The new generation of gamers are scary!

[Scoobes]

c0rd said:

Barozi said:

Uhm many people bought the Steam version of Garry's Mod and 75% or more of the team behind Desert Combat was hired by DICE. They helped creating Battlefield 2 and were eventually hired by THQ and now make games under the name Kaos Studios.

The other two mods aren't even half a year old...

 

@bolded part:

That's the problem. For MP games you only need programming skills. The creativity factor almost equals zero which definitely doesn't apply to books.

For books and SP games you need both.

Okay. I haven't really followed mods since Source, so I'll concede that point.

As for the MP games only requiring programming skills, I still don't agree. All the best selling multiplayer games weren't done by simple programmers - mods like Counter-Strike are an exception, and it takes creativity for the execution. Things like map creation or new gameplay concepts have nothing to do with programming.

The best example is probably Blizzard. All their games are designed around multiplayer, yet they always put a ton of effort into music, presentation, art, sound, etc. They're one of the most consistent and respected devs in the industry, they didn't make it through with just "programming skills."

I think the problem is you only believe the art, music, story and such is what requires creativity, whereas things like gameplay mechanics can be done by programming monkeys. However, all of the innovation in the industry comes from the gameplay side, see games like Sim (anything), Civilization, Wii (anything), Zelda, and pretty much any huge arcade hit like Pac Man or Street Fighter. It takes creativity to come up with new and interesting gameplay mechanics that work.

It's essentially what makes games fun - I'd call that an art.

They have that creativity in SP modes as well though. You have a lot more to think about when designing and creating a single-player experience because as well as trying to be creative in terms of gameplay mechanics, you also have to think about the story, level design, more complicated AI routines.

Take Half-Life 2 for example, which was made as a predominantly SP game where they introduced the gravity gun (innovation), yet they had to program detailed animations to convey character emotions (Mainly Alyx- not really needed in as much detail in MP, after all, you're just gonna shoot them), AI for the soldiers, AI for the allies, the squad control system and puzzles. If they concentrated on only multiplayer they wouldn't have to think about that stuff.

In MP you have the opportunity to innovate without having to think about the above, or if you do, in less detail. As mentioned before, the main issue is with balance in MP only.