Programming is a lot of work

I have to take my hat off to all of the programmers out there who make things like the internet and computers possible.  Programming is fairly challenging and I think under appreciated work.  I have been doing homework assignments for simple things like minor calculations, and realizing just how much math and programming it takes just to do simple things like graphics and game physics is pretty mind boggling.  I now understand a little better why people say to start out with a small project and forget the big ambitious plans.  I still want to complete this goal, but after over a month of school I feel like I'm not any closer to realizing this project.  I know that I will need to take years to get it right, but I need to do some serious planning way above and beyond where I'm at now.  On the plus side I am getting valuable information on how to create complex programs.  I'm going to be pretty busy with homework in the mean time, so for the few followers I have just know that I may have some pretty long breaks between posts.

Financial argument for Free to Play games

It was pointed out that as an aspiring game developer one has to be able to articulate to potential investors how the investment in a game will not be the equivalent of throwing money away.  Many people in control of money may not be familiar with the world of video games and the very idea of "free to play" sounds as though a game will not generate income in any way.  So I'm going to create an argument for free to play models and why someone should invest in them.

#1 Is audience.  If someone has to pay up front for a product, especially an unknown product, they will be reluctant because it creates a commitment to that product.  If people are able to try a game for free then that sense of commitment is not there, and so there will be a greater willingness to try it out at the very least.  This will mean that the initial audience will be much greater than before, and let's face it without an audience a game will make no money.

#2 Is micro transactions. This means that people can pay real money for items or services in the game that will make the playing experience much more enjoyable.  In many games this comes in the form of premium memberships, aesthetic upgrades for ones avatar or in game property, better or unique game items which will give an edge over the competition, etc....  This means that while a game is free to play for everyone, those who pay will progress faster or will spend less time doing menial or boring tasks which is often referred to as "grinding".

#3 Is that a game need not remain free forever.  Commonly games will build up a following of players during a free to play time period when the game is stable and playable but not finished, which is often referred to as the beta period.  During this time players get used to the game and decide whether or not to buy the game once the "beta" period is over.  Often these periods will not include the entire game and often are equated to a demo or a sneak peak of the game.  This is most effective with large scale AAA titles, meaning that there has been millions of dollars and hundreds of man hours from a large team of developers invested into the project.  This also only works if effective marketing strategies have been put into place.  For the sake of my game argument #3 will not really be applicable.

#4 Is that if players truly enjoy a game they will do what they can to ensure it's success.  There have been many games that have been started through the gaming community's support effort with tools like kickstarter.  Some games have been perpetuated by community support long after the typical shelf life of the game, and with the internet becoming as large as it is specialized communities are popping up all over the place.  If one is able to cater to one such community and gain their respect there can be a huge response in the way of financial support.

I'll have to expand on these arguments and think of others as I go along.

Global pros and cons

In looking at the video game market I have come to realize that this market is pretty much a global marketplace now.  Game developers are able to create games from anywhere and put them out for anyone with internet access to consume.  This is a good thing as game developers potentially have a huge audience, but it also means that there is global competition.  There is also the challenge of providing ones game in what could possibly be a plethora of languages.

I have been thinking a bit about why companies have such long and involved terms of use and privacy policies that users must accept before they are able to use products, and I think that the competition has a big part to play in that.  Creating code for games is a long and very involved process, and if someone were to reverse engineer or in essence steal that code then all of the work that gets put into it may not be compensated.  Because there is no universal law in regards to copyright despite many attempts by multiple countries to create such a law, there is really no way to protect oneself from pirating and copycats in countries that have no laws or little to no enforcement of said laws.  Even in the US where they are taking the whole copyright issue very seriously it is the responsibility of the copyright holder to bring infractions to the attention of law enforcement.

All that being said it is difficult to learn how to program when everyone is safeguarding their code in every way possible.  The other problem is that by the time I get the know how to complete a game technology may be way ahead of my ability to code.  Hopefully the pros will outweigh the cons.

Gravel Block

Ok so here is another addition to the block family.  I was going around my neighborhood looking for things to take photos of because I can't afford to pay for other's intellectual property, and I thought that this worked out rather nicely.  Gravel won't be a whole lot different than dirt as far as functionality, but it will spice things up as far as graphics go.

Possible Money Model

Ok I know that I have expressed concerned about how to make enough money to support the game, and while it is definitely too soon to really talk about this I think I need to keep it in mind.  In analyzing other free to play games there are a few basic ways that they make money as I have mentioned before, through aesthetic upgrades and by bypassing the grind of the game to some point.  So here are a few ideas of how to implement these in this game.  One would be the ability to buy specialized recipes that are only available through the store.  This would include armor that has extra spikes or just a different design, but will not have any more advantage in the game, and weapons with a little twist to them.  There could also be designs for fancier vehicles which have a sleeker look than the in game models.  Because these are designs the owner could replicate and sell them to their hearts desire.

Another area that I'm guessing people would be willing to pay real money would be to buy additional credits and/or raw materials.  Collecting raw materials will be a rather time consuming process and the ability to buy a stack of say 100 of something may be worth it to some individuals.

I think the best way to accomplish this is to have a separate currency which will not reset with winning conditions.  For the sake of simplicity it could be called premium credits though the name could easily be changed at a later time.  This currency could then be used at the in game store to get the premium items.  There would have to be a disclaimer explaining that any normal credits or raw materials bought with premium credits are not refundable in the case that they were purchased immediately before winning conditions were met and everything is reset including credit amounts to 0 and inventories will be wiped clean.

It's important to note that I don't plan on making a lot of money from this, really I just hope that it would bring in enough to support the servers to make the game possible.

Object Oriented Programming Paradigm

So each of the programming languages I'm currently studying are focusing on what is known as the object oriented paradigm, which basically breaks the program down into manageable bites or "objects" that all work together.  In looking back at my design process so far I think I'm right on track for creating this type of program.  It will still take a very long time to develop by myself, but I feel much more confident in being able to do it eventually.  That being said going back to a traditional undergraduate learning environment has been pretty rough.  My memory isn't what it used to be for one, and I'm especially struggling in discrete math which is rather abstract in the first place and is calling on previous math experience which the last time I took a math class was 1995.  So while I recognize the challenge I'm not giving up.

Anyway what I will need to focus on is both data and behaviors that each aspect of the game will possess.  Players will be the most complicated object as many of the behaviors will be taking direct input from the user, but it also going to be the most important since a game with no players isn't really a game.  For now I will continue to work on simpler things like tri-blocks and simple structures.