Any collaborative SubSim projects?

magicstix · 01-03-16, 05:12 PM

I see it a lot on this forum. Person X is working a great new game. Screenshots are posted, everyone goes "oooh" and "aahh." A few weeks later, the project is dead, only to have Person Y post that he/she is working on a great new game. Rinse and repeat.

A lot of hobbyist enthusiasts are single-handedly trying to do the work of a team of professional developers. In the end they get bored or burned out, or both, and their project goes into the wastebin.

What I don't see is any collaboration among all this talent.

Has there ever been a project on SubSim where multiple people get together to work on the same thing? There are very few hobbyist programmers that can do the whole gamut required in a game (networking, graphics, AI, 2D, 3D, game logic), let alone those who can code *and* do art *and* modeling. Yet among all these failed loner projects, I see enough of the spectrum of talent required across all the people to actually accomplish *one* game, so why haven't these people rounded themselves up into a group?

Julhelm · 01-04-16, 04:14 AM

It tends to happen fairly regularly in bigger team efforts as well. Even back in the Half-Life days the ratio of vaporware projects vs releases was something like 10 to 1.

It's just far too easy to succumb to feature creep, even with professional teams. STALKER is a good example of this.

Pretty much all successful projects generally stick to a clearly defined project scope and try to do a few things really well.

RMeeuws · 01-04-16, 11:29 AM

Indeed if you can spread the workload between people that can be a very good thing for a project. Multiple people have indeed different skill sets so I see working together mainly as a surplus for the quality of the project.

But what's the main enemy of each indie project ?
Time.

If you work alone then your control the pace of the project.
If "Real Live" comes knocking then you (hopefully) temporally slow the progress.

If you work in a group then your depended of each other. I someone needs to take a , temporally, step back then it' s very possible that the other members can't, temporally ,continue even if there have at that moment the time to do.
You also need very good documentation so if some member needs to stop complete someone else can pickup his work.

nsomnia · 01-13-16, 10:19 PM

I'm thinking of dusting off Redwater which I started as my first project in Unreal Engine 4.6 when I first moved away from Unity.

I'm so many times mroe skilled now...

Would love to have it partially OS with some fellow minded devs (UE4, BP's and C++)

Have experiance in networking and AI in BP's and a well versed artist, where I lack is the UE4 C++ API but with my last uni Java course ending at the end of January '16 I have _infinite_ time.

v-i-c- · 11-28-16, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by magicstix

I see it a lot on this forum. Person X is working a great new game. Screenshots are posted, everyone goes "oooh" and "aahh." A few weeks later, the project is dead, only to have Person Y post that he/she is working on a great new game. Rinse and repeat.

Sure those projects are all gone? Some might just stopped posting. At the end writing about the progress and answering questions about a game steals costly time from the development.

For example I recently had to post this because I was silent for a long time:
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=228539

Xaron · 11-29-16, 02:34 AM

Community projects tend to fail more often than indie projects. Too many people with too different opinions how to do things kill each project pretty quick. I doubt there would be even kind of a community Pac Man. Even that simple game would fail.

One remember Hans "The Definition Of Vaporware" Wittman?

Even with his ingenious team of the best of the best they not even were able to create a web page. Remember? 2016 was the year Atlantic Warfare should be released.

Every team member of such a community project has different views how such a project shall be. Usually community projects start to become way too ambitious, want to create the next Uber game with heaps of features. One wants to create a multiplayer game, the other prefers single player, one more action, the other more simulation.

Better is to have a small team, not more than 5 people.

Sung · 11-30-16, 06:13 AM

If you have all the skill to do all parts by yourself, you need only one

The best way to finish a game, is to start to work on it. If you fail. Learn more and start another project.

Cheers!

01-03-16, 05:12 PM	#1
magicstix Captain Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Nuclear submarine under the North Pole Posts: 481 Downloads: 1 Uploads: 0	Any collaborative SubSim projects? I see it a lot on this forum. Person X is working a great new game. Screenshots are posted, everyone goes "oooh" and "aahh." A few weeks later, the project is dead, only to have Person Y post that he/she is working on a great new game. Rinse and repeat. A lot of hobbyist enthusiasts are single-handedly trying to do the work of a team of professional developers. In the end they get bored or burned out, or both, and their project goes into the wastebin. What I don't see is any collaboration among all this talent. Has there ever been a project on SubSim where multiple people get together to work on the same thing? There are very few hobbyist programmers that can do the whole gamut required in a game (networking, graphics, AI, 2D, 3D, game logic), let alone those who can code and do art and modeling. Yet among all these failed loner projects, I see enough of the spectrum of talent required across all the people to actually accomplish one game, so why haven't these people rounded themselves up into a group?

01-13-16, 10:19 PM	#4
nsomnia Weps Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Canada Posts: 370 Downloads: 44 Uploads: 0	I'm thinking of dusting off Redwater which I started as my first project in Unreal Engine 4.6 when I first moved away from Unity. I'm so many times mroe skilled now... Would love to have it partially OS with some fellow minded devs (UE4, BP's and C++) Have experiance in networking and AI in BP's and a well versed artist, where I lack is the UE4 C++ API but with my last uni Java course ending at the end of January '16 I have _infinite_ time. __________________ Current Project [ Operation Trident (Working Title: Project RedWater) ColdWar Subsim] :: Development Log w/ Dwnloads

11-30-16, 06:13 AM	#7
Sung Developer Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 335 Downloads: 6 Uploads: 0	If you have all the skill to do all parts by yourself, you need only one The best way to finish a game, is to start to work on it. If you fail. Learn more and start another project. Cheers! __________________ SILENT DEPTH the submarine simulation for your mobile device www.silentdepth.com https://www.facebook.com/silentdepth/ Silent Depth Manual

01-04-16, 04:14 AM	#2
Julhelm Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The Icy North Posts: 693 Downloads: 189 Uploads: 0	It tends to happen fairly regularly in bigger team efforts as well. Even back in the Half-Life days the ratio of vaporware projects vs releases was something like 10 to 1. It's just far too easy to succumb to feature creep, even with professional teams. STALKER is a good example of this. Pretty much all successful projects generally stick to a clearly defined project scope and try to do a few things really well.

01-04-16, 11:29 AM	#3
RMeeuws Swabbie Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Belgium Posts: 5 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Indeed if you can spread the workload between people that can be a very good thing for a project. Multiple people have indeed different skill sets so I see working together mainly as a surplus for the quality of the project. But what's the main enemy of each indie project ? Time. If you work alone then your control the pace of the project. If "Real Live" comes knocking then you (hopefully) temporally slow the progress. If you work in a group then your depended of each other. I someone needs to take a , temporally, step back then it' s very possible that the other members can't, temporally ,continue even if there have at that moment the time to do. You also need very good documentation so if some member needs to stop complete someone else can pickup his work.

11-29-16, 02:34 AM	#6
Xaron Ensign Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 222 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Community projects tend to fail more often than indie projects. Too many people with too different opinions how to do things kill each project pretty quick. I doubt there would be even kind of a community Pac Man. Even that simple game would fail. One remember Hans "The Definition Of Vaporware" Wittman? Even with his ingenious team of the best of the best they not even were able to create a web page. Remember? 2016 was the year Atlantic Warfare should be released. Every team member of such a community project has different views how such a project shall be. Usually community projects start to become way too ambitious, want to create the next Uber game with heaps of features. One wants to create a multiplayer game, the other prefers single player, one more action, the other more simulation. Better is to have a small team, not more than 5 people.