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What it takes to make a game by yourself

dillonshook.com

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Re: What it takes to make a game by yourself

#91

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 ..)

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.

Re: What it takes to make a game by yourself

#92

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 in…

How do you compare flash game to mobile games ?

I have played a lot of flash games, but mobile games become boring very fast to me. I think this has to do with the input limitation of the device : touch with one thumb on half the screen. Maybe this force mobile games into limited gameplay choices.

Re: What it takes to make a game by yourself

#93
post #55

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 thinkin…

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 [1] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5C6QC36h5eA...

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.

Re: What it takes to make a game by yourself

#94
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.

Re: What it takes to make a game by yourself

#95
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...

Re: What it takes to make a game by yourself

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Didn't he get deplatformed for spreading hate speech?

He failed to complete the game well before that.

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.

Re: What it takes to make a game by yourself

#98
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.
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