I'm an indie dev in the games industry now - Ask Me Anything! « Fan Games and Programs « Forum

Stargazing? Pah! Cloudgazing!

It’s now been a good 14-15 years since I first joined these forums, and more specifically, made my first tentative steps in game development on this here Fan Games & Programs board.

Now, I’m back! But a lot has changed. When I joined Starmen.net, I was 13, and at that age, you (ideally) don’t have any financial obligations yet. Now, at 28 years old (Jesus Christ), I do have those obligations— And what I specialised into – which is making games and doing other creative endeavors – has pretty much become my job.

But that’s not what this is about! Rather, I remember very clearly that, back in late 2000s, I felt an aimlessness when it came to making games. I had a lot of ideas, and the ability to make graphics, but had very little knowledge about “what it takes” to work on and finish a video game.

Well! Since 2020, that has changed! In the past 3 years, I’ve made a total of 4 games (alone or with a team), and worked on countless more that were led by other people.

But this is not advertisement (some of these are free anyway!) – rather, I’m opening myself up for:

Questions!

Anything you’ve always wanted to know about game development? About “shipping” a game, commercially or otherwise? About the tools needed? About organising a team, about programming – anything at all related to making an idea playable?

Look no further than this thread!

Put your questions below! I will do my utmost to go through as many of them as I possibly can! :]

Clearly, this thread is something I’m putting here because it’s something I wish had existed back when I first started. I didn’t start properly making games until a lot later (12 years later!!) out of a cluelessness that – well, simply put, some of you might not have!

It’s okay if you know your way around this stuff already! This is for those who struggle with the “blank page”; who want to create a game, but don’t know how to, or struggle with specific aspects of it.

I also have to underline that I am not the ultimate authority on these things. For one, I have done very little 3D-game development, so questions about that aren’t something I can answer competently. But what I can do is offer some perspective, and tips when you’re starting out.

Exactly what it says on the skin.
See? Got it tatooed right there.
There’s an OFF-translation-shaped hole where my brain should be.

First off, it’s extremely impressive that you’ve successfully released that many games!! I am in awe.

I have a question for you, what part of the game dev process (if any) did you absolutely dread doing, and do you have any strategies to help maintain focus and power through those difficult patches?

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The bad ideas georg of starmen.net
3DS FC: 2165-5340-0890

Deybrek

Actually, a lot of the things I’m trying to learn can be learned through repetition or online classes, but, something you said stands out to me. How do you get your game into peoples hands once it’s created? I guess this is a rather massive, monolithic question that covers a lot of bases, but even at a high level, do you have any strategies for advertising? Thoughts on Itch.io vs something like steam? Etc?

Stargazing? Pah! Cloudgazing!

Hey, gonna reply to these one by one (just because I was unable to get the formatting to behave otherwise…)

Boots:
I have a question for you, what part of the game dev process (if any) did you absolutely dread doing, and do you have any strategies to help maintain focus and power through those difficult patches?

For a really long time, I dreaded programming. It was, in fact, the reason why I thought that becoming a gamedev was just a pipe dream for me.
My personal strategy for getting through programming was to get a very base-line understanding for how it works and how to do it, and to then just fight my way through with sheer stubbornness and stupidity.
By this I mean: I thought of an idea I could do with the most rudimentary tools I had, and got it done how I knew how to do it.
I didn’t worry about doing things nicely, or even “correctly” – I just did them in a way that sufficiently works.

To give more general advice on the matter:

Shut off your inner critic. Any aspect of a game that you don’t work on because “you’re not good enough yet” results in a game that won’t get made. And how are you supposed to even start if you “can’t do” the vital thing you gotta do until you’re good enough at it? Do it first, ask “is this enough” later- The game getting done in any shape is the first priority.
Take shortcuts, and take them unabashedly. Lots of my games would never have shipped if I hadn’t found faster, “lazier” workflows when I hit obstacles. Re-use assets, buy assets if you need to and struggle to implement something you want in the game yourself. You are not being measured by whether your game is 100% unique, self-made assets (obviously credit the people whose assets you bought lol).
Be aware of your limits. Burn-out is incredibly common in game developer circles. Pushing yourself past an obstacle is fine to a point, but listen to yourself, and let off if it gets too much. Rest, and find a different approach.
Joining and contributing to a cool gamedev community will help a lot! I’ve been helped out of some brick-walls by friendly people from Gamedev Discord servers I was in in the past. Generally speaking, you are not alone, so don’t force yourself to be!
Of course, remember that life happens away from your computer and your game. Occasionally, it’s important to step out and take a walk, really oxygenise that blood stream.

Exactly what it says on the skin.
See? Got it tatooed right there.
There’s an OFF-translation-shaped hole where my brain should be.

Stargazing? Pah! Cloudgazing!

Deybrek:
How do you get your game into peoples hands once it’s created? I guess this is a rather massive, monolithic question that covers a lot of bases, but even at a high level, do you have any strategies for advertising? Thoughts on Itch.io vs something like steam? Etc?

Yes, it’s monolithic – but a great question to ask, too!

I’ve never been the best at marketing my own stuff, for the record, but I do have some useful tips to share.

First of all, marketing your game effectively starts the moment it looks solid enough to show off. Share your game on your main developer social media, in servers, any which where you may be welcome to post it.

A trailer is very important for your game. Don’t be afraid to hire somebody who you know does a good job to make one, and then, submit it to anywhere that takes indie-project trailers! The EEK3 indie showcase (currently taking submissions!), and Day of the Devs are some neat examples.

Your trailer is also very important for your Steam page!
There’s a number of generally accepted “tips and tricks” with that one, but among the biggest ones is that your Steam page has to always be very accessible for people who may be looking for it (e.g. pinned on your profile or such), needs to be cleanly and well-written, have some strong or at the very least serviceable graphic designs for each of the little buttons Steam uses for site navigation etc. A trailer is a must for a Steam page, it’s the first thing gamers will skim through on their search for something to get. (Make sure to make the beginning, middle and end of your trailer strong and well-readable as a result!)

It’s also generally accepted that you have to translate your Steam page to reach a wider audience with it, even if your game itself isn’t translated. The most favored languages for that are Chinese, Japanese and Korean, as these are non-negligible markets to cover.

For the Steam algorithm, it’s generally believed that 7000+ wishlists before launch help your visibility a lot. On launch, getting 10+ reviews (positive or negative) within ~a week helps with that, too.

Last thing I know off the top of my head is that you’ll need to listen to player feedback and generally be open to the idea of your game having a different appeal than the one you intended. It happens frequently that great games are advertised in a way that doesn’t let their measurable strengths play, but instead is based on the developer’s image of what the game is, not how it comes across.

Human communication is messy. It’s worth it to ask people about that; because hammering on your “hook” – i.e. a short sentence that makes people’s ears perk up at the sound of your game – is vital to reaching people with your marketing and your sharing of your work.

EDIT: As for sending copies to reviewers and such – find the right people for your game. Don’t just send it to a general “IGN” e-mail address or such (IGN is terrible to indies anyway, bad example), but find the specific journalists that favour your type of game. Start this process at least a month pre-release; Make the e-mails you write personalised (i.e. be friendly and ensure that it doesn’t just come across as a mass-e-mail); journalists’ attention is fleeting, especially as they’re skimming through their e-mail account. Be concise, have .gifs ready to include, a press kit (that’s a whole other can of worms), and ofc, remember Inigo Montoya’s tips for business inquiries:

Regarding “Itch vs. Steam” – that is, imho, a false dichotomy. Sure: If your game is too big to feel “right” on Itch, then stick with Steam; if it’s too small to feel “worth” Steam’s 100 $ entry fee, then keep it on Itch.

However: For most games, a simultaneous release on Itch AND Steam is a great idea.

I’ve released An Outcry and There Swings A Skull: Grim Tidings on both and I would have left a lot of money on the table if I had left either of them out. Additionally, your Itch-revenue tends to last a great deal longer than Steam’s (although it stays small), due to that site’s payout threshold being far lower (5$ vs. Steam’s 100$ in a month).

Steam is important because it’s easy for consumers to find you, and has a lot of visibility.
Itch is important because fans of weird stuff and your core-fanbase will want to support you there, and you get a nicer cut.
Do both.

Exactly what it says on the skin.
See? Got it tatooed right there.
There’s an OFF-translation-shaped hole where my brain should be.

Musical witch of funky proportions

RecDra:
Hey, gonna reply to these one by one (just because I was unable to get the formatting to behave otherwise…)

Boots:
I have a question for you, what part of the game dev process (if any) did you absolutely dread doing, and do you have any strategies to help maintain focus and power through those difficult patches?

For a really long time, I dreaded programming. It was, in fact, the reason why I thought that becoming a gamedev was just a pipe dream for me.
My personal strategy for getting through programming was to get a very base-line understanding for how it works and how to do it, and to then just fight my way through with sheer stubbornness and stupidity.
By this I mean: I thought of an idea I could do with the most rudimentary tools I had, and got it done how I knew how to do it.
I didn’t worry about doing things nicely, or even “correctly” – I just did them in a way that sufficiently works.

To give more general advice on the matter:

Shut off your inner critic. Any aspect of a game that you don’t work on because “you’re not good enough yet” results in a game that won’t get made. And how are you supposed to even start if you “can’t do” the vital thing you gotta do until you’re good enough at it? Do it first, ask “is this enough” later- The game getting done in any shape is the first priority.

Take shortcuts, and take them unabashedly. Lots of my games would never have shipped if I hadn’t found faster, “lazier” workflows when I hit obstacles. Re-use assets, buy assets if you need to and struggle to implement something you want in the game yourself. You are not being measured by whether your game is 100% unique, self-made assets (obviously credit the people whose assets you bought lol).

Be aware of your limits. Burn-out is incredibly common in game developer circles. Pushing yourself past an obstacle is fine to a point, but listen to yourself, and let off if it gets too much. Rest, and find a different approach.

Joining and contributing to a cool gamedev community will help a lot! I’ve been helped out of some brick-walls by friendly people from Gamedev Discord servers I was in in the past. Generally speaking, you are not alone, so don’t force yourself to be!

Of course, remember that life happens away from your computer and your game. Occasionally, it’s important to step out and take a walk, really oxygenise that blood stream.

Holy crap I couldn’t agree with this more

No question from me, just wanted to say thank you for coming back to the forum and sharing your experience and hard won wisdom.

I’ve been privileged to dip a toe into writing dialogue for a published game and I know how excited I was, so I can’t imagine the feeling of getting four games out the door! That is really awesome.

Oh, so I did think of a question, what is the best way to go about buying these games?

“Never be cruel, and never be cowardly.
Hate is always foolish, and love is always wise.”
-The Doctor

Stargazing? Pah! Cloudgazing!

epoch5zz:
Oh, so I did think of a question, what is the best way to go about buying these games?

Thank you so much for being interested! All of them can be found on my itch.io, HERE !

“An Outcry” and “There Swings A Skull: Grim Tidings” are also on Steam, but due to Steam’s 100$ minimum payout threshold, it may be that what you pay there will never get to me.

Weirdly enough, I’m a pomegranate.

-Do you prefer making gameplay or story?
-I know An Outcry is a pretty well-known game. How do you successfully show a game off to get attention?
-Is going to college for game design worth it, or is learning yourself just as effective in learning to do game design?
-How much time does game-making take in your average day?

I live on comedy.

One day I’ll probably die from too much of it.

Stargazing? Pah! Cloudgazing!

pio_dov:
-Do you prefer making gameplay or story?
-I know An Outcry is a pretty well-known game. How do you successfully show a game off to get attention?
-Is going to college for game design worth it, or is learning yourself just as effective in learning to do game design?
-How much time does game-making take in your average day?

1. Story. I’m not the best gameplay designer, to be honest. I’m good at weird RPG-type mechanics like the ones from An Outcry- However, I’ve taken to quite liking level- and environment design of all things – which is a secret, third thing from those two.

2. Wait, it’s well-known? Didn’t realise. :,) In An Outcry’s case, I was lucky that the Haunted PS1 community’s demo disc curation team saw a lot of promise in the game, and selected it for their 2021 disc. That and my prior work on OFF’s translation helped a couple of people have an “in”, so-to-say.
But of course, that doesn’t really translate to other people’s experiences – all I can say is that having a trailer, a decent-enough social media following, and submitting your project to trailer shows, and Youtube channels, and journalists etc. etc. as well as being part of developer communities helps a lot. A lot of these things take a while to foster, so you should get started ASAP!

3. I did not go to college for game design; in fact, I’m a drop-out, so I couldn’t exactly tell you if it would be worth it or not. What I do know is that a lot of game companies (even still) go more for what’s in your resume and portfolio and what you’ve provably done than your school education. Also, if you’re from the US, then going to college is a question of “Do I want to be saddled with debt for the rest of my life, or not?” – so definitely think long and hard about it.

4. Since I’m personally a freelancer, it depends on the week I’m having. Low-key days mean about 3-4 hours of development work, high-key ones up to 10. (The latter is due to my slight difficulties maintaining a healthy work/life balance – don’t be like me, here.)

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