Last year, miHoYo copied my puzzle game Ouros in Zenless Zone Zero.
Because they are a recognized, billion-dollar studio and my game isn't well known, some people are now assuming that their version is the original, and mine is the clone.
I hope this video clears that up.
I wrote:
I was requested to DM here regarding my complaint that Xfinity's use of https://t.co/bxJgOcVYJj is wrongfully blocking domains of independent software developers including myself.
My requests:
- I do not want safebrowse to block sites for me
- I do not want any subdomains on my personal domain, https://t.co/qJp0uX9NvA, to be blocked by safebrowse for other people as well. I am having to make multiple manual requests each week to have specific subdomains unblocked, and I would just like a blanket whitelist for https://t.co/qJp0uX9NvA
- I am pleading Xfinity to be less stringent with blocking domains whose only crime is being unfamiliar to Xfinity. I speak for other programmers and internet business owners in saying that blocking domains by default is harmful to all internet users by stifling small creators and advantaging large established companies. Recently over 900 people made video games as part of #vibejam. Many of them are hosted on personal domains, and safebrowse is blocking many of them. They have done nothing wrong but Xfinity has deemed them unworthy of existing on the internet and there is no way to find out which ISPs are using this heavy censorship and request whitelisting from each one.
My heart goes out to the developers at 2XKO. Fighting games are a tough genre even when you have a killer team and make a lot of great choices. We know it for sure as we let go of a quarter of our team this past month so our company could stay operational.
Social media has made this kind of news worse, because everyone is so sure they know best and they feel obligated to share it to the void.
But there are hundreds of reasons behind any success or any failure in this industry. Little details within the control of the development team and some outside their control that determine which games succeed and which games struggle.
Go read any discourse on social media when a game shuts down or a new game pops off. You’ll find people simplifying down to one reason that makes sense from their perspective. This game was free to play and this one wasn’t. This game was 2d and this game was 3d. This game had too many samey characters and this game didn’t have enough. This game was too similar to that other game I like and this game was too different.
But the truth is somewhere in between all those opinions. And there are likely many more reasons outside the common discourse, which often focuses on the surface level issues. We see so much more discussion around negative news because people feel validated when something didn’t click with them.
You see less people arguing why Street Fighter 6 or Fortnite are doing great because “it’s obvious.” But if you asked 10 people who play those games why they like them, you might get 10 different answers.
But the way social media rewards sharing dunks and I-told-you-so’s and arguing about them as much as possible only creates a bigger rift between developers and players.
Developers know what they were able to achieve with the time and resources they had. They know what their strong points are and where they wish they could improve. What they don’t know is if the good aspects will resonate enough to make up for the bad or allow them the funds to improve the game as time goes on.
Fans have the benefit of hindsight in a lot of these cases and even then, you can find so many takes that age like milk when a game has a great launch week then tails off or struggles out the gate then builds up momentum over time.
I guess what I’m trying to say in this long rant is that maybe Sakurai was onto something when he asked Max Ketchum if he had ever made a game.
I’d also like to say good luck to all those affected in today’s layoffs. If I was in a position to hire anyone, I would be sending messages right now. But unfortunately fighting games are hard and we’re only focused on keeping our team together for our next big update.
🥊 How to Design a Fighting Game
Learn about balancing fighting game characters in a genre where every small decision can have cascading effects on game feel. Everything from vortex characters to the history of the Akuma fireball!
Talk given at #PlayNYC by #IndieGameDev Paul
i'll be at PAX West this weekend! i'm not exhibiting TLA or SHC like usual, i'm just going to have fun with some friends. if you're a friend or fan and wanna hang, hit me up! it's so rare for me to have any free time at these events, so i want to make the most of it :)
Mark your calendar for April 5th! You don't want to miss an exciting panel about designing fighting games with @mpaulweeks at City College! This panel will explore the fundamentals of the engine, establishing good design patterns, and explaining why balance can be tricky! 🎮✨
ECT 2024 GENERAL INFO THREAD
1) Visual Schedule
Since Google Sheets can be a nightmare on mobile, please find the event & stream schedule by day here. Please note Thursday evening badge pick up from 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM is not marked but will be available!