Patreon games are developing too slow
- Thread starter Deleted member 769954
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- Apr 30, 2017
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Yes, you are alone, like in everything else.
- May 10, 2018
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You are not alone, but it really differs from dev to dev.
If you really wanna meme about it, pic related is a game called Astrox Imperium, basically single player EVE. It's developed by 1 (one) guy.
Evochron series is also developed by 1 (one) guy. There be some real madmen out there when it comes to development speed and scope.
If you really wanna meme about it, pic related is a game called Astrox Imperium, basically single player EVE. It's developed by 1 (one) guy.
Evochron series is also developed by 1 (one) guy. There be some real madmen out there when it comes to development speed and scope.
As long as the creator and the patrons are on the same page as to how fast the game is developing, I'd think it's up to each individual to decide for themselves what they'd consider to be fast or slow.
Honestly I feel that all game development right now has slowed, not just Patreon's. Might have something to do with the pandemic. Several games which I think are promising has blown way pass their supposed due dates.
Too many projects promise, give you a taste, gain patreons, then get abandoned and never deliver. As long as people keep giving their money to the people behind such projects I doubt this changes. I agree that current progress in many projects is far too slow for the money people give their creators, especially when these creators get payed per month and not per release.
No matter the initial expectations, when a creator on patreon surpasses the goal they themseleves have set up by a magnitude of 2, 3 or even more times, I say there's no excuse in releases/updates continuing in the same slow pace, let alone slowing down as it happens to many, many patreon projects.
- May 10, 2018
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That and also some devs losing their staff to COVID like Ape Studios (rip).
On the other hand there's also certain devs accelerating their projects like some American ones who got hefty stimulus checks, gave a middle finger to their jobs, and now put full focus on their projects from home. It's a hit and miss when it comes to this topic.
- Aug 23, 2020
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I think in large part the problem is organization and not having an end date set. I think too many games have a story that is too complicated, and a scope that is too broad. Personally speaking, I think a first time developer is best off telling a very tight story that only lasts a few months. Build a fanbase, improve your skills, and don't over-commit. Once a developer gets some experience, I really think that most are best off with a development cycle of 30-60 days for each new update, and no more than 18 total updates. As a general rule, once a game begins to push 2 years of development I feel like they lose steam.
But yes, supporting games via Patreon is the wild west right now- you never really know what to expect.
But yes, supporting games via Patreon is the wild west right now- you never really know what to expect.
There is very much a limit to what money can do to speed. If your patrons don't want you to commission extra writing, for example, it doesn't really matter if you're making $5 a month or $50,000, writing speed will be capped at about the same either way.
Similarly, if the game uses 1 dedicated artist, it really doesn't matter what you pay them, you're not going to get more than a certain amount of art.
That said, yeah, if you're making more than the average doctor, I would certainly expect a level of dedication along those lines lol. One shitty update every 8 months isn't cutting it at that point, and I'm not by any means defending poor Patreon practices. If you want to make game development your job, treat it like a fucking job, not a malfunctioning ATM.
Yes, because Patreon do not develop games.
The games on Patreon are developed by game developers.
- Oct 20, 2020
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Yes, you would think there would be at least some devs (especially newbies) who create short AVNs to learn the skills as you said, but most of them seem to go for Tolstoy epics. If I were a new dev I would start out creating small (in scope and duration) games...the AVN equivalent of the short story. You're better able to learn the craft and experience all three stages of the game development process. There is less of a chance of getting burned out on a story and abandoning it when you keep it tight.
- Feb 23, 2019
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That's because most developers try to improve the quality of content from update to update, Even if it's a small improvement or adding something new to the game it will take more time for the release compared to previous updates.
For example if you played the latest episode of BaDik you will notice that in previous ep. brawler minigames it was just still images but from this new ep it will be animated and that's not it there's plenty more new things which has been added in the game apart from continuation of it's story. We might think that these are subtle changes but trust me it takes extra time to do it not to mention if the developer is new to something and wants to add in his game then he has to learn it from scratch which takes additional time. So let's not be ignorant about these things.
For example if you played the latest episode of BaDik you will notice that in previous ep. brawler minigames it was just still images but from this new ep it will be animated and that's not it there's plenty more new things which has been added in the game apart from continuation of it's story. We might think that these are subtle changes but trust me it takes extra time to do it not to mention if the developer is new to something and wants to add in his game then he has to learn it from scratch which takes additional time. So let's not be ignorant about these things.
That's a fair point many misses. Overall games quality improved over the years compared to 2016 etc., but most are still developed by single dev. Higher quality (which often overlooked) == longer development time.
- Aug 23, 2020
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I'm of the opinion that if you're a new developer, and you're making big strides in your abilities, you should do one/or both of the following:
1. Continue to work on your technique on the side as long as you can before you introduce it into the game so that you minimize any increase in development time.
2. If your game is short, perhaps wait to introduce the new technique until the next game.
Obviously a dev needs to approach this on a case by case basis. But I think there's something to be said for saving the reveal of your new and improved abilities for a new game.
- Apr 14, 2020
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- Nov 25, 2017
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Games made without patreon indeed tend to be faster, albeit it's true too that the failures and games that never see the sun are never seen and that they tend to be a smaller size compared to patreon ones (even more to see the returns they actually have to sell the product, so the motivation is much bigger compared to patreon on that point).
Going on topic I would say that there are many more novices in developing that start on patreon compared to solo game creators that try to sell a game and even more they can see shorter time returns when it's patreon.
To be fair most of the developers I think that they do their best, however some may do art, images and resources in a slower way than others or perhaps they have difficulties in other aspects out of inexperience, sometimes it can be solved by experience but that's about it.
However the biggest issue that many new developers tend to have is having 0 idea of what they are doing and even less planification about their game, that's why many new developers tend to remake/recode... cause they did many mistakes at an earlier point that later on have no idea how to solve it because of how chaotic it became.
I think a lot of devs bite off more then they can chew, and I feel some devs try to do a monthly update for patreon and that tends to cause problems in the future.
Like keeping that seemingly non problematic bad code that suddenly becomes a huge problem down the line that fucks you over, losing scope of your overall plan/story, not even having a plan/story so your winging it, or managing to keep up with the monthly updates for awhile but now your burned out.
Like keeping that seemingly non problematic bad code that suddenly becomes a huge problem down the line that fucks you over, losing scope of your overall plan/story, not even having a plan/story so your winging it, or managing to keep up with the monthly updates for awhile but now your burned out.
I feel like so many devs fuck themselves over this. That messy code isn't a issue right now, but a lot of times down the line it usually comes back to be a big issue.