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I’m having a tough time giving a title to this post because I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to cover. There are a lot of things shifting at Intuition, there’s been a lot of change this year already and it looks like we’ve still not found a real “groove” that we’re comfortable with.
Greg and I have gotten a lot of inspiration in the past couple weeks from going to Indiecade and TIGJam, and we’ve more or less realized that we don’t feel comfortable continuing work on Liferaft, which is a very difficult decision this late in development. We started production back in March and we’ve been investing our time in the project since then, giving a little time off for Fig. 8, and that’s a lot of work to just put aside because we’ve gotten tired. I think the source of the problem isn’t that we’re incapable of doing the work or that we don’t like the game, but it is the constant creative challenge and the pressure we’ve put on ourselves to create an amazing game which lives up to all the games we love. There are so many design challenges with a somewhat open 2D platformer which we have never encountered before that we just have no idea how to create the best levels and encounters, and we don’t have the time or money to just keep iterating it until it’s perfect.
I’ve spent a ton of time trying to create tools which would allow us to create a rich living environment, but that simply shifts the problem to actually creating that environment. Building rich levels which really give a sense of place and meaning is incredibly difficult, and fitting that into a series of encounters which gradually push the learning curve is a huge challenge. I believe that we could overcome this challenge if we were rested and excited (and if we had a lot of cash to burn on iterating), but the reality is that we’re too tired to continue pushing.
This obviously doesn’t mean our time on Liferaft was totally wasted, we may still pick up the project if we feel we can return to it, and we’ve also learned a lot during the production. Part of the problem of such a big project is that it becomes very difficult to implement lessons learned into the early part of the project, which isn’t a problem with the development of small games like Fig 8. The thing about our small games, Gray, Wild an Free and Fig 8, is that they’re not perfect and that’s OK. We have the crutch of saying “Well, it’s just a 2 week game, it’s good enough,” which is something we can’t really say with Liferaft. This allows us to create something pure and quick, and we don’t have to worry about perfection because we’ll do better the next time.
So we’re working on two new small-ish Flash games, and Intern Rob is actually doing a third game in Unity, which I’ll be helping with as well. It may seem counter-productive to take on three separate projects when we’re supposedly too exhausted to work on Liferaft, but the reality is that working on small games is really energizing for some reason. Perhaps it is the thought that the end is in sight from the very start that keeps us pushing harder, but Gray and Fig 8 were more like vacations for us than actual work. We truly believe that we’re good at making small games, so it seems natural that we focus on that for a while.
To be honest, I still love Liferaft, and I sincerely hope we get a chance to return to it with a stronger focus and confidence. We haven’t worked very hard to promote interest in it and yet a lot of people have told us how awesome they think it is, which is really gratifying. The response on Kickstarter has been great as well, and it’s really awesome to see people coming out to support us, but the reality is that development over September has been pathetically slow, and we’ve lost a lot of the vision of where to go.
Expect some new stuff from us soon, and hopefully a lot more experimentation. We need to keep trying new things if we’re ever going to make this company work. We’ve got some really neat ideas we’re working on with other indies and I’m really excited about the games we’re doing now, hopefully we can start releasing some info about them soon :)
EDIT:
OH, forgot about the Kickstarter side of the issue. Everything donated so far through Kickstarter has been a pledge, which means no money has changed hands and nobody has actually given us any money yet. We’re going to cancel our project which will make all of the pledges null and all that stuff. We always viewed the Kickstarter page as an experiment, and it’s been a pretty interesting thing to watch, but if we’re not sure we’re going to complete Liferaft then there’s no way we could take any money from our fans. We would much rather just cancel it before we got the money than take your money and then fail to make the game.
To everyone who did support us, thanks so much! Even though we’re not actually going to get your money, your support really does mean a lot to us, it’s awesome to know some people believe in us enough to give money before the game is even done :)
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9 Responses to “Is Hiatus the Correct Word Here?”
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Stevesy3
October 19th, 2009 at 2:22 PMaw man. I was really looking forward to having a character named after me. jk :)
InfiniteAlec
October 19th, 2009 at 2:31 PMThanks for sharing your thoughts on this, its always illuminating to see how developers deal with stumbling blocks. Its kind of interesting that Flash Bang is going through a similar change in direction, but its almost reversed. I’m confident that you guys will find a path that works for you! :)
aeiowu
October 19th, 2009 at 3:31 PMYea, Flashbang seems to feel the changes too. I blame the moon.
The way I see it, it’s a case of letting our eyes grow larger than our stomachs. It’s easy for us to let the inner-child inside go nuts with “Oh man! wouldn’t it be cool if ______ _____ when the boss ______.” That kind of development is really exciting but can also be really draining when you try and create an atmosphere that entertains all those warm and fuzzy ideas.
Also, I don’t think we’re good enough yet to pull off the kind of deep, emotional story-based game that we wanted Liferaft to be. I go back to this video from Ira Glass a lot, maybe too much, but it rings true so often and this situation is no exception: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hidvElQ0xE
One day our abilities will meet our taste and we’ll make a great game. But until then, like Mike mentioned, we’ll do what we’re good at. By making smaller, experimental games we can learn design lessons, fail often and get back on the horse to put those lessons into action in the next game. And it’s not like these smaller games aren’t important to us. The game I’m heading up currently (caterpillar game/pterogative) is probably the most personal thing I’ve ever worked on.
All in all, we’re doing a lot better, we’re working a lot less and getting more done in and effort to balance our lives. We’re always learning/editing and responding, and I’m convinced if we didn’t do that we’d be much much worse off. This change is just the thing we needed.
Impikmin
October 19th, 2009 at 3:47 PMWhat will happen to those who donated and expected their name in the credits or something? Will they just have to hang on for however long it takes to complete it to get their ‘reward’?
fucrate
October 19th, 2009 at 4:04 PMToo right Impikmin, I totally forgot to talk about the Kickstarter stuff, but I’ve just updated the post. Suffice it to say we won’t be taking anyone’s money if we’re not even sure if we’re going to finish the game.
Thanks a lot Alec! This whole indie developer thing is always interesting, even if it’s so difficult to figure out where the hell we’re going :)
Porter
October 19th, 2009 at 4:16 PMAndrew and I were in a similar situation ourselves. We had a sequel going to an old game, put it on hold because it needed more time. Started a “simple” game, got bored with it and moved on to a new, again simple idea. This game then transformed into another, which we worked on for a few weeks. This then ended up being far too large a project for us at the moment (financial reasons), and we’ve now moved on to yet another game. We finally landed on the one we’re doing now, and it’s coming along excellently. Hopefully you’ve found your place and can start getting back to work, best of luck.
malec2b
October 19th, 2009 at 4:20 PMIt’s a shame to hear your stopping work on Liferaft, but, honestly, more small games from Intuition is by no means a bad thing. I look forward to seeing them come out!
Vince Twelve
October 19th, 2009 at 4:47 PMThat’s bad news, but at the same time, good news. I too feel the draw of smaller, more exciting projects while working on my own over-ambitious story-driven game! Good luck and I look forward to more fun stuff like Fig. 8 and Gray!
mile222 » Blog Archive » 2009 was a real roller coaster but we’re still strapped in.
December 28th, 2009 at 2:24 PM[...] became a pressure cooker. Returning from the sunny and friend-filled life of California we came to some realizations about Liferaft and o did I regarding my own [...]