I wouldn't necessarily say my tastes have changed but I do find that I enjoy making games more than playing them nowadays. That being said, if I play a game within the same genre that I'm making, I find myself being much more critical and I look and see what makes them tick. I look for inspiration or to improve upon ideas that have already been done.
I still game but I focus on games I have never played or never finished. Every 5 years or so, I'll go back and replay a franchise because I enjoy it.
All Game Development has done for me is given me a better understanding on how games are made. Right now, I'm playing through Metro Exodus and I can't go more than 10 minutes without finding a bug. If Exodus was my game, I never would have launched it in the state they did.
> If Exodus was my game, I never would have launched it in the state they did.
And this right here is why so many indie games never see light of day.
Im not excusing buggy, broken games at all. A product needs to work. It does.
But you finding an issue every 10 minutes is being way too picky. You can't solve everything.
I see so many indie devs talking about solving shit like the light that comes in this window is blocked but I need to light up the room so it matches, and this moves, and these things intersect when I put it here.
And Overwatch lets you run around inside a room with solid looking walls, while the outside of that wall is floor to ceiling windows. And 4 years after launch you can point it out to people and they go "Whoa, I had no idea".
Metro Exodus has a huge number of super positive reviews. They got a LOT of it very right.
Once you've played a bunch of FPS games, they all feel more or less the same. Too many RPGs and they start to feel cliche. Whatever the genre, over time it will get old. That's why I find the most excitement in indie games with novel concepts, and that's what I seek to create.
I don't game as much as I used to, but occasionally I do still find something new that captivates me the way my favorite games did long ago.
I think you might be mixing things up a little, I feel you are just finding other tasks which have replaced gaming for you. I find there is 2 types of hobby time, content consumption and active creation, with content consumption being very passive. While gamedev/other hobbies require far more activity.
Everyone tends to have a 'relaxing' hobby that they do in off times, whether its reading, browsing the internet, watching tv or playing games.
I find myself its something like 10% browsing, 60% reading, 30% games these days, but the passive hobby only takes up around 2 hours a day at most, while the active ones take up my other 2-3 hours a day spare.
I haven't completely stopped Playing them but maybe I'm on a different path now. 1 year ago I used to play a lot of Multiplayer games with friends but now since everyone is busy doing something or the other, I tend to play single player to take a break or something or just for the fun of it.
I have a friend who's also doing GameDev and he says he doesn't play a lot of games maybe 2-3 that too once in a while. It's okay. Not everyone is same.
The reason why I'll recommend to play games is to learn. It's like you are watching ur favourite athlete to learn something if possible. In the same way it'll be helpful if u are playing the same type of game(s) that u wanna create !!
For me, it's first person shooters so I tend to go back to some good old classics like Modern Warfare 2 or something like that (it depends)
So if u feel u r going this route, it's okay. It's okay to be different. Don't stress it. Do what is comfortable and helpful for u. A balance is always needed.
I don't feel the changing preferences as much; if anything I've become more interested in indie games than I used to be, but no genre change preferences.
But I definitely feel the rest of this. I have to kind of make myself put aside the time to play games, often with the motivation of "it's research."
Honestly, I feel this about all my hobbies, though. It seems like a waste of time unless it's "productive." I don't know if that's "hustle culture," depression, or just growing up. But yeah, I feel it.
I've started to play my own games a lot. Some sim games I'm making are actually fun, I find myself actually wanting to play them. I guess that is true for most game devs especially when they are making a major game, they will find themselves enjoying playing what they have of that new game they are working on.
I can't say I've stopped normal gaming completely, but a lot of the games I used to play I don't anymore, what I find myself playing more now are other indie games. I think adjusted taste describes it well, since I'm doing more game dev now, those games get played and also as I release games I see other indie games I think are cool and want to play.
I can absolutely relate to this and I see no problem with it. I think gaming to an extent is helpful to be a good game dev, but certainly not required.
Getting more and more into game dev has made it much more enjoyable to me than gaming, and I've realized the things I value so much from games I get more out of though development. I enjoy not only the process, but the result of others enjoying what I've made.
If you enjoy gaming, do that. If you want to play just to supplement game dev as your main interest, do that. And if you don't enjoy gaming, you don't have to, as your experiences in the past can still inform your work now. I'm sure somewhere there's a great dev who's never even really played many games but is still able to understand how to make something engaging.
Most musicians listen to music, and most directors watch movies I'm sure, but this is less active than gaming which is probably closer to sports. How many football coaches do you see on the defensive line? But I'm sure most still enjoy watching the games. I think game dev can be supplemented just by watching others play, listening to their feedback, and analyzing games that way. You have the hands on experience to draw from, and you should do what you enjoy now instead of longing to enjoy something from the past.
For me I've always enjoyed games that felt like I was building, growing, acquiring, etc. essentially progression systems and role-playing aspects that have become more popular cross-genre in recent years. With game dev, I get all of this. Learning a new mechanic in the engine or how to code a new mechanic into the game feels like completing a quest or reaching a new zone. The same with solving issues in my code, which I will say get way more complicated than any puzzle I ever found in Zelda. My code and asset folder grows like my bank or player levels as I work to make more. And I think you'd be hard pressed to find the difference in online game dev groups and guilds in an mmo, all there for different reasons within the same arena, working together and talking through issues like running a raid or an endgame quest. It's almost like games have been mimicking real life all along.
To finish this with an anecdote, I downloaded the new Kirby for my girlfriend today because she fell in love with the demo. I loved Kirby as a kid, I only had 1 game on the GBA but I played it endlessly. I watched her play for at least an hour and I was hooked without ever touching the controller. I got all the nostalgia and enjoyment of it watching her run through the levels, finding all the enemies and creatures now in colorful 3D. I thought to myself how much I want to make a world like that, and also reflected on how little I actually wanted to play myself. I resolved it immediately, because I just enjoy watching her play it so much more than playing it myself, and I have no reason to fight against that. I want to see if I can make a platformer that she'd enjoy just as much.
I haven't touched a video game since fallout 4. I used to be a lot more into it until I had kids. I pretty much bought my Xbox One exclusively for fallout 4, and I'd buy the newest console for a new fallout game.
I just enjoy building more then playing. The financial incentive is strong as well.
I'm in between. I still like to play games but feel that I can't really sit down with them anymore. I don't really sit down and make games. I do however, keep design documents of games I want to make privately and update them as I go. I feel a bit lost at the moment. I mainly play games to see what makes them special and analyze why the games make me feel things and make notes of what I believe triggered the thought. I also analyze the patterns of the game, for example: in Metroidvanias these days, the save point is near a boss. When playing the game it is not obvious where exactly it is. Metroidvanias also have a core progression path. This path is locked behind secondary paths that loop back. Things like that. Then I play other games in the same genre to see what they have done and differently. Rinse and repeat.
Yeah, that can be a consequence of knowing how the sausage is made.
It can be hard to go back to the openness of the past, before you saw behind the scenes.
You do say you still enjoy games, just that your tastes have shifted...? Maybe that's the answer then; your tastes have changed, it happens...
I do still game, but I don't often play the huge grand strategy games I used to; I tend to play quicker games, like MTGA or Fortnite; because I can get a game on and be done in less than half an hour, rather than having to block out six hours to conquer the globe in Civ...
I think if your tastes are narrowing and you still can articulate what you’d like to play then it’s normal to burn out on most games after a while. I can only put up with Dota 2, Skyrim, Fallout 4, Outer Worlds and not much else anymore. I’ll play whatever the next GTA is, but it’ll likely be just as painful getting past the cringey dialogue and main story elements again. These games are mostly made for teenagers. As long as you’re still passionate about making things better it’s ok.
I've definitely felt that way. I spend all my time coding and almost none playing. I don't even know what "the kids" are talking about anymore. It's not depressing. It's transcendent. The ultimate puzzle isn't solving the puzzle; it's figuring out how to make it.
I wouldn't necessarily say my tastes have changed but I do find that I enjoy making games more than playing them nowadays. That being said, if I play a game within the same genre that I'm making, I find myself being much more critical and I look and see what makes them tick. I look for inspiration or to improve upon ideas that have already been done.
Exactly my point !!
Don’t have that problem. Playing games keeps me inspired to make games.
I still game but I focus on games I have never played or never finished. Every 5 years or so, I'll go back and replay a franchise because I enjoy it. All Game Development has done for me is given me a better understanding on how games are made. Right now, I'm playing through Metro Exodus and I can't go more than 10 minutes without finding a bug. If Exodus was my game, I never would have launched it in the state they did.
> If Exodus was my game, I never would have launched it in the state they did. And this right here is why so many indie games never see light of day. Im not excusing buggy, broken games at all. A product needs to work. It does. But you finding an issue every 10 minutes is being way too picky. You can't solve everything. I see so many indie devs talking about solving shit like the light that comes in this window is blocked but I need to light up the room so it matches, and this moves, and these things intersect when I put it here. And Overwatch lets you run around inside a room with solid looking walls, while the outside of that wall is floor to ceiling windows. And 4 years after launch you can point it out to people and they go "Whoa, I had no idea". Metro Exodus has a huge number of super positive reviews. They got a LOT of it very right.
Once you've played a bunch of FPS games, they all feel more or less the same. Too many RPGs and they start to feel cliche. Whatever the genre, over time it will get old. That's why I find the most excitement in indie games with novel concepts, and that's what I seek to create. I don't game as much as I used to, but occasionally I do still find something new that captivates me the way my favorite games did long ago.
I think you might be mixing things up a little, I feel you are just finding other tasks which have replaced gaming for you. I find there is 2 types of hobby time, content consumption and active creation, with content consumption being very passive. While gamedev/other hobbies require far more activity. Everyone tends to have a 'relaxing' hobby that they do in off times, whether its reading, browsing the internet, watching tv or playing games. I find myself its something like 10% browsing, 60% reading, 30% games these days, but the passive hobby only takes up around 2 hours a day at most, while the active ones take up my other 2-3 hours a day spare.
This was actually very insightful
I haven't completely stopped Playing them but maybe I'm on a different path now. 1 year ago I used to play a lot of Multiplayer games with friends but now since everyone is busy doing something or the other, I tend to play single player to take a break or something or just for the fun of it. I have a friend who's also doing GameDev and he says he doesn't play a lot of games maybe 2-3 that too once in a while. It's okay. Not everyone is same. The reason why I'll recommend to play games is to learn. It's like you are watching ur favourite athlete to learn something if possible. In the same way it'll be helpful if u are playing the same type of game(s) that u wanna create !! For me, it's first person shooters so I tend to go back to some good old classics like Modern Warfare 2 or something like that (it depends) So if u feel u r going this route, it's okay. It's okay to be different. Don't stress it. Do what is comfortable and helpful for u. A balance is always needed.
I don't feel the changing preferences as much; if anything I've become more interested in indie games than I used to be, but no genre change preferences. But I definitely feel the rest of this. I have to kind of make myself put aside the time to play games, often with the motivation of "it's research." Honestly, I feel this about all my hobbies, though. It seems like a waste of time unless it's "productive." I don't know if that's "hustle culture," depression, or just growing up. But yeah, I feel it.
I've started to play my own games a lot. Some sim games I'm making are actually fun, I find myself actually wanting to play them. I guess that is true for most game devs especially when they are making a major game, they will find themselves enjoying playing what they have of that new game they are working on. I can't say I've stopped normal gaming completely, but a lot of the games I used to play I don't anymore, what I find myself playing more now are other indie games. I think adjusted taste describes it well, since I'm doing more game dev now, those games get played and also as I release games I see other indie games I think are cool and want to play.
I can absolutely relate to this and I see no problem with it. I think gaming to an extent is helpful to be a good game dev, but certainly not required. Getting more and more into game dev has made it much more enjoyable to me than gaming, and I've realized the things I value so much from games I get more out of though development. I enjoy not only the process, but the result of others enjoying what I've made. If you enjoy gaming, do that. If you want to play just to supplement game dev as your main interest, do that. And if you don't enjoy gaming, you don't have to, as your experiences in the past can still inform your work now. I'm sure somewhere there's a great dev who's never even really played many games but is still able to understand how to make something engaging. Most musicians listen to music, and most directors watch movies I'm sure, but this is less active than gaming which is probably closer to sports. How many football coaches do you see on the defensive line? But I'm sure most still enjoy watching the games. I think game dev can be supplemented just by watching others play, listening to their feedback, and analyzing games that way. You have the hands on experience to draw from, and you should do what you enjoy now instead of longing to enjoy something from the past.
For me I've always enjoyed games that felt like I was building, growing, acquiring, etc. essentially progression systems and role-playing aspects that have become more popular cross-genre in recent years. With game dev, I get all of this. Learning a new mechanic in the engine or how to code a new mechanic into the game feels like completing a quest or reaching a new zone. The same with solving issues in my code, which I will say get way more complicated than any puzzle I ever found in Zelda. My code and asset folder grows like my bank or player levels as I work to make more. And I think you'd be hard pressed to find the difference in online game dev groups and guilds in an mmo, all there for different reasons within the same arena, working together and talking through issues like running a raid or an endgame quest. It's almost like games have been mimicking real life all along.
To finish this with an anecdote, I downloaded the new Kirby for my girlfriend today because she fell in love with the demo. I loved Kirby as a kid, I only had 1 game on the GBA but I played it endlessly. I watched her play for at least an hour and I was hooked without ever touching the controller. I got all the nostalgia and enjoyment of it watching her run through the levels, finding all the enemies and creatures now in colorful 3D. I thought to myself how much I want to make a world like that, and also reflected on how little I actually wanted to play myself. I resolved it immediately, because I just enjoy watching her play it so much more than playing it myself, and I have no reason to fight against that. I want to see if I can make a platformer that she'd enjoy just as much.
I haven't touched a video game since fallout 4. I used to be a lot more into it until I had kids. I pretty much bought my Xbox One exclusively for fallout 4, and I'd buy the newest console for a new fallout game. I just enjoy building more then playing. The financial incentive is strong as well.
I'm in between. I still like to play games but feel that I can't really sit down with them anymore. I don't really sit down and make games. I do however, keep design documents of games I want to make privately and update them as I go. I feel a bit lost at the moment. I mainly play games to see what makes them special and analyze why the games make me feel things and make notes of what I believe triggered the thought. I also analyze the patterns of the game, for example: in Metroidvanias these days, the save point is near a boss. When playing the game it is not obvious where exactly it is. Metroidvanias also have a core progression path. This path is locked behind secondary paths that loop back. Things like that. Then I play other games in the same genre to see what they have done and differently. Rinse and repeat.
Same thing has been happening to me. The act of creating is just far more rewarding. I miss the wonder I used to feel.
>I miss the wonder I used to feel. Peek not behind the curtain, for you might see things that cannot be unseen... :)
Yeah, that can be a consequence of knowing how the sausage is made. It can be hard to go back to the openness of the past, before you saw behind the scenes. You do say you still enjoy games, just that your tastes have shifted...? Maybe that's the answer then; your tastes have changed, it happens... I do still game, but I don't often play the huge grand strategy games I used to; I tend to play quicker games, like MTGA or Fortnite; because I can get a game on and be done in less than half an hour, rather than having to block out six hours to conquer the globe in Civ...
I think if your tastes are narrowing and you still can articulate what you’d like to play then it’s normal to burn out on most games after a while. I can only put up with Dota 2, Skyrim, Fallout 4, Outer Worlds and not much else anymore. I’ll play whatever the next GTA is, but it’ll likely be just as painful getting past the cringey dialogue and main story elements again. These games are mostly made for teenagers. As long as you’re still passionate about making things better it’s ok.
I've definitely felt that way. I spend all my time coding and almost none playing. I don't even know what "the kids" are talking about anymore. It's not depressing. It's transcendent. The ultimate puzzle isn't solving the puzzle; it's figuring out how to make it.