Video game is one of the hot topics in the vast world internet. Reviews and comments about famous hit games or popular game developers always receive special attention from the global gaming community.
But not every game company or game title receives such favor. Things are opposite for small game studios or individuals who develop games alone. Unlike the big established game companies that frequently get feedback and suggestions for each product when it debut, solo game developers (who develop games alone) rarely get a lot of attention.
So any comments or suggestions they have are also a valuable gift from the user. After two years of developing my first game Hogvalord, I've found an interesting thing. Feedback and comments have the following characteristics that are consistently high on the developer's wishlist.
Topping the list are detailed reviews of the game's pros and cons. These are the required responses to any game that comes into the world. They are super helpful for game development teams of only one or two people. These comments contain a lot of things hard to realize for the game makers. Whether it's praise or criticism, comments on strengths and weaknesses in the game such as gameplay, story, sound, images, the difficulty will be of great help to those who make games. These solo developers need honest and objective comments from many others, especially potential customers. They rely on these comments to make the player's in-game experience better.
Coming in second are comments with specific suggestions to improve the game. Some indie game developers feel uncomfortable accepting this kind of comment. That's easy to understand because individual game developers often possess a high level of artistry. For them, each game is a work of art and their spiritual child. However, I thought these suggestions were indirect solutions and approaches to improve our games. Anyway, the game is also a product to serve the entertainment needs of many people, and even though it carries the personal imprint of its creator, the game maker himself should not be too conservative and take it lightly. Most of the time, helpful solutions come from gamers.
Next is the comment, which includes empathy and encouragement for games made by an individual or a small team of fewer than five people. Perhaps very few people know the feeling of loneliness that a personal game developer must go through, especially for projects that last a year or more. Outside facing financial problems, the tight budget tight to produce games, they rarely receive the attention of those around them.
It is not easy to explain to others about their job. In the big game studios, the people only have to work on their expertise as designers, programmers, project managers, and marketers. As a solo/indie game developer, you have to do all kinds of tasks. It will take a lot of time explaining to other people, and in fact, not many people care about what you are doing instead of yourself. Not every game developer can get the favor of many people when introducing their game project. So the feedback that shows sympathy, understanding the effort of an indie game developer is like a mental health booster, helping them keep their creative work going.
Finally, the error reports from players are crucial to me. Because I don't have many devices or the time to do a thorough error-checking like those teams in a big corp do. In addition, each player will interact with the game in a very different way, and it will lead to very unexpected error situations for an individual game developer like me. Fortunately, some players love the game Hogvalord, and with their help, I have been able to fix many critical bugs in the game. Because if the game crashes badly, many people won't buy the game, which is a nightmare for game developers like me. So I'm very grateful to the players (dear customers) who have enthusiastically contacted me, sending me the necessary information to fix bugs in my product and allow me to serve them better.
The order of the points above does not reflect the importance of each item. Because they are all equally important and are the lesson that I have learned step by step through many years. I think they are the basics for any game developer, but you can only deeply understand them when you experience them by yourself with your own time and effort.