SSTF

@ setsneedtofeed @lemmy.world

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776
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1024
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3 yr. ago

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3w ago

Stardew Valley Creator Shuts Down Rumors Haunted Chocolatier 'Will Be Abandoned,' Insisting: 'It Will Come Out When It’s Ready' - IGN
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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

I'm not trying to be cute. If a publishing company gives money to a developer who is a separate entity to make a game, they've got to have some kind of contract. If there is no timeline or total budget written into the initial contract, how could a publisher pull out of that agreement?
If the answer is going to be "publishers can just pull out when they feel like it" then that's neither adhering to the "let devs develop 'until it is done'." philosophy that is the entire point of this hypothetical restructure, and it for practical terms it does impose a deadline based on the publisher's patience, except now that deadline is not expressly clear and simply defined.
If publishers can't simply pull out on a whim, then without some kind of limiting factor that denotes a failure to perform where by a specific time a publisher can point to that failure, it can't really be functional contract. Saying "the game must have x, y, z features" but never putting a time or budget limit in place means the developers can never have failed at implementing the features because they just haven't gotten around to it yet.

3w ago

Stardew Valley Creator Shuts Down Rumors Haunted Chocolatier 'Will Be Abandoned,' Insisting: 'It Will Come Out When It’s Ready' - IGN

In a publisher fronting money to developer situation, without a fixed time limit (or money limit, which functionally translates to a time limit) is the publisher just infinitely on the hook to pay for dev time "until it's done"?

3w ago

Stardew Valley Creator Shuts Down Rumors Haunted Chocolatier 'Will Be Abandoned,' Insisting: 'It Will Come Out When It’s Ready' - IGN

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

Let's look at the initial comment in the chain:

all game developers need to put their foot down and say “it’s ready when it’s ready.”

No marketing deadlines, no “crunch time,” make the game until the game is made

It isn't saying publishers should be more flexible about deadline delays, it is saying there simply shouldn't be deadlines at all.

Shoveling infinite money at a developer who tells you it will be ready when it's ready is the Chris Roberts model of game development. While it certainly produces interesting results, it is unrealistic and undesirable to expect it as the standard.

Games that are developing well but need a little more time to fix issues should be given flexibility by publishers, but at the end of the day there are stretch ideas and content that has to be cut. Doing that cutting and keeping the project focused is what a lead on the dev team should be doing throughout the entire development. If a game has a realistic deadline given the expected scope and the dev team comes back and says they actually need another year of production, then it is worth looking into if that extra time is going to make the game a year's worth of investment better or not.

3w ago

Stardew Valley Creator Shuts Down Rumors Haunted Chocolatier 'Will Be Abandoned,' Insisting: 'It Will Come Out When It’s Ready' - IGN

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

Publishers are considering return on investment. In a model where they are providing the game budget to the studio, every delay means more money out of their pocket. Case by case it might be worth it, but just allowing developers to infinitely say it's "almost ready, just one more delay" isn't reasonable.

I know from the hard core gamer audience that discusses this stuff online there is often this vibe that nothing should be cut from games. People look at various interesting cut content and lament it for not getting enough time, but there is always going to be cut content.

If there isn't a lead on the development team putting their foot down to control the scope and focus the team, and a similar push for focus by a publisher you get a meandering unfocused project that goes over budget.

In the solo/small amateur team dev, self-publishing model that ROI pressure isn't coming externally from a separate publisher. It is means solo devs are making their first games usually on a budget of nothing, as a side project to their day jobs. In some cases like with Concerned Ape it turns out great. In many cases development comes out tediously slowly, like with Death Trash. In innumerable cases the games just die.

In cases like Wasteland 2 it was a full professional team working full time using crowdfunding. An alternate model, but still limited by budget pressure. There was no publisher to pay back, but when the crowd funding money was gone, it was gone. That game did come out and it was enjoyable, but clearly it wasn't "done when it's done" levels of polish by the team since they used the profits from the game to release a "Director's Cut" which was a whole polishing pass on the game they simply couldn't afford the first time.

3w ago

Stardew Valley Creator Shuts Down Rumors Haunted Chocolatier 'Will Be Abandoned,' Insisting: 'It Will Come Out When It’s Ready' - IGN

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

The above comments were talking about how this policy should apply to every game development project. Which is a nice thought, but not realistic for every situation.

3w ago

Design for beginners

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

I pepsi what you're saying.

3w ago

Computer wiring tunnel, abandoned coal power plant. Photo by Bryan Buckley.

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

3w ago

Design for beginners

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

If it isn't an elaborate joke, then someday I want to talk with the creator at great length.

3w ago

In 2021 Designer Kenya Hara earned $300,000 by turning Xiaomis Square into a Squircle.

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

I have no doubt creating the design was much less intensive than his rambling story, but the company spent the money on him specifically and I'm sure they expected the rambling story.

That's why I hate this part of art culture, the fakeness of it all. The obvious fakeness that people clap for because they think it makes them look more intelligent by nodding along.

3w ago

Design for beginners

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

Solid gold, start to finish.

3w ago

In 2021 Designer Kenya Hara earned $300,000 by turning Xiaomis Square into a Squircle.

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

The corporation wanted to give him all that money. They are both playing a stupid game.

I'd say I agree with the instinct to just get that bag, but the fact that such people even exist and the fact that they steer the culture of the art world drives me crazy. The CIA has done irreparable damage to art.

3w ago

In 2021 Designer Kenya Hara earned $300,000 by turning Xiaomis Square into a Squircle.

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

Andy Kaufman tier.

3w ago

In 2021 Designer Kenya Hara earned $300,000 by turning Xiaomis Square into a Squircle.

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

Even if that is factual, the company went to this high profile designer because they wanted a story to go along with their logo.

3w ago

The main reason not to drive in the snow is the way other people drive in the snow.

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

It was a completely sunny afternoon with a clear view of the highway (stressing afternoon which means the high had been in full sun all day to especially melt any possible ice), with the snow pushed aside two days ago, the highway salted on the days before the day in question; not a puddle or dark spot in sight on the highway.

No need for snow tires as it was direct tire to asphalt contact with no snow or ice on the highway itself. It was the best possible visibility for driving. If somebody is going 35 in those conditions on a 65 highway, they should not be driving.

3w ago

In 2021 Designer Kenya Hara earned $300,000 by turning Xiaomis Square into a Squircle.

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

Obviously they overpaid, but it was the company's choice in a form of conspicuous consumption.

I feel conflicted because graphic design is a necessary job, but just from skimming over Kenya Hara's history and work he strikes me as an avatar of all the most pretentious and pseudo-intelligent aspects of the modern culture of art that I hate.

The claim that it took him four years to design the logo is, on its face, garbage, but for people like him the process and the story of making the logo is how he created and maintains a veneer of being deep and working on a heightened creative and intellectual level. Had he taken the contract and returned in a week with the exact same logo and said "Yeah I messed around a little in photoshop and I think it looks pretty nice." then it wouldn't be worth $300,000. Everything in the world of these people needs an overdrawn explanation and story of creation and meaning and it makes me want to projectile vomit on or near them.

3w ago

The main reason not to drive in the snow is the way other people drive in the snow.

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

Yesterday, on a 65mph limit highway that had been completely cleared of snow and ice (there was zero black ice) I encountered multiple cars going 55mph or slower. In one case about 35. I don't understand.

3w ago

Do you have any recommendations for podcasts, that are as well produced and "deep" as video essays?

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

'History That Doesn't Suck' by Prof. Greg Jackson. It is a history of the U.S., told in a flowing narrative type format that's easy to listen to. I like it because it counteracts my biggest peeve in the presentation of history where it is taught as discreet chunks that are seemingly disconnected. In this podcast, it follows the flow of historical figures and events as they naturally lead to new things rather than talking about each section in a vacuum.

'HP Lovecraft Literary Podcast'/'Strange Studies of Strange Stories'. A podcast with two hosts and normally a guest reader. The hosts talk about the relevant real life history of the story, as well as talking about the story itself, edited in between a reading of some or all of the story (depending on story length). It gives a good overview of the works and is tightly edited so that the host banter never rambles off topic. The podcast changed names when they ran out of HPL stories and fully branched out into other authors.

3w ago

What would happen if a person proved in a lab they're gaining weight while in a verified calorie deficit?

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

Accumulating water

Is there a condition that accumulates water like that where weight goes up consistently over a long period of time?

3w ago

The slumbering pyramid

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

It's a Bass Pro Shop. So, yes.

3w ago

Dreamcast-style practice character

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SSTF @lemmy.world 3w ago

Awesome to see Blender art, and especially cool to see thought put into the triangle count for a video game. Is this going to ramp up to getting a rig?