Hello. I’m a solo developer, and I started playing with studio about two months ago. I want to make a battlefield-style game centered around breaking through the front line, with a strong focus on full destructibility and varied gameplay - artillery, drone reconnaissance, scanning grenades, and more.
I’m not expecting a huge player base or much revenue from it. I think I’d simply enjoy being able to bring my ideas to life and knowing that people are actually playing my game.
The problem is that my game really needs at least 10 concurrent players to work properly, and I’m worried that there won’t be enough players at launch. People might leave simply because the server isn’t populated, creating a vicious cycle where the lack of players drives even more players away.
I’m even more hesitant about using bots. I’ve played some forgotten shooters that relied on bots, and they just felt lifeless.
What do you think about this? Should I change the direction of the game toward a more solo-focused experience to build an initial player base, and then potentially move toward the multiplayer experience I originally envisioned?
I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. What would you do in my situation?
Here are some of the things I’ve already implemented:
Menu transition
This is actually a huge issue with making a multiplayer game on Roblox. My honest take: don’t pivot to solo. Your whole design artillery, drones, destructibility, breaking front lines- is a multiplayer power fantasy. Stripping it to solo content means basically building a second game and hoping people wait around for the one you actually want to make.
A few ways to attack the 10-CCU problem without giving up on multiplayer:
One server, not split regions. Concentrate your whole player base into a single instance so lobbies don’t feel dead.
Rethink bots as set dressing, not fake players. The lifeless feeling usually comes from bots trying to act human. Static defenders/turret crews that you and a couple of friends actually punch through with arty and drones can feel great; they’re not pretending to be people, they’re part of your systems.
Practically: build the smallest slice that shows off destructibility + one gameplay pillar (probably arty first), get it in front of even 4-8 people repeatedly, and let the real retention numbers tell you if population is actually a problem, instead of solving for it in the abstract before you have a game to test.
You could always (if available) start building a community now with YouTube and other social media platforms.
You clearly have a strong vision here. I’d protect that before I’d protect the headcount.
(Lmk right when this is releasing, bc I would love this game )
It depends a bit on what the gameplay is like. Obviously if it’s something like a round-based 5-a-side shooter, where the gameplay would be terrible if you had too-few players or lopsided teams, then you probably just need to have a lobby and hope that people are patient enough for it to reach the minimum number of players. Lots of games do things like put obbies in their lobby, or minigames, or just a social hangout place so that players have something to do while they wait for more people to join.
If it’s more of an open-world type of deal, where players can drop in and out at any time, it’s much less of a problem. If there’s some advantage to being one of the first people in the server, like a head start on gathering resources, there will be players who take advantage of it. I’m thinking of like the original Apoc Rising, where early joiners would start scavanging weapons, or try to be the first to the crashed helicopter loot.
If the game’s good, this whole issue is usually just a launch day thing. There may be some hours of players trickling in and out, but once a server hits quorum, the problem is usually gone. Maybe you get a few days of that, but if you make a fun game, it’s not hard to always have at least one full server.
The percentage of success is low for most developers, it’s naturally very hard to gain success (at least as a general starting point for most people). So, even if you spend months developing, you could still fail, but that’s it, and you could still keep trying again… until something works - could be months, could be years. Who knows, even if this one succeeds, maybe your other projects could be even more amazing with you being improved from the last time.
I hope this reduced your worrying Most people are in this together.
Now to your game, lolz.
Like Emily commented here, what’s the main gameplay? If you don’t want to spoil it, it’s ok, but I think it would be better if you somehow figure out how not to depend on requiring at least 10 players. Even a few players could have something fun to do in your game, ideally.
What you also need to keep in mind, is to be more focused on your target audience, what kind of fun they would want in the first 15-30 seconds, on average?
Also, another issue is how you will reach them. People not from your target audience can drop very quickly and you may think that a game is bad, which in reality it could not be the case.
Is it important to think about a lot, especially on Roblox, because more complex games have way fewer players than so-called “brainrot” or “childish” games. For example, let’s assume a game’s potential is about 500-1000 players, and that super simplistic game for kids have 100k-500k. Losing 500-1000 players for a more complex game could be all of its player base, while in comparison, losing this amount from a huge player base is not big of a deal. Not to increase your worrying though , but it’s good to know the reality, you are then more focused and prepared, hopefully
So, to sum up , what I think can largely affect your launch and even long-term success:
How is your game different from other games in the genre? If you are offering something fun people want that other games in the genre are not yet offering, they have no other choice than to choose your game.
What’s the main fun? What seems fun to you, may not be that fun for your audience. It may be a “lukewarm” experience, not necessarily bad, but not great either. It takes a great game designer’s eye to notice it.
How fast a player can get the fun when he joins for the first time? (if only a few players are online on the server or even none). Maybe strategic fights with intelligent bots in the meantime ? Like a gamemode even for solo players to enjoy. You may introduce it instantly when a player joins and there are no other players online, throwing that solo player right into a chaotic, but still lowkey clear/uncluttered action scene to easily comprehend, for example
Or you could apply for the Jumpstart program Your game looks like it has what Roblox currently wants to bring on the platform - maybe your game could mainly cater to an 18+ audience?
Other than that, even if you are doing everything without the help, and you are aiming for an older audience, I guess you already have somewhat of a headstart to get those highly-engaged players, but idk for sure.
A mí también me está pasando lo mismo. Estoy haciendo un juego shooter realista, más o menos igual que el tuyo, y creo que no saldrá muy bien. Pero tu juego está muy bien hecho. Creo que ponerle bots (NPCs) no estaría nada mal, La gente se lo pasaría bien.
)
Most people are in this together.
, what I think can largely affect your launch and even long-term success: