Introversion software development time

[tangostorm]

I think that introversion spends too much time for developing its games. One year or more for 20/30mb games with decent graphics, simple gameplay and/or poor 3d engine is not justifiable. Do you agree?[/u]

[shinygerbil]

I couldn't do it any quicker, while still having to do basic things, e.g. earn money, live, and not have a huge studio of professional coders.

EDIT: Oh, and the size of the game means nothing. Introversion could easily have pumped the game full of hi-res textures and models and increased the size of the game tenfold - which, sadly, would suddenly make millions of people go "oh, it's 600mb, so it's obviously a full and polished game now, and it wasn't before. Clearly, it is worth it."

[trickfred]

I think that introversion spends too much time for developing its games. One year or more for 20/30mb games with decent graphics, simple gameplay and/or poor 3d engine is not justifiable. Do you agree?

I think you should go away, program a good game that is moderately successful internationally without a huge team of people, while also scrounging around to find money to pay for food, rent, etc. and then come back and think about what you just suggested.

And if you're right, well, we should see you back here in a few weeks.

[NeoThermic]

I think that introversion spends too much time for developing its games. One year or more for 20/30mb games with decent graphics, simple gameplay and/or poor 3d engine is not justifiable. Do you agree?

In a word, No. The size of the game and the simplicity of the gameplay does not relate to how good the game is. Darwinia, for example. While the idea is simple and the gameplay is also simple in terms of mechanics, the story and the graphics and the sound that back it up are the best parts of the game.

I wouldn't also say that Darwinia's 3D engine is poor. I would love to see just you write your own 3D engine.

Introversion take the time *required* for them to see their dreams in a game. This isn't a company that is driven from the start by a budget and a deadline, this is a compnay that is driven for the love of gaming and the only deadline is their dinner at night

NeoThermic

[shinygerbil]

the only deadline is their dinner at night

NeoThermic

This particular deadline is often pushed back to 3am in my case. And that's just from playing games such as Darwinia

The only games I'm really playing at the moment are ZangbandTK and some SNES games. None of which are >10mb. In fact, the only game I have on my laptop which is of any "decent" size is the original Unreal Tournament, which I have played once since I installed it. A few months ago.

[tangostorm]

My intention was not to criticize but to develop an interesting discussion about this topic and i think that i'm going to succeed in this.

[Rkiver]

Not really, you end up coming off as an arrogant asshole to be honest.

[prophile]

This gives us an impression of what the public wants from their games.

Why don't we just put 600MB of NOPs in the Darwinia binary?

[Rkiver]

Pander to the lowest common denominator? Hell why don't they merge with EA while they are at it.

Introversion are better then that.

[prophile]

Sell more games, Rkiver. Principles are fine, but Introversion has to stay in the black in the eyes of the banks.

[shinygerbil]

My intention was not to criticize but to develop an interesting discussion about this topic and i think that i'm going to succeed in this.

It would be more interesting if we were all developers, but, alas, most of us just play the games.

I wouldn't say you are coming off as an arrogant asshole - that sounds to me like the usual "insult the new guy until he leaves just cos he doesn't worship IV" stuff which is all too abundant here (and usually misplaced).

However, you don't sound overly appreciative of Introversion's efforts and you seem to follow the "more file size/graphics = more quality" school of thought, which many around here (including myself) do not subscribe to.

In short: You could potentially have a valid point, but your arguments are, in my opinion, flawed.

[Stewsburntmonkey]

It should be noted that the average novel is about a megabyte in size. Further studies have shown most programmers average about 10 lines of code per day over the course of a project of this nature (this is the total number of lines of code written divided by the total development time).

[Mef]

This gives us an impression of what the public wants from their games.

Why don't we just put 600MB of NOPs in the Darwinia binary?

Thats too easy - to look really great in the eyes of shit-headed reviewers it has to be on 3 DVDs ! And a cheat console for dumbasses is strict nessecity... (And what Darwinia really lacks is a minigame involving collectible card game with furries)

About developement time - at least IV isn't leashed by some mutha publisher, pressing on finishing the project before some ridiculous deadline (and causing release of the bugy game with much of the planned features lost or only partially implemented - vide Fallout)

[Luigi300]

LOL I KAN MAKE VB GAM 30MB IN MONTH Y CANT IV??????

[coolsi]

I think that introversion spends too much time for developing its games. One year or more for 20/30mb games with decent graphics, simple gameplay and/or poor 3d engine is not justifiable. Do you agree?[/u]

You seem to have no idea what you're talking about in this 'discussion'.

Of course they spend enough time on their projects - it is afterall their project, not yours.