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What it takes to make a game by yourself

350 points by vicarrion 4y ago

darepublic 4y ago
The lines of code section shows the number of files not loc. I thought you had 333 loc at first
danielvaughn 4y ago
The irony of video games is that they’re often associated (at least in America) with childishness. And yet, by any conceivable standard, they’re by far the most complex creative endeavor. Creating a video game requires knowledge of the following: programming, graphics, 3D or 2D art tools, artistic ability, UI and UX design, game design, music production, cinematography, storytelling, copywriting, etc etc. It’s just astoundingly complex.
- amelius 4y ago
  > The irony of video games is that they’re often associated (at least in America) with childishness. That's because most games are about shooting other people. This is something only children (and perhaps some dictators) love to think about.
  - darkteflon 4y ago
    Imagine what you would think if someone claimed that “most movies are violent”. You would think that even a cursory glance at Netflix or Apple TV or the shelf of your local Blockbuster would quickly disabuse you of the notion. So it is with games. I’d urge you to take a second look. These sorts of generalisations, ill-supported by evidence, have historically been bad for the medium.
    - lIl-IIIl 4y ago
      38 out of 50 games in https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/all-games https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/all-games are about shooting people. So "most" doesn't sound too far fetched.
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  IME the US has a unhealthy culture of work. Religion too carries a "put childish things behind you" influence. Things do appear to be changing, yet with older generations there's still a lot of judgement.
  - CobrastanJorji 4y ago
    I think if I ever got asked to write up a religion, there'd need to be a positive commandment ordering you to enjoy yourself in moderation on a daily basis. Something that says "if you're making yourself miserable all day every day, you are sinning." Not sure how to word it in a way that discourages hedonism and also doesn't make people trapped in lousy situations feel even worse, but that'd be the goal.
    - msmenardi 4y ago
      balance, in all things keep your mind on your self and it's surroundings, and let your self be one with both pleasure and struggle. let not the words of others compel you to eat too many frogs [1] [1]: https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/p/excuse-me-but-why-are-you-eating https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/p/excuse-me-but-why...
- Trigg3r 4y ago
  This :) Got into dev maybe 20 years ago or so, because I wanted to build a game, but no one I knew could code. Eventually got annoyed enough and decided if no one (I knew) can code, then I should learn it instead! so I did. Now working as a senior dev (building mostly web stuff), but still not having built a game, I tried a few times (trying again at the min with Godot!) I now appreciate the people working on rendering, storytelling, animation, model creation and so much more, I am with you on the complexity, I think you have to try it to understand.
- hinkley 4y ago
  I think part of that is because we are expected to put up with frustrating software at work because we are getting paid for it so if the work is more work than it needs to be, well just shut up and do your job. Games are supposed to be fun. The money goes the other way, so the annoyances are taken a bit more seriously. The creator has to take that frustration on themselves instead of externalizing it, which is more work for them. Add to that the delight aspect, and games try crazy stuff that would never fly with business software. 'Safe' doesn't get you many accolades so you're essentially obliged to try at least a few things. And the shelf life is lower so even if you fuck up you usually only have to hear about it for three years and then you can try something new. Once in a while, every five years or so, one of those UI gambles ends up being adopted by the industry, so while not the most effective petri dish for general UX research, it still gets some results.
- meheleventyone 4y ago
  This is only sort of true. I’ve been making games for over thirty years and nearly hit twenty years of doing it professionally. The truth is you only need to be passable at some of those things. Even if you want to make a game by yourself. Whilst I don’t think everyone has a commercially successful game in them I also am pretty sure that’s way more to do with circumstance and project management ability than any sort of raw talent. On top of which no game is truly the work of one person even if the help is uncredited. TLDR; games like movies are a sum of parts that is a lot less creative and original than might appear at first blush.
  - dietrichepp 4y ago
    I agree with this. I've worked with various teams on game jams and I’ve had conversations with people over the years, encouraging people to hold themselves to a lower standard. It’s not just the fact that this is a game jam—we are not competing with Zelda, and our game doesn’t need to have scope, scale, or polish similar to a Zelda game. I also enjoy playing a game and seeing somebody’s amateur-ish art, or hearing some clumsy musical phrases that they put together. There’s something special about that which is hard to capture when you start spreading the work around people, because it’s just so hard to put together a coherent vision for a game in multiple minds. We’ve also talked about how you run into a lot of people who’s main goal is to do job X at a higher level of technical ability and polish so they can get hired by a studio they like. It’s understandable why they’d want that, but it also leads to people sanding the edges off their style, so to speak. This makes it difficult to assemble a team of people who are all interested in the same style of development process (no judgment—some people on your team want a portfolio piece for a future job, some people want to express themselves here and now). I don’t think making a solo game developer should be any different than being a novel writer, in the sense that it’s not a club reserved for the people who are good at doing it—but a club for the people who put in the time and effort to make something.
- aschearer 4y ago
  I agree. For a long time I felt games weren't art in the same vein as e.g. painting. More recently I've come to feel that's not true. As you say, making compelling games requires compelling art across multiple mediums. Add on top of that interactivity and agency! That's part of what's so satisfying about making them. It's an incredible challenge and measure of your ability.
  - gmueckl 4y ago
    But is the actual game, as in, taking actions obeying a premade set of rules, art? That is the essence of every game. We use various representations, physical or virtual, for representing the game. Yet, the representation is not the game.
    - mawadev 4y ago
      I would say there is a lot of creativity involved when you play multiplayer games. It is a mix of strategy and decision making depending on the context of a situation that layers on top of gameplay mechanics.
    - archagon 4y ago
      Can taking actions that obey a premade set of rules communicate something to the player? I think it can. For example, Jonathan Blow has played around with this notion in Braid and The Witness.
      - SyneRyder 4y ago
        The Witness is absolutely an astonishing work of art, a life-changing experience. So much so that I wonder if it really can be called a game. (I'm over 100 hours in, and that's not counting all the time I've spent on trains looking out the window and thinking about its themes.) It's frustrating that the reasons The Witness is lifechanging can't be explained to others without preventing them from having that same experience and understanding. But that in itself is a revelation to discover. It can't be told, it must be experienced.
      - 4y ago
- qzw 4y ago
  This is so true, except for that one glorious, fleeting period when iOS apps were new and you could be an overnight millionaire with something like Flappy Bird.
  - jonas21 4y ago
    Flappy Bird didn't become popular until 2014, when the App Store was already 6 years old.
    - ketzo 4y ago
      Oh, hush. The broader point is just that the barrier for entry was very, very low for a brief period. I definitely bought a $0.99 app that you could tip up to your face to make it look like you were drinking a beer. Very, very low.
- ransom1538 4y ago
  "programming, graphics, 3D or 2D art tools, artistic ability, UI and UX design, game design, music production, cinematography, storytelling, copywriting, etc etc." Also! Physics, vector math, AI, cameras, shaders, networking, etc
  - danielvaughn 4y ago
    Yep, and all the sub-disciplines within sub-disciplines. It’s crazy.
    - ketzo 4y ago
      I know, god damn -- including "networking" as just a single word feels... horrifying.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
    - darkteflon 4y ago
      It’s so extensive that you really just have to enjoy the journey. Good experience and life lesson for kids/teenagers. And fully-grown adults.
- yakubin 4y ago
  That's a broader theme. Watching TV is considered more childish than reading a book, even though TV content requires a lot more kinds of creative work in order to exist. The reason is that usually when the medium is richer, it demands less of its audience. Instead of imagining a scene, you're given its picture ready-made. Instead of actively following the lines of a story, you passively assimilate what appears before your eyes. It's less effort, and it's less active. It's common for people to watch TV in order to "turn off their brains" when exhausted. "Turning one's brain off" when reading a book is usually an accident, not an intentional thing, and happens a lot less. Games demand more from their audience than TV, but you're still given a lot to consume passively, compared to a book: instead of imagining scenes, you're again given them as pictures. Games do compensate though with demanding that you make choices as you play a game, which may impact a story. Well... that's as long as the game is not an FPS, or a racing game, where choices don't matter for a story, as the story is either non-existent, or barely important; and what matters a lot more is your dexterity and reflex.
  - Tostino 4y ago
    I absolutely agree with your comment from the consumption perspective, but I believe GP was referring solely to the creation aspect.
    - andrewflnr 4y ago
      By bringing up the association with childishness, no, they were not.
  - crtasm 4y ago
    There are games that are entirely text-based. I play less than I used to but always try to check out the yearly winners on https://ifcomp.org/ https://ifcomp.org/ Also see https://ifdb.org/ https://ifdb.org/
    - rascul 4y ago
      > There are games that are entirely text-based. There are a lot of MUD games. I've been playing WoTMUD on and off for a little over two decades now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD https://wotmud.info/ https://wotmud.info/
- fuzzythinker 4y ago
  Plus heavy math if not using an engine or if it involves more than what the engine provides.
- Heyso 4y ago
  Yes it is an art that can contains multiples others arts. On a small project you also usually have to do the game design, it is art too. And art is harder than technique in my opinion. I got a lot of respect for artists.
mmcconnell1618 4y ago
I think video game success is probably distributed like startups. Maybe 1 in 10 will have real success, a few might break even or make a little and most will end up never making enough to cover the costs to create. The work is massive and the pay off is not guaranteed. Creating a video game by yourself is not for the money, it's because you're driven to create the idea you see in your mind.
- mritchie712 4y ago
  I'd think it's closer to 1 in 100 then 1 in 10 that break even.
  - mattnewton 4y ago
    If “break even” is “I made back costs” and not “I made back opportunity costs” - most game devs could have made many multiples contracting, or even working those hours at Starbucks.
bergenty 4y ago
Not much, I was able to make 9 levels of a very graphic intensive game in unreal over six months. Is it really that much work to take it from that to something that runs on all the platforms? I’m genuinely asking.
- JKCalhoun 4y ago
  I often found people could get a concept up and running (nine levels is impressive) but that there were boring things still to do like high scores, saved games, control configuration UI, settings, etc. that were a sort of hurdle that many people weren't willing to invest in. Then again, getting something just up to the point that it is playable, a proof of concept, is when you can really see if a game is fun or not. I have floppy disks full of games that never made it past that point because there was just ... something missing.
- nmfisher 4y ago
  Did you release it?
greazy 4y ago
I was surprised by the low bum we of lines of code.
- nottorp 4y ago
  If he iterated a lot, it's possible a lot of them were written like 5 times each though.
prewett 4y ago
This is really a sequence of seven games of totally different genres, which is definitely going to increase the difficulty and time commitment! It looks like an interesting game, though.
- tdeck 4y ago
  Yep, it's worth watching the video as I was really impressed by the diversity of gameplay.
aschearer 4y ago
Congratz on releasing! It's so so hard to actually reach that point. I've made a number of games by myself as well as with small teams. It requires incredible focus, scope management, and tons of time. It's like boiling the ocean. For me, it's all worth it to create something original from start to finish.
thunkle 4y ago
After playing brogue for a couple of years, I'm really intrigued by rogue like development. I haven't started yet, but something seems more approachable about having a bunch of ascii characters as the gui.
pengaru 4y ago
Perseverance and conditioning yourself to be comfortable with (or even excited/inspired by) long periods of unfinished-ness are core competencies in practically every demanding project I've embarked upon - not just software, literally anything that can't be started and finished over a weekend. A WIP is often largely indistinguishable from a complete and utter broken disaster. When the project necessarily takes a long time, that work-in-progress state can start convincing you (and your peers/family/friends/onlookers) that it's not a work-in-progress but a total failure. The only difference between those two realities is abandoning it vs. finishing it. Some (most?) people lack the grit to get through that trough of "unfinished-or-failed?" ambiguity. That's a lot of text trying to describe what I've found is the real substance behind "real developers ship". And somewhere in all this, you still have to have maintain enough perspective to know when to cut your losses. As a developer, and builder of things in general, I have hella respect for anyone who does such projects.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- fitnessrunner 4y ago
  These are very wise words that I needed to hear today; thank you.
- dieselgate 4y ago
  The most difficult part about software engineering and IRL engineering is the feeling of “everything’s broken always” and just constantly needing to fix or tweak things. I understand that’s the job description basically but nice to hear it articulated by someone else
  - Aperocky 4y ago
    This is why TDD exist, it doesn't necessarily improve the product or delivery speed, but it keeps you sane while the project is half baked. I've found incorporating tests on my personal projects allow me to pick it up after even a year or two, but if I don't have tests, they inevitably become so jumbled that they cannot be salvaged once the initial effort is over.
rhincodon 4y ago
Which makes what Stardew Valley developer, ConcernedApe, accomplished so much more impressive. https://www.gq.com/story/stardew-valley-eric-barone-profile https://www.gq.com/story/stardew-valley-eric-barone-profile
- umvi 4y ago
  Toby Fox (Undertale) and Dōkutsu Monogatari (Cave Story) are a few other notable solo devs
  - qu4z-2 4y ago
    Doukutsu Monogatari is just Japanese for Cave Story. The dev is called Daisuke Amaya (Wikipedia informs me).
- acheron 4y ago
  I very much admire the dedication to stick with coding and designing SV, but I also understand at some level how it works. But creating the art and music may as well be wizardry. Eric being able to do that also is awe-inspiring.
foobarbecue 4y ago
Nice to see an NM Tech alum pop up here! I did grad school there.
- vicarrion 4y ago
  Hi there fellow techie!
Razengan 4y ago
Not getting bored with it.
michaelsalim 4y ago
Whenever I get to know a developer that dabbles with game development, most of the time I can be confident that they know their stuff. It's such a demanding field that if you're passionate about it, you're bound to learn a lot of things. I don't do game dev anymore but the time I did taught me a lot about what I know now.
TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
Just look at the guy that tried to make Yandere Simulator, and don't do that stuff.
- PradeetPatel 4y ago
  Didn't he get deplatformed for spreading hate speech?
  - TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
    He failed to complete the game well before that.
    - Kiro 4y ago
      And what's the problem with that? I've been working on a game for 15 years, and probably need another 10 to finish it.
      - sfjailbird 4y ago
        Glad I'm not the only one. Keep up the good work!
      - alpaca128 4y ago
        The problem is the unmaintainable code. The game doesn't take that long because of its scope, it's not exactly Dwarf Fortress. If I remember correctly the code got leaked at some point and it wasn't a fun time for the developer. It seems to me the dev was a beginner with a popular idea, leading to random people on the internet giving him money to work for a long time on a codebase that was too large for his experience and should have been thrown away and rewritten years ago.
        deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
  - TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
flykespice 4y ago
I haven't made a game yet (not even a prototype) though I have been tempting for years. I can't point the issue, whether my coding skills aren't up to the task or because I can't make assets for my game, or because I can't hire a staff and my game ideas scope needs a team to realize them. The problem is I don't know what is the right next step to take in front of all the issues aforementioned, and I have been thinking that for years without taking any step ahead or risking
- darkteflon 4y ago
  Since you seem to really want to do it, I highly recommend that you set aside a fixed amount of time every day and just sit down and start something - anything. You’d be surprised how far that can take you. Don’t go over the hour, though. You’re looking for consistency, not intensity.
- Nzen 4y ago
  Here, consider watching MIT's edx course on game design [0]. I found it a good overview of many aspects and a reminder that board games (paper prototypes) can play a role in designing a game. I'm assuming you've already watched Extra Credits videos [1] about beginning. [0] https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-game-design https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-game-design [1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5C6QC36h5eApOyXtx98ehGi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5C6QC36h5eA...
  - ThalesX 4y ago
    This reminds me of college where we had to design a game and prototype it with pen and paper; it was a great and fun experiment with comfy results and we nailed down the menus, gameplay and level design before any of us touching the keyboard.
- hyperhopper 4y ago
  Practice with game jams. 24h to cram _something_ out, 72 hour to get a nice little demo of some mechanic or story. The theme and restrictions take away a lot of the choice and apprehension. And you're laser focused on the end goal and _will_ release something since you have an end date.
darkteflon 4y ago
This is timely. Since I’m on sabbatical, I decided to spend 6 months cramming Unreal Engine 5 and Blender to see if I could cobble together enough expertise and the bones of a project to work on together with my now five-year old son over the coming years. I always loved gaming growing up and I figured it would be a great way to get him interested in, and learning, a broad range of skills that might help him along the way in future. To be honest, it’s been more of a commitment than I expected, but I don’t regret the time spent at all and I think it’s something my son will come to treasure. Sketching imaginary animals into a text book and seeing them come to life in-game a few days later is a magical experience for a kid. I’d just repeat what a few others have said herein: for hobbyists, keep your expectations for what’s achievable nice and low, make sure you enjoy the journey, and perhaps think about it as something you put an hour into every day, rather than one-focusing on hitting concrete milestones, many of which may remain out of reach for months. Oh, and checklists: write loads of them and keep them handy!
- notduncansmith 4y ago
  I’m working on a 2D game conceived by my 9-year-old who had played enough games that he was inspired to make one. He was thrilled as soon as the first animated graphics came onscreen. More valuable than my programming skills have been my project management skills: keeping the scope achievable and focusing on realistic milestones is a little harder when working with a 4th grader. It’s been a great learning and bonding experience for us both. Best of luck to you!
  - darkteflon 4y ago
    Absolutely agreed, and best of luck to you also!
mr337 4y ago
The Mathematics StackExchange reference gave me a chuckle.[1] 1 - https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/3137017/how-do-you-calculate-the-weighting-of-a-point-inside-of-an-equilateral-triangle https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/3137017/how-do-you-...
njsubedi 4y ago
I started making games right after I joined my university. Those were simple flash-like games with simple gameplay and basic UI/UX. Fast forward 10 years; I started a game studio and we’re a team of 50+ but still making really simple games for mobile. Not that we didn’t try making “huge” games but constantly creating new games and publishing them and seeing them succeed is what it takes to keep making games. As an indie developer, you’ll probably make a dozen or more games before people actually play one of your games. It’s a long battle but making many simple games is more important than trying to make a blockbuster in the first try.
- kumarvvr 4y ago
  Interesting story. Could you comment on the economics of running such a studio, which seems to be relying on casual gaming. A bit of insight into the market as well. Really curious.
- gnrlst 4y ago
  You're optimizing for revenue/chance of success, not for the creation itself, which most world-class indie games are optimizing for (e.g. stardew valley, dwarf fortress, celeste, hollow knight, etc). Also, building a million simple mobile games will not magically compound into making you a great complex/deep game builder. Not trying to say your strategy is wrong, I just don't agree with your strategy if someone's goal is to build the game they have in mind, exactly like they have it in their mind (assuming it's more than a simple mobile game). It will help in terms of general "steps" to have built a couple simple games before sure, but that's about it.
  - somehnacct3757 4y ago
    All the indie devs you mentioned had moonshot successes that catapulted their studio. They shouldn't be modeled by anyone making a fresh go at the games industry. Save yourself the time and buy a lotto ticket. Having a tight release loop is a good strategy. You will find mechanics that work over time and iterate on them, finding more and more reliable success. Eventually one will hit. You don't even have to avoid looking like shovelware. The mobile game audience doesn't care about that, it's more of a capital G Gamer gatekeeper thing.
Eratosthenes 4y ago
>predictably dense math answer They gave you the damn formula....
hutzlibu 4y ago
Hah, related question I had yesterday, is it procrastination, if you play your own game, instead of focusing on finally releasing it? (my conclusion was, a bit, playing it is helpful to think about balancing and final polishing, but only playing it and not improving it probably does not help much. In either case, it is probably a good sign, to have fun with your own game ..)
- Heyso 4y ago
  I've made a game with a team in~ 6 month, we almost didn't play it. And this is an obvious sign the game isn't "fun". About your question, if part of your job is game design or assurance quality, you have to play the game a lot. Like a player would.
NayamAmarshe 4y ago
Starting game dev is way easier than finishing it. Requires years of commitment with a super uncertain outcome. If you're someone who cannot take financial risks, you absolutely shouldn't be in game development unless you know what you're doing and unless you're fine with failure and an empty bank account at the end of it.
- Stevvo 4y ago
  Anyone can get into game development with low risk. Why start with the gargantuan task of a whole game? e.g. you could be making flightsim addons. Paint a few liveries or code a simple plugin and people will find value in it pay for it.
keyle 4y ago
I've shipped quite a few by now and I'd preface by saying this person uses Unity as well. There are many game devs that choose to roll their own... The code stats look quite different. Also contractors... Some literally do everything by themselves. If you're doing your own game out there, hang in there and strap on for n^2 the expected timeline! I love making games because to me it's one of the hardest part of computer science... Not only you have to make something with immediate rendering, that runs at 60fps or higher and that is fun, full of contents AND unique in some way! Then you haven't even started marketing...
b800h 4y ago
The game that the author is writing seems quite similar in concept to Spore, which I thought was interesting.
warrenmiller 4y ago
I have a game with +10 million installs on the both app stores, the truth of it is making the game is about 25% of the work - the rest is dealing with marketing, screenshots, videos, user reviews, Ad/IAP SDKs, waiting for Unity to switch between platforms, dealing with Unity bugs/upgrades, etc.. When you're making the games it's a joy - the rest of the stuff can be a real grind.
- MrDresden 4y ago
  With that kind of insight into each market segment, what monetization model are you seeing working the best on each platform? I've had an idea for a small mobile game in mind now for a while, but I find the idea of potentially having to place ads in it to make back some of the investement not appealing. So I delay starting the project. The dream would be to be able to offer it for a low price (1.5$ - 3$) and reach enough of an audience.
  - warrenmiller 4y ago
    Freemium: Ads and IAP, i'm afraid.
bambataa 4y ago
I dream of creating “the thinking player’s Stronghold” with more complex defences and economy, but articles like this confirm that it will only ever be a dream. Hell, perhaps DF is already 80% of what I want.
- scanny 4y ago
  Consider modding! Using an existing engine that is malleable (or even has the assets you want) can be a great way to prototype or even achieve it without doing the really gritty stuff first.
lienhoangduy 4y ago
Can a no-coder create a game by himself?
piinecone 4y ago
I love reading these kinds of posts. Whenever I’m reminded that I’m not alone, I get a little bit more self-compassion and that makes me more excited to release my game and helps me appreciate all the progress and hard work to date. I’ve been working on King of Kalimpong [0] on and off since playtesting a one-week prototype of it in 2014. I had no idea how much work a networked physics vehicle/movement shooter game would be. (I should have, I was 8 years into a programming career). Working part-time was critical (for many reasons), but so was learning that progress is a product of discipline, not motivation, and that I needed to learn “infinite endurance” (I think that’s what Chris Hecker called it). Once I adopted the perspective that I was some finite number of 3-4 hour blocks of concentration away from turning a goofy idea into a game that anyone could play, finishing became something that felt inevitable — as long as I kept going. I’ll take the time to write about my experience after I release (which is now months instead of years away) in case any other game developers get anything out of it. Until then, thanks for another reminder that I’m not alone! [0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/1989110/King_of_Kalimpong/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1989110/King_of_Kalimpong...
- Tarsul 4y ago
  Damn. That gameplay looks tight. Keep up the good work!
- prox 4y ago
  That is looking really fun for a casual game with friends!
- hombre_fatal 4y ago
  That looks really polished/professional. Nice work.
- vicarrion 4y ago
  Keep going and you'll get there! Your game looks great!
- intelVISA 4y ago
  Looks great, reminds me a lil of Vigilante 8.
Cryptonic 4y ago
Great advice, wish I knew that earlier in my life. I mean the start small and finish experience. I have so many ambitious abandoned projects, I even lost track xD
phreack 4y ago
It's certainly a huge endeavor. I probably have a pile of projects that I started and abandoned at some point for various reasons. The saddest of all was the first one that started to get traction... a story based game developed iteratively chapter by chapter where the writer got a hard case of imposter syndrome and just quit (it was just the two of us). Success is also hard to manage for some people. Right now my newest moonshot is joining a friend who's just started trying to make an educational game for developers, that teaches you in a fun cyberpunkish style how to develop an NES from scratch, step by step. It's an absolutely bonkers idea but it's something we'd have loved to have and that we're having a blast making, just for ourselves. I doubt it's ever going to be successful if we make it to the finish line and ship it, but luckily it's just for fun. I'm thankful of posts like these, it helps getting motivated to make it through.
jheriko 4y ago
its interesting to see how this differs from my own experience, from a time without game engines, 3d graphics libraries, the internet or even books for reference. the point about actually finishing things is a great takeaway. the first game i finished /myself/ took a week, then got another week of post-launch attention... but that was after some 10 years of personal work to develop the skills, then another 5 years or so in the industry gaining experience. i probably could have done this earlier, but i was constantly setting my sights higher than what was realistic.... but actually the lessons from doing that were pretty invaluable. today, i'm more than capable of filling any role in any of the specialised areas of programming required for games to an expert level... and a lot of that knowledge came from trying to build AAA quality features in isolation with little support - finishing features or engines rather than whole games.... so as much as i agree with the conclusion, i'm not sure it would have helped me to learn it sooner :)
cpojer 4y ago
This is a great post, thank you for writing it. I got into programming 20 years ago because I wanted to make games, and I spent my teenage years in the 2000s building web games. As a high school project I spent a year building a turn-based strategy web game (https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1460221157634830337 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1460221157634830337). I have recently gotten back into it to explore things I never got a chance to do before like building an AI and fog-of-war. Currently the game is inspired by Advance Wars, and you can see me play against my AI here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bGeEeti22bM https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bGeEeti22bM I’m tweeting about the technical details and progress on Twitter: * Basic explanation and code examples: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1460221157634830337 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1460221157634830337 * Map Editor: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1488510688389566464 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1488510688389566464 * Fog of War: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1547967785015189504 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1547967785015189504 * Testing Infrastructure: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1538299796334686208 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1538299796334686208 * Random Map Generator: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1537444893580136454 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1537444893580136454 I’m currently working on the game design to make it “inspired by Advance Wars” instead of just a clone.
- Lambdanaut 4y ago
  Advance Wars is an absolute dream to clone. I had that itch too, and made a full clone with story mode in PICO-8 a couple years ago. The challenge there was that PICO-8 has infuriating arbitrary restrictions on code size to limit the developers for fun lol. To get around that, I have code that swaps serialized memory between virtual "cartridges" in order to fit everything in. Sadly that limits the game from distribution on the official PICO-8 network "Splore", because those games must be single-cartridge only, so I have a stripped down version without a campaign that is uploaded there. The AI was by far the funnest to implement. Getting enemy ranged units to retreat correctly when they were in range of attack was such an awesome feeling. It really led me down a rabbit hole of making games primarily so that I could code fun AI You can play in your browser here: https://lambdanaut.itch.io/picowars https://lambdanaut.itch.io/picowars
  - deleted 4y ago
DaveSapien 4y ago
I'm also a solo game dev with a recently released game. All this is really spot on with my experience. It just not clear if the author hired an artist or he just recommends it...its quite common for Game dev's to claim they made a game by themselves but actually contracted out the music, art, animation, etc. Somewhat of a bug bearer with me as there are some genuine solo dev's creating great work that get overshadowed with the whole solo dev marking spin.
- Nemrod67 4y ago
  You got a wishlist from me sir, your game looks perfect for my GF when she wants to relax after a hard day's work. Just released my own game in EA, I'd say our saint patron Gabe Newell kinda failed us with the way discoverability works in Steam. There is clutter problem that hides a lot of gems, and they have full coffers to solve it... But eh... maybe it wasn't all about expanding the Human consciousness and Art and all :p
  - DaveSapien 4y ago
    Thank you! Likewise! I'm not too bothered about Steam's discoverability, its at least honest(ish) about it. The more reviews and sales you get the more its pushed...as far as I can tell. I've found discoverability/promotion to be the most difficult, esoteric in the indie game enthusiast spaces. That really surprised me.
checkyoursudo 4y ago
Have any of you made a game, not just by yourself but only for yourself? I haven't (other than some basic terminal-based games when learning new languages, etc), but I've thought of a few that I know I would like but don't want to put in the time/effort to make them something that someone else would like. I also wonder about what to do when you have an idea that you know is way bigger than yourself, but you're not in the business of producing things that are way bigger than yourself? I've had a few of those, too.
- lukaszkups 4y ago
  Me, actually- I've played in the past flash game Taberinos- before I've found out what its title was I've made a similar game for myself - and that's how BOINK! has been made: https://lukaszkups.itch.io/boink https://lukaszkups.itch.io/boink
- unnouinceput 4y ago
  When I started learning programming 25+ years ago, I started a tetris clone. I was learning Pascal (Borland's TP 7 anyone?) as well as creating the game. Took me 2 months and was a smash hit among my colleagues at Uni. Next I did 5-in-row (Tic-Tac-Toe's more interesting big brother), which was another smash hit among the same colleagues. They were preferring playing those games instead of listening to the undergrad when we were in laboratories. Still have the source codes for both games somewhere. Good times.
  - alok-g 4y ago
    Similar story for me. :-) Noting down some of the differences below. Game: Pacman 32 years ago (12-13 years of age) Programmed in Sinclair BASIC on ZX Spectrum+ Took two weekends as I recall Played only by me and a friend Lost the source code: There was no non-volatile memory on the computer so I used to note down the programs manually in a notebook, which I've lost. Similarity: "Good times." :-) PS: The 34 years old computer still works, though 90% of the keyboard keys have stopped working. I'll need to replace internal keyboard membrane and also get adapters to hook it to a monitor.
  - 4y ago
racktash 4y ago
I started making total conversion mods for Half-Life 2 when I was a young teenager – I made the levels, models, wrote the gameplay code and so on. I never really recommend game development to anybody, because it can be quite an exhausting hobby (not to mention career), with a high cost and low reward ratio (note: in my experience!), but it sure taught me a lot about realistic project planning, budgeting the cost of features and so on.
Nemrod67 4y ago
The hardest thing is finishing, because everything is ever connected to a "perfect" version of itself... And it's way less fun (for most game dev people) to code the "perfect" version of an input remapping system or leaderboard system :p Obligatory self-promotion: I just released my Space Pew-Pew game on Steam in Early Access, complete with original 16bit-neoclassical OST! https://store.steampowered.com/app/914930/Alcyon_Infinity/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/914930/Alcyon_Infinity/ "Destroy hordes of ever-improving enemies and their Mothership. Alcyon Infinity is a fast shooter/bullet hell with dynamic movement and risk management. Up to 4 Co-Op players with Controllers." I'm doing a stealth release, primarily for my own sanity. There is something different about having it out for the World to seen rather than working on it for 3 years and giving up in the meantime (happened twice). The magnitude of the marketing work ahead is kinda daunting, but at least I have some kind of anchoring to realspace for prospective players. A game you can play and refund is more tangible than a forum with promises...
- vicarrion 4y ago
  Yep, you gotta get to release! The first you push all the way through to release is the hardest (at least so I've heard haha)
moviewise 4y ago
Good luck to all indie game developers! If you need a break, seeing this documentary about it will be worth your time: Indie Game: The Movie (2012) https://moviewise.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/indie-game-the-movie/ https://moviewise.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/indie-game-the-mo... And, if you need some encouragement or diversion about the joy and reward of learning and how it get help you achieve "flow" and happiness from your work, please read: Some Advice On Happiness From A Few Good Movies https://moviewise.substack.com/p/going-through-an-existential-crisis https://moviewise.substack.com/p/going-through-an-existentia...
- wedesoft 4y ago
  Bought it from the website https://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/ https://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/ and just watching it. Thanks a lot for the tip! Really engaging documentary.
stevage 4y ago
Seems like an odd choice of game format for a solo dev, since it seems to be essentially making 7 separate games?
- hypertele-Xii 4y ago
  Counter-intuitively, the more games you make at once, the less effort each one takes. Because you can share resources between them. Of course, they have to have something in common to capitalize on this. I'm aiming to make about 20 games at once, at the moment.

350 points by vicarrion 4y ago

The lines of code section shows the number of files not loc. I thought you had 333 loc at first

The irony of video games is that they’re often associated (at least in America) with childishness. And yet, by any conceivable standard, they’re by far the most complex creative endeavor. Creating a video game requires knowledge of the following: programming, graphics, 3D or 2D art tools, artistic ability, UI and UX design, game design, music production, cinematography, storytelling, copywriting, etc etc. It’s just astoundingly complex.

amelius 4y ago
> The irony of video games is that they’re often associated (at least in America) with childishness. That's because most games are about shooting other people. This is something only children (and perhaps some dictators) love to think about.
- darkteflon 4y ago
  Imagine what you would think if someone claimed that “most movies are violent”. You would think that even a cursory glance at Netflix or Apple TV or the shelf of your local Blockbuster would quickly disabuse you of the notion. So it is with games. I’d urge you to take a second look. These sorts of generalisations, ill-supported by evidence, have historically been bad for the medium.
  - lIl-IIIl 4y ago
    38 out of 50 games in https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/all-games https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/all-games are about shooting people. So "most" doesn't sound too far fetched.
paulryanrogers 4y ago
IME the US has a unhealthy culture of work. Religion too carries a "put childish things behind you" influence. Things do appear to be changing, yet with older generations there's still a lot of judgement.
- CobrastanJorji 4y ago
  I think if I ever got asked to write up a religion, there'd need to be a positive commandment ordering you to enjoy yourself in moderation on a daily basis. Something that says "if you're making yourself miserable all day every day, you are sinning." Not sure how to word it in a way that discourages hedonism and also doesn't make people trapped in lousy situations feel even worse, but that'd be the goal.
  - msmenardi 4y ago
    balance, in all things keep your mind on your self and it's surroundings, and let your self be one with both pleasure and struggle. let not the words of others compel you to eat too many frogs [1] [1]: https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/p/excuse-me-but-why-are-you-eating https://experimentalhistory.substack.com/p/excuse-me-but-why...
Trigg3r 4y ago
This :) Got into dev maybe 20 years ago or so, because I wanted to build a game, but no one I knew could code. Eventually got annoyed enough and decided if no one (I knew) can code, then I should learn it instead! so I did. Now working as a senior dev (building mostly web stuff), but still not having built a game, I tried a few times (trying again at the min with Godot!) I now appreciate the people working on rendering, storytelling, animation, model creation and so much more, I am with you on the complexity, I think you have to try it to understand.
hinkley 4y ago
I think part of that is because we are expected to put up with frustrating software at work because we are getting paid for it so if the work is more work than it needs to be, well just shut up and do your job. Games are supposed to be fun. The money goes the other way, so the annoyances are taken a bit more seriously. The creator has to take that frustration on themselves instead of externalizing it, which is more work for them. Add to that the delight aspect, and games try crazy stuff that would never fly with business software. 'Safe' doesn't get you many accolades so you're essentially obliged to try at least a few things. And the shelf life is lower so even if you fuck up you usually only have to hear about it for three years and then you can try something new. Once in a while, every five years or so, one of those UI gambles ends up being adopted by the industry, so while not the most effective petri dish for general UX research, it still gets some results.
meheleventyone 4y ago
This is only sort of true. I’ve been making games for over thirty years and nearly hit twenty years of doing it professionally. The truth is you only need to be passable at some of those things. Even if you want to make a game by yourself. Whilst I don’t think everyone has a commercially successful game in them I also am pretty sure that’s way more to do with circumstance and project management ability than any sort of raw talent. On top of which no game is truly the work of one person even if the help is uncredited. TLDR; games like movies are a sum of parts that is a lot less creative and original than might appear at first blush.
- dietrichepp 4y ago
  I agree with this. I've worked with various teams on game jams and I’ve had conversations with people over the years, encouraging people to hold themselves to a lower standard. It’s not just the fact that this is a game jam—we are not competing with Zelda, and our game doesn’t need to have scope, scale, or polish similar to a Zelda game. I also enjoy playing a game and seeing somebody’s amateur-ish art, or hearing some clumsy musical phrases that they put together. There’s something special about that which is hard to capture when you start spreading the work around people, because it’s just so hard to put together a coherent vision for a game in multiple minds. We’ve also talked about how you run into a lot of people who’s main goal is to do job X at a higher level of technical ability and polish so they can get hired by a studio they like. It’s understandable why they’d want that, but it also leads to people sanding the edges off their style, so to speak. This makes it difficult to assemble a team of people who are all interested in the same style of development process (no judgment—some people on your team want a portfolio piece for a future job, some people want to express themselves here and now). I don’t think making a solo game developer should be any different than being a novel writer, in the sense that it’s not a club reserved for the people who are good at doing it—but a club for the people who put in the time and effort to make something.
aschearer 4y ago
I agree. For a long time I felt games weren't art in the same vein as e.g. painting. More recently I've come to feel that's not true. As you say, making compelling games requires compelling art across multiple mediums. Add on top of that interactivity and agency! That's part of what's so satisfying about making them. It's an incredible challenge and measure of your ability.
- gmueckl 4y ago
  But is the actual game, as in, taking actions obeying a premade set of rules, art? That is the essence of every game. We use various representations, physical or virtual, for representing the game. Yet, the representation is not the game.
  - mawadev 4y ago
    I would say there is a lot of creativity involved when you play multiplayer games. It is a mix of strategy and decision making depending on the context of a situation that layers on top of gameplay mechanics.
  - archagon 4y ago
    Can taking actions that obey a premade set of rules communicate something to the player? I think it can. For example, Jonathan Blow has played around with this notion in Braid and The Witness.
    - SyneRyder 4y ago
      The Witness is absolutely an astonishing work of art, a life-changing experience. So much so that I wonder if it really can be called a game. (I'm over 100 hours in, and that's not counting all the time I've spent on trains looking out the window and thinking about its themes.) It's frustrating that the reasons The Witness is lifechanging can't be explained to others without preventing them from having that same experience and understanding. But that in itself is a revelation to discover. It can't be told, it must be experienced.
    - 4y ago
qzw 4y ago
This is so true, except for that one glorious, fleeting period when iOS apps were new and you could be an overnight millionaire with something like Flappy Bird.
- jonas21 4y ago
  Flappy Bird didn't become popular until 2014, when the App Store was already 6 years old.
  - ketzo 4y ago
    Oh, hush. The broader point is just that the barrier for entry was very, very low for a brief period. I definitely bought a $0.99 app that you could tip up to your face to make it look like you were drinking a beer. Very, very low.
ransom1538 4y ago
"programming, graphics, 3D or 2D art tools, artistic ability, UI and UX design, game design, music production, cinematography, storytelling, copywriting, etc etc." Also! Physics, vector math, AI, cameras, shaders, networking, etc
- danielvaughn 4y ago
  Yep, and all the sub-disciplines within sub-disciplines. It’s crazy.
  - ketzo 4y ago
    I know, god damn -- including "networking" as just a single word feels... horrifying.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - darkteflon 4y ago
    It’s so extensive that you really just have to enjoy the journey. Good experience and life lesson for kids/teenagers. And fully-grown adults.
yakubin 4y ago
That's a broader theme. Watching TV is considered more childish than reading a book, even though TV content requires a lot more kinds of creative work in order to exist. The reason is that usually when the medium is richer, it demands less of its audience. Instead of imagining a scene, you're given its picture ready-made. Instead of actively following the lines of a story, you passively assimilate what appears before your eyes. It's less effort, and it's less active. It's common for people to watch TV in order to "turn off their brains" when exhausted. "Turning one's brain off" when reading a book is usually an accident, not an intentional thing, and happens a lot less. Games demand more from their audience than TV, but you're still given a lot to consume passively, compared to a book: instead of imagining scenes, you're again given them as pictures. Games do compensate though with demanding that you make choices as you play a game, which may impact a story. Well... that's as long as the game is not an FPS, or a racing game, where choices don't matter for a story, as the story is either non-existent, or barely important; and what matters a lot more is your dexterity and reflex.
- Tostino 4y ago
  I absolutely agree with your comment from the consumption perspective, but I believe GP was referring solely to the creation aspect.
  - andrewflnr 4y ago
    By bringing up the association with childishness, no, they were not.
- crtasm 4y ago
  There are games that are entirely text-based. I play less than I used to but always try to check out the yearly winners on https://ifcomp.org/ https://ifcomp.org/ Also see https://ifdb.org/ https://ifdb.org/
  - rascul 4y ago
    > There are games that are entirely text-based. There are a lot of MUD games. I've been playing WoTMUD on and off for a little over two decades now. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD https://wotmud.info/ https://wotmud.info/
fuzzythinker 4y ago
Plus heavy math if not using an engine or if it involves more than what the engine provides.
Heyso 4y ago
Yes it is an art that can contains multiples others arts. On a small project you also usually have to do the game design, it is art too. And art is harder than technique in my opinion. I got a lot of respect for artists.

mmcconnell1618 4y ago

I think video game success is probably distributed like startups. Maybe 1 in 10 will have real success, a few might break even or make a little and most will end up never making enough to cover the costs to create. The work is massive and the pay off is not guaranteed. Creating a video game by yourself is not for the money, it's because you're driven to create the idea you see in your mind.

mritchie712 4y ago
I'd think it's closer to 1 in 100 then 1 in 10 that break even.
- mattnewton 4y ago
  If “break even” is “I made back costs” and not “I made back opportunity costs” - most game devs could have made many multiples contracting, or even working those hours at Starbucks.

bergenty 4y ago

Not much, I was able to make 9 levels of a very graphic intensive game in unreal over six months. Is it really that much work to take it from that to something that runs on all the platforms? I’m genuinely asking.

JKCalhoun 4y ago
I often found people could get a concept up and running (nine levels is impressive) but that there were boring things still to do like high scores, saved games, control configuration UI, settings, etc. that were a sort of hurdle that many people weren't willing to invest in. Then again, getting something just up to the point that it is playable, a proof of concept, is when you can really see if a game is fun or not. I have floppy disks full of games that never made it past that point because there was just ... something missing.
nmfisher 4y ago
Did you release it?

greazy 4y ago

I was surprised by the low bum we of lines of code.

nottorp 4y ago
If he iterated a lot, it's possible a lot of them were written like 5 times each though.

prewett 4y ago

This is really a sequence of seven games of totally different genres, which is definitely going to increase the difficulty and time commitment! It looks like an interesting game, though.

tdeck 4y ago
Yep, it's worth watching the video as I was really impressed by the diversity of gameplay.

aschearer 4y ago

Congratz on releasing! It's so so hard to actually reach that point. I've made a number of games by myself as well as with small teams. It requires incredible focus, scope management, and tons of time. It's like boiling the ocean. For me, it's all worth it to create something original from start to finish.

thunkle 4y ago

After playing brogue for a couple of years, I'm really intrigued by rogue like development. I haven't started yet, but something seems more approachable about having a bunch of ascii characters as the gui.

pengaru 4y ago

Perseverance and conditioning yourself to be comfortable with (or even excited/inspired by) long periods of unfinished-ness are core competencies in practically every demanding project I've embarked upon - not just software, literally anything that can't be started and finished over a weekend. A WIP is often largely indistinguishable from a complete and utter broken disaster. When the project necessarily takes a long time, that work-in-progress state can start convincing you (and your peers/family/friends/onlookers) that it's not a work-in-progress but a total failure. The only difference between those two realities is abandoning it vs. finishing it. Some (most?) people lack the grit to get through that trough of "unfinished-or-failed?" ambiguity. That's a lot of text trying to describe what I've found is the real substance behind "real developers ship". And somewhere in all this, you still have to have maintain enough perspective to know when to cut your losses. As a developer, and builder of things in general, I have hella respect for anyone who does such projects.

deleted 4y ago
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fitnessrunner 4y ago
These are very wise words that I needed to hear today; thank you.
dieselgate 4y ago
The most difficult part about software engineering and IRL engineering is the feeling of “everything’s broken always” and just constantly needing to fix or tweak things. I understand that’s the job description basically but nice to hear it articulated by someone else
- Aperocky 4y ago
  This is why TDD exist, it doesn't necessarily improve the product or delivery speed, but it keeps you sane while the project is half baked. I've found incorporating tests on my personal projects allow me to pick it up after even a year or two, but if I don't have tests, they inevitably become so jumbled that they cannot be salvaged once the initial effort is over.

rhincodon 4y ago

Which makes what Stardew Valley developer, ConcernedApe, accomplished so much more impressive. https://www.gq.com/story/stardew-valley-eric-barone-profile https://www.gq.com/story/stardew-valley-eric-barone-profile

umvi 4y ago
Toby Fox (Undertale) and Dōkutsu Monogatari (Cave Story) are a few other notable solo devs
- qu4z-2 4y ago
  Doukutsu Monogatari is just Japanese for Cave Story. The dev is called Daisuke Amaya (Wikipedia informs me).
acheron 4y ago
I very much admire the dedication to stick with coding and designing SV, but I also understand at some level how it works. But creating the art and music may as well be wizardry. Eric being able to do that also is awe-inspiring.

foobarbecue 4y ago

Nice to see an NM Tech alum pop up here! I did grad school there.

vicarrion 4y ago
Hi there fellow techie!

Razengan 4y ago

Not getting bored with it.

michaelsalim 4y ago

Whenever I get to know a developer that dabbles with game development, most of the time I can be confident that they know their stuff. It's such a demanding field that if you're passionate about it, you're bound to learn a lot of things. I don't do game dev anymore but the time I did taught me a lot about what I know now.

TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago

Just look at the guy that tried to make Yandere Simulator, and don't do that stuff.

PradeetPatel 4y ago
Didn't he get deplatformed for spreading hate speech?
- TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago
  He failed to complete the game well before that.
  - Kiro 4y ago
    And what's the problem with that? I've been working on a game for 15 years, and probably need another 10 to finish it.
    - sfjailbird 4y ago
      Glad I'm not the only one. Keep up the good work!
    - alpaca128 4y ago
      The problem is the unmaintainable code. The game doesn't take that long because of its scope, it's not exactly Dwarf Fortress. If I remember correctly the code got leaked at some point and it wasn't a fun time for the developer. It seems to me the dev was a beginner with a popular idea, leading to random people on the internet giving him money to work for a long time on a codebase that was too large for his experience and should have been thrown away and rewritten years ago.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
- TEP_Kim_Il_Sung 4y ago

flykespice 4y ago

I haven't made a game yet (not even a prototype) though I have been tempting for years. I can't point the issue, whether my coding skills aren't up to the task or because I can't make assets for my game, or because I can't hire a staff and my game ideas scope needs a team to realize them. The problem is I don't know what is the right next step to take in front of all the issues aforementioned, and I have been thinking that for years without taking any step ahead or risking

darkteflon 4y ago
Since you seem to really want to do it, I highly recommend that you set aside a fixed amount of time every day and just sit down and start something - anything. You’d be surprised how far that can take you. Don’t go over the hour, though. You’re looking for consistency, not intensity.
Nzen 4y ago
Here, consider watching MIT's edx course on game design [0]. I found it a good overview of many aspects and a reminder that board games (paper prototypes) can play a role in designing a game. I'm assuming you've already watched Extra Credits videos [1] about beginning. [0] https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-game-design https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-game-design [1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5C6QC36h5eApOyXtx98ehGi https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5C6QC36h5eA...
- ThalesX 4y ago
  This reminds me of college where we had to design a game and prototype it with pen and paper; it was a great and fun experiment with comfy results and we nailed down the menus, gameplay and level design before any of us touching the keyboard.
hyperhopper 4y ago
Practice with game jams. 24h to cram _something_ out, 72 hour to get a nice little demo of some mechanic or story. The theme and restrictions take away a lot of the choice and apprehension. And you're laser focused on the end goal and _will_ release something since you have an end date.

darkteflon 4y ago

This is timely. Since I’m on sabbatical, I decided to spend 6 months cramming Unreal Engine 5 and Blender to see if I could cobble together enough expertise and the bones of a project to work on together with my now five-year old son over the coming years. I always loved gaming growing up and I figured it would be a great way to get him interested in, and learning, a broad range of skills that might help him along the way in future. To be honest, it’s been more of a commitment than I expected, but I don’t regret the time spent at all and I think it’s something my son will come to treasure. Sketching imaginary animals into a text book and seeing them come to life in-game a few days later is a magical experience for a kid. I’d just repeat what a few others have said herein: for hobbyists, keep your expectations for what’s achievable nice and low, make sure you enjoy the journey, and perhaps think about it as something you put an hour into every day, rather than one-focusing on hitting concrete milestones, many of which may remain out of reach for months. Oh, and checklists: write loads of them and keep them handy!

notduncansmith 4y ago
I’m working on a 2D game conceived by my 9-year-old who had played enough games that he was inspired to make one. He was thrilled as soon as the first animated graphics came onscreen. More valuable than my programming skills have been my project management skills: keeping the scope achievable and focusing on realistic milestones is a little harder when working with a 4th grader. It’s been a great learning and bonding experience for us both. Best of luck to you!
- darkteflon 4y ago
  Absolutely agreed, and best of luck to you also!

mr337 4y ago

The Mathematics StackExchange reference gave me a chuckle.[1] 1 - https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/3137017/how-do-you-calculate-the-weighting-of-a-point-inside-of-an-equilateral-triangle https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/3137017/how-do-you-...

njsubedi 4y ago

I started making games right after I joined my university. Those were simple flash-like games with simple gameplay and basic UI/UX. Fast forward 10 years; I started a game studio and we’re a team of 50+ but still making really simple games for mobile. Not that we didn’t try making “huge” games but constantly creating new games and publishing them and seeing them succeed is what it takes to keep making games. As an indie developer, you’ll probably make a dozen or more games before people actually play one of your games. It’s a long battle but making many simple games is more important than trying to make a blockbuster in the first try.

kumarvvr 4y ago
Interesting story. Could you comment on the economics of running such a studio, which seems to be relying on casual gaming. A bit of insight into the market as well. Really curious.
gnrlst 4y ago
You're optimizing for revenue/chance of success, not for the creation itself, which most world-class indie games are optimizing for (e.g. stardew valley, dwarf fortress, celeste, hollow knight, etc). Also, building a million simple mobile games will not magically compound into making you a great complex/deep game builder. Not trying to say your strategy is wrong, I just don't agree with your strategy if someone's goal is to build the game they have in mind, exactly like they have it in their mind (assuming it's more than a simple mobile game). It will help in terms of general "steps" to have built a couple simple games before sure, but that's about it.
- somehnacct3757 4y ago
  All the indie devs you mentioned had moonshot successes that catapulted their studio. They shouldn't be modeled by anyone making a fresh go at the games industry. Save yourself the time and buy a lotto ticket. Having a tight release loop is a good strategy. You will find mechanics that work over time and iterate on them, finding more and more reliable success. Eventually one will hit. You don't even have to avoid looking like shovelware. The mobile game audience doesn't care about that, it's more of a capital G Gamer gatekeeper thing.

Eratosthenes 4y ago

>predictably dense math answer They gave you the damn formula....

hutzlibu 4y ago

Hah, related question I had yesterday, is it procrastination, if you play your own game, instead of focusing on finally releasing it? (my conclusion was, a bit, playing it is helpful to think about balancing and final polishing, but only playing it and not improving it probably does not help much. In either case, it is probably a good sign, to have fun with your own game ..)

Heyso 4y ago
I've made a game with a team in~ 6 month, we almost didn't play it. And this is an obvious sign the game isn't "fun". About your question, if part of your job is game design or assurance quality, you have to play the game a lot. Like a player would.

NayamAmarshe 4y ago

Starting game dev is way easier than finishing it. Requires years of commitment with a super uncertain outcome. If you're someone who cannot take financial risks, you absolutely shouldn't be in game development unless you know what you're doing and unless you're fine with failure and an empty bank account at the end of it.

Stevvo 4y ago
Anyone can get into game development with low risk. Why start with the gargantuan task of a whole game? e.g. you could be making flightsim addons. Paint a few liveries or code a simple plugin and people will find value in it pay for it.

keyle 4y ago

I've shipped quite a few by now and I'd preface by saying this person uses Unity as well. There are many game devs that choose to roll their own... The code stats look quite different. Also contractors... Some literally do everything by themselves. If you're doing your own game out there, hang in there and strap on for n^2 the expected timeline! I love making games because to me it's one of the hardest part of computer science... Not only you have to make something with immediate rendering, that runs at 60fps or higher and that is fun, full of contents AND unique in some way! Then you haven't even started marketing...

b800h 4y ago

The game that the author is writing seems quite similar in concept to Spore, which I thought was interesting.

warrenmiller 4y ago

I have a game with +10 million installs on the both app stores, the truth of it is making the game is about 25% of the work - the rest is dealing with marketing, screenshots, videos, user reviews, Ad/IAP SDKs, waiting for Unity to switch between platforms, dealing with Unity bugs/upgrades, etc.. When you're making the games it's a joy - the rest of the stuff can be a real grind.

MrDresden 4y ago
With that kind of insight into each market segment, what monetization model are you seeing working the best on each platform? I've had an idea for a small mobile game in mind now for a while, but I find the idea of potentially having to place ads in it to make back some of the investement not appealing. So I delay starting the project. The dream would be to be able to offer it for a low price (1.5$ - 3$) and reach enough of an audience.
- warrenmiller 4y ago
  Freemium: Ads and IAP, i'm afraid.

bambataa 4y ago

I dream of creating “the thinking player’s Stronghold” with more complex defences and economy, but articles like this confirm that it will only ever be a dream. Hell, perhaps DF is already 80% of what I want.

scanny 4y ago
Consider modding! Using an existing engine that is malleable (or even has the assets you want) can be a great way to prototype or even achieve it without doing the really gritty stuff first.

lienhoangduy 4y ago

Can a no-coder create a game by himself?

piinecone 4y ago

I love reading these kinds of posts. Whenever I’m reminded that I’m not alone, I get a little bit more self-compassion and that makes me more excited to release my game and helps me appreciate all the progress and hard work to date. I’ve been working on King of Kalimpong [0] on and off since playtesting a one-week prototype of it in 2014. I had no idea how much work a networked physics vehicle/movement shooter game would be. (I should have, I was 8 years into a programming career). Working part-time was critical (for many reasons), but so was learning that progress is a product of discipline, not motivation, and that I needed to learn “infinite endurance” (I think that’s what Chris Hecker called it). Once I adopted the perspective that I was some finite number of 3-4 hour blocks of concentration away from turning a goofy idea into a game that anyone could play, finishing became something that felt inevitable — as long as I kept going. I’ll take the time to write about my experience after I release (which is now months instead of years away) in case any other game developers get anything out of it. Until then, thanks for another reminder that I’m not alone! [0] https://store.steampowered.com/app/1989110/King_of_Kalimpong/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1989110/King_of_Kalimpong...

Tarsul 4y ago
Damn. That gameplay looks tight. Keep up the good work!
prox 4y ago
That is looking really fun for a casual game with friends!
hombre_fatal 4y ago
That looks really polished/professional. Nice work.
vicarrion 4y ago
Keep going and you'll get there! Your game looks great!
intelVISA 4y ago
Looks great, reminds me a lil of Vigilante 8.

Cryptonic 4y ago

Great advice, wish I knew that earlier in my life. I mean the start small and finish experience. I have so many ambitious abandoned projects, I even lost track xD

phreack 4y ago

It's certainly a huge endeavor. I probably have a pile of projects that I started and abandoned at some point for various reasons. The saddest of all was the first one that started to get traction... a story based game developed iteratively chapter by chapter where the writer got a hard case of imposter syndrome and just quit (it was just the two of us). Success is also hard to manage for some people. Right now my newest moonshot is joining a friend who's just started trying to make an educational game for developers, that teaches you in a fun cyberpunkish style how to develop an NES from scratch, step by step. It's an absolutely bonkers idea but it's something we'd have loved to have and that we're having a blast making, just for ourselves. I doubt it's ever going to be successful if we make it to the finish line and ship it, but luckily it's just for fun. I'm thankful of posts like these, it helps getting motivated to make it through.

jheriko 4y ago

its interesting to see how this differs from my own experience, from a time without game engines, 3d graphics libraries, the internet or even books for reference. the point about actually finishing things is a great takeaway. the first game i finished /myself/ took a week, then got another week of post-launch attention... but that was after some 10 years of personal work to develop the skills, then another 5 years or so in the industry gaining experience. i probably could have done this earlier, but i was constantly setting my sights higher than what was realistic.... but actually the lessons from doing that were pretty invaluable. today, i'm more than capable of filling any role in any of the specialised areas of programming required for games to an expert level... and a lot of that knowledge came from trying to build AAA quality features in isolation with little support - finishing features or engines rather than whole games.... so as much as i agree with the conclusion, i'm not sure it would have helped me to learn it sooner :)

cpojer 4y ago

This is a great post, thank you for writing it. I got into programming 20 years ago because I wanted to make games, and I spent my teenage years in the 2000s building web games. As a high school project I spent a year building a turn-based strategy web game (https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1460221157634830337 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1460221157634830337). I have recently gotten back into it to explore things I never got a chance to do before like building an AI and fog-of-war. Currently the game is inspired by Advance Wars, and you can see me play against my AI here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bGeEeti22bM https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bGeEeti22bM I’m tweeting about the technical details and progress on Twitter: * Basic explanation and code examples: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1460221157634830337 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1460221157634830337 * Map Editor: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1488510688389566464 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1488510688389566464 * Fog of War: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1547967785015189504 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1547967785015189504 * Testing Infrastructure: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1538299796334686208 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1538299796334686208 * Random Map Generator: https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1537444893580136454 https://twitter.com/cpojer/status/1537444893580136454 I’m currently working on the game design to make it “inspired by Advance Wars” instead of just a clone.

Lambdanaut 4y ago
Advance Wars is an absolute dream to clone. I had that itch too, and made a full clone with story mode in PICO-8 a couple years ago. The challenge there was that PICO-8 has infuriating arbitrary restrictions on code size to limit the developers for fun lol. To get around that, I have code that swaps serialized memory between virtual "cartridges" in order to fit everything in. Sadly that limits the game from distribution on the official PICO-8 network "Splore", because those games must be single-cartridge only, so I have a stripped down version without a campaign that is uploaded there. The AI was by far the funnest to implement. Getting enemy ranged units to retreat correctly when they were in range of attack was such an awesome feeling. It really led me down a rabbit hole of making games primarily so that I could code fun AI You can play in your browser here: https://lambdanaut.itch.io/picowars https://lambdanaut.itch.io/picowars
- deleted 4y ago

DaveSapien 4y ago

I'm also a solo game dev with a recently released game. All this is really spot on with my experience. It just not clear if the author hired an artist or he just recommends it...its quite common for Game dev's to claim they made a game by themselves but actually contracted out the music, art, animation, etc. Somewhat of a bug bearer with me as there are some genuine solo dev's creating great work that get overshadowed with the whole solo dev marking spin.

Nemrod67 4y ago
You got a wishlist from me sir, your game looks perfect for my GF when she wants to relax after a hard day's work. Just released my own game in EA, I'd say our saint patron Gabe Newell kinda failed us with the way discoverability works in Steam. There is clutter problem that hides a lot of gems, and they have full coffers to solve it... But eh... maybe it wasn't all about expanding the Human consciousness and Art and all :p
- DaveSapien 4y ago
  Thank you! Likewise! I'm not too bothered about Steam's discoverability, its at least honest(ish) about it. The more reviews and sales you get the more its pushed...as far as I can tell. I've found discoverability/promotion to be the most difficult, esoteric in the indie game enthusiast spaces. That really surprised me.

checkyoursudo 4y ago

Have any of you made a game, not just by yourself but only for yourself? I haven't (other than some basic terminal-based games when learning new languages, etc), but I've thought of a few that I know I would like but don't want to put in the time/effort to make them something that someone else would like. I also wonder about what to do when you have an idea that you know is way bigger than yourself, but you're not in the business of producing things that are way bigger than yourself? I've had a few of those, too.

lukaszkups 4y ago
Me, actually- I've played in the past flash game Taberinos- before I've found out what its title was I've made a similar game for myself - and that's how BOINK! has been made: https://lukaszkups.itch.io/boink https://lukaszkups.itch.io/boink
unnouinceput 4y ago
When I started learning programming 25+ years ago, I started a tetris clone. I was learning Pascal (Borland's TP 7 anyone?) as well as creating the game. Took me 2 months and was a smash hit among my colleagues at Uni. Next I did 5-in-row (Tic-Tac-Toe's more interesting big brother), which was another smash hit among the same colleagues. They were preferring playing those games instead of listening to the undergrad when we were in laboratories. Still have the source codes for both games somewhere. Good times.
- alok-g 4y ago
  Similar story for me. :-) Noting down some of the differences below. Game: Pacman 32 years ago (12-13 years of age) Programmed in Sinclair BASIC on ZX Spectrum+ Took two weekends as I recall Played only by me and a friend Lost the source code: There was no non-volatile memory on the computer so I used to note down the programs manually in a notebook, which I've lost. Similarity: "Good times." :-) PS: The 34 years old computer still works, though 90% of the keyboard keys have stopped working. I'll need to replace internal keyboard membrane and also get adapters to hook it to a monitor.
- 4y ago

racktash 4y ago

I started making total conversion mods for Half-Life 2 when I was a young teenager – I made the levels, models, wrote the gameplay code and so on. I never really recommend game development to anybody, because it can be quite an exhausting hobby (not to mention career), with a high cost and low reward ratio (note: in my experience!), but it sure taught me a lot about realistic project planning, budgeting the cost of features and so on.

Nemrod67 4y ago

The hardest thing is finishing, because everything is ever connected to a "perfect" version of itself... And it's way less fun (for most game dev people) to code the "perfect" version of an input remapping system or leaderboard system :p Obligatory self-promotion: I just released my Space Pew-Pew game on Steam in Early Access, complete with original 16bit-neoclassical OST! https://store.steampowered.com/app/914930/Alcyon_Infinity/ https://store.steampowered.com/app/914930/Alcyon_Infinity/ "Destroy hordes of ever-improving enemies and their Mothership. Alcyon Infinity is a fast shooter/bullet hell with dynamic movement and risk management. Up to 4 Co-Op players with Controllers." I'm doing a stealth release, primarily for my own sanity. There is something different about having it out for the World to seen rather than working on it for 3 years and giving up in the meantime (happened twice). The magnitude of the marketing work ahead is kinda daunting, but at least I have some kind of anchoring to realspace for prospective players. A game you can play and refund is more tangible than a forum with promises...

vicarrion 4y ago
Yep, you gotta get to release! The first you push all the way through to release is the hardest (at least so I've heard haha)

moviewise 4y ago

Good luck to all indie game developers! If you need a break, seeing this documentary about it will be worth your time: Indie Game: The Movie (2012) https://moviewise.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/indie-game-the-movie/ https://moviewise.wordpress.com/2012/12/28/indie-game-the-mo... And, if you need some encouragement or diversion about the joy and reward of learning and how it get help you achieve "flow" and happiness from your work, please read: Some Advice On Happiness From A Few Good Movies https://moviewise.substack.com/p/going-through-an-existential-crisis https://moviewise.substack.com/p/going-through-an-existentia...

wedesoft 4y ago
Bought it from the website https://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/ https://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/ and just watching it. Thanks a lot for the tip! Really engaging documentary.

stevage 4y ago

Seems like an odd choice of game format for a solo dev, since it seems to be essentially making 7 separate games?

hypertele-Xii 4y ago
Counter-intuitively, the more games you make at once, the less effort each one takes. Because you can share resources between them. Of course, they have to have something in common to capitalize on this. I'm aiming to make about 20 games at once, at the moment.