An Apology?

I don't need to make an apology for taking an interest in games on Linux. Do I?
I feel like I do. I mean, I am interested, genuinely. And I do think that platforms like Ubuntu on Linux should be where the next great wave of indie games (at least) is coming from.

It's got everything, hasn't it? It's free to use and you can get right under the hood to tweak things. There's no China-like Super-State mentality that dictates your games have to conform to this standard, or that they have to be distributed in this way, costing developers this much.

So surely homebrew coders should see it as a comfortable home. But.

But.

There's a theme that runs through a lot of the games developed and promoted (for want of a better word) on Ubuntu. They feel like tech demos. It's great that you've worked out how to make a chess game, but there are already a glut of them. It's great that you had a go at making a multiplayer platform shmup, but you forgot to tell me how to play it, and your user interface is leaving me lost, or it's good that you've made a game you feel you can charge money for, but yo've forgotten to talk to me like a customer, and you're not really telling me what I'm going to get for my money.

It seems to me that one of the reasons Linux games aren't on fire right now is that they're not being made in the right way. The focus should be on fun, and if you're going to ask me for money, the focus should be on me.

So let's see if I can stop being a negative Nancy for a moment and start giving some of my own ideas to the mix, after all, what good is criticism if it's not constructive.

1. Why are you doing this?
If you're making a tech demo to see if you can get some sort of physics model, or logic algorithm to work then great. Do that. That's the kind of thing that leads to a good game. But remember the game! Portla, for instance, uses pretty good physics to create a world where things fall, slide and bounce as they should, but a game is not a game until there is a goal. Once you've got your tech demo sorted out talk to people who can write a story around it, or wrap it in beautiful art work. It doesn't have to be complicated, in many cases simple is beautiful. Just remember that while you should rightly be proud that the object you've got recognises the floor and the walls and what not, you need to give me a reason to bounce it, to throw it, to care about it.

2. How do you want me to use it?
Let's put aside the hurdles that come with PC gaming. The computer I'm writing this on isn't the same as the one you're reading it on, so if we're going to play the same game I accept that I may have to tweak some settings. That can't be helped.

However, I shouldn't need to tell the game where my graphics card is, or even what type of graphics card I have, and if I need to join a network, please don't make me have to psychically guess a server address. Show me what servers are available. That kind of thing.

3. Let me win!
A game is generally best enjoyed when it presents a challenge but is ultimately achievable.
Think about the time span you want me to set aside for such a game. An hour for one level/round where I can't save my progress or at least suspend the game isn't going to drag me back too often. Make a goal, allow me to reach it, present me with a tougher goal, and so on.

4. Give it a soul.
A game that has character and soul is a joy to play, most of the time. Consider how you could make me feel more invested in the task at hand. How can I care about my avatar, or my foe if they are a bland as the Linux penguin or as undefined as 'You Vs Them'.

Personality works wonders for a game. Even a game that's very simple indeed can be lifted by some back story, or some personality traits.

5. Make sure it's finished.
This might be the simplest rule of all, and it's so often over looked. If something isn't quite finished in your current build, leave it out and put it in an update. You'll need the bare bones of the game to start with, at least, while you put your alpha out there and let people play test it, but if you have an option to do something that doesn't actually work then I will struggle to see this as a future benefit and will more likely see it as a current failing.

Games aren't job, for the player at least, and they aren't diy kits. Unless your game is a diy kit job simulator, of course. Remember to create your world with 'sealed edges' where you can't accidentally press the 'Y' button and crash the entire thing.

I'd like to finish this post by saying something utterly positive. It's incredibly important to me that you get your game out there, because games are great, and yours might just be the next cult classic that I fall in love with, but please, please, remember that you're making it for me.
Even if you don't expect to get money for your game, I expect to get enjoyment out of it.

Good luck champions of dorkish pursuits on unpopular formats.
You make the world a wonderful place.