I love the revamping of Game Developer but am tired of all this engineers first - this is what games are - stories. game != engine (for you nerds) Also... the every game has to be a totally new thing, that new mechanics are required versus a good version of something is just lazy and exhausting. - ThreadSky

chetsucks.com • 60 days ago

I love the revamping of Game Developer but am tired of all this engineers first - this is what games are - stories.

game != engine (for you nerds)

Also... the every game has to be a totally new thing, that new mechanics are required versus a good version of something is just lazy and exhausting.

Reposted from Game Developer

One of the biggest questions in 2024 was if developers should move on from Unity and other proprietary engines, and if so, how?

At GDC 2024, developer Rez Graham made a case for building your own engine, outlining the available tools, as well as some pitfalls #GDBestof2024

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jrkienle.bsky.social•60 days ago

1000% agree. At the end of the day, I’m writing an engine because as an engineer it’s something I enjoy, but holy hell I’d never reach for it for an actual, serious game. More good stories and perfected mechanics over new rendering pipelines please!

bencurran.dev•60 days ago

I’ve been thinking a lot lately, making development sustainable, not in a “green energy” kind of way but more “permaculture vs industrial monoculture” way, sustainable practices that avoid crunch, burnout, mass layoffs, where the output is fun and engaging games that don’t rely on predatory design.

parsonsda.bsky.social•60 days ago

So my view is I am starting more back into game dev, but I look more at Unreal due to it's acess to it's market, the amount of guides and how easy I feel I can get started

Though of course cause it older, and have heard about"Gdot?" (forgot the name)

I just wanna tell a story!

yawlighthouse.bsky.social•60 days ago

I agree, been a lot more tech focused than design focused lately across the game dev media... Plus nobody seems to be talking about some stuff with Indiana Jones that is very old school that designers have needed for a while IMO

duboisstanaccount.bsky.social•60 days ago

Discourse should be separating it out. Making an engine is an art form and making a game is an art form. You COULD do both like that Animal Well guy I think but also you definitely should not do both. It’s like when a director also does cinematography. Not everyone is Zack Snyder…thankfully

frogmad.bsky.social•60 days ago

I get the engine argument because small games that rely on many preset components *or whatever (idk anything)* can feel similar, but needing new mechanics feels weird. Sometimes just creating a new story and environment, polishing what was already there is just what I want from a game.

stevenmartinez.dev•60 days ago

It's exactly this - models, animations, even programmatic components get reused.

Assetto Corsa (racing simulator), Fortnite, and Hogwarts Legacy all use Unreal. Cities Skylines, Fall Guys, and Kerbal Space Program are all Unity

chetsucks.com•60 days ago

And yes I know this is just covering a talk - but guess what writer - hope about you do something new? Why did you use words here? I've seen that before? Why didn't I need a new mechanic to read this? Where is my novel technology?

tomforsyth.bsky.social•60 days ago

In theory "episodic" gaming should be a perfectly viable thing. Take existing engine and assets and mechanics and lore, and tell a new story. Books and film do this all the time. TV series are defined by it - it's in the name!

But despite many valiant attempts, nobody's made it work in games.

stuart-cameron.com•59 days ago

Sequels upon sequels of successful brands is episodic though, but in the way TV shows have different series. People just aren’t as invested in “episode 2” as they are GAME 2.

stuart-cameron.com•59 days ago

And you get to pay full price for each episode ;).

chetsucks.com•60 days ago

That was the idea… it’s just ends up being big enough to grab the audience’s attention is the bigger problem

anosci.net•60 days ago

careful, this is how we got finnegan's wake

chetsucks.com•60 days ago

this made me laugh way too hard... thanks!

julianh.dev•60 days ago

Reminds me of the flickering light patters that have persisted for 25 years https://www.alanzucconi.com/2021/06/15/valve-flickering-lights/

Lots of really good games are built off really old tech.

grumble.social•60 days ago

reasons to write your own engine:

1. You want an engine without a decade of tools improvements built into it and ready to go
or
2. You want to spend a decade building an engine that's as usable as something that's already out there

srmoore.bsky.social•60 days ago

When I was younger that was one of the things I wanted to do. Every book started "Here is how you draw a sprite"... Nothing about gameplay, story, what makes a game fun. I stopped after the 4th book began with sprites! Now I like Unity because I'm not a team. (Not that I make anything commercial)

vicsy.bsky.social•60 days ago

Game design is sooo important but realistically no one outside of industry really cares from what I’ve found. :(

Also hard agree on the thought that everything has to be new being somewhat damaging. Tropes can be friends!

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