long story cut short, I've only played few Nigerian games namely;
* valentine rush(2D)
* Civil war(3D)
* ole: catch the theft(3D)
the developers of the aforementioned games hasn't been updating, improving and/or releasing new games even if they didn't want to continue with the formal game, just to mention the popular ones. Nigerian developers in 2014 should have made names in the game development dustry bt the reverse is the case.
I think its high time we really put heads together and sort out the problems that has hindered the release of games in Nigeria by Nigerian developers
my question is what happened? what happening? and what's the way forward?

tag: javanian

Preboy: is this all more than 180 million people

180 M babies,aged,crippled,blind,
non-computer professionals,politicians,conductors,governors,garri sellers,hawkers,cattle rearers, hut dwellers,illiterates, beggers, policemen,soldiers,etc
wat percentage of Nigerias population are game programmers!? - direct ur questions there.

ok. Ur concerned so u exaggerate.

asalimpo:

180 M babies,aged,crippled,blind,
non-computer professionals,politicians,conductors,governors,garri sellers,hawkers,cattle rearers, hut dwellers,illiterates, beggers, policemen,soldiers,etc
wat percentage of Nigerias population are game programmers!? - direct ur questions there.

ok. Ur concerned so u exaggerate.

fixed!

because nigerians aren't playing the ones they made... I was playing the whit game by javanian swali ... but could only play off line cuz I didn't see anyone to play with online

@losprince
poor publicity?

publicity? valentine rush was on front page, and whot by swalli had issues, which trended for long. it no poor publicity at all, its like losprince said,

* lack of appreciation from Nigerians and
* low quality games from developers

asalimpo: @losprince
poor publicity?

nope. the game got hyped and trended... but people suddenly stopped playing

I would write a more comprehensive post on this later on but let me just leave you with this

Games, especially 3D are very expensive to build. The Civil War game for example could have been way better than it was, how it ended up wasn't how i initially planned for it to but along the line i had to make a lot of compromises. Despite spending more than $250 (yes, it's big money to me ) on it, it could only beg for more. Yes, publicity also matters, but publicity doesn't come cheap, there is very little publicity you can achieve without spending money. When you start building a 3D game as an indie developers (especially the first time) it's as if the farther you go the farther it becomes. You encounter a lot of hassles you probably overlooked before you started and it seems as if this hassles run in a loop without a sentinel, they never just stop coming. Worse of all is if you are a sole developer, it can get really frustrating along the line, even worse if you are a perfectionist like me where a little glitch can depress you especially when it happens in an area that isn't your field, like a developer having to do duties of a voice artist...There are a lot of things to get right before being able to deliver that fantastic 'AAA 3D Game' out there. Okay, let me stop here for now, like i said i would write a more comprehensive post on this...

Well, we need interesting and engaging titles

To be Honest I think It's because some of us are just ignorant. We are always trying to Create the next 3D AAA game and in the process forget that those Kind of games are made by Hundreds of professionals over a span of 2 - 4 years. I propose we start small and think more like Indie devs which we are and try to create something totally different and Small in scope.

keep the comments coming!!!

I also noticed that Nigerian developers are always a one-man team organization, they like to hit it alone and to make matters worse, they have very limited timeframe for the game.
e.g valentine rush was alleged to be built in 72 hrs or so, despite we all knowing it took more time than that, we'd also agree that it doesn't look like a game that took much time to build.
it bring to us to another millionaire question; why the single developer strategy? even the crappiest of American games aren't built by a single developer.

Preboy: keep the comments coming!!!

I also noticed that Nigerian developers are always a one-man team organization, they like to hit it alone and to make matters worse, they have very limited timeframe for the game.
e.g valentine rush was alleged to be built in 72 hrs or so, despite we all knowing it took more time than that, we'd also agree that it doesn't look like a game that took much time to build.
it bring to us to another millionaire question; why the single developer strategy? even the crappiest of American games aren't built by a single developer.

I tink....valentine rush had a team..I've played d game like 50times ..... its only dat d game didn't come out well... d story line is crap.. and the sound? lemme nt talk about dat...
dis game dev team is still d main probs in naija dats all
.

Donkunxex:
I tink....valentine rush had a team..I've played d game like 50times ..... its only dat d game didn't come out well... d story line is crap.. and the sound? lemme nt talk about dat...
dis game dev team is still d main probs in naija dats all
.

valentine rush was actually a example of developers using less timeframe in order to cut cost or whatever their reasons are.
game dev team? didn't get that part

Chuksxy: To be Honest I think It's because some of us are just ignorant. We are always trying to Create the next 3D AAA game and in the process forget that those Kind of games are made by Hundreds of professionals over a span of 2 - 4 years. I propose we start small and think more like Indie devs which we are and try to create something totally different and Small in scope.

I'll agree with u on dat!

Javanian: I would write a more comprehensive post on this later on...

still waiting for that post

is it that Nigeria aint got game developers or they ain't on nairaland?

I thought of open source dev bt all open source projects I know here on nairaland hasn't worked out, all ended up halfway. {animal's revolt comes to mind
I would propose that creating small games may/may be the best option since the world is moving "next gen" bt if a team of developers (5 at least) can take up to 1 year modeling characters, experimenting with physics technologies, building a good story line, choosing engines etc, I think they might just be the creators of the best game in Africa.
since it easier said that done, the possibility of this occurring is >0.2

Game programmg is not as accessible as mainstream programmg. I've been interested in it since i got strted in programmg but resources and comprehensve guides just are too lackg or scantg even with almighty google.
Only with d rise of mobile platforms and android has 3d engines bcome mor wide spread. I got books on java game dev,books tht had rave reviews on amazon, and they were just poo.
There's one exception, BEGINNING GAME PROGRAMMING IN JAVA by Jonathan Harbour (Prentce Hall).
It's okay and quite code -ful.
2. Game mathematcs is anoda issue . Again books in this area ar abysmally poor. If u dont hav a scientfc /math background u'll grope. Reviews rave tht these books will get u up to speed but frget it.
There's only 1 accessible book i saw in this area but the code was in c++.
This raises d bar for non-game programmers to enter d field.

The swalli team dont publicise enuff and their game and its in android ,heard of civil war game hear, never heard of valentine rush though until now. Not evrybody is toting and android phone soon.
How abt a pc version of these games?

You guys are raising some nice points. *Following*

@javanian
still waiting for the detailed writeup, pls also add what made the game cost you $250, despite lotta free engines, models and physics technologies on the internet

Djtm: You guys are raising some nice points. *Following*

pls also add what you think abt the topic, I believe you do have an opinion and contribution which could go a long way to solve some pending issues

Preboy: is it that Nigeria aint got game developers or they ain't on nairaland?

I thought of open source dev bt all open source projects I know here on nairaland hasn't worked out, all ended up halfway. {animal's revolt comes to mind
I would propose that creating small games may/may be the best option since the world is moving "next gen" bt if a team of developers (5 at least) can take up to 1 year modeling characters, experimenting with physics technologies, building a good story line, choosing engines etc, I think they might just be the creators of the best game in Africa.
since it easier said that done, the possibility of this occurring is >0.2

that's another issue, nairaland programmers prefer working freelance plus we have mostly web developers here... propose an open source game and people will join just to raise arguments. there is one on going open source game here though slow but steady by bluemagnificient the guys has been making progress on his own

First,We do not even understand the intricacies of game development.Second,the one man attitude to game development is killing our little efforts(Though I honestly can't blame anyone,we are Nigerians after all),and the absence of good game developers and programmers.This is a field I'm going into,and im still struggling to learn how to program,even with all my efforts,and its even worse when u try to learn PROGRAMMING in Nigeria.I do believe well make a difference though.

Can a nigerian based programmer make a livg from game developmnt? I thnk som folks hav asked themselves this question and acted on the answer they gat.

asalimpo: Can a nigerian based programmer make a livg from game developmnt? I thnk som folks hav asked themselves this question and acted on the answer they gat.

spent minutes thinking abt this post, its the biggest problem I think we're facing since we all know the most realistic and possible answer to that question is NO, bt Gameloft, EA, Activision, ubisoft, rockstar and even upcoming like madfinger and glu still create games despite it being pirated. I believe if Nigerian developers can create good games, people will appreciate it and pay money for it, bt
"you can never know until you try"

.

I've got one last question though;
what would you advice anyone that wanna go into game making?

asalimpo: Can a nigerian based programmer make a livg from game developmnt? I thnk som folks hav asked themselves this question and acted on the answer they gat.

Na because of games programming i waka come programming, na hunger wire me denouce am port to web. But I am fairly good in C/C++, so maybe I can still come back and start learning games.
But the question I have is, can one be a part time games programmer? And is there really market for it in Nigeria?

dhtml18:
Na because of games programming i waka come programming, na hunger wire me denouce am port to web. But I am fairly good in C/C++, so maybe I can still come back and start learning games.
But the question I have is, can one be a part time games programmer? And is there really market for it in Nigeria?

to b successful, u'll hav to think like a company does. Strategically.
Whats d market size. Wats d competitor size. Where are the major markets. What are d sales prospects (medium and worst case). Usg worst case estimates how long wud it take to break even. Wat are d returns on investment compared to other alternatves.
Translatg into nigerian figures will require market research which will not b cheap or easy and worst of all the results mayb b depressg confirmg the one's initial hunches.

Lack of resources and support is a major problem. Games need team work and very high quality games need money

Zarama7: Lack of resources and support is a major problem. Games need team work and very high quality games need money

That is another thing again, Nigerian developers seem to have issues with working as a team. And also, anything that will not bring immediate money is a No, No for them mostly.

I havent played any african developed game yet

Zarama7: Lack of resources and support is a major problem. Games need team work and very high quality games need money

Money shouldn't really be an issue if one is really passionate about game development, I believe dedication, effort and time is enough.

dhtml18:
That is another thing again, Nigerian developers seem to have issues with working as a team. And also, anything that will not bring immediate money is a No, No for them mostly.

The one man thing is also quite true and in fact a big problem. I've tried to work with other devs (both Nigerian and foreign) but at the end, most people just aren't serious enough, I realized that I can only rely on myself to get the job done; because of this, I've learnt quite a lot over the past 2 years. I will eventually make a game, not because I plan to make money of it or to prove some silly point but mainly because I'm passionate about it.

I shall eventually get into games programming when I am more settled.