Self destructive graphics arms race is wiping out game devs.

[DonFerrari]

Ljink96 said:

Pemalite said:

Allot of 3D techniques actually reduce development time, for many of them, that is the entire point of it existing in the first place.

Photogrammetry still requires artists to clean up textures, modellers to optimize and improve models, programmers to write shader code to simulate effects like wet cloth and lighting.
Photogrammetry is just another tool that developers can use to build their games.
Will it take away jobs? Perhaps. But it might not either.

Mobile is a good place to start though, but don't ignore the PC by jumping into mobile, sometimes it is the PC that makes the mobile game successfull.

Agreed. I guess 3D 'techniques' wasn't the best way to word it. They do improve speed but HD development in general is still rather costly, if you're going for a realistic look. I guess realism was the concept that I am wanting to avoid in game development. 

I actually wasn't expecting people to catch on to photogrammetry here but I'm glad you know your stuff. I am aware that it isn't the be all end all for 3D realists but it is doing a lot of work that would take a single guy a week to do, withing a couple of days from start to finish. Cleanup, etc needs to be done of course but it's still some damn good tech. FFXV Kingsglaive used it a lot and though cleanup is extensive, it's amazing what it can do at such an early stage.

Programmers, like you said also need to be able to code for animation techniques, etc, which is also starting to look appealing as 3D modelers lose their worth. Unless you focus on toon graphics or highly stylized graphics. But I digress.

PC is of course something I will also focus on as Steam is pretty huge. Making games with minimum input, with great quality, and getting a return of some sort is the plan for me. 

Man, avoid to be "ludist" with the fear of machines and automation taking out human jobs... that only means jobs will evolve. Most of the jobs you have today weren't possible at the start of industrial revolution (when the ludist born when the machines came), actually several of them didn't exist a decade ago. There will always be a place for good professionals, and if everything becames very easy the most that can happen is that any dev can be a one man dev company and do his game solo and sell.