iGrow Game is 10 years old!
Hi All, It has been awhile, I know. Unbelievably it's been 10 years after the initial launch of this game and years away from this project consuming my life. I always hoped I would one day be able to pick iGrow Game up again and work on it. However that never happened and now it
Hi All,
It has been awhile, I know. Unbelievably it's been 10 years after the initial launch of this game and years away from this project consuming my life. I always hoped I would one day be able to pick iGrow Game up again and work on it. However that never happened and now it isn't possible. I don't think I still have all of the source for the game and the engine is entirely gone from the web so I can't even download the engine any more.
It has come to my attention that the game might be having issues with new versions of operating systems. I can't confirm this as I'm yet to test myself but I do believe the game was launched on windows 10 so it could be other reasons causing this. However I recommend changing the compatibility settings of the .exe to something like windows 7 to be sure. I will try and help anyone experiencing these issues if you will work with me to try and get to the bottom of it. However there isn't likely a fix I'm able to implement, because I'm unable to make a new build of the game and this is also certainly due to the game engine which is completely abandoned, so that isn't going to ever be fixed in an update.
Recently a few have expressed their disappointment with me and the game as a whole due to bugs and crashes in their reviews. Understandable. The game isn't a AAA game built in 2024 by a large studio. The development was actually started around 2011 in an abandoned engine. The game was built entirely by myself as a passion project. I did not expect the popularity this game received and I tried my best with it. I've been criticised for not hiring a team to make the game. However that was never financially possible. I've been criticised for not adding weed emoticons, which steam would not allow me to do at the time (I tried). Seems like they have changed their attitude now. I've been criticised for the bugs and issues not being fixed. Other then the game breaking bug of physx needing a restart of your machine (completely out of my control) there were no other game breaking bugs in the game when I made the last update. Yes, small and annoying bugs that I spent 100's of hours attempting to fix. The testing, development and bug fixes were made difficult due to the design of the engine. I do believe most of the bugs are either obscure (hard to repeat) or out of my control (corrupt saves). I attempted to recode the saving but failed after many hours due to the design being implemented throughout the game, yes it was a bad design decision for sure but the game originally used a server which I had bigger ambitions for. Needing to sync with the server the saves are constant but in the end needed a single save function to avoid corruption. Following the in game advice on closing the game properly should avoid corrupted saves (which can be fixed in most cases as explained here: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1177371382).
However, despite the negativity from some. It's been over looked that the median time playing this game by all players has been 7 hours. Yes this game isn't going to be updated again. Yes this game has issues (some more annoying then others) but most players are playing this game for 7 hours. Some players have played 100's of hours. For all the frustration of some, this game has been enjoyed by so many and continue to do so. So I won't remove the game like some suggest and it will be continued to be sold. However always try the demo version out (that's why it is there) to make sure you won't have issues before purchasing. You will likely get more fun out of the game for your 79p then you would for most things you pay for every day for far more money.
More importantly, I had a wonderful experience with everyone who believed in the game and enjoyed it. It blew my expectations out of the water on how well this would be received. Especially considering all of the issues that happened along the way. This game is still one of my proudest achievements. It will always be and has also become a part of gaming history (a small part).
However, I have hung my hat up on the game and development has stopped for reasons out of my control. I pushed the engine to its limits and took the game as far as I could. It became unbearable to work on due to the process (I explain a lot more on the reply to this review https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198030784015/recommended/489020/#developer_response).
That is the end of iGrow Game's development and after 10 years from release that took a huge chunk of my life being dedicated to it. That does not mean the idea has finished. iGrow Game is unique and still is. It's a crime simulator as much as it is a weed growing game and that isn't a subject matter really any other game explores like iGrow Game does. It's dark, it's seedy and that's what it always was meant to be. I have not just considered a second game in the series. I even started development in a new engine. Something I would of liked to keep secret as I always try to do with my developments (takes the pressure off me) but I want to make it clear I haven't forgotten about you or iGrow Game. I also don't have the time I once had as I have a family now. So don't run away with this as I haven't worked on it for a year. If it happens, it happens.
I am here to help out with the issues and have unfortunately neglected you guys in the forum for a fair few years. Which I am sorry about, life has been very busy. This game burned me out so badly I gave up game development on larger projects altogether and switched to smaller web games instead.
If you have anything you want to ask me or mention. Please do so.
Thanks,
iDev