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Forums - Gaming Discussion - Help me: Explain what you don't like with mobile gaming!

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huiii on 16 March 2015

The controls - trying to emulate button/circlepad controls on mobile doesn't work. Use a a control scheme that works well with a touchscreen.
Monetisation - That microtransaction jungle....
Progression - give me a reason to keep playing, as others have said lots of mobile games become boring fast, and if score tag or get 3 stars is all the progression your game has it's no wonder why. Evolve the mechanics, give me a storry, just do something.

That said not all mobile games are bad, it's just hard to find the good ones.



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PieToast on 16 March 2015
ktay95 said:
PieToast said:
An interview with Rayne Payton. He was a producer for MGS4 (other than kojima) then he quit Konami to work with Microsoft, but he quit that too to work on his own.

He talks about he's recently released game and mobile gaming market and audience. You should check it out because he also mentioned how he tried to overcome the shortcomings of the touch screen to create a game for his usual audience on consoles.

http://youtu.be/hN-yoAC4Y5M

The full episode, best podcast ep Ive ever listened too =D

Best podcast period. I chose this short segment because it's about mobile games but I do recommend the OP to listen to the whole episode if he's interested.



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KhinRunite on 16 March 2015
KLXVER said:
If you want to be successful in creating games for mobiles, then youre asking the wrong crowd here.


No kidding. My thread over at the Mobile discussion got next to no attention. I'm optimistic, so I still think that if I start working on my RPG or Tactics game, even if they're for mobile, people around here would warm up to it. ;)

OP: It's mainly the established market of mobile games that turns off hardcore gamers. However, we get an increasing number of hardcore games for the mobile, though mostly ports, but we're getting somewhere.

Now, about your game idea, might I suggest a game that would require about 4 face buttons? Phones and tablets have no shoulder buttons, and providing virtual shoulder buttons doesn't even help. To be honest, puzzle games seem to be the type of game most suited for mobiles-- click and point adveture games for example, although I imagine something like Lemmings or Pikmin can be made possible on mobile. Anyway goodluck with your application!



PieToast on 16 March 2015

Double post.



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DanneSandin on 16 March 2015
ReimTime said:
My gripe is that they are limited to the technical specs of the peripheral that is the mobile phone. Small screens, small RAM, small space, and touchscreen controls. Another thing is that mobile games aren't meant to be played in a sit down session, ya know? Mobile games are shaped around being quick and instantaneously satisfying; which isn't necessarily bad, but it isn't seen as hardcore.I guess I have a few suggestions that may help you create a more "hardcore" game:
Gamepad support via OTG cable or Bluetooth
Actually, I lied. That's the only thing I can think of right now. You are able to play PS4 on Android via Remote Play, so you could look at that too I guess.

What is it you don't like with touchscreen controls? NSMB for the DS has pretty short levels and are meant to be played on the go, as are quite a few other handheld games. And I think smartphones today are more capable than the original DS, so why couldn't mobile games be good if they had better controllers?



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

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FrontlineJaguar on 16 March 2015

Mobile gaming for me is to provide fun for quick sessions since I don't expect myself to dedicate long hours of gaming on mobile. While I use the word quick sessions I must say that quick session can vary from 2m -30m or more.

At times some developers really try to bring more and more hardcore games on mobile with a proper input method which sucks. What they do is they build a good game but struggle to develop a good control scheme what they are going to do is add a virtual joystick and fire buttons which imo is not meant for mobile gaming. They need to understand that those type of games are not meant to be for mobiles. A game with proper control scheme and decent artstyle always attracts me on mobile.

The market problem . Since f2p titles dominate mobile gaming many developers tend to release games which are filled with micro-transactions and other bull shit which just spoils the fun for me but then very less people pay for mobile games.



DanneSandin on 16 March 2015
Darwinianevolution said:
DanneSandin said:
Darwinianevolution said:
There is inherently nothing wrong with mobile gaming. The main problem with mobile games is their reputation: poorly made games (from quick cash-ins to no-games at all), horrible copycats of other games, poor controlls, blatant copyright infringement, excessive pay to win, microtransactions and timewalls, oversaturation of the market, advertisements everywhere, massive piracy... If you can avoid those problems, you'll have half the battle solved.

What does bad controls mean for you in this case? And what kinds of microtransactions don't you like? The "pay-to-win"-kinds?

If your game is free to play, try not to make microtransactions indispensable, the game has to be fun even without having to pay. If your game has an initial price, try not to use microtransactions (or make them really expansive). The game has to be good despite if wou want to pay more or not.

The controlls part depends o the type of game. THe lack of buttons can really make some games more difficult than necessary. Puzzle games are great for touch controlls, but not something more complicated.

Yes, I've intended to price the game right out of the gates, so to speak. IF the game ever gets made that is! My intention is to make a GOOD game, it just happens to be on a smartphone.



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

DanneSandin on 16 March 2015
Sixteenvolt420 said:
There are too many microtransactions and i just seem to lose interest in most mobile games after like an hour or two of total gaming time.

But WHY do you loose interest after an hour or two? What is it with mobile games that's so boring after a while?



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

DanneSandin on 16 March 2015
Mummelmann said:

Poor controls, shallow gameplay, no meat to the core structure of the game, no proper music, tiny screen, extremely repetetive etc. I don't see a single thing with mobile games that appeals to me; the mobile factor itself is of no use since I don't enjoy any sort of media on the go, I don't even watch videos or listen to music on the subway or elsewhere.

What do you mean with shallow gameplay? ANd no meat to the core structure of the game?



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.

DanneSandin on 16 March 2015
Barkley said:
DanneSandin said:

Great! Thanks :D What's your gripe with the controls? What's too simplistic with them? Got an example? What features would you like to have?


Touch Screen buttons for certain games types are just too unresponsive or intuitive, I couldn't play super mario bros with touch screen buttons for example. The controls have to be both intuitive and easy to use which is pretty simple if you're making an RPG or strategy game where you just press buttons to make it do certain actions but in a racing game or a platformer where you have direct control over your character it usually isn't very good. Though motion controls can work well for racing games. However racing games that use motion contorls usually you just steer and activate a boost accelerating and sometimes braking is handled automatically which is what I mean by basic.

Games are generally dumbed down for phones because the control system would be difficult on a touch screen. Having control over braking, accelerating, steering and nitro on a mobile device could be difficult.

Rpg, Strategy and other similair game types that don't have any controls obstacle could be great on mobile but almost all of them are weighed down with microtransactions and other annoying mechanics.

Then there's flappy bird, there are many games like this on mobile, there controls work well but they are very very simplistic and are based around creating an addictive loop where the person just wants to get a better and better score then themselves or friends. This short reptitive loop is an addictive mechanic used in many other games such as Moba's and rougelikes, but obviously far simpler and shorter on mobile. These games are too simplistic to engross me for more than a couple of minutes while i'm waiting for something and i'll likely never touch them again once i've finished waiting.

A rougelike game that utilizes this addictive loop would have more content and some sort of strategy while still having the entertaining "maybe this time I can do better" and competition between friends could be done very well on mobile and appeal to gamers more than most mobile games.

I think I lost my train of thought and started changing subjects rapidly but there's my brain vomit.

Brain vomit is certainly a goof thing from time to time! Thanks!



I'm on Twitter @DanneSandin!

Furthermore, I think VGChartz should add a "Like"-button.