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Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

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Re: Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

#131
Yes, I've worked in multiple indie teams on various titles, I'm doing gamedev professionally, as well I'm solo dev making sideproject in spare time... on the span of 4 years or so.

My two cents - excluding people who "not work on their game full time" isn't very smart, most people have responsibilities and jobs, and can't afford to spend all the time on their pet project, and it doesn't mean they are not serious about releasing their games.

I wish you all the best on your development anyway.

You can check what I'm doing here: https://twitter.com/piropro

Re: Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

#132

I created Snake '97, the retro phone game remake that has gained some traction on Android and iOS (50M downloads): snake97.com On how it got where it is, including a fun back story, I wrote a blog post: https://willem.com/blog/2018-02-21_updating-snake-97/ It must be said: developing a game and have it enjoyed by millions is something very special. Things really went bananas when I was invited to an art gallery showc…

That's a great story mate! Great achievement.

Re: Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

#134
post #93
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the games people are buying on a whim, though, are the games with 10-year staying power that they haven't gotten to yet -- not throwaway projects that aren't good enough to care about.

That is absolutely not how the market behaves. None of the big (or small) moneymakers in last few years came close to "10 years" of popularity and probably won't. Where do you get this stuff?

> None of the big (or small) moneymakers in last few years came close to "10 years" of popularity and probably won't.

I don't think much of the software out there behaves like this either. It might apply somewhat to game or software franchises, though.

For example, LibreOffice has had multiple major releases, but has been around for a bit over 12 years, a bit longer if you include the predecessors. Ubuntu LTS is usually supported for around 5 years, but Ubuntu as a whole has been around for almost 20 years.

Similarly, Counter-Strike was released over 20 years ago, even if there's been multiple separate games over the years. It's more or less the same story for Battlefield and Call of Duty.

That said, that's setting your own goals unrealistically high, since those are the exceptions when compared to any number of unsuccessful games. If you try to compete against games like that, you'll just burn yourself out. Most startups aren't necessarily built for the longevity either, but rather to have a product hit the market within a reasonable time frame and budget.

If you want, make games, fail, iterate, fail some more, iterate some more, maybe eventually succeed. Have a look at some grounded experiences from other folks, for example watch this video titled "How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmwbYl6f11c

Re: Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking good. Do you agree with the 1:20 review:sales ratio? BTW plz ignore if you don't want to disclose thanks.

I think that the ratio has substantial variance; it has also changed over time, somewhat dramatically, as Valve/Steam have made changes & added features/UI/UX that I suspect are intended to increase the % of users who leave reviews. About 5 years ago, the belief was that the ratio was in the realm of 1 : 50-100 -- based on my own data & data shared with me by other indies. Even then, there was substantial variance; g…

Thanks for sharing. Yeah I agree that the "you have played X hours, do you want to leave a review" dialog really pushes me to add a lot of reviews.

Re: Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

#136
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The result is the same, so it's a moot point. Why post this to such a large community like HN if they're adamant about exclusivity? Why not post it somewhere smaller like Indie Hackers or a reddit sub instead?

Why post your job ad on indeed or LinkedIn if you’re only looking for one person?

Because it’s a job board full of people expecting job posts.

Re: Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

#137

Oh yeah I remember we met on video, you said how the people not chosen would be sent a link to a discord for “everyone else”, then after an email saying you went with someone else you never sent the link to the discord and then ghosted us. I made a mental note to remember that this guy was a liar who only said/did things for his own benefit.

I’m sorry that happened to you but this seems like a bit of an overreaction.

When someone shows you who they truly are, believe them.

Re: Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

#138
post #49

I started a small "no-name" studio to build games handful of years ago. Built and released two games thus far -- SimAirport & SimCasino. I'd potentially be interested, my email is in profile if you'd like to reach out. :)

I loved SimAirport - probably the only game that I got obsessive. I usually abandon sim videogames after a few minutes. I love aiports and I like casinos, so it may be a bad idea to download the second one, ha. Congratulations and thank you for the good times!

Thank you! :)

Re: Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

#139

I am 38 and recently quit my job at Xbox Microsoft as a Senior Engineer (mostly C++) to pursue fulltime indie gamedev. As I've quit my day job, I am all in on this. I have a few friends who will be quitting their jobs in a some years and it's sorta on me right now to start generating revenue to help speed up them joining me if at all possible. I have a long runway and expect quite a few failures on the way but it's m…

Hey congrats! Quick question if you don't mind, I'm learning about game engines. With your experience across so many engines, what made you choose Unreal Engine (UE) and stick with it? I'm liking UE as well but haven't dabbled in other engines prior to UE, so just want to make sure I'm not missing anything before jumping into UE.

Re: Ask HN: Any solo game developers here?

#140
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll clarify: I created a small community where everyone knows everyone's face/name. I am really restrictive with the number of people in the server not because I want exclusivity per se, but rather that I dont want to lose the deeper connections you develop with people in a small community. There's about 10 of us total right now. It also helps that everyone is on the same page (serious about releasing their game) so…

You’re saying that you don’t want exclusivity, but that’s what you have with such an arbitrary constraint. People are right to call you out.

Just create your own group. There doesn't need to be ONE giant group - there can be 100 smaller ones. ...OR create the huge group you want.
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