Hi Milos and all, Well, let's put it this way. I think every audio game developer out there writes the games he or she does is because they want to. We all have our own personal motivations for creating the games we do, and it usually isn't because of money. Jim Kitchen writes games like Monopoly, NFL, Hangman, etc simply because that is the kinds of games he likes and wants to play. David Greenwood has created games like Shades of Doom, Lone Wolf, Time of Conflict largely because those are the kinds of games he wanted to play and made some extra money off of them too. I'm not so different. I create the games I do because I want too not because I am in it strictly for the money although I do like making a little extra money on the side for my time, effort, and to help pay for the sounds and music for the games.
However, when it comes to Mysteries of the Ancients that is a special case. I originally assumed development of Montezuma's Revenge simply because it was a game that I had played often as a kid, happened to enjoy, and wouldn't mind creating an audio remake of it. Plus James North had taken a lot of money for the game, and was not able to complete it so I took it over. However,when it seamed I was getting close to a final release I got the screws put to me by the copyright holders and had to abandon the project. I then was put in the position of replacing the game with something of equal or better value. Well, as it happens I was drawing up plans for a game I simply called Tomb Hunter that was to be largely based on Tomb Raider, but would feature its own unique story, main character, etc. With little choice I decided to tell people about the new game and let people know what I was willing to replace Montezuma's Revenge with. Right away people started complaining about the fact the game I had planned on replacing Monte with was an FPS game not a side-scroller as originally planned etc. A few told me outright if I didn't create a side-scroller or whatever they wanted their money back, I was being dishonest, and so on. That's when You could say I was really caught between a rock and a hard place. I couldn't give everyone their money back because I didn't have all of it. James North took several preorders, and as part of the trade agreement he got to keep the money for the preorders in exchange for the games Alchemy was creating. As a result I couldn't give back money I never had in the first place. I also could not create one of the games because I just got told by the copyright holder to stop development or face the possibility of having my butt dragged into court and getting sued for copyright infringement. Then, I had a game idea I was realy interested in creating, was willing to release it to the preordered customers only to be told that people didn't like it because it wasn't a side-scroller. So I created the game as a side-scroller as a compromise. However, that doesn't mean I was happy about it. I've never been happy about it, and nor will I ever be happy about it. It is just I wanted to create the game one way, but on the other hand I had about $2,000 worth of preordered customers who wanted something else. I certainly owed them something so felt no choice but to create the game they wanted rather than the one I wanted. When that happened all the enjoyment of creating the game went out the window, and it simply became work. Nothing more and nothing less. Considering the fact I started USA Games to do as a hobby, to do for fun, basicly for recreation I didn't consider writing games like STFC or Montezuma's Revenge as work. With Mysteries of the Ancients that is all it is to me work. It is nothing but work, work, and more work with no personal enjoyment. I get no pleasure out of creating games I don't want to create. That is the reason I am so angry and frustrated with the way things have turned out. I wish people would have just taken the game I was going to create and not made a big deal over if it was another side-scroller or an FPS game. Cheers! On 6/23/10, Milos Przic <[email protected]> wrote: > Well i know the Case about the Montezuma game, but I didn't know the fact > that you made the USA Games just for you, only because you sell your games. > If the profit is nso important for you, the ok, do it as you want and in > that case you are absolutely right. If you strictly make evidence of how > much you give for providing the stuff needed for making your game, and how > much you get from the customers, and whether the sum that you get is bigger > than the sum that you give, if it is one of more, if not most important > things in your work, then you have to satisfy the custommers. > As about the ideas, well, I see the point and it is very true. The > problem is that everyone wants a game suited for he himself. You can say: > "If you want quite that way, go away and make one for yourself", but that's > another thing. We players don't understand you developers until we don't try > working. When we see how it works, how much time can be neded, then we start > thinking another way... > Milos Przic > msn: [email protected] > skype: Milosh-hs --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to [email protected].
