"I can tell you “scope small uwu”, but if you don’t believe small games can be good in the first place, all you’ll hear is a homework assignment you have to do before you can make the games you really care about."
This is both an important insight and excellent writing.
The other outcome of this attitude of "make small games" is everyone just makes platformers.
Don't get me wrong, a platformer is a good small game project to start with, the game can be made with a level or two in a weekend using modern tools.
But even back on the NES we had way more than just platformers.
Sure, a beat-em-up is a bit more technically challenging than a platformer but I think cloning a Turtles game from the NES era is probably a fairly reasonable "small game" too.
Or cloning an RPG, or something like Fire Emblem, or Zelda.
It's weird how everyone wants to make a metroidvania but not many Zelda-likes are out there.
The other outcome of this attitude of "make small games" is everyone just makes platformers.
I don't think so. Remember the heyday of Flash games, Kongregate (before it was spammed by MMO clones or whatnot)? Many short & sweet games that weren't platformers. Some were puzzle-solving games, some were adventure games, some were escape-the-room, some were shooters, and yes, some were platformers.
I have the fondest memories from that era. I still remember the short and thoughtful "The Majesty of Colors".
absolutely nothing has replaced Macromedia Flash. The security problems seem quaint these days (to solve). Nothing since Flash has offered the creative or the technical a comprehensive suite for both proficiencies while having an extremely low barrier to entry (barring the cost of the Macromedia IDE)
Right, lots a simple physics games, I forgot about that. Launch the turtle, destroy the castle, etc. Also some relatively interesting wargames. And some interesting experimentation.
It was a golden age of enthusiast creators indeed. Browsing random games was very interesting (of course, lots of garbage, but Sturgeon's Law applies).
Comments
"I can tell you “scope small uwu”, but if you don’t believe small games can be good in the first place, all you’ll hear is a homework assignment you have to do before you can make the games you really care about."
This is both an important insight and excellent writing.
The other outcome of this attitude of "make small games" is everyone just makes platformers.
Don't get me wrong, a platformer is a good small game project to start with, the game can be made with a level or two in a weekend using modern tools.
But even back on the NES we had way more than just platformers.
Sure, a beat-em-up is a bit more technically challenging than a platformer but I think cloning a Turtles game from the NES era is probably a fairly reasonable "small game" too.
Or cloning an RPG, or something like Fire Emblem, or Zelda.
It's weird how everyone wants to make a metroidvania but not many Zelda-likes are out there.
I don't think so. Remember the heyday of Flash games, Kongregate (before it was spammed by MMO clones or whatnot)? Many short & sweet games that weren't platformers. Some were puzzle-solving games, some were adventure games, some were escape-the-room, some were shooters, and yes, some were platformers.
I have the fondest memories from that era. I still remember the short and thoughtful "The Majesty of Colors".
absolutely nothing has replaced Macromedia Flash. The security problems seem quaint these days (to solve). Nothing since Flash has offered the creative or the technical a comprehensive suite for both proficiencies while having an extremely low barrier to entry (barring the cost of the Macromedia IDE)
That's true, a lot of simple physics games like launching turtles and visual novel style games.
That era was definitely defined by enthusiast creators instead of the modern indie-studio-ification of even the simplest games.
Right, lots a simple physics games, I forgot about that. Launch the turtle, destroy the castle, etc. Also some relatively interesting wargames. And some interesting experimentation.
It was a golden age of enthusiast creators indeed. Browsing random games was very interesting (of course, lots of garbage, but Sturgeon's Law applies).
Is itch.io sort of like that nowadays?