UniverCity from Matthew Collins sadly didn't sell too well and now the developer has a new job, so they decided to fix it up a bit - add some extra modding support and open source the code.
Speaking on Steam in a previous update, they mentioned they budgeted "enough time to work on the game for a year which is now up". Unlike what happens a lot of the time though, they didn't vanish and instead announced the 1.0 release which added some basic Steam Workshop support, then open sourced the code which is now on GitHub under the GPL license. You still need to buy a copy on Steam for the assets though.
More about it:
UniverCity is an isometric university management game. Manage your staff, professors and students and try and build the best UniverCity around! Build up your UniverCity solo or against friends and build many different types of classes whilst trying to ensure students get good grades, or maybe just try and build the best looking UniverCity.
Game development is a tough market, especially for smaller indie developers. I've seen quite a lot rise and fall over the last few years as creating games and getting them onto a store has become ridiculously easy compared to a few years ago so there's more competition than ever.
Find the game on Steam, and the code on GitHub.
Hat tip to dpanter.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
QuoteGame development is a tough market, especially for smaller indie developers. I've seen quite a lot rise and fall over the last few years as creating games and getting them onto a store has become ridiculously easy compared to a few years ago so there's more competition than ever.
The problem in most cases is actually a staggering lack of community work.
Games nowadays have almost 0 chance of success if the developers do not spend time themselves to get into communities, introduce their game, and stick around and communicate openly and regularly.
That is, in addition to having a game that actually looks interesting to play (where this one also struggles a bit, IMO).
Getting some spotlight on large media outlets is out of the question anyway - and also no longer that relevant, as these non-niche sites continue to dwindle thanks to... well, that's a different topic.
Instead, you now have to get out there and communicate with streamers, youtubers and communities directly.
It is a lot of work, but I think indie devs can forget about any kind of success if they don't reserve some time for doing that every day for an hour or two.
Which certainly increases the workload, but I'd say most people going indie dev knew going in it's not going to be an 8hr/day job.
Case in point, I am part of a few communities (two of which have sections or are focused on strategy/sim games), but have never heard of this game before now.
But (yes, that's a large but).... this dev did the right thing, put money aside to focus on what is likely a dream of his or a life-bucket-list kind of thing and spent a year doing something that he likely loved doing. Without going into debt or anything like that.
Which is admirable. I plan to go the same route eventually.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 3 February 2020 at 10:51 am UTC
one of the reasons why so few developers open source their projects is because its less profitable.
if we want to change that...
er... i dont think they have an donate button, but we can still buy it.
Last edited by elmapul on 3 February 2020 at 10:51 am UTC
Like too many others.
Early Access is a powerful tool, but you cannot expect to release more a prototype than a game, then provide no update, and still attract players and positive reviews.
soulsource Feb 3, 2020
Quoting: TheSHEEEPQuoteGame development is a tough market, especially for smaller indie developers. I've seen quite a lot rise and fall over the last few years as creating games and getting them onto a store has become ridiculously easy compared to a few years ago so there's more competition than ever.
The problem in most cases is actually a staggering lack of community work.
Games nowadays have almost 0 chance of success if the developers do not spend time themselves to get into communities, introduce their game, and stick around and communicate openly and regularly.
That is, in addition to having a game that actually looks interesting to play (where this one also struggles a bit, IMO).
Getting some spotlight on large media outlets is out of the question anyway - and also no longer that relevant, as these non-niche sites continue to dwindle thanks to... well, that's a different topic.
Instead, you now have to get out there and communicate with streamers, youtubers and communities directly.
It is a lot of work, but I think indie devs can forget about any kind of success if they don't reserve some time for doing that every day for an hour or two.
Which certainly increases the workload, but I'd say most people going indie dev knew going in it's not going to be an 8hr/day job.
Case in point, I am part of a few communities (two of which have sections or are focused on strategy/sim games), but have never heard of this game before now.
But (yes, that's a large but).... this dev did the right thing, put money aside to focus on what is likely a dream of his or a life-bucket-list kind of thing and spent a year doing something that he likely loved doing. Without going into debt or anything like that.
Which is admirable. I plan to go the same route eventually.
Sadly true.
However there are companies that specialize in these topics (exposure on social media, publisher relations, etc.), in order to help new developers/studios to make their first project a success and keep them in business in the long-term. Remote Control Productions comes to mind.
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