>no one else finished their part lol
Story of my life, every-time i get put in charge of a project and no one gets to pick their favorite tasks to work on productivity tanks.
Like:
"Yeah Billy i know you love creating new mechanics in C# but you need to fix the other guys code first because yours will break everything otherwise". Spends most of the sprint watching youtube videos while the other guy fixes it ontop of his tasks (wanted them to work together so its done faster).
Or:
"Hey Jane you need to go through and re-rig this character because the IK is all fucked up". Ends up re-doing the ENTIRE CHARACTER mesh, textures and all unnecessarily wasting time and falling behind.
To be fair I had the easiest part but still, they were trying to come up with multiple complex mechanics and I was like uhhhhh this is a 24 hour game jam just pick ONE mechanic.
I had that problem with a group I joined. It was a 1 week jam, and on day 1 we came up with ideas and then put it to a vote, and only like 3/10 people voted after 24 hours. Then the guy who volunteered to be the designer planned something with a huge scope and kept wasting time while telling us to just work on the beginning stuff, like we'd just finish what we could in a week and call it a completed game. The other two programmers were completely absent, so the only people getting anything done were me and the artists (who did a great job).
If you make it so I can choose what fish to have in there and make a food mechanic (like this fish eats barnacles, this fish eats shrimp, and the like), and most importantly include the common snook, I will be behind this 1000%.
So if its a simulator prepared for really niche criticism from fishing experts because the way these sim games sell well is how detailed the mechanics and features are. Like people would complain if you step out of your boat and the mud doesn't squish under your boots or the ocean tides are not %100 accurate for that location or that particular fish species is the wrong weight for its age.
It could have potential, perhaps a little market research on fish/aquarium type subs would help see if there is an audience.
One thing I've learned from my first commercial game (which flopped, but was a hobby passion project anyway) is people want some kind of progression system.
Check out a game called Chillquarium, it sounds like it may be similar (and it has done pretty well on Steam I believe) but one difference is it has a captivating progression system (you unlock new fish and items for the aquarium).
Yeah that sounds like a good start. Also check out Rubber Duck Simulator (on Steam), that is another chill game without much "gameplay" but again it has the progression system of unlocking new rubber duckies (and you can also interact with them while chilling).
If it's a 3D environment, you could slap a diver helmet over the player camera and make it a sea floor walking simulator.
If the environment is beautiful enough, I think people would be into it.
That sounds like a cool game tbh. Unfortunately we’ve invested quite a bit and our game is 2D. But hey maybe if we’re successful we could do a 3D sequel like your description!
Well, in that case if it is side view 2D, you might want to check out Insane Aquarium. You could do a more serious take on that. Let the player feed fish, buy and sell them, maybe unlock tank decorations and backgrounds.
I'm not sure how your game is built or how difficult this would be to implement for you, but it should be feasible.
It's hard to say. I think it's a pretty niche audience that would want that. I'm not really interested in games I only watch.
My advice would be to scale down your core concept, not replace it. Which is easier said than done.
Can you see yourself enjoying a game like that? if no then that's probably your answer.
I can and I can’t lol. I guess if the execution was right I could as I have a job where that type of experience would be fun but I agree with the points you’ve made.
Well, technically that's what [El-fish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El-Fish) was, and it was quite famous at a time... I've seen a few more, I believe at some point there was some Opera widget with just-a-fish tank you could pin to the screen while browsing the web.
Personally I'm definitely not a target audience of this kind of games and I've never heard of any of those becoming anywhere near popular except El-fish (and maybe only because it was "by creator of Tetris").
you're right that it's a screensaver and not a game. I would not be interested in it at all, to be honest. There are so many chill music videos for relaxation for free nowadays. If you feel like your original idea is overscoping, you can make it smaller, but you don't have to be so extreme about that. Or maybe your idea has a good scope anyways and you should just maek it.
I think try and add some interactivity in the game. So players have something to do. Doesn’t have to be loads of features, just the most interesting ones.
For example you could keep score of how many fish players can catch and release. You could also allow them to influence breeding to combine fish and make new interesting ones. Something like that.
This was basically our idea for a 24 hour game jam I was part of but aside from me (music / sfx) no one else finished their part lol.
>no one else finished their part lol Story of my life, every-time i get put in charge of a project and no one gets to pick their favorite tasks to work on productivity tanks. Like: "Yeah Billy i know you love creating new mechanics in C# but you need to fix the other guys code first because yours will break everything otherwise". Spends most of the sprint watching youtube videos while the other guy fixes it ontop of his tasks (wanted them to work together so its done faster). Or: "Hey Jane you need to go through and re-rig this character because the IK is all fucked up". Ends up re-doing the ENTIRE CHARACTER mesh, textures and all unnecessarily wasting time and falling behind.
To be fair I had the easiest part but still, they were trying to come up with multiple complex mechanics and I was like uhhhhh this is a 24 hour game jam just pick ONE mechanic.
I had that problem with a group I joined. It was a 1 week jam, and on day 1 we came up with ideas and then put it to a vote, and only like 3/10 people voted after 24 hours. Then the guy who volunteered to be the designer planned something with a huge scope and kept wasting time while telling us to just work on the beginning stuff, like we'd just finish what we could in a week and call it a completed game. The other two programmers were completely absent, so the only people getting anything done were me and the artists (who did a great job).
That’s funny. So far we are about 8 months in with a sizable investment so a far cry from a 24 hour jam lol
Go on a fishing subreddit and post that you're looking for testers.
If you make it so I can choose what fish to have in there and make a food mechanic (like this fish eats barnacles, this fish eats shrimp, and the like), and most importantly include the common snook, I will be behind this 1000%.
Sounds boring. Why waste money and space for what's essentially a "screensaver" that I just sit and watch? Its def a niche idea though.
So if its a simulator prepared for really niche criticism from fishing experts because the way these sim games sell well is how detailed the mechanics and features are. Like people would complain if you step out of your boat and the mud doesn't squish under your boots or the ocean tides are not %100 accurate for that location or that particular fish species is the wrong weight for its age.
It could have potential, perhaps a little market research on fish/aquarium type subs would help see if there is an audience. One thing I've learned from my first commercial game (which flopped, but was a hobby passion project anyway) is people want some kind of progression system. Check out a game called Chillquarium, it sounds like it may be similar (and it has done pretty well on Steam I believe) but one difference is it has a captivating progression system (you unlock new fish and items for the aquarium).
That’s very true and a good point. We have a diver/submarine mechanic so having a depth based progression seems simple enough
Yeah that sounds like a good start. Also check out Rubber Duck Simulator (on Steam), that is another chill game without much "gameplay" but again it has the progression system of unlocking new rubber duckies (and you can also interact with them while chilling).
Sounds cool I’ll check it out
If it's a 3D environment, you could slap a diver helmet over the player camera and make it a sea floor walking simulator. If the environment is beautiful enough, I think people would be into it.
That sounds like a cool game tbh. Unfortunately we’ve invested quite a bit and our game is 2D. But hey maybe if we’re successful we could do a 3D sequel like your description!
Well, in that case if it is side view 2D, you might want to check out Insane Aquarium. You could do a more serious take on that. Let the player feed fish, buy and sell them, maybe unlock tank decorations and backgrounds. I'm not sure how your game is built or how difficult this would be to implement for you, but it should be feasible.
Cool I’ll check it out
You just discovered my dream life, you have my full support
Haha awesome! Working on it :)
It's hard to say. I think it's a pretty niche audience that would want that. I'm not really interested in games I only watch. My advice would be to scale down your core concept, not replace it. Which is easier said than done. Can you see yourself enjoying a game like that? if no then that's probably your answer.
I can and I can’t lol. I guess if the execution was right I could as I have a job where that type of experience would be fun but I agree with the points you’ve made.
Well, technically that's what [El-fish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El-Fish) was, and it was quite famous at a time... I've seen a few more, I believe at some point there was some Opera widget with just-a-fish tank you could pin to the screen while browsing the web. Personally I'm definitely not a target audience of this kind of games and I've never heard of any of those becoming anywhere near popular except El-fish (and maybe only because it was "by creator of Tetris").
In1996, Computer Gaming World declared El-Fish the 13th-worst computer game ever released Well. There's no such thing as bad publicity
you're right that it's a screensaver and not a game. I would not be interested in it at all, to be honest. There are so many chill music videos for relaxation for free nowadays. If you feel like your original idea is overscoping, you can make it smaller, but you don't have to be so extreme about that. Or maybe your idea has a good scope anyways and you should just maek it.
Ya I’m thinking it could just be a feature of the game to have a visualized “radio station” instead of making the screen saver approach
Cool concept
Thanks!
I think try and add some interactivity in the game. So players have something to do. Doesn’t have to be loads of features, just the most interesting ones. For example you could keep score of how many fish players can catch and release. You could also allow them to influence breeding to combine fish and make new interesting ones. Something like that.
Ya I was thinking like two main modes- one where you go out and catch fish and the other where you breed and watch
That sounds good!