141–150 of 346 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
1) It's very hard to get proof for good, but not exceptional games. Getting any feedback is hard. Minecraft was unique, it will likely get to a quarter billion sold copies eventually, it's not the game you want to compare your 3-month project to.
It always saddens me when people claim Minecraft was unique, because it was actually a clone of Infiniminer [0] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwM6OA9DkXI
After 6 months, I had a series of days where the realization that I would not make it in time and needed to find a way to make money washed over me like a sea of fear. I quickly was able to find freelancing, cancelled my expensive lease I had just renewed(luckily and thank you to my property manager). I was making a small, but consistent amount of money per month. I cut expenses by 2/3 and had to move back home for a while, where I stabilized.
It's been over a year since this happened, and I've been making enough doing freelancing to pay the bills, and not much more, without taking unneeded time away from writing the app. I spend about $1300/month to live, all-in. During the first 6 months, I think I was spending $3k+/month.
If I had it to do all over again, I would have cut expenses, day one, freelanced day one(to remain neutral spending), and would still have some retirement and some savings in the bank. $10k savings was my emergency fund, but the only the only emergency I had was a "what to do next" crisis, where I treated it like a business runway.
All that being said, even without profitability yet, I am very happy I went this route, and I see so much profit and value for all involved, that I am just thankful things worked out, and are still working out, as well as they are.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
Also, just a random, jokingly stylistic note:
> My girlfriend realized what's going on and said: "Babe, you need to get a job. You won't make it".
In the article, his girlfriend talks in all italics. He should have only italicized "won't", being the operative word. It doesn't really take away from the article, but I just think it's funny if she actually talks in italics all the time. Maybe he's trying to say she was being forward, which it is quite a forward statement, which she is in her right to say, if he's living with her. Very not ideal situation for him.
His sense of what games are "cool" wasn't in tune with the public. That's the cardinal sin. Pixel art dungeon crawlers aren't cool. It's as if he was a musician and decided to release a glam metal album today. Low budget, poor marketing, uncooperative bureaucracy - nah dude, none of that matters, you're just too in love with glam metal and people aren't buying glam metal.
That is called "targeting a niche" and makes sense if you can't compete against those big marketing budgets. Even the glam metal niche is still alive: hairmetalheaven.co.uk
Quitting your job with only 4 month worth of savings, with a new mortgage, to enter an industry known for its oversaturation, extreme competition, and high luck element for indies ? That's insane. Maybe I'm just risk-adverse. That said, I think he actually succeeded, despite appearances. Managing to release a working game in 3 month, that actually got sales, is a feat in itself. The game will keep trickling sales, if…
When I started my company like 10 years ago, I also had savings for only like 4 months. However my plan was not to do games specifically but anything that pays the bills. Though I made one game as well but more like for fun and training, not for money. My various products did little money, though I had to look for gigs quite often to support the development. After 1-2 years I made enough money from the products so th…
I got 2 years covered before starting this path (not all with savings, there is additional income).
His sense of what games are "cool" wasn't in tune with the public. That's the cardinal sin. Pixel art dungeon crawlers aren't cool. It's as if he was a musician and decided to release a glam metal album today. Low budget, poor marketing, uncooperative bureaucracy - nah dude, none of that matters, you're just too in love with glam metal and people aren't buying glam metal.
PS: This is not a pixel art game.
Quitting your job with only 4 month worth of savings, with a new mortgage, to enter an industry known for its oversaturation, extreme competition, and high luck element for indies ? That's insane. Maybe I'm just risk-adverse. That said, I think he actually succeeded, despite appearances. Managing to release a working game in 3 month, that actually got sales, is a feat in itself. The game will keep trickling sales, if…
GDC: How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmwbYl6f11c TL;DR: prepare for this to happen, and build a long tail of games/sales. I don't want to sound mean but I don't think anyone should buy the game because they feel sorry and he is begging. I can't condone it. It has become trendy for people to make GoFundMe campaigns or write articles begging people to help. Assum…
That's why you need a publisher in this saturated market. A love developer without any contacts won't get any reviews and probably won't every realize why people don't want to buy his product or review it.
1. finishing the game
2. setting up a buisness
3. marketing the game
4. buying, setting up and moving into his own apartment
he did good with 1, but underestimated 2-4 and it went over his head. But now he has HN attention, so he should survive (or even prosper). But like others said, the whole thing sounded very whiney and attention grabbing..