's gaming audience?

Interviewer: "So what features are in Megaman 2."
Developer: "Well... We have 8 weapons... You can jump... Err... There are bosses! Oh, and you can even choose what level you want to play first!"
Interviewer: *snicker* "And how many hours does it take to complete the game?"
Developer: "About 1 and a half..."
Interviewer: "GET OUT OF HERE YOU LAZY DEVELOPER! YOUR GAME IS STUPID AND I HATE YOU!" *Hits developer with a shoe*

Not saying having additional features doesn't help a fun game, but too many games don't focus on the fun factor, but focus on the feature list... The sad part is I can't blame them... You can't market a game for "it is fun" now a days. People just want to see 100 hours of gameplay, 50 billion weapons, online co-op and versus, leaderboards, etc.

 

100% agreed. Sadly, the same could be said about the music industry as well. It's not really about innovation for (most) people anymore, but more the presentation.

Also OP, you are a wizard with words. I share your enthusiasm for this game as well, I have 3 different Starbound bookmarks on my toolbar that I check at least 10 times a day. Excited? Yes. Obsessed? Perhaps.

 

Our of all the media industries I do think the music is the worst industry in terms of presentation versus content.

It seems like a truly fun game even if it is Indie will generally succeed. Music is not the case. You could be the most talented musician ever and never even come close to hitting the big time. (Heck, you might even have to work 2 jobs.)

Music is hard to get famous in for a reason: 1. You need other people to make you big for the most part. 2. Most people don't respect talented musicians or music that requires skill. (Heck I'm guilty for that, Opera and stuff doesn't hold my interest no matter how much talent is involved.)

Probably the hardest thing for an Indie Developer is when you make a game that is very "artsy." (In terms of a game that is very different. Not specifically talking about art style in terms of visual style.) Even if it is a well put together game, if you are unknown and the game is hard to market or bring in new gamers. It's a bit of a hard sell, but for the most part a good Indie game can usually find sales. (Of course part of a good game is knowing what market to sell it on... If you make a good game, but put it on the wrong market well you only have yourself to blame.)

 

I completely agree with all of this, I am a musician myself (But only a beginner) but I have participated in a few talent quests and performances (people always want to cry after listening to me play, in a good way) but not trying to brag I am merely saying that I have an inside view of this topic and being noticed is the hardest step to it all.
However, there is a big connection between the music industry and the games industry, it is all about the big names, Music industry has Pit Bull, games industry has Skyrim, both names you have probably heard of. They sell a lot in there respective industries because everyone has heard of them and everyone wants them. Then you see Minecraft, it is an Indie game, but it has stepped into the huge market. Why? because news spread like wild fire and everyone wanted it, now it is a big name. Now take a talented musician who writes all of their own music and start spreading good news about them, what Happens? They become noticed and if more news spreads then they become big.
Apply this rule to anything, actors, musicians, games companies, games makers, artists, business, teachers, scientists, whatever.
Sure this may be a simple explanation of the actually process, but that is how it works, so if you wanted an Indie game like Starbound to be noticed then the place to start is by spreading the news and then people will flock to it like hungry seagulls.