I have recently come up with a few ideas, having been in the mainstream of groups like Askavix’s SWU and Administrator_MR’s SCPF. For many months I have developed for both as well as partook in their administration doing what one does in group genres.
I would like to apply these skills into a genre of my own, having been so passionate about both and partaking in administrative duties. I have several ideas but I believe it is best to leave it to an experienced community to voice their feedback on what ideas would be most practical, feasible and workable per se in a modern-day Roblox environment.
I have come up with the following and have excluded genre ideas already dominated by other groups:
A medieval genre per se. e.g. Scotland v England era (There are plenty out there, but could be significantly more structured, better advertised and with more creative game mechanics. Definitely space for a successful group.)
A Greek God / half-blood genre themed around the Percy Jackson books. (Very little has been developed regarding this, could be fun, definitely space for group ranks and a successful game.)
A brand new Sci-fi Martian genre.(Very little on this as well, Sci-fi groups are quite little, and one that orientates around space would be quite hard to make but quite fun. I would have to make the lore from scratch and invent new game mechanics to keep players engaged, both administrative intellectuals and the average Roblox player. I’m passionate about this one but fear it’s profitability as there is little for one to associate with in contrast to say Star Wars thus advertising and execution will be hard in the beginning.)
If you have any ideas, or feedback regarding this daunting process (at least in the eyes of a single developer with only 2-3 years experience) please feel free to voice it here. I’d prefer it if you were completely honest as well as descriptive. It would be immensely appreciated, thanks.
Why would people play your game in the first place? Are you going to have a USP or something to draw them in?
Why would they continue playing and want to come back time after time? Do they earn points? Do they get to build their own house / area and continue to add to it the more they play? Will your game have levels that they have to unlock, each bringing new rewards and new challenges?
(Try not to rely on “I will update the game each month with new content” as ideally the game should be engaging and make players come back on their own without needing to push endless updates).
How are you going to release it? You’re just one person, so perhaps envisage a “lite” version of the game, a minimum viable product (MVP) and start with that. Once it’s complete, release it and continue to build up other areas of the game to produce the full game whilst you’ve got some traffic and people are enjoying the MVP. That will prevent you losing focus or taking on too large of a challenge at once.
Once you’ve got these concepts sorted and you understand what you’re doing in a generalised sense - you understand what is the game’s core loop, and what is just peripheral features, then you need a detailed plan of what you’re doing.
Personally I create a trello board, with each card being a feature and each feature having a priority. Here’s a little snippet of some cards on my current project, where purple and blue are priority tags I’ve stuck on them:
Fill each card’s contents and comments with more and more detail as you begin to shape up each feature and gain better understanding. Maybe you’ve just seen a new Roblox API that does exactly what you’re after for a feature down the line? Put the URL in the card description to remind you when you get onto that feature.
That’s my advice, and my current method of designing games and features. The exact idea is really down to you, and turning it into reality is all about asking yourself a lot of questions, and not letting excitement cloud your judgement on the fundamentals of what will keep other people playing.
I have used Trello many times before, and it is highly effective just never thought of applying it to this - thank you.
I have pondered over the first three points you’ve provided and of course will be doing it all throughout Phase 1. I have divided this “journey” into phases allocating advertising, foundation development and so forth to increase chances of success.
I must say you’ve brought up some very valuable points which I appreciate immensely and will be applying. Specifically, the lite version is a genius idea and could work well with a paid access release for stress-testing and what not.
I have several key questions though, moving forward:
In your personal experience, which of the three ideas I’ve put forth do you believe to be the most feasible/practical?
I have little experience in programming and/or Lua scripting, do you have any tips & tricks for me? I’ve always focused on building and modelling which will be my downfall on a low budget should I choose to hire several programmers.
Honestly I think the sci-fi martian idea could be really interesting and new if carried out well. I think you’ll struggle to stick out as much with the others.
Scripting
In terms of programming, a really good way to learn is by doing. When you encounter a problem like “I need this door to open, make some sparks fly, and play a noise when I get close and press the E key” you can then search for similar solutions and break it up. This is good for learning but not necessarily guaranteed to get you the best code once you’ve finished the game.
If you have a deadline, or want good quality code first time without the hassle, hire a scripter and try to learn what they’ve done as they complete each part of it.
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Too little advertisement? No such thing as too little. You can get by with none if you work hard and promote using YouTube, Twitter, sneak peeks, promo codes, appearing as a guest on podcasts and livestreams, etc. Documenting the development process can go a long way. And making the game quite social will help with word of mouth.
If you are going to rely on advertisement and sponsorship I’d start saving. I have just shy of 400k robux waiting to help advertise a new project, but even with that you still need to do all the other things to help get the name out. Depending on how much monetisation you have, you might not want to spend too much if you can’t earn it back. I’d probably spend in the 10,000s when sponsoring and probably the single 1000s for the regular ads as I’m not a huge fan of them.
If your game is engaging and makes people come back, a little will go a long way. If your game struggles to engage as well, you’ll need more to be able to reach out to your niche and bring in enough of them.
I know that’s not a solid figure for you, but honestly it depends on the game. The trick is to try stuff and monitor the numbers - once you’ve seen what works for that game, stick with it.
Both posts go above and beyond in terms of valuable resources / advice for the road I’m about to take.
I’ll be sure to document my development process as I was already considering that similar to CodeMatrix’s youtube channel.
