Highlander
Posty: 31563
Dołączył(a): 1.05.2005
|
 Napisane: 9 wrz 2014, 20:22 |
Mam tę listę też gdzieś indziej i odezwał się lead programmer gry GearCity http://www.gearcity.info/ (podobna gra do Detroit będzie) Ciekawy post: Hello everyone, Eric.B here, owner and lead programmer of GearCity.
(Tried to submit this as anon, but message wasn't approved by admins?
Too many links probably, I stripped the links, and here is the raw text!)
It might sound egotistical of me, but I consider my self an expert in the field
of tycoon games. I own most of the games listed and many more that are not
listed. (Old Timer, MotorCity, Air Bucks, AeroBiz?! There is a lot more you
could add!!!  )
So the OP question is: "Is this genre is dead?" My answer is, "It depends on
which sub-genre you're talking about."
To understand what I mean you have to look at the history of business games.
In the 80s most business sims were practially spread sheet games. No real depth
other than making choices basic and seeing what money comes from it. Games like
Oil Barron and various stock market
simulators were popular such as Wall Street Kid and Wall Street
These games were not wildly popular, but they were not hard to make. They found
profitability in their niche which attracted more developers and more games.
Eventually we ended up in what I call the golden age of management games, the
early 90s.
In the early 90s text based business sims met graphics. There was still focus on
depth, numbers, and realistic simulation. A lot of great games came out of this
period, I consider most of these games "Management" Games and not tycoons. Games
included, Detroit, Motor City, Air
Bucks, Capitalism, and many more.
With graphics came expanded budgets, expanded budgets means you need more sales,
and very few of these games sold well. The main reason being the games were
complex. They required you to think, they required you to know math, they
required you to use logic, and have patience. Not kid friendly.
And then in the mid 90s the tycoon fad came. The early 90s had tycoon games (Rail
Road tycoon, Sim City) but they really didn't catch on in force till the late
90s when casual games likes Roller Coaster Tycoon, Rail Road Tycoon 2, Theme Park Tycoon, Zoo
Tycoon, Yoot Tower etc. These games were wildly popular, and sold HUGE
quantities. Over night Management simulators died, and everyone started making
Tycoon games.
Of course, with everyone making tycoon games, the quality started to decrease
(Car Tycoon anyone?) and as a result by early 2000s, the entire market was dead.
However as other games genres increased in artwork requirements (thus development money)
people started making tycoon games again. The lack of competition means quality can shine.
And as such tycoon games have started to gain back into popularity (GameDev
Tycoon.) Casual game play means anyone can pick it up, cartoony graphics means
it's friendly to most people, and lite numbers make it simple for the mind. But
eventually there will be too many tycoon games, and the market will collapse on
it self.
As someone who makes a Management game, the management market is fairly, well,
dead. While there is still money to be made in it, it is a much smaller niche than tycoon games.
Luckily not many games fill that niche. But it is growing, and the early 90s
will repeat it self. But I also suspect the same thing will happen to tycoon games.
To sum it up, TLDR:
No, you're at the rebirth years of Tycoon Games, they'll peak in 5-10 years, then die again. Managment Sims you'll
have to look for the niche where it hides. It will never become as popular as it was in the early 1990s but a few companies (like me) will fill that niche.
_________________
.
|
|
edit. przynajmniej tak mnie sie wydawalo.
