Quote:
Originally Posted by trucknisse
I think they should let us play the beta, so that testing goes faster.  |
There are game developers that work that way, but I'm not sure this would work for Rig N Roll. It could.
Live For Speed is an
online racing
simulator (not an arcade game like NFS or TDU or whatever, this takes skill to drive) that's been in development since 2002. It's being developed by a team of 3 guys, and only 1 of them does actual coding of the game. The other two manage the website, database, and graphic aspects. They work in the way you suggest, ie. people can buy the game as it is now, play it as much and as long as they want, and whenever there's a new patch or an update that fixes bugs or glitches, or adds new content like tracks and/or cars or new features, you just get it for free. Only a one-time payment. You can also download a free demo, which has 3 cars and 1 track. Note that the game is NOT finished, it's still in Alpha so it still has some bugs and glitches and there are still things that need to - and are going to be - added. But people can buy it if they want, and the developers earn a living that way.
Here's a video of LFS made by a user, with real game footage from races, so it's not an official trailer or anything.
It was first released in 2002 or 2003, back then I think there were only 2 or 3 cars and one track. They've come a very long way since then, and they'll go a lot further still, but it will take time.
So you see that developing a game with only a few people
does take a lot of time, as in years and years. But you either decide to keep it secret until the bloody thing is finished and you're ready to release it, or you release demos or beta versions that people can play and test. You
don't announce that the game will be released this date or that date, and then postpone it again and again for years on end.