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Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

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Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#111

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

cableshaft wrote: post #69
MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying this is the route someone should take, but the stardew guy made stardew solely to build his resume up while he was looking for a job.

That guy completely relied on the financial support of his girlfriend for years. I think he did some odd jobs here and there, but mostly he was just working on the game not making any income. Obviously for that game it paid off in spades, as they were millionaires pretty much overnight once it was released, but that won't be the case for every game, or in fact most games, and it's not something you should ask of your…

I didn't know that part about his girlfriend. I've had a hard time finding info on what he did.

But I wasn't suggesting that it's a "good" way to make it. I just said it's something to do to help.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#113

Post by bloodorange »

Good luck! I hope your dreams come true.

- Do not fall in love with any ideas. Once you have a couple of people play-test something, if it doesn't appear to be fun, be ready to discard it. A lot of things sound good in theory but generally don't work in practice. Some things will work with some changes but you should always be ready to let go of something and move on.

- For gameplay, keep the implementation as simple as possible. It might be tempting to implement a "generic/abstract" idea of something to get a clever implementation which works for many cases (which do not yet exist). Please think about the kind of bugs the resulting complexity could cause and whether they would be a pain to debug. Simplicity of implementation also makes it easy to refactor it later if you feel that it needs to be changed.

- Do not underestimate the work that goes into "finishing" the product. Once you have the basic concepts of the game working, you'll need stuff like UI, save/load/replay, high scores etc. This is not overly complicated but it's not trivial either. If you want to implement save/load/replay features, you may want to think about it in advance.

- I do not at all like Unity and love Unreal (no connection except unhappy and happy user respectively). However, just pick the one with which you will be more comfortable developing.

Again, I wish you luck and hope you have a lot of fun and learn a lot from your efforts.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#114

Post by fileeditview »

headcanon wrote: post #56

I love that energy, and totally sympathize with the desire to take charge of your own vision. One of the great things about this industry is the willingness to take risks. Creating my own successful game is one of my life goals as well! Game creation can be a really meaningful experience and its a great combination of a lot of different skillsets. It's also a ton of fun. But. If you want to make this successful, firs…

There are a lot of replies in this thread but yours is the only one worth reading. You gave really valuable advice and insight instead of the usual "game making is lottery" and "don't do it" babble that does not give any reasons at all. I hope the OP reads your post.

Just commented to say thanks for the quality post :)

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#115

Post by taphangum »

nicpottier wrote: post #24

I built games full time for about five years, straddling the transition into smartphones. Building a mobile game that is profitable is a bit like the lottery. You need to build something great to have a chance of winning, but building something great is not a guarantee that you will win. I realize that goes for most business ventures, but I think it is more true for mobile games than most. What captures the imaginati…

While I agree that making games in general is a bit of crapshoot, I think that there is a way that you can increase your chance of success. Based on what I understand from creating businesses in general.

If you target a specific group people initially, and make something 'for them'. As one of them. You place yourself in a much greater position to succeed than if you had simply made a game in the abstract in the terms of who it is for.

A great example of this is the FIFA franchise. And most of the football related franchises for that matter. It seems like if you meet the criteria of making a great game, as the OP has stated, failing within these categories is in some ways, harder than succeeding.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#116

Post by patrick_halina »

bzzzt wrote: post #95
patrick_halina wrote: post #72

I used to work for Zynga. My advice is to think about how you'll gain users. The mobile gaming world is basically user arbitrage. You buy users (via the ads market) for X, and if you make more than X, you print money. It's helpful to find a creative that gets clicks for cheaper than the rest of the market. Eg. if your ads have slots machines, then it costs $25 to acquire a user. If you find some niche, like cool cars…

Maybe that's the 'most sure' way to generate money from games, but in my opinion most of those games are bland and generic. Maybe you just want money and don't care about who will play your game, but hard-core optimising your ad-gamedesign loop means losing a lot of the opportunities for fun and less traditional designs.

Absolutely. Art vs. business. If you're happy painting a masterpiece even if nobody sees it, then you only really need advice on how to make beautify art.

I think most artists want an audience, and that requires skills on the business side. Having a successful business also pays to create more art. I can't help you there!

If you look at the app store top 100, there aren't that many "fun" or original games up there. There's even a tonne of idle click games! I think one thing that's important to recognize is that most people playing mobile games don't see the experience as a 'game'. It's more of a passive ride to distract themselves for a few minutes. Idle click games aren't fun in a traditional sense, but they have isolated a reward feedback loop in your brain and serve some function to make its users enjoy the experience.

I didn't work at Zynga on game design, so I'm not here to defend corporate mobile game design. However, I don't want to knock the business side of things too much either. I learned there's a ton of creativity in creating new hooks and game modes to increase engagement/spending. Games constantly riff off each others game loops and it's a very quickly evolving field. There's also lots of room for creativity in making successful advertising campaigns.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#117

Post by tomcam »

squibbles wrote: post #20

Speaking from many, many years of experience: Cash is king. Nothing is more important than cash flow. A runway is not a development budget -- it is a loan in the form of opportunity cost. Always look for income at all times. And never, ever borrow money for the project. Regarding people, keep active contacts with other people. Do not shelter behind closed doors. The world moves quickly, and if your team withdraws int…

All sound advice, from what I can tell.

Regarding your profile, when I read it I feel like I am already in the middle of a game.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#118

Post by tomcam »

patrick_halina wrote: post #72

I used to work for Zynga. My advice is to think about how you'll gain users. The mobile gaming world is basically user arbitrage. You buy users (via the ads market) for X, and if you make more than X, you print money. It's helpful to find a creative that gets clicks for cheaper than the rest of the market. Eg. if your ads have slots machines, then it costs $25 to acquire a user. If you find some niche, like cool cars…

This has to be one of the best first posts ever.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#119

Post by tomcam »

patrick_halina wrote: post #116
bzzzt wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe that's the 'most sure' way to generate money from games, but in my opinion most of those games are bland and generic. Maybe you just want money and don't care about who will play your game, but hard-core optimising your ad-gamedesign loop means losing a lot of the opportunities for fun and less traditional designs.

Absolutely. Art vs. business. If you're happy painting a masterpiece even if nobody sees it, then you only really need advice on how to make beautify art. I think most artists want an audience, and that requires skills on the business side. Having a successful business also pays to create more art. I can't help you there! If you look at the app store top 100, there aren't that many "fun" or original games up there. T…

Someday if you feel like shooting the breeze about business, I would love to chat with you. Email in profile.

Re: Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?

#120

Post by WhompingWindows »

nmfisher wrote: post #83
WhompingWindows wrote: post #13

Try working on the game 20 hours a week while keeping your job. If you truly love the concept and love working on it while still working full time, that'd be a good sign to potentially scale it up with your full 60-80 hours you'll be spending.

Have you ever done this though? This is how I started and progress was impossibly slow. At some point you’re just draining yourself of every spare hour, you’re underperforming at your day job, and you’re not really moving forward. It’s ok to do for a month or so as a litmus test, but after that I fully support diving in full time (in full knowledge that there’s a 95% chance you’ll fail). You can always get another jo…

A lot of entrepreneurs have to bootstrap this way. I personally don't have interest in starting my own business. However, I have played music intensely for years while studying and working. It's do-able, you just have to have the passion and dedication in your off-time that overcomes tiredness. If you can't do it while fully employed with benefits, if you don't have the devotion then, how will you with even less structure and when finances start running tight?
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