Hey everyone, Gnomoria dev here.
I wanted to say hi and introduce myself.
I'm not sure how much detail I should get into but it seems like some people would like to know more about my motivations. When I made the decision to quit my job and work from home, I knew what kind of game I wanted to make. My skills center around programming and systems design. I play a ton of video games and board games and to some degree that enjoyment is seeing how the different mechanics and gameplay systems work together. I love how from a simple set of rules, complex behavior can emerge. I think anyone familiar with Stephen Wolfram's "A New Kind of Science" knows exactly what I'm talking about.
Anyways, if I had the chance to follow my dreams and work on anything I wanted, it would be exploring things like procedurally generated content, AI and designing clear systems that work together in interesting ways. I also wanted to have a game on top of this sandbox, with conflict and something to lose and not just an open toy box to play in. I love management games and think they are underexplored. Aside from that, working on a management game fits with the kind of development I enjoy and goes along with what I know. So, it wasn't even something I thought about. I knew it was what I was going to work on. I figure, if I'm going to quit my job, I should work on what I love and make a game that I would like to play, otherwise what's the point? The risk is hoping that there are enough people that would also like to play this game and the rewards are being happy with my work and spending time with my family.
DF is the king of this genre and frankly, Tarn Adams is a genius. The fact that he is following his dreams and doing what he loves should be an inspiration to everyone. It's kind of impossible to do anything without stepping on something he's done. I have no intention of replacing DF and I don't see how that would even be possible if I wanted to. Every decision and gameplay system that makes it into Gnomoria is there because I felt like it was necessary to acheive what I wanted or it made the game better. At times, I've had a goal for the game and am experimenting with solutions and trying to solve the problem in a way that cleanly fits in with the rest of the game. I might find a solution and then realize that it's something in DF, and briefly think, "Oh I shouldn't add this". But then, if it makes the game better, why wouldn't I add it? I'm not complaining, but I think I better understand the "Simpsons Already Did it" episode of South Park.
There was a post commenting on my plans for release. I probably mislead some people. I plan on continuing development as long as I can, but I don't plan on being in alpha forever. I don't want Gnomoria to have an "in development" or "work in progress" feel. When it reaches a point where it's stable, polished and has enough content to where you could compare it to other "finished" indie games, I will consider it "released". My plan at that point, is to continue offering free updates with more gameplay systems and additional content for existing systems. In it's current state, this is the bare minimum I felt it could have to be playable and enjoyable. I have a lot planned, but I don't like making promises until I can back it up. I'd rather put it in the game and show it when it's ready. Right now, my focus is on fixing bugs and usability, but I am really excited to work on more features soon.
I think it's natural that this genre is expanding. For a lot of reasons, I'm excited to see other games pop up in the future. I don't think very many people are deciding between donating to Tarn or preordering Gnomoria. If that is the case, please donate to Tarn instead. What I hope happens, is that Gnomoria brings more people into the genre and they feel less intimidated to try DF and eventually that leads to a donation.
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Topic: Gnomoria: Is this the next DF-Like? (Read 92229 times)