Spiderweb Games - How Many Games I Sell #2

The second part of Jeff Vogel's How Many Games I Sell is up, discussing the Mac/PC split, the price point and improving the graphics:

Look, graphics are expensive. Really expensive. We keep our costs low, and our games thus become profitable quickly. We've had some games that did worse than others, but I've never, in fifteen years, written a game that lost money.

And here's the sad truth. Suppose I spent a bunch of money, busted my hump, and wrote a game with graphics as good as, say, Eschalon. Then people who really care about graphics wouldn't look at my game and go, "Wow! He's really doing good now!" They'd go, "His graphics suck. They haven't improved at all." And then they'd go play Fallout 3.

Don't get me wrong. My next game, Avernum 6, will look much nicer than Geneforge 5. I've been working really hard on it, and there are a lot of improvements there. And the next game after that, which will have an all-new engine, will look even better. And you know something? Everyone will still say they look like crap. Big budget games will ALWAYS look better. I can't compete there, there's no hope, so I don't try very hard.

More information.

I suppose he has a point.

However I played Eschalon all the way through and am looking forward to book II.

I've tried Spiderweb demos over the years and can't get past the graphics.

I had less issues with the graphics than I did the monster animations. The first time a lizard slithered over I cringed. I will try his latest demo however, the games have a certain charm.

I just tried GF5 demo, and I can't pick up the dagger on the table in the tutorial. I should be able to select it right? Vista 64 issue? I can open doors and the cabinet. hmm…

There's probably a "pick up from floor" button, if it's like any other game he's done.
You click it and a window appears showing all the things you pick up (including from tables IIRC).

Originally Posted by Shagnak
There's probably a "pick up from floor" button, if it's like any other game he's done.
You click it and a window appears showing all the things you pick up (including from tables IIRC).

Yup that was it. No more problems. Game looks pretty good, I'll have to give it a whirl.