Re: Help your developer make cooler games by donating
Regarding plot trajectory, I should more properly have said "presentation" rather than actual story. There are lots of the way certain passages of the game were written, manual, the in game text etc. It is true arcade titles don't need an over welming story, but still presentation is an issue.
I was more personally concerned in battlezone however with the gameplay, sinse it seemed heavily reaction based and unlike something like superliam, things didn't seem judged as carefully, indeed much of the game seemed to be involved being swamped in sounds and enemies and hammering buttons, and even an action game needs precision and delicacy in it's mechanics and challenge to not turn into boppit. We've seen keyisfull's coding skills in sounds and extras, I'd myself rather like to see some really solid game mechanics before I would considder making a donation.
@Brad, Fir stly, s s i is far less on an American income than the similar payments are in Britain, far closer to subsistance rather than actually having enough money to be relatively comfortable. More than that however, if a developer is indeed devoting their time to game programming rather than say doing a job for cash, then I think it's more than reasonable for them to ask for support and donations, heck I've come across many full time developers of mmorpgs who say quite openly "If people don't donate, I'll need to get work another way and thus won't be able to work on the game"
Improbable island even has a monthly donation counter, which dictates exactly how much per month the developer needs for his wrent and food, and once the counter gets more than that, everyone on the game server gets a bonus.
Of course, I'm not sure how well that sort of proposition would work for someone developing an offline game rat her than continually working on a mmorpg, sinse manifestly in a mmorpg if there are donation bennifits the point is to keep those bennifits going, but I do think it is legitimate if indeed the developer is telling the truth, ---- heck isn't that supposed to be one of the aspects of almighty capitalism? at least developers who say so are being honest.
Of course arguements developers make in favour of donation are second only to their work, and that! is the thing that is going to convince people to donate, sinse whether it's for more sounds or development tools or server space, or heck just buying lots of coffee, if a person likes a developer's work they'll donate, (indeed I've done this myself), if not, not.
This is why if anyone wishes to donate I would recommend they do so, even though I'd myself like to see a little more care given to game mechanics and design before I would be convinced to donate.
Btw, to get an idea of what I'm talking abut by mechanics and design, look at Blind swordsman. You couldn't imagine a more simplistic game, yet, the judgement, learning and timing necessary are so well calculated that the player is absolutely engaged with the action. You can't just hammer buttons at all, you don't just hear a sound and react, andyou need to think about the situation as much as you need to have reflexes, for example when the archers come closer the second time around, you need to wait slightly less time before parrying their arrows, and of course the warlock is an exercise in learning.
Though the game has many sounds, it's never confusing, and alwyas clear what you need to do, it's just the execution that mattered.
On that basis if Evildog asked for donations I'd be glad to contribute.
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