[tcaudilllg]

How important is it?

Let's be specific: is it important to finish games?

[white_door]

I'm sorry but that's a pretty silly question.

While trying to write my opinion on this topic, I realised that any answer I could give would be completely subjective and based purely on my personal motivations for making a particular game. It would be completely pointless to give an answer, as it would only be relevant to me.

[Ninkazu]

I wonder... if you have sex, is it important to get off?

Finishing is good.

[BadMrBox]

[tcaudilllg]

From what I can discern, the points or BadMrBox and Ninkazu are that through playing a finished game, one can put the game behind them and assimilate its points into the personal experience cleanly and decisively.

[BadMrBox]

Something like that, yes.
It is of course more fun to play a game where you can finish the quest you have started. Thats pretty selfwritten :)
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[Terry]

[white_door]

To state an example of when finishing doesn't matter:

If I'm making a game while I learn a new api/library/language, my purpose is to learn. I'm making a game while doing it because its fun. If I happen to finish then bonus, but the moment I've figured enough out I'll stop working on it.

If I'm making a game to tell some unique story or if I'm making it for the sake of making.. then finishing a becomes really important skill.

So I think that's why you can't just say 'finishing is good'. It depends on each project and on the motivations of the people that are working on them.

[Nephilim]

Or, if you realize halfway through development that your game will suck, then finishing loses its value somewhat.

I will say that it's good to finish SOMETHING at some point, though. "Sacraments" was a case like that for me. It didn't have nearly the scope or the features that I envisioned, but hell, it's done, and over 1000 people have gotten some enjoyment out of it, which is more than I can say for the myriad of abortive game engines sitting on my hard drive that I've tinkered with over the years.

That's one reason I like the compo's. They pretty much force you to throw out everything you want until what's left is something "do-able." They favor getting something out the door in a short time frame, rather than letting you plod on indefinitely on a project that may never see the light of day. Even though circumstances have arisen that have only allowed me to participate in one compo, "Sacraments" was the result of it, and I'm glad I participated, because I have more to show from that than pretty much any other RPG project I've toyed with.
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Visit the Sacraments web site to play the game and read articles about its development.

[BadMrBox]

I agree both with white_door and Nephilim. I enjoyed Sacraments by the way.
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[tcaudilllg]

Thank you for your perspectives. They have been very informative.

In my current estimation, white_door hit it on the head: it depends on the purpose. By analogy, it would be better for RuneLancer, for example, to work on the engine that he is building for his own enjoyment, as opposed to working more on the little VB demo he used to lambaste me. However, should this engine end up as little more than an outlet for his inner creative ambitions, it will have little impact on the rest of us. He is conducting a closed beta, though, so it is likely he making as much of an impact with his work as he feels comfortable with.

As for my efforts, it would seem that I need to tone down my vision for my game into something more feasible. The scope is just too grand right now; indeed, past the basic mechanics and the plot summary, I have little idea where I'm going with this project. From what I can discern, I would best go about releasing the game episodically, but with the added effort of revising episodes.

Thanks for your input.

[Nephilim]

[Gooseman]

I never finish anything that I'm doing involving games...

[Ninkazu]

[RuneLancer]