Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Game Developers are Developers too. . .




Being with Influxis for a while now, and speaking at various conferences I've noticed something kinda strange. There's an elephant in the room that the developers are talking about (and I'm not talking about how the hell a bum became a developer).

There's a weird lack of Game Development sessions at Flash/Flex conferences. Unless you are going to a "Gaming" Conference, mum's the word on Flash Game Development (i.e. the awesome Flash Gaming Summit I went to in San Fran). And I don't understand why this is.

Is it because the Flash Rockstars aren't making games? Well, I know Grden and Zupko are basically in the Unity3d camp. But Keith Peters has made some awesome flash and iPhone games.

I think there should be more talks about game development at the major conferences. It's a MAJOR part of the Flash Community. I think it would also help bring the level of development up across the board. Games are hard to make. They usually require lots of Maths, Physics, and Artificial Intelligence implementation. Not to mention a healthy helping of Design Pattern knowledge. I also think that if you put a lot of the harder programming/architecture concepts into game terminology, things become a little less scary, and easier to visualize.

Then maybe, just maybe. . . non-gamers will see the art behind game design. Also, maybe we could figure out a way to make some money off of Flash Game Development. That would be pretty cool I think.

13 comments:

Joseph Burchett said...

I am with you entirely!!! It really bothers me that the flash game development community as huge and growing as it is still put on the way side... The Flash gaming world is an amazing one! I am trying to show that with my podcast gamedevradio.net where I tend to interview a lot of flash game devs (being a flex developer myself). But yeah, everytime you say that you are a flash game developer still other game devs seem to look down upon you. You are not taken seriously. Bothers me even more that considering that Apple has seen the light and now is advertising the Touch as a gaming device, the mainstream gaming industry is a billion dollar industry yet adobe still seems to not understand the gold mine they are sitting on top of!!! They should be giving tons of support to us (know not just adding some what 3d functionality to flash) I mean like opening a store for flash game devs on the site, setting up a portal for flash game devs, REALLY supporting all of them. But yeah sorry I kind of went on a rant there, being a flash game dev I feel so strongly about it and want it to really succeed, so many amazingly smart flash game devs out there but not enough exposure for it. Stay tuned to my podcast though, have some killer interviews/talks lined up flash game dev related :-)

Troy said...

I've noticed that for a *long* time. Basically, Adobe has never shown the game developers the love even though the whole reason Flash is ubiquitous is because of Flash games. Many of us suspect it's because Adobe has a "they need us more than we need them" kind of attitude. Also, notice how much energy they target at app developers, an area where they are trying to woo developers from existing technologies (like C#, Java, etc.).

Zack J. said...

Yeah, it's too bad. I've been to a few conferences now and there is definitely a lot I can take back to game dev, but nobody actually says the phrase "game dev." And when I tell people I'm interested in doing some serious Flash game dev, they often think that my choice of platform is weird. Why not Unity or iPhone or even XNA? Not sure I have a good answer for that yet; come on, Adobe, convince me to stay.

Ryan Henson Creighton said...

That's one of the biggest reasons i don't show up at Flash conferences. i'm tired of seeing the same parade of designers showing off their agency work for Daimer-Chrysler and American Apparel, and the fancy 3D-esque gallery flipper they just built.

You want to do something fancy? Try building a GAME, bitch. Until you do, i've got no time for your latte-drinking, scarf-wearing ass.

Seantron said...

Ryan gets the most memorable line award for this round. . . build a GAME, bitch! Bravo! hahaha

diamondTearz said...

That sound, gentlemen, was me falling out of my chair. Build that bey0tch!

Unknown said...

If I could make consulting rates in game development, I would. I got into coding for the sole purpose of making games. I've yet to find a way to make the same standard of living I make in consulting, so... no game dev for me except in spare time.

Seb Lee-Delisle said...

There were a few game based sessions at FlashOnTheBeach this year. I'm also planning a new session all about making games. :-)

Keith Peters said...

I've done a couple of game dev presos at fotb. i'll probably do more. Submit your ideas to the conferences.

Terry Paton said...

Well said, personally I hate building sites and other such boring media, you want a person to have a fantastic interaction with your interface? Make it a game, tell a story with it and engage them for 5-60 minutes. And don't get me started on how complex the logic can get! Lol.

Iain said...

I'm talking about Flash game dev ALL THE TIME. The conferences just need to invite me :)

Keith's session at FOTB was good this year because it was reasonably detailed, whereas most the game talks I've seen are pretty beginner oriented. It still had nowhere the depth of the discussions that had already happened on Keith's blog. That's the problem with a big topic and only an hour. You need a whole track for games maybe?

Seantron said...

Sorry Keith, I missed FOTB this year (because it was my son's first birthday). And Seb I'm excited to see your next presentation :). Thanks for all the comments guys, I guess this was more targeted at Adobe MAX.

Colm said...

It is kind of amazing that flash games are so prevalent yet so ignored from on high.
I think in the next couple of years flash games are going to start making the kinds of money hits on iphone are making right now, thusly leading to bigger development studios making flash games (rather than individuals as it is now, mostly).
And that will lead to them being talked about at flash-centric conferences. Plus Adobe will then start paying attention (by launching some sort of flash games store, I predict).