Is it possible to earn some money with this type of game?

[Jov3m_Po3t3r0]

I'm low on money, and I have a little knowledge with 3d, so I'm wanting to develop a simple 3d game, with less focus on programming and more focus on visuals, and then promote the game on patreon...

So if you could write what is your favorite game and why you like it it would help me to know what kind of game i focus on develop.

1*What's your favorite game?

2*Which art style do you prefer?

3*What kind of game genre is your prefer?

4*what would you like to see in a 3d game?

5*What do you not like about a game?

should I worry about royalties?

 

[Synx]

Maybe you should look into how much time and effort it takes to create a game before commiting to it. If your whole motivation is to make some money, my advice is to just look for a job. It takes months before you have something releasable, and then it's still a massive gamble if people are interested in it.

 

[Winterfire]

Maybe you should look into how much time and effort it takes to create a game before commiting to it. If your whole motivation is to make some money, my advice is to just look for a job. It takes months before you have something releasable, and then it's still a massive gamble if people are interested in it.

+1

You are not going to make any money, just get a real job.

 

[Jov3m_Po3t3r0]

I have a job but it pays little, I wouldn't do something very difficult, it would just be to see if there is any monetary return

 

[Hagatagar]

Yes, it is possible to earn some money (and I mean that quite literally). Don't expect much if you aren't commited to work hard on your game (learning how to do it, programming it and maintaining it, as well as the communication with your possible player base).

Just ask yourself a simple question: Would you pay anything for a "not very difficult (to make)" "simple 3D" game that you are able to develop with your current knowledge and the amount of work you are willing to put into that project?

 

[Count Morado]

I have a job but it pays little, I wouldn't do something very difficult, it would just be to see if there is any monetary return

You should find a part-time job doing something else other than trying to make money developing a game for wankers.

It seems like this kind of thread is made every single day. It's so easy to find stats to let you know that making money to even offset costs -- even a little bit -- isn't going to happen for most developers here

If you're looking at creating a game because you think it's a way to earn a living - don't bother (yes there are exceptions, but more than half of adult game creators on Patreon bring in less than $20 per month from their subscribers).

If you're looking to make something you would enjoy playing and have a vision for a good storyline - don't hesitate.

 

[Winterfire]

I have a job but it pays little, I wouldn't do something very difficult, it would just be to see if there is any monetary return

If you are financially stable (You are not about to lose your home or starving) then it changes everything.
In this case, you have a lot to learn before you can start publishing stuff, and even then you must be ready to make stuff while earning nothing or almost nothing.
As an example, I finished my first game with a single patron (1 dollar).

Everyone made a good point, but if you still want to give it a shot (and please do only if you are financially stable) without contributing to the abandoned pile of games, start with a helpful topic: How to write a Game Design Document.
All gaym devs start or should start from here, research what a "Game Design Document" is on google, and examples.
Turn your idea (while brainstorming for new ones) into an easy to read document, then all the other steps will be easier.
Just be warned, keep your first game reaaaally simple. Having "Cryengine" in that list is not really promising.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Just be warned, keep your first game reaaaally simple.

Unless he have previous experience in the field, it's probably the most important advice one can give him. And I would add that this simplicity should also apply to the choice of the game engine.

it would be ridiculous to pass a full year building the core of your future real time 3D game (accordingly to the listed engines), just to discover, when you finally release your first demo, that your writing suck as hell and everyone believe that you are probably not more than 8yo. Or that you totally lack of imagination and made the most boring game ever.

While you had only one patron when you finished Sexymom Adventures, passing the "WTF with the art" moment, you got relatively positive comments if I remember correctly. And it's this feedback, positive or negative, that matters at first. Before you starts something ambitious, you should know what are your strength and, more important, what are your weakness.
And what's better for this than a small game without real ambition ? Instead of eternal debates around the way you did this/that, or about this particular game mechanism, people will talk about your skills. There's nothing else to talk about anyway.

 

[Winterfire]

Unless he have previous experience in the field, it's probably the most important advice one can give him. And I would add that this simplicity should also apply to the choice of the game engine.

it would be ridiculous to pass a full year building the core of your future real time 3D game (accordingly to the listed engines), just to discover, when you finally release your first demo, that your writing suck as hell and everyone believe that you are probably not more than 8yo. Or that you totally lack of imagination and made the most boring game ever.

While you had only one patron when you finished Sexymom Adventures, passing the "WTF with the art" moment, you got relatively positive comments if I remember correctly. And it's this feedback, positive or negative, that matters at first. Before you starts something ambitious, you should know what are your strength and, more important, what are your weakness.
And what's better for this than a small game without real ambition ? Instead of eternal debates around the way you did this/that, or about this particular game mechanism, people will talk about your skills. There's nothing else to talk about anyway.

+1

Made 3 more smol games (from 1 to 2 hours) before making my longest game to date (25h), there's also to say that some ideas work well only if the gameplay is short.
Not all games need to be long, and if you artificially lengthen a game, it'll become less fun.

 

[Tompte]

Have you ever made a game before? If not, you need to take a step back and maybe learn a thing or two before starting any money making schemes.

You could always promise the sky and monetize that promise on Patreon, but I don't think that's very ethical and people aren't as gullible as they used to be. At the end of the day, people are going to expect something in return for what they're giving you.

 

[anne O'nymous]

Not all games need to be long, and if you artificially lengthen a game, it'll become less fun.

The same apply for the pre rendered 3D Vs real time 3D.

Unless you give the control of the camera, and possibly the action, to the player during the sex scene, if your game don't have a real free roaming and sandbox mechanism letting you repeat the lewd parts as much as you want, there's no real interest to have real time 3D.
The engine would then be used for nothing more than present statics images to the player. And it will not be more fun because it's real time 3D, while it can be worse looking because of this if you aren't good enough to configure the rendering part of the engine.

And even while using real time 3D, you don't necessarily need to be ambitious. The games made by Mike Velesk are probably the best proof of that. Small real time 3D games that aren't at all pretentious (he use a homemade engine), yet really successful.
This by opposition to games more ambitious like Vikings Daughter, and so many others, that generally progress really slowly, when they aren't just abandoned after one or two updates. There's really few that survive the time passing, The Twist by example. But while they are a bit more ambitious than Mike Velesk's games, they tend to stay on the interactive VN side ; just using the real time 3D part to add more sandox content and/or make them a bit more interactive than with pre rendered 3D.

 

[KiaAzad]

Of course it is possible to make some money making this kind of games. But you have to consider the fact that: A game's popularity and success depends on many factors, that the art is just one of them.
Good writing, enjoyable gameplay, sound, music and relentless advertising all affect your success.

 

[Jov3m_Po3t3r0]

Thanks for the feedback, I didn't expect so many comments

actually i don't live in the united states and the average monthly salary in my country is around 250 dollars and it's barely enough to pay the bills, so any money raised on patreon is considerable, i would use this project as a learning experience.

I'm thinking of doing something that is basically walking and watching animations, with interaction points for the character, the game would be very short.

 

[Jov3m_Po3t3r0]

If you are financially stable (You are not about to lose your home or starving) then it changes everything.
In this case, you have a lot to learn before you can start publishing stuff, and even then you must be ready to make stuff while earning nothing or almost nothing.
As an example, I finished my first game with a single patron (1 dollar).

Everyone made a good point, but if you still want to give it a shot (and please do only if you are financially stable) without contributing to the abandoned pile of games, start with a helpful topic: How to write a Game Design Document.
All gaym devs start or should start from here, research what a "Game Design Document" is on google, and examples.
Turn your idea (while brainstorming for new ones) into an easy to read document, then all the other steps will be easier.
Just be warned, keep your first game reaaaally simple. Having "Cryengine" in that list is not really promising.

yes I'm financially stable, I'm going to try to make it small in scope and work two hours a day on this project over the course of a month or two, and show you guys

 

[baka]

all those questions are useless. why?
because the most important is "MOTIVATION"
that u will need for months if not years.
and how to have such strong "MOTIVATION"?
yeah, its by creating something "YOU" like.

so, look around a engine that is easy to use, learn it and start working.
when u have something to show. release and wait for feedback.

 

[XforU]

Took me around 8-9 months to make any money from my game.
If you're only doing it for the money I'd honestly advise you to do something else.
It's a fun hobby and you might make some money at some point.
Unreal engine is expensive af btw.
Good luck!

 

[coffeeaddicted]

I have a job but it pays little, I wouldn't do something very difficult, it would just be to see if there is any monetary return

It's a gamble.
There is a huge competition out there. You are not alone.
Most people that are making games do it a labor of love. If there is money coming along, it's nice.
But to start a game with money in mind is the wrong approach.
No matter how simple you can keep things, it's still a lot of work. If you do it alone, you do the technical, story aspect of the game.
Assuming you are willing to spend all day on making a game, you have to learn how to use DAZ (if that is what you had in mind) and get good at it.
Then the story. There are legions of games that have the same story. So how would yours be? More interesting? Different take?
And then the coding. Which game engine you want to use? RenPy is pretty popular. But you still have to learn how to code it.
Kinetic novels are the easiest to make. Choices are more difficult.
All in all, i think there is no equation game = money. If you can garner fans, and these fans are willing to donate, that's great. But it will be a long road before any money comes in.
You can check games that are fresh and check their income.

Personally, if you learn a trade you probably make more money and more importantly, it will be more reliable.

But there is nothing wrong to try. I just wouldn't expect to being rich by making a game.

 

[coffeeaddicted]

Not all games need to be long, and if you artificially lengthen a game, it'll become less fun.

I wish some devs would take that to heart.

 

[GNVE]

According to writer Joseph Epstein 81% of Americans think they have a book in them. A survey found that 15% of Americans actually started one and 6% got about half-way. Only 3% finish it and .6% see their book actually published (which does not mean make any money on it). These numbers I found with two minutes of googling so I don't know how true they are. Being a game dev is probably the modern day equivalent of this.
So even before thinking about making money even when just talking about finishing the game the odds are against you.
Now let's talk about making money. apparently only one in five games hitting store shelves make money. But this is bigger budget games. We are more comparable with the indie scene or even worse the influencer scene.
When YouTube changed their monetization rules from needing to earn at least one dollar to having a minimal channel size they cut off more than 90% (98% I believe but can't find the percentage anymore) of creators from monetization. A move they were criticized for but which I can understand. It saves a lot of headaches only having to deal with 1000's of monetized creators rather than hundreds of thousands.
Doing something creative is a hobby until it isn't. Doing it so you can make money is a terrible idea. There are too many people working in this space and the amount of money in this scene is finite. Chances of you getting a foothold are small. It is great to look at the ones who succeeded and think it is easy money. Trouble is that for every one that succeeds dozens or hundreds must fail. Yes you can make tens of thousands a month making games like this but you most likely make none.

 

[coffeeaddicted]

According to writer Joseph Epstein 81% of Americans think they have a book in them. A survey found that 15% of Americans actually started one and 6% got about half-way. Only 3% finish it and .6% see their book actually published (which does not mean make any money on it). These numbers I found with two minutes of googling so I don't know how true they are. Being a game dev is probably the modern day equivalent of this.
So even before thinking about making money even when just talking about finishing the game the odds are against you.
Now let's talk about making money. apparently only one in five games hitting store shelves make money. But this is bigger budget games. We are more comparable with the indie scene or even worse the influencer scene.
When YouTube changed their monetization rules from needing to earn at least one dollar to having a minimal channel size they cut off more than 90% (98% I believe but can't find the percentage anymore) of creators from monetization. A move they were criticized for but which I can understand. It saves a lot of headaches only having to deal with 1000's of monetized creators rather than hundreds of thousands.
Doing something creative is a hobby until it isn't. Doing it so you can make money is a terrible idea. There are too many people working in this space and the amount of money in this scene is finite. Chances of you getting a foothold are small. It is great to look at the ones who succeeded and think it is easy money. Trouble is that for every one that succeeds dozens or hundreds must fail. Yes you can make tens of thousands a month making games like this but you most likely make none.

This is the crux isn't it.
What the definition of making money? Making a little or making enough for the job someone has or making a ton of money.
Some creators are truly blessed as they make a ton of money. Some even gave up their college degree supposedly.

That's why it's already stupid to put money into the equation.
Some games, like AWAM perhaps got lucky or were there at the right time.
I am sure there are other games like it on this site.
Other make no money or small amounts. Probably 90% of game creators make no money.

And then the story. This is could be ok but in all honesty i never became the second King. I have ideas but how to tell those ideas is the really really hard part. Triggering emotions, make people slip into the protagonist and feel empathy is so hard.
It sound great on paper but in reality it mostly sucks.

What i am writing was already said before by others but it make me aware of my own short comings. Even though i licked blood and wanted nothing more than to make my own game.
Perhaps as a hobby with no money return but slow and long cycles. You have a life after all.

But at the same time i am not a fan of Patreon. It's a great platform but for games i always think that other games (indi) getting usually no funds but charge an amount at the release.
Others release it in alpha as a pre-release. Lot's of games don't make it, some few do.
But i am not in it for giving my money on a monthly basis to some dude. Even though it maybe a game i like. I rather would pay for price of the game.
Same goes for YouTube creators.
There are only a small amount of channels where i would say they are actually good. The rest is just not good.

For a while i followed channels like LGR or the 8-bit guy. Because i am sooo nostalgic. But these people, even considering that they put a lot of time in this, making really a good living with their channel. So i am not sure if i should feel bad about myself or not. On the other hand they also get a cut from the commercials i have to endure.

That's why everyone things i wanna be an influencer. Make it to the top, be a big earner. But that's just not how it works (imho).

As for our games on this side. The majority can only played really once. There isn't a reason to play them twice. I am at the point where i got really bored with most of them. Even the big titles. Perhaps that's my state of mind.

So now i just play with DAZ a little and being happy.

I still like to draw and even knowing i am not great, it brings me a lot of joy.