Share your failures here!

As the video above states most people who want to do something often look to people who have made it in that field for advice.

But what if luck is a big factor or by focusing on the winners you are not mapping potential pitfalls and traps that could be ahead.

Therefore we should share our failures in game development as much as we like to share our successes, so we can highlight where problems and dangers are.

So why not share your failures here, games you have created with Unity that have failed.

 

Somehow this video has convinced me that humanity needs to make to create some sort of AI overmind to rule ov... err.. to give advice to people ^_^.

 

OK I am an abject failure as a solo game developer, you can find most of my games here -> https://arowx.itch.io/

Most of my games are short. My approach was based roughly on the Flash game development shotgun method, you write lots of smaller games and push them out and if any take off then you work on improving them.

This approach has not worked for me but I have had fun making lots of games and taking part in Ludum Dare.

I have also attempted the free game development approach where I have contacted IP holders, for content I like, to see if they would be interested in a game or app made by me.

My Ships Database for Elite Dangerous (made whilst the game was being developed)

My take on the aerial combat board game Wings of Glory (made for free).

I have also tried jumping onto a platform too early with VR (Oculus DK1).

I have tried mobile games on IOS and Android platforms, even written an App for an Singer, only to find them overcrowded high churn rate platforms where free to play AA games rule.

In hindsight:

• Working solo was probably a big negative factor.
• Churning out lots of small games/prototypes.
• Jumping onto new platforms too early burns through money and time.
• Even working for a couple of weeks on other peoples IP for free is burning up your time and money.

 

This video just goes to show that you can say anything that sounds 'about right' and get people to clap. There was nothing there that wasn't common sense, but you dress it up in a nice video and it sure sounds great.

The example about the married couples was a poor one. If they 'focus on the partner's positives' well if you reflect on it for a few seconds doesn't that sound like someone who simply has a positive outlook on life? It's not as if the statement hid the true reason for happy long term relationships. If you asked a recently divorced person what was the reason for it, they would give an equally indirect answer.

Basically, when you hear something like 'this is what X successful person does' do your own homework and correlate it with with what you already know. In fact the only attributes that I consistently find are those of a) making intelligent guesses b) taking intelligent risks c) working like crazy and d) working some more. The rest is all just the kind of stuff you'd read out of some paparazzi magazine, like how many coffees they have for breakfast.

 

I don't understand the question. I don't actually have failures.

 

Wings of Glory looks kind of interesting to me. In high school I was an avid strategy wargame guy and I've always had it in my head to build something based on Flight Leader. Probably too complex for today's gamers though (the Air Force used to use it to teach fighter pilot tactics).

 

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." - Thomas Edison.

 

Until finally landing on the perfect method - borrowing the inventions of others and calling them your own.

 

LOL just been to your website and there is nothing there to fail!

 

You ask for failures, I ask to what goals?

You only fail when you can't possible accomplish a goal anymore. But failing is ok. Goals are only milestones, they just mark the way for you, and you always want something on the horizon. What's important what's between those milestones, how do you get there is in many ways more important than when.

 

What do you call a failure? When some thing isn't as good as it could be, it is not necessarily is a "failure"...

 

Failure is the path to success. Things which do not work NEED to fail so that you'll stop blindly pursuing them, and then you'll learn not to make that mistake again. If you keep protecting things which don't work and are adamant about them working, but they're inherently flawed, then you will spin your wheels into oblivion. I'm not going to quote the stupid business-success idea of 'its not if you fail but that yet get back up` bla bla bla ... it's more like, you need to learn not to see failure AS failure but rather as a key to unlocking the truth. The truth sets you free.

 

I'm glad to see there are so few failures using Unity or spending time on the forums!

 

While I would consider not them failure per see, they have been project that were put on hold, abandoned, cancel or sideline.

1. I tried to make a 3D sonic game, with the 2d classic physics, as a side project, the main challenge was to make the character walk around a sphere to mimic the ability to walk on arbitrary surface. It was supposed to be small project with a demo level, it took me 3 years to resolve the main controller, By two years I vowed to leave it after solving the main point, 3 years later I considered implementing drifting after solving the main issue, then I nope, The side project was full time and the actual project I wanted to make didn't go anywhere because of that. That's not even talking about unity input quirk that made pull hair, this kind of gameplay need tight control, unity is not that. ON HOLD!

2. following that I was broke, I tried to make a quick racing game, I only need a few hundred bucks, there was the possibility maybe? I don't know, I wasn't motivate so I made S*** and toyed with S*** idea, like modeling directly without concept and model sheet, decimating the character as much as I can, I had no affinity with car design. I learnt important stuff too, the big shiny things like AI is not where I should fear stuff, AI is design, I'm a designer, I was very surprised to have all the basis of an AI for a racing game in half a day (without balancing consideration), but a menu? a Godamn menu was teh hell. A menu is all about exceptions so programming it is terrible, but more importantly menu is all about interruption and interruption + physics + gameplay is a recipe for breaking your game. Yeah I know timescale = 0, but then there is many gameplay consideration with input and pausing and having a menu ... Also architecture bit me in the ass, dependency made the game difficult to developed and I spend so many time tracking what is linked to what ... Also sorting took me a month to complete ... due to a simple mistake ... anyway the game was ugly because I didn't want it, CANCELLED!

3. My current project, I assumed I could concurrently develop art and asset with the synopsis, so many waste, I should have spend time locking the story first, I can't afford to tossing stuff in my condition and working on asset was distracting when the story needed massive attention, didn't help at all. STILL WORKING ON IT

I have made many small scale prototype, they aren't failure at all but they are not project per see, they were only validating concept I thought were too big or ambitious but actually weren't. NO, the real challenge is putting them together with a coherent vision. Which I will only see when I finish this one. Fun fact is that forum posting help me stay focus, else I would have to make an endless trail of small prototype and tarting project just to keep me mentally stimulated. Forum allow for idea to find a comfortable cost effective place of expression then I can return asap to the drab dull boring researching task that consume 90% of all my current dev time.

I have also some successful project thankfully. But that was before

 

I guess Ill go against the grain here. I like the topic and understand the simple logic of reflection - as others do.
The best part of Arowx post is the hindsight part, where assessment has been made with thought towards correction/modification for future projects.
Thanks for sharing @Arowx

Im gonna steal a phrase from neoshawman - concept validation prototype - I like that!

So my failure has been - this summer -
Ive worked on 3 (currently on #4) concept validation prototypes and a couple asset packs for the asset store.
None of the prototypes have seen the light of day - because they ended up not being fun and it was obvious.
The asset packs havent been finished because I pushed them lower on the priority list - I wanted to spend more time with family before fall/winter begins and fun time outside is reduced by less light and lower temps.

Id planned to have 3 asset packs out by now and be in mid development of a 2 month production.

I guess my hindsight is to prioritize the extra time more wisely - there are always 1-2 hours here and there I could spend working on the asset packs.
And - the concepts were failures, but I think they failed fast - which @Gigiwoo and others always say is a good thing.
So failure fast x3 feels kinda like wasted time, but in hindsight Ive gotten to work on some elements of development that I would not have otherwise worked on.

 

Well I've spent 2 years learning programming and 3D modelling side by side, I can't say I've really had a failure yet (due to not realeasing anything yet really) although I have had a serious problem with 'dropping one toy when I see another one'. I've started a couple of mobile games but lost interest in them when I thought of something more interesting.

Another problem is that I never feel ready to say something is finished, I'm always writing and rewriting code, and remodelling stuff looking for a more elegant representation of what I've got in my mind. When it's a serious habit it feels very depressing to do things like this since I'm consciously more interested in just getting things done but I can't seem to actually do that and enjoy it at the same time. I think being on your own and working on your own projects for a long time gives you a lot of really bad habits that would never hold up in a workplace, so I keep doing a bit of freelance work which helps me to develop a clear standard of what I expect from myself, in terms of quality and time spent.

Anyway, failure is depressing, so here are some good things I think I've done.

The best thing I have done throughout my game development work is to regularly evaluate if what I'm doing is giving me something that I can take to other projects, a long-term benefit. So when I'm modelling, for example, even if it's just a quick model for a specific job, I spend a bit of time each session learning something new about blender and trying to increase my performance by using better shortcuts and techniques and working faster. That way I know that the time I spend is not 'lost' if that specific project for one reason or another doesn't go ahead. Also, even if it's not really called for, I will add fancy stuff to my programming workflow like custom inspectors, editor extensions, and delve into shader programming and so on, because the main thing for me is to build up my skill as fast as possible.

Also, rather than re-using code, I often try to redo some system or other as fast as possible while keeping it neat and commented, so that my mind gets better at transferring information to my hands and I don't feel like I need to be extremely familiar with something before I begin coding it.

Basically I am trying to be faster, more efficient and not intimidated by anything that crops up that I need to get done. For example I jumped into multiplayer this week with Photon and after a few painful days of learning what exactly happens inside a multiplayer game I think i've got the hang of it. It wasn't really very fun to push myself like that but it's a great feeling not to feel like something is an obstacle that you'd rather avoid. Because it will only get harder from here on

 

I've failed pretty hard, failed to the point of totally quitting all game development and Unity, more than once.

What I found though was that there was some kind of attitude or belief or aspect of my 'ego' that really needed to die because it wasn't working. Getting to a point of so much frustration that I just totally quit, I thought that was the end of it, but it meant I'd quit on that particular strategy or that way of doing things, or a set of beliefs about what's important or whatever, and I'd find that after a while... weeks, months, I'd start to come back to Unity again with a different way of perceiving things and a different approach to working with it. Maybe its an addiction. lol But if it wasn't for total failure I probably wouldn't still be here, haha!

 

I like this thread because it helps me understand myself better by being truthful to my failures / success over my gamedev career. I been with Unity for a year and a half now, and still nothing real to show for it ( no released product ). Sure I got many side projects that I poured my soul in with countless hours, but they still are demos. For a while I blamed others ( lack of artists or bad teammates), I blamed myself ( physical and /or mental health ) or I blamed school/work/family for holding me back. But that's all wrong and excuses are wrong, I finally realized I only have myself to blame, and should hold myself accountable to get things done and not sit around for an answer ( artist ) to fall in my lap.

Once I got through that epiphany, I realized my gamedev problems are based on scoping my projects way too high. I learned the hard way that 3D is too difficult to manage with everything that comes with it ( rigging, animating, modelling, textures, etc), and I shifted to 3D low poly vertex art and still that was scoped too high, and after shifted to 2D vector art which I felt like still was out of scope. Finally I settled on 32 bit pixel art or lower, and forever all my games will use 32 bit pixel simplified styles that I can create myself. I use this type of "lower scope" on all aspects of my games.

Since I am now staying consistent with my art style through every future game and will make similar games based on previous one, I hope I will eventually get good at it and reuse assets / codes easily to ship out stuff quicker with higher quality each time. Also eventually I will get modules based on my previous games that will be used towards my "dream" games so they will one day become achievable.

I don't consider any of this a failure, because I no longer will say "what if my game was 3D?", or "what if I added this entire new battle system?" as it is a learning process, but still sucks that I have no results still. I will constrain and limit myself to a proper scope on each future project till I become better. At least it didn't take me longer to come to this realization...

 

And you can still make 3d game with sprite like in old doom

But failure is never really your fault unless there is significant stakes with great responsibility, aside from this specific case, failures are just step you take toward success, it's not failure it's building. Even in your case there were no failures, that was weeding out the unnecessary options step by step. What's important is to keep your goal in mind, and each step can also make what the true goal is more clearer. For example your goal were not making 3D games, it was making games, sprite is a tool to achieve that, we can tell because among all thing you weed out, it was 3d and not game, someone else would have quit game, your priority have became much purer in the end

 

So I still stand by my comment about never failing. But in the spirit of the thread I should mention Pond Wars which definitely meets many definitions of failure.

Pond Wars was the first game I took through the entire game dev process from concept, programming, art, release, marketing and support. The game was a success in that I completed each step. It was a failure from a comercial perspective, making only a few dollars of revenue.

There were some key lessons I learned

• Unpolished games struggle in today's market
• I hate polishing

It basically left me convinced that I prefer being a hobbyist with a day job. So far that's working out well for me.

 

Success!

 

Yeah some of my favourite games are unpolished games I find on steam, but they usually dont sell very well because your not selling to other game developers (who can largely overlook that) but consumers who cant. Which is what early access was supposed to be but I dont think that worked out that way.