How expensive was gamedev to enter into in the 1990s? How expensive were 3D graphics really in the 1990s? Assuming I have about 14500 USD to work with (30000 USD in today's money), and take no loans or investments from shareholders, would I be able to make a 3D game back then on that money? How much would you have to or be able to outsource, how much would you have to spend on hardware, and how much on various publishing deals or whatever? Discuss.
>>12211620It depends what kind of games and 3D graphics you were aiming to make. Atari Jaguar games were built on 300 buck Atari ST with extra RAM, and the development kit was pretty much just a normal Jaguar console with DRAM PCB cartridge. On the other hand, Crash games, Ocarina of Time, Spyro, were all rendered on very high end server sized workstations due to the amount of animations and geometric complexity they required. Crash used supercomputer generated Z-buffering algorithms if I recall, it was unique for each section of the game so they had to generate a ton.
>>12211620No. Don’t think I will.
>>12211637Something of this visual caliber. I found this game called Vanishing Point in a video compilation and I've literally never heard of it, and apparently it didn't even sell well when it was new. It must've been a financial flop and it got me thinking how much the studio put into the development and how much they lost.Anyway, back to the topic of my thread. Suppose I aim for this fidelity, how much money would I roughly need? How many specialists would I need to hire, and what would be the least expensive genre to make with this level of fidelity?
>>12211620>How expensive was gamedev to enter into in the 1990s?With Sony's Playstation around? Not very.
>>12211647This game has really good graphics, impressive LOD technique with no pop-ups, and some advanced physics. it was made by 8 people over 18 months. Not to mention the licensed cars. The budget was pretty high I figure, perhaps over $1 million? For a comparison, Crash 2 was developed by 11 people over 13 months. It cost $2 million. But it's also an older game, 1996 vs 2001. The prices of development tools had reduced over time. So yeah I figure Vanishing Point would cost less than that, but still relatively expensive for the era.
>>12211620The 90s market was developing so fast, that if you have to ask these questions, you would already be behind the curve.
>>12211705>Not to mention the licensed cars. The budget was pretty high I figure, perhaps over $1 million?That's what I said "what other genres you could do in this fidelity", because I know the licensed cars blew up the budget of this a lot.
>>12211620>How expensive was gamedev to enter into in the 1990s?hideously expensive for 3d. PCs were still fucking shit so silicon graphics were selling a lot of these workstations for tens of thousands of dollars each, and the software for them was thousands more. then you have licensing costs which can be in tens of thousands of dollars. game studio working on n64 or psx titles would probably be in the hole for at least $500k minimum - just for hardware and licensing costs and before they've even began to code anything.>>12211712just say you're a dumb fuck retard instead of writing cringe. saves us all the effort.
>>12211720>because I know the licensed cars blew up the budget of this a lotNot necessarily. Car manufacturers want advertising. The licensing isn't that expensive. Sometimes they even pay you to include their cars. It's nothing like music licensing where you have to pay royalties on top of high licensing cost.
>>12211731>Sometimes they even pay you to include their cars.corporations have been doing this for decades. most notable examples i can think of is lotus turbo challenge, jaguar xj220, zool... a lot of money in selling out your asshole to corporations.
>>12211729>PCs were still fucking shit so silicon graphics were selling a lot of these workstations for tens of thousands of dollars eachYou didn't need SG workstations to render 3D. That's for some hollywood or nintendo first party tier stuff. Smaller studios in the early 90s used Amiga and Atari ST, though at far lower fidelity. But most 90s games didn't have high visual fidelity. If you wanted something higher end than that, an Atari Falcon, a Mac PC, or a 386DX or Pentium P5 PC, and some $250-300 matrox or voodoo card could do it too. >game studio working on n64 or psx titles would probably be in the hole for at least $500k minimum - just for hardware and licensing costs and before they've even began to code anything.Never heard of Net Yaroze, I see.
>>12211741>selling out your asshole to corporationsNothing bad about it really, except they don't want any car destruction models. That's the reason Forza and GT have none.
>>12211620>Assuming I haveBut you have nothing. Not even enough common sense to not SWU
>>12211620Look at it, even for an old ass SGI and one of their early models, the plastic quality is pristine. If it was some other brand its plastic would have been melted by now.
>>12211747>Never heard of Net Yaroze, I see.you're so fucking stupid that you don't even know what it is or what it's capable of. your software you make for it has to fit into 2mb of ram - no access to the disc drive. outside of that it was completely worthless and pointless. you really know absolutely fucking nothing about this subject, don't you retard? just throwing up random words that you just don't understand. embarrassing, retard.
>>12211749>Nothing bad about it reallyextreme cringe
>>12211747>Never heard of Net Yaroze, I see.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Net_Yaroze_games?useskin=vector> the Net Yaroze lacked many of the features an official PlayStation SDK provided and its primary RAM size was the same as the consumer model; Game code, graphics, audio samples and run-time libraries were limited to fit in the 2MB of primary RAM, 1MB of VRAM and 0.5 MB of sound RAM, since the unit will not play user-burned CDs, a necessary restriction to prevent piracy and ensure that the Yaroze program would not compete with the official PlayStation SDKnever heard of looking things up before using those hamfists and hotdog fingers to write trash, i see.
>>12211761>your software you make for it has to fit into 2mb of ramSo? I was just saying you didn't need $500K minimum to make a PS1 game. Just $500 would do. And there were higher end but still affordable SN System dev kits like the PSY-Q which comes with RAM cartridge and plenty of PC compatible connectivity. Sony had abandoned workstation based dev system since 1995 and opted for PC compatible ones instead.
There were no noteworthy Net Yaroze games.
>>12211771>hamfists and hotdog fingersUh-oh, melty!LAMO you didn't need $500K for basic ass game dev tools. PSY-Q was $12K. DIY PCs could be obtained for less than $1K. Matrox Millenium 4MB was $250, the 2MB version was $200, in 1995. That's like $20K-$30K or something to equip a small game studio staffed by 5. If every PS1 game needed cost over $500K, smaller studios would go broke.
>>12211729>game studio working on n64 or psx titles would probably be in the hole for at least $500k minimum - just for hardware and licensing costs and before they've even began to code anything.So if you're some random nobody who wants a gamedev startup and make 3D games, you'd need at least 3 million dollars? >Licensing software and hardware>Salaries/contracts for specialists (assuming you can't/won't do some yourself)
>>12211641"people" like you should be fucking shot
>>12211620bout tree fiddy
>>12211898No, discussing retro is good and all, discussing silicon graohics is fine and all. If that is what you are doing. This isn’t that.But OP asked at least four questions that involve an alternative reality where you have to price up his business plan including outsourcing.This shit is not retro. It’s fantasy parallel dimensions. Any discussion in it is entirely fictional. Not retro. belongs on /x/.
>>12212208this x 9001whatif babies are ones of the worst cancers that killed /vr/
>>12212208We have budgets of a few games and accounts of production process from those days. It's /vr/. Seethe more.
Hardware wasn't expensive, people with talent were. I was making quake skins and full 3d scenes in 3d studio max on a computer I paid 1k for. The tools were so crap then that it would have taken you years to make a game by yourself.
>>12213194This pretty much. IT workforce weren't anywhere as plentiful as they are today, much less those who wanted to work in the gaming industry. The tools were so crap because there was no industry standard for such things back then. The hardware used weren't so expensive, but building dev tools from scratch was a long and difficult process.
>>12212805Sad cunts with no imagination killed /vr/.
>>12212208>>12212805what whiny babies you are, all OP essentially asked was "how much did a decent 3d game cost in the 90s"
>>12211775net yaroze isn't the same as a playstation sdk, you thick cunt.>>12211805>when you know so little about anything, just make shit upyou know less than the fucking retard faggot that thinks net yaroze is a proper SDK
>>12213358Why not ask 90s developers? They are probably reachable and bored in retirement. Dumb question to ask players.
>>12213464>thick cunt>fucking retard faggotHave you checked your blood pressure, unc?
>>12211847>So if you're some random nobody who wants a gamedev startup and make 3D games, you'd need at least 3 million dollars?pretty much.>>12213471>tries to claim she knows things>knows nothing>gets shit on insteadis there a livestream suicide planned or will we just see endless mental breakdown posts?
>>12213474>moves goalpost>sees trannies everywhereSeek mental help.
>>12211620It was professionalised then you have to go back to pre 1985 for home coders to really have a chance.
If you were making freeware dos games back then, then the price of your computer and various IDEs and compilers.
