Nobody intentionally makes scratchware yet; the concept is fairly new.
I just... I just wish it was possible without developers having to be risky with their finances, risking having food on the table and roof above their heads
8 Matching Annotations
- Feb 2023
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homeoftheunderdogs.net homeoftheunderdogs.net
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It might be said that scratchware is to commercial computer games what Cheapass Games is to commercial board games.
Fair, but nowadays for single small designers to survive they need to make board games with a price of $30+ just to cover physical production cost... Recession killed us
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If we can't fix it, we let people know that we can't, why we can't... and we give them their money back if they ask.
That's sad, cause in the meantime gamers have transferred into raging consumers who will eat developers alive if that happens
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We will work in small, committed teams, sharing a unified vision, striving to perfect that vision without fear, favor, or interference.
Feels like that's exactly happening to the industry, indie field is getting praised and loved, getting publisher support and audience interest, so that wish has come to life?
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whose imaginative vision once sparked its rise
tbf, I think this is very true still, and going back to them saying "it's okay for a game to be made by one person", we can see a more recent example of Eric Barone being a single developer by choice, who is successful at the same time, he's an exception, not a rule.
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A few thousand unit sales will pay the bills.
but I'll spend time making the game, with what am I gonna do this, if I "develop games the right way" yes the costs are smaller, but if there's nothing at my plate and probably won't be even after the release, that's not a good plan
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Food stamps and enough scratch to pay the electricity bill.
I feel like at the same time that's just.. not what creators might want. Not everyone are willing to work for food and bills, it's exhausting. Artist don't have to live like that, it's a weird idea that people have about always hungry art people. That's just sad. And if we're talking of a good living wage it goes back to the capitalistic problem of creativity: need profit to even just survive, need stable paths for profit
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So they greenlight the same old crap, imitations of what's on the list this month, simply to cover their own quivering asses.
The same happens with everything nowadays. Capitalism destroys innovation for profit. It is especially visible in fields where it takes more people & time to produce: games are the most obvious one. Considering will to success & financial profits, it, unfortunately, makes sense that creativity leaves its lead. When our Game Studio 2 group was trying to figure out our unique time mechanic, we were lost in so many places, starting from code implementation and ending with animation system. All of this, in full production setting makes it impossible to estimate & calculate budget. At the same time, team members need money to pay rent and eat food, and making bold creative choices is just scary and risky. Though I'm very inspired by creators who make what they want, not connecting themselves to trends (like German studio Honig, for example), but it's hard and probably requires some kind of governmental support, which is impossible in many countries.
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