For a long time now I've found myself thinking that once I no longer work, or once I'm done with XYZ project then I will start making a game.
In the down-time between work and projects I frequently spend my time playing games or watching videos about game development or game design,
and I dream about making my own game one day. In my past I've had a bad habit of starting project, overscoping my ambitions and as a remedy
I now try to start only projects I know I will finish. This has been a positive change and lead me to setting and achieving realistic goals.
This has brought a better balance to my life, and I don't feel that stressed anymore. But I also find myself putting my dreams in the future.
There has been a seed of an idea in my mind now, like so many other ideas,
but it has persisted for way longer, and my mind has turned it into a pearl.
It is a simple game idea, but what's different about this one compared with
so many others is that it appeals to *me*.
I often find myself pouring over catalogues of expensive games which never
really stick with me. Completing games feels like a chore rather than a fun
activity. The games that stick with me are usually obscure and unappreciated.
I've probably spent more time playing Starcraft 2 arcade games than AAA titles.
There is a certain itch that they scratch that other games do not.
I can add my own story and scenarios in my head of what the game represents,
The feeling of cleansing creep in Zerg Hex is more satisfying to me than
a heart-wrenching story. In fact, most of the satisfaction I derive from
my job as a developer comes from cleaning up messy code rather than adding functionality.
I'll spend many hours in Factorio, and squashing alien hives is one of the
best elements of that game. Building a factory is great, adding complex
interoperating networks of production feels awesome, but Factorio in my mind
lacks many critical elements for me to find it truly satisfying.
Sure, automating and improving your factory in many ways resemble that
satisfying feeling of refactoring messy code, but in that pursuit of adding
functionality, you often find yourself never truly being able to benefit
in any tangible way from those benefits.
Factorio is the feeling of programming abstracted into game form.
It's also boilerplate. That's why they have blueprints, and the game
pushes you into mode of abstracting these functions to faster develop
your factory horizontally. There is no vertical scaling in Factorio.
There is no true abstraction in Factorio, in fact the whole Factory
lays bare for you to see. Maybe there is some beauty in that.
The Factory is beautiful in form and function.
The Factory is not beautiful visually or in purpose.
The Factory has no purpose, it doesn't represent any goal.
There is no overarching satisfaction. Sure, there are moments of satisfaction,
such as a train unloading at a station, a well managed train system, high-throughput
modules and a well-designed factory. Overall the goal does not satisfy.
My final criticism is the fact that the player does not transform the environment.
Factorio has PvE elements but these feel more like a boast of strength for the player
to march their mechanical spiders into hives for a display of arsenal capability.
Factorio is *Player* vs Environment, the player is not the Factory, your biggest
creation does not interact with the environment. In fact, you're basically baby-sitting
your factory against the aliens. Erecting turrets or building howtizers feels like
a second-thought off-shoot leeching of your factory, it has no purpose except
adding *some* interactions within the game.
There are games that *try* to branch Factorio-like gameplay into a more combat-focused experience,
for example Mindustry - but that game completely lacks any depth and does not recapture any of
the satisfaction of Factorio.
To recapture my criticism of Factorio:
- It does not satisfy in any overarching way
- There is no purpose
- It lacks critical beauty in purpose and visuals
- There is no meaningful interaction with the environment
I want to note that Factorio is a brilliant game, one of my favorites.
Many of my criticisms can be seen as features of the game not faults.
These are simply the things that usually make me stop playing the game after a certain point.
To be continued...