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Author Topic: Video Game Dev Ramblings.  (Read 2430 times)

Offline Grutch

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Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« on: August 10, 2018, 04:08:44 PM »
Gankom requested this thread so I obliged.


Any webvlogging, blogger, gamer news outsider who reports on studios like Bungie, Treyarch, Blizzard, etc who are not physically there working get about 90% of it wrong.  The shit I hear about what went wrong or right with the development of Destiny is so laughably wrong I can barely stomach reading it. Speaking of Bungie, they're in trouble.  Destiny is pretty much dead, and the company has to do something different or die.  It's one of the most expensive developers in existence and Destiny2 was a massive loss.  The attempt at revitalizing Destiny has not helped, I imagine they're probably going to have to shift gears or Activision will drop them. 

Bungie is not the same company it was from the Halo Years.  Most of the old guard are gone and a good collective of them are working in an Indy startup. I know more than I'm saying but I'm not sure what I can disclose in public so keeping it shrouded a bit. 

If you have any game dev industry questions, I'm happy to chime in.  At the moment I'm working for an Indy Developer Proletariat Inc out of Boston on a new stylized battle royale Spellcaster game called Spellbreak.  If any of you want to get in on playtesting, send me a PM. 

Offline Gankom

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2018, 06:28:39 PM »
Quote
Bungie is not the same company it was from the Halo Years.  Most of the old guard are gone and a good collective of them are working in an Indy startup. I know more than I'm saying but I'm not sure what I can disclose in public so keeping it shrouded a bit.

I've always wondered about this part. Some studios get big and do amazing stuff, but I always wondered how long the talent actually stays around. It must be like other business where the talent is always rotating through right? People are always going to be coming and going, starting their own attempts or moving to better pastures. So for some of the big studios it's gotta be totally different crews from one project to the other I figure. How long would a particular dev actually stay with a given company? A couple of years? A Decade?

I knew Bungie was hurting, although I never really knew just how big a lost Destiny 2 was. I was a huge halo fan but I never really got into Destiny at all. I think it came out at a bad time for me to get into any video game. To much work, not enough free time to really devote to a big game.


Offline Grutch

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2018, 07:17:45 PM »
That's a difficult question Gankom. 

I stayed at Treyarch for nearly 8 years because the pay, benefits, education and interest in projects kept me engaged. The downside is the crunch requirements were insane. The birth of my daughter had me seeking better options with a work/life balance. Ever since I have been short term at most studios and moving around the country. That's just my story though, I know some people who have been in once studio for their entire career. It's not really tied to talent either, I have worked with incredible people that get laid off because somebody didn't like them, etc.

As far as Bungie goes specifically the culture and environment of the studio made it one of the best places to work in the industry. But due to some upper level changes in management which affected the culture, a lot of long time employees decided to pick up and leave. For some of those guys, they're just bored with making a Halo Style game and want to do something different.

Offline Brad

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2018, 09:47:07 PM »
Is Jessica Price a victim of the patriarchy or a raging lunatic SJW?

Offline Gankom

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #4 on: August 10, 2018, 11:51:17 PM »
Can we pick none of the above?

@Grutch. That all makes sense. Sounds a lot like most creative places that has talent doing things like that. People want to grow, or move on with life, while others might be happy where they are or already moving up there. I can totally understand people wanting to switch and not work on the same style of game all the time.

What part of the design phase do you do Grutch? A little bit of everything? Specializing in a specific part? The very few people I know who do any kind of game design are all little indy guys with one person studios.

Offline Finlay

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #5 on: August 11, 2018, 11:09:35 AM »
Destiny 2 was fucking gash
I don't care about the rules.

Pass the machete.

Offline BAWTRM

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #6 on: August 13, 2018, 10:58:36 AM »
I noticed Destiny 2 is pumping out commercials like mad these past few days. So that's really a last ditch effort to revitalize the player base? (not that the commercials got me interested, though they make the game look a lot deeper than it is afaik)
"...granted it isn't as retarded as having a lady popping out of your head holding a cup while humping a boar with a sword through its back, but there can only be one Brettonia."

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Offline Mathi Alfblut

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #7 on: August 20, 2018, 08:26:38 AM »
I always if the long development times do not collide with the constant increase in performance of hardware and Microsoft changing Windows all the time?
Oh, and remember GW made it personal, not you!

Offline patsy02

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #8 on: August 20, 2018, 10:54:42 AM »
Destiny 2 was fucking gash
What's wrong with it compared to the old one? I never played either.

Grutch: Why make Destiny 2 instead of just making content for D1? Is it set in a different time in-game?
I agree with the inhumane treatment of animals.

Offline Finlay

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #9 on: August 20, 2018, 08:19:21 PM »
they lowered movement speed, lowered ability recharge rate, changed the loot system, changed the weapon system, changed the whole pvp system and made the weapons less good than in d1, so (for me) it was just fundmentally less fun to play.
I don't care about the rules.

Pass the machete.

Offline patsy02

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #10 on: August 21, 2018, 09:35:49 AM »
Sounds like a cunning ploy to increase grind times.
I agree with the inhumane treatment of animals.

Offline Sig

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #11 on: August 21, 2018, 12:47:45 PM »
I didn't really feel a grind in Destiny 1, especially after they fixed the loot cave early on. It was super-lite for an mmo, max raid size was 6 and very accessible (at least the first few, until I stopped playing)

Offline Finlay

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2018, 04:30:54 PM »
Sounds like a cunning ploy to increase grind times.
"cunning"
I don't care about the rules.

Pass the machete.

Offline patsy02

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #13 on: August 24, 2018, 06:53:50 PM »
Sorry, I meant the opposite of cunning.
I agree with the inhumane treatment of animals.

Offline Feanor Fire Heart

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #14 on: August 24, 2018, 06:56:36 PM »
Sorry, I meant the opposite of cunning.
Jayne Cobb?
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Offline Finlay

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Re: Video Game Dev Ramblings.
« Reply #15 on: August 28, 2018, 12:00:13 PM »
I just made that joke as it was too obvious to not make, but they just changed the core gameplay a lot, more than the grind really. I played/ground D1 way more than D2 because I just didn't enjoy it as much.

there were points early in d1 where you could only reach max level by getting certain armour drops from the raid. Now in d2 you can get max level by getting "powerful" rewards for 6 or 7 different things a week, but they slowed the grind by capping how much you could go up a week.
so it's now guaranteed you wont get stuck trying to get one high light helmet, but it takes longer to reach to max.

They made loot simultaneously easier to get but also less meaningful. All the raid weapons suck and the raid armour doesnt matter for leveling, so you don't need to raid.
I don't care about the rules.

Pass the machete.