4 ms·

I might be interested, but this group sounds too "serious" for me. Ie i'm serious, but i have a full time job, and i'm obsessive so i'm yakshaving the foundatio

I might be interested, but this group sounds too "serious" for me. Ie i'm serious, but i have a full time job, and i'm obsessive so i'm yakshaving the foundations of my projects. I'm less concerned with the final game, and more concerned with building a platform that helps me efficiently create. While the game is my goal, i focus on the platform because i feel solo devs have a ton of overhead. I figure if i can optimize my the creative aspects of my work i will have better long term success. Point being, i am interested in this space but not in pushing X game out the door asap. I expect my first/second/third/etc games to be failures, stepping stones. I'm here for the journey. With an eye on burnout. So i suspect my approach may not be focused enough for your group. As right not i'm working on archival and automation of creative pipelines moreso than games.

lovehashbrowns 4y ago
I’m in the same boat! I just started my journey maybe two weeks ago but it’s been rough with a full time job and having just moved. Seems this group would be too “serious” for me as well.
wccrawford 4y ago
Same here! I'm "serious" about making a game, but I don't devote enough time to it yet to be considered "serious" by their metrics. And that probably means I'm not a good fit for the group, but it feels dismissive to tell me that way.
otachack 4y ago
I wouldn't look at this as "serious" but more as a light accountability structure. You can only hold yourself accountable for so much, having a team that has your back and a way to vent or rubber duck against can help your project progress. And no one is going to demote you or shame you. If they do, just leave the group!
hypertele-Xii 4y ago
> While the game is my goal, i focus on the platform because i feel solo devs have a ton of overhead. I figure if i can optimize my the creative aspects of my work i will have better long term success. I've been researching solo game dev for decades now, and that definitely mirrors my conclusions so far. Just keep the end goal in mind and don't reinvent the wheel, unless you desire a career in wheel engineering. While you're working on your stuff, remember that others are also working on their stuff, and a lot of useful things are shared freely and continually popping up new. Have the courage to recycle your ideas, and the ruthlessness to streamline your development process. Going solo is all about coming to terms with your limitations, and building solutions to work around them. Maximize the impact of work you like doing, while minimizing the necessity of work you don't. Sacrifice your creative vision until only the core remains. Resist the creeping scope of scaling it up, but also keep firm in your artistic requirements. Keep your "must haves" short, solve the hard problems first, manage your expectations, and above all be stubborn enough to tread through it.
- boredtofears 4y ago
  This is pretty much exactly why I (as a complete hobbyist) ended up with Godot. I spent two years writing things from scratch in various languages and lots of time Yak-shaving. The experience itself was worth something, but I don't really have a lot to show for it. I don't love godot - but it's far beyond anything I'll be able to accomplish on my own as a hobbyist. I find art to be the most limiting factor at this point. I'm not a great artist (what I can do takes a painstaking long time to finish) and it's hard to satisfy a creative vision with free art assets.
  - verteu 4y ago
    Have you tried Upwork/Fiverr/Behance/Dribbble? In my experience you can get decent art for quite cheap.
    - thn-gap 4y ago
      Depending on what kind of art you need, Midjourney or similar models are becoming a more visible option for solo gamedevs to make decent art cheaply.
      - meheleventyone 4y ago
        The problem with ML art outside of concepting (and even then) is repeatability of scene elements. If you’re illustrating a children’s book you usually want each illustration to keep the characters and scenes consistent. The same is mostly true for game art and concepts.
        steezeburger 4y ago
        It's been really cool to use for inspiration as well as generating seamless textures. I've generated some great grass and carpets for my ps1 style game.
        meheleventyone 4y ago
YesBox 4y ago
Seems like a lot of people like your approach, so I'll clarify. I am focused on releasing my game because I want to continue working for myself and having the opportunity to choose/direct my creativity every single day. The journey is important, you'll probably have a hard time making it in this industry and/or burn out if you aren't deriving joy from the day to day work. For me, not releasing my game ASAP is not an option. I'm living off of my savings. That's why I prefer other full time devs because survival mode is very different than safe mode. (I feel 10 times more alive. Not sure how others feel). Anyways, Im mostly responding to encourage you to create your own group because there seems to be a lot of people who are in the same boat as you. I have to say, meeting up with people every week who share the same drive/passion as I do is a great experience.
- lijogdfljk 4y ago
  Haha, i'm pretty sure the stress of that would kill me. But i hope it works for you. Best wishes :)
- allenu 4y ago
  > For me, not releasing my game ASAP is not an option. I'm living off of my savings. That's why I prefer other full time devs because survival mode is very different than safe mode. I think you have the right mindset here, so you will probably be successful in actually shipping. Kudos to you. Looking for another person with that mindset for your group, I think, is the right one. I'm not a game developer by the way, but I am doing the solo indie dev thing, as of a few months ago. I think a lot of people who are dabbling in game dev or indie dev, like the idea of one day doing something with it, but what they really enjoy is the craftsmanship of building an engine, setting up their tooling, creating a process, etc. In my opinion, that's fun, but it doesn't really get you closer to shipping code and seeing what the market likes or dislikes. No disrespect to anyone who likes that aspect, but I think it's way different from actually needing to ship a product. So yeah, if you ended up including tinkerers in your group, I can see how that would change the nature of the conversations.
parentheses 4y ago
I agree with this mentality. I have always believed dev journeys are what excite me - not dev destinations. I don’t think I’m in a small minority despite the vast amounts of literature (on HN) mostly that is about the destination alone.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
olivierva 4y ago
That's exactly what I do, don't mind hanging out once a week if you're up for it
mrandish 4y ago
> "i'm obsessive so i'm yakshaving the foundations of my projects." As an aside, an indie developer should make a literal yakshaving game. Just because. (extra credit for an Ultra setting which squanders GPU power on ridiculously high-fidelity fur simulation)
sershe 4y ago
We should create a group for developers who will never finish their game. I also work full time and also have other hobbies, plus I really don't get motivated by the proper process of developing a series of games with growing complexity, so instead I keep designing my dream game as I'm working on it. So, I dunno if I will ever finish. But hey, if I wasn't chipping away at it I would probably just be playing more games instead, so why not? My wife actually suggested I join some group, but I suspected the exact feelings the OP has - serious developers rightfully would not want me in a group :) Maybe there's potential in a hobby-slacker group :)

lovehashbrowns 4y ago

I’m in the same boat! I just started my journey maybe two weeks ago but it’s been rough with a full time job and having just moved. Seems this group would be too “serious” for me as well.

wccrawford 4y ago

Same here! I'm "serious" about making a game, but I don't devote enough time to it yet to be considered "serious" by their metrics. And that probably means I'm not a good fit for the group, but it feels dismissive to tell me that way.

otachack 4y ago

I wouldn't look at this as "serious" but more as a light accountability structure. You can only hold yourself accountable for so much, having a team that has your back and a way to vent or rubber duck against can help your project progress. And no one is going to demote you or shame you. If they do, just leave the group!

hypertele-Xii 4y ago

> While the game is my goal, i focus on the platform because i feel solo devs have a ton of overhead. I figure if i can optimize my the creative aspects of my work i will have better long term success. I've been researching solo game dev for decades now, and that definitely mirrors my conclusions so far. Just keep the end goal in mind and don't reinvent the wheel, unless you desire a career in wheel engineering. While you're working on your stuff, remember that others are also working on their stuff, and a lot of useful things are shared freely and continually popping up new. Have the courage to recycle your ideas, and the ruthlessness to streamline your development process. Going solo is all about coming to terms with your limitations, and building solutions to work around them. Maximize the impact of work you like doing, while minimizing the necessity of work you don't. Sacrifice your creative vision until only the core remains. Resist the creeping scope of scaling it up, but also keep firm in your artistic requirements. Keep your "must haves" short, solve the hard problems first, manage your expectations, and above all be stubborn enough to tread through it.

boredtofears 4y ago
This is pretty much exactly why I (as a complete hobbyist) ended up with Godot. I spent two years writing things from scratch in various languages and lots of time Yak-shaving. The experience itself was worth something, but I don't really have a lot to show for it. I don't love godot - but it's far beyond anything I'll be able to accomplish on my own as a hobbyist. I find art to be the most limiting factor at this point. I'm not a great artist (what I can do takes a painstaking long time to finish) and it's hard to satisfy a creative vision with free art assets.
- verteu 4y ago
  Have you tried Upwork/Fiverr/Behance/Dribbble? In my experience you can get decent art for quite cheap.
  - thn-gap 4y ago
    Depending on what kind of art you need, Midjourney or similar models are becoming a more visible option for solo gamedevs to make decent art cheaply.
    - meheleventyone 4y ago
      The problem with ML art outside of concepting (and even then) is repeatability of scene elements. If you’re illustrating a children’s book you usually want each illustration to keep the characters and scenes consistent. The same is mostly true for game art and concepts.
      - steezeburger 4y ago
        It's been really cool to use for inspiration as well as generating seamless textures. I've generated some great grass and carpets for my ps1 style game.
        meheleventyone 4y ago

YesBox 4y ago

Seems like a lot of people like your approach, so I'll clarify. I am focused on releasing my game because I want to continue working for myself and having the opportunity to choose/direct my creativity every single day. The journey is important, you'll probably have a hard time making it in this industry and/or burn out if you aren't deriving joy from the day to day work. For me, not releasing my game ASAP is not an option. I'm living off of my savings. That's why I prefer other full time devs because survival mode is very different than safe mode. (I feel 10 times more alive. Not sure how others feel). Anyways, Im mostly responding to encourage you to create your own group because there seems to be a lot of people who are in the same boat as you. I have to say, meeting up with people every week who share the same drive/passion as I do is a great experience.

lijogdfljk 4y ago
Haha, i'm pretty sure the stress of that would kill me. But i hope it works for you. Best wishes :)
allenu 4y ago
> For me, not releasing my game ASAP is not an option. I'm living off of my savings. That's why I prefer other full time devs because survival mode is very different than safe mode. I think you have the right mindset here, so you will probably be successful in actually shipping. Kudos to you. Looking for another person with that mindset for your group, I think, is the right one. I'm not a game developer by the way, but I am doing the solo indie dev thing, as of a few months ago. I think a lot of people who are dabbling in game dev or indie dev, like the idea of one day doing something with it, but what they really enjoy is the craftsmanship of building an engine, setting up their tooling, creating a process, etc. In my opinion, that's fun, but it doesn't really get you closer to shipping code and seeing what the market likes or dislikes. No disrespect to anyone who likes that aspect, but I think it's way different from actually needing to ship a product. So yeah, if you ended up including tinkerers in your group, I can see how that would change the nature of the conversations.

parentheses 4y ago

I agree with this mentality. I have always believed dev journeys are what excite me - not dev destinations. I don’t think I’m in a small minority despite the vast amounts of literature (on HN) mostly that is about the destination alone.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

olivierva 4y ago

That's exactly what I do, don't mind hanging out once a week if you're up for it

mrandish 4y ago

> "i'm obsessive so i'm yakshaving the foundations of my projects." As an aside, an indie developer should make a literal yakshaving game. Just because. (extra credit for an Ultra setting which squanders GPU power on ridiculously high-fidelity fur simulation)

sershe 4y ago

We should create a group for developers who will never finish their game. I also work full time and also have other hobbies, plus I really don't get motivated by the proper process of developing a series of games with growing complexity, so instead I keep designing my dream game as I'm working on it. So, I dunno if I will ever finish. But hey, if I wasn't chipping away at it I would probably just be playing more games instead, so why not? My wife actually suggested I join some group, but I suspected the exact feelings the OP has - serious developers rightfully would not want me in a group :) Maybe there's potential in a hobby-slacker group :)