Block Party (Terrain Ex. Pg.124 - 2Million Blocks)

Author Topic: Block Party (Terrain Ex. Pg.124 - 2Million Blocks)  (Read 232173 times)

I mean from my experience with gamedev doing Land of Dran as well as other projects, the amount of interest/praise is a big factor in whether or not I actually finish the project.
That said, I agree with the rest. I've said it before as have others, that this thread has a ratio of suggestions to updates of like 20:1.

But see that's the thing, both projects are deceptively massive, and there will be points in which interest dies out. Everyone involved in the project will have gauged motivation in the project by the amount of interest in the project by people not familiar with the process of development, and then it will become incredibly painful to continue.

The best thing to do for projects like this is assemble a team, start development and don't start advertising it until you have a playable alpha. I'm being honest here, I really don't expect this to ever get finished because I've learned never to get my hopes up for ambitious fan projects.

But see that's the thing, both projects are deceptively massive, and there will be points in which interest dies out. Everyone involved in the project will have gauged motivation in the project by the amount of interest in the project by people not familiar with the process of development, and then it will become incredibly painful to continue.

The best thing to do for projects like this is assemble a team, start development and don't start advertising it until you have a playable alpha. I'm being honest here, I really don't expect this to ever get finished because I've learned never to get my hopes up for ambitious fan projects.
That was sort of my strategy though.
My game might look pretty old, but I've actually hosted demos where people can come in and join.
Tomorrow I hope to have a public building server where people can build together and save the final build.

I've been through this before. I know that it's basically a race to get a playable game before your interest dies out. 

But see that's the thing, both projects are deceptively massive, and there will be points in which interest dies out. Everyone involved in the project will have gauged motivation in the project by the amount of interest in the project by people not familiar with the process of development, and then it will become incredibly painful to continue.

The best thing to do for projects like this is assemble a team, start development and don't start advertising it until you have a playable alpha. I'm being honest here, I really don't expect this to ever get finished because I've learned never to get my hopes up for ambitious fan projects.
Dren is going to have a playable alpha soon.

All the pats on the back you get for giving it a shot will kill off any long-term motivation to get this done, and it seems based on the ambitious ideas you keep tossing around implies that you aren't fully aware of just what kind of undertaking this project will develop into.
both projects are deceptively massive, and there will be points in which interest dies out. Everyone involved in the project will have gauged motivation in the project by the amount of interest in the project by people not familiar with the process of development, and then it will become incredibly painful to continue.
I really don't expect this to ever get finished because I've learned never to get my hopes up for ambitious fan projects.
I really wish people would stop saying stuff like this all the time. I can't speak for Ghost or anyone else but, starting from the beginning,

All the "pats on the back", those arn't killing off motivation, that's what's generating the motivation. If nobody cared either way if i do this or not, i probably would loose interest, but it's the hype and positive responses as well as community interaction and suggestions that make me want to keep going in the first place.

For the millionth time we are fully aware of the massive nature of the project at hand, these system concepts we're throwing around, nobody said we would have them in by tomorrow, these are just concepts and ideas we're playing with while we get the base of the game in place. If i had a nickel for every time someone told me that i have no idea what i'm doing, i have no idea how much more there is to game design then i think there is, and that this project is going to take WAY more time and effort and smarts then i ever anticipated, I would be rolling in nickles!
I'm not an idiot. I knew exactly what i was getting into, literally years before i started, which is why i didn't even try for years after i decided i wanted to do it. Just because i'm thinking about things i want to do in the distant future, isn't in any way related to my thoughts or feelings on how soon or easily i'm going to be able to implement those systems.

Now that I've teamed up with [ASF]Ghost, the possibility of success is squared, solo development is much harder then team development, you get burned out. There's always a possibility of failure, and there is always a stage of development that makes you not want to work on the game anymore, its called mid-development, where all the cool new features are added and it's about getting things working properly together and bug free, it sucks and its very tedious and monotonous, its up to the developers powering through to the other side, and i promise to do exactly that. I mean, for goodness sake, have a sliver of faith in me instead of automatically assuming i have no idea what i'm doing all the time.

And if they can make something to support blockland addons into that would be great. although i'm expecting a big fat "no" from the developers and how hard would it be to make it. (engines differences being one of the reasons.)
Actually that's something that i do personally want, it could be used for tools and BLG and whatnot, but it would be more for legacy maps, bricks, vehicles, weapons, perhaps player types, that sort of thing.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2017, 05:16:20 PM by Yin Yang »

it's the hype and positive responses as well as community interaction and suggestions that make me want to keep going in the first place.

I hope you have a plan for when the hype and responses stop, because they will eventually stop.

I'm not wrong in what I say, I've seen many a fan projects fizzle out because motivation is a fleeting thing for projects heavily documented out in the open like this.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2017, 04:59:12 PM by IkeTheGeneric »

I hope you have a plan for when the hype and responses stop, because they will eventually stop.
Unless we remain active and open with development, releasing status updates often, even releasing playable demos when applicable.
In otherwords, we have plans to keep the hype, we're not just going to sit around, not update anyone on anything, and let it die.

As the hype you think does you so much good snowballs out of control once some results are shown, you're going to be more invested in curating that community feedback than actually developing your game, and you will find trying to please people as opposed to getting the boring stuff done first is completely unsustainable

Everyone having their hand in the pie this early in development does you no good. People who have no idea how to actually develop a game will most likely have no workable insight into how to develop your game. I want nothing more for you to prove me wrong, but I've seen many a fan games burn out in this fashion.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2017, 05:15:21 PM by IkeTheGeneric »

As the hype you think does you so much good snowballs out of control once some results are shown, you're going to be more invested in curating that community feedback than actually developing your game, and you will find trying to please people as opposed to getting the boring stuff done first is completely unsustainable

Everyone having their hand in the pie this early in development does you no good. People who have no idea how to actually develop a game will most likely have no workable insight into how to develop your game. I want nothing more for you to prove me wrong, but I've seen many a fan games burn out in this fashion.

I admit I got caught up in the whole thing with the playertype argument (because I'm an opinionated starfish) and node event system (mostly because that kind of thing is really interesting to me), but Ike is right; we're definitely getting too many cooks in a game that's still not even in its infancy yet.

Personally I think that you should work on the game some more before worrying about recruiting others to help you.  I think it would be beneficial to have a solid product and a clearer vision for your game before you start trying to get community involvement.

I do think community feedback is important and you should absolutely take it into consideration, but at this stage in development I think it would be better if you were the only one actually developing the game right now.  Still take in community feedback, but having too many hands in the actual development is just a recipe for disaster.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2017, 05:35:56 PM by Electrk² »

Community feedback is useful on determining whether or not what you've made is good, not determining what to make. It's true that people know how to enjoy your game better than you, but they have absolutely no idea how to make your game and should usually not be allowed to influence the direction of a project's development unless there's beyond a doubt of reason their advice is good advice.

Basically, projects like this are a choose-your-own adventure for people spectating as you try your damndest to react appropriately to their suggestions and ideas to build up the hype you think you need to continue.

That was sort of my strategy though.
My game might look pretty old, but I've actually hosted demos where people can come in and join.
Tomorrow I hope to have a public building server where people can build together and save the final build.

I've been through this before. I know that it's basically a race to get a playable game before your interest dies out.  
you should name yours USSR after the blockland clan


yes i too want to know the status of this development

yes i too want to know the status of this development
As for now, if you look in the discord's blog channel you can see something:

Quote from: TennoHack (dated 06/11/2017,Discord)
Ghost is currently converting his project to C# so that we can have one universal language the game works off of. Meanwhile i'm going to start working on a new ghost brick system soon. Since I'm working with perfect cubes instead of bricks with 3D studs, this should go much faster.
« Last Edit: November 21, 2017, 05:12:22 AM by Razgriz »

As for now, if you look in the discord's blog channel you can see something:


i'm not in the discord but thanks

Thanks for bumping the topic =) I'll post a quick update and recap of recent progress:

  • TennoHack and I are now developing this game together, and we created a Discord server for it (see O.P).
  • We are not working exclusively in C#.
  • Tenno is currently working on the brick system / ghost bricks.
  • I'm reworking how the avatar functions, so it'll be able to perform multiple animations / actions at once. It now features sound effects and improved movement control.
  • Soon I'll start work on models for tools and items.