Why are you making this game, anyway?
Why are you making this game, anyway?
Browsing Borders the other evening, I flipped through a copy of Make Your Own Damn Movie by Lloyd Kaufman. I didn’t buy the book (for a non-filmmaker I already have a ridiculous collection of books about independent filmmaking), but the introduction by Matt Stone (of South Park fame) included a brief story of how he met Lloyd Kaufman and got his movie, Cannibal, released on video by Troma Pictures.
If you want the full story, find the book and read it at the bookstore like I did. The point I’m making is this: Matt & friends had become so caught up in selling Cannibal to a studio that they had forgotten the real reason they had made the film in the first place: so people would see it.
The first chapter re-iterated that point with a different, rather icky story by Kaufman. I won’t give any details about that story (lazy bum; Borders is open until 11), but Kaufman really wanted to stress the point that if you’re not making films because your really want to make films, then you shouldn’t even bother. If money is your only motivation, there are far, far easier–and more secure–ways to make money.
I think the same applies to making games. Or any other kind of end-user software.
I taught myself computer programming in the mid-1980’s because I wanted to make games. And that purpose continued to drive me through college.
Thus, I was a bit distressed that my first job after college wasn’t working for a game company. Nor were my 2nd or 3rd jobs, for that matter, but I learned a valuable lesson during my years in Corporate America: It isn’t just about games. I like making software, period. Even more, I like making software that people use.
Whether it’s a game, like Artifact, or end-user software, like The Journal, my driving purpose in designing and developing software is having people play it/use it. Nothing makes me happier than a satisfied player/user. That I also make money at it is a bonus.
Even if I didn’t make enough money to live off, I would still be making games, still designing software, still stringing together code and components, hitting compile and watching it run. I know this for a fact because I did it for years before I ever made a dollar off it. I would come home from work and fire up my PC and plug away.
Yah. I’m a geek. So are you.
Anyway, what I want to leave you with on this New Years Eve is: Remember why you wanted to make games. It probably had nothing to do with money. More likely, you had just finished a game, or completed a level/mission within a game, and you found yourself inspired to create an experience of your own. Relive that moment. Let it rekindle your enthusiasm, and keep you going throughout the coming year.
Money or no money, never forget: If you aren’t having fun, you aren’t doing it right.
-Joe
Your last line is SOOOO true. The ONLY reason to make games is because it’s fun. It’s just too damned hard, otherwise. I’m going to have to go read that book now…