Is it truly feasible to make a good popular PC game that uses 2d hand drawings, and is single player.
I think only an MMO has a chance, and single player games are a thing of the past. Because of that I really cannot see a 2D single player game making it past the publish button.
I believe it could also be a problem making a 2D MMO, but I think it has a better chance.
Whatâs your definition of popular? Does the game have to go viral? Or can it simply be popular with its target audience?
Cuphead is one of the top sellers on Steam.
http://store.steampowered.com/search/?filter=topsellers
http://steamspy.com/app/268910
Regarding single player games (2D or 3D) being a âthing of the pastâ, the second highest is a single player game.
Cuphead. Ever heard of it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN-9SQXoi50
2D MMOs also exist, I Believe. Although trying to make an MMO is a royally bad idea, 2d or not.
Time to open your eyes and look around. Then, making threads like these will be a thing of your past.
Thereâs no way that an âmmoâ is the âonly chanceâ for single-player 2d. Not every game has to have multiplayer and networking. There is a trend towards it yes, but plenty of people enjoy playing on their own.
Rimworld sits in the 2d realm, and that game is very popular ( and utterly amazing ), although not hand drawn. Another game that springs to mind is âThis war of mineâ
I think a game can be popular no matter which style it is presented in, Gameplay is king, and whilst the games which fit the current meta might be faster out the gate, they generally will not turn out to be the gems which people are still playing 20 years later.
Online multiplayer / MMO games ( in my opinion ) are only so popular because they enable mankind to do what it does best, troll and insult the living c**p out of each other from the safety of anonymity.
If a game is popular with its target audience, that doesnât make it popular. Thatâs called a niche.
If a game is popular with its target audience - it is successful, not niche. (you are learning a lot since joining the fold) The size of the audience determines if the audience is niche or not.
If a online multiplayer first person shooter - only allowed magic to be shot - that might be considered a niche in the shooter realm, and doesnât have to be successful to be considered niche.
Cuphead as a successful game falls into several niches - local co-op, 2D, high difficulty, platformer.
Fairly certain his account was banned when he tried tangenting a thread with more engine nonsense.
I feel better about 2D game designs now. If a large number of people enjoy playing them, then its worth making them.
Itâs often worth it even if this isnât the case. I remember a thread a while back someone made about how the game became popular without any form of marketing and the answer was essentially âI targeted a market that had little to no competition because no one else was willing to make a game for itâ.
Markets with large player bases will have more competition. Becoming successful on them will be harder.
Sometimes less is more, with less visual information people project onto characters and settings adding their own imagination to the mix.
Some of the most loved and longest lasting video game characters started life as a few pixels. Or could you imagine a 3D Mario or Pac-Man having any impact in todays video games market?
A parallel is in books/novels everyone who reads the same story builds up in their imagination a picture of what actually is happening.
Eight people on one forum reassuring you of something is great, but itâs not proper research.
If you wnat to make a certain type of game because that interest you, go for it. My opinion is that if you make something really well and you arenât a total nutjob, there is going ot be other people like you who will enjoy it. You just need some visibility.
But if you are seriously concerned about marketability and stuff like that, you need to be more serious about researching the relevant data. Reassurance from people in the know is great to boost your morale, but itâs not enough. Good thing is, i think thtere is quite a few people on this forum that either have first hand experience with stuff like this or know good places to look for further research, so if I was you Iâd think about a more specific question to ask, like âwhat are some 2d games published with unity that have reached a certain level of market success.â
Off the top of my head, check these out:
Thereâs plenty more, too.
But, read this:
Donât take my word for it. Look up those games, and others, and find out how well they did for yourself, and why. Also, look at games that didnât do so well (thatâs actually harder, because theyâre less visible than successful ones) and do the same research on those.
I will also add that contrary to OPs claims, MMOs are on the decline. Combined with also being totally wrong about 2D single player games, I really donât know how he came to the conclusions he did.
Exactly right. I would also add: Take a look at the number of multi-player games on Steam getting bad reviews because there are no players to play with aside from bots.
I think multi-player should generally be a version 2 consideration. Build a great game that people want to play. Then when a lot of people are playing it, introduce multi-player. If only that first part werenât so hardâŚ