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A few questions for Indie devs

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Started by shifubear May 16, 2016 09:33 AM

4 comments, last by Hodgman 7 years, 11 months ago

shifubear

187

Author

May 16, 2016 09:33 AM

Hey guys!

So I've been wanting to ask a few questions to Indie game developers (Feel free to answer even if you aren't an Indie!), and thought this might be a good opportunity to do so.

1. What do you struggle the most with while working on your projects?

2. What motivates you to continue working on your games, and as an Indie developer?

3. Where do you find inspiration or ideas to start your projects?

4. What do you wish you didn't have to do when developing games?

Thanks in advance and I'll be looking forward to see what you guys say!

TheKroge

104

May 18, 2016 01:53 PM

1. I've released one game on Steam and am putting another game on Steam this year. The hardest thing is developing a community around your project I would say.

2. The biggest motivation is trying to make something really cool :) In the end, your game is an outpouring of your own personal passion, and that kind of creativity always builds you up.

3. Normally from other games I play! Both games were definitely inspired by the things I love about certain games, and things I wish those games did, so each one is really unique in it's own right.

4. Be patient with talking about certain features or sharing things about the game. In the end, you really only want to put out good work!

Here's the new page for my most recent game, check out the forums and post any game-specific questions you might have there! then you can see what it's like to develop a game from the ground up in real time! Looking forward to chatting with you :)

http://www.lightspeedfrontier.com/

Kk1496

456

May 18, 2016 09:57 PM

1. Keeping things small and simple. Not getting ahead of myself. I'm working on my fourth or fifth attempt at making and finishing a game. I've made a few mistakes the past few times with marketing a game that I hadn't completely thought through and working with a team ofnpeoplenthay had different goals than I did.

2. Three major reasons

A. I've always liked drawing. As a kid I drew stff,mane then input it away, and that was the end of it. I played a lot of games too. One day I found thisnyiutube video that talked about how easy it was to learn how to make games (mostly bringing attention tonthenfactbthay there is a variety of information all around the Web) I learned tomcode and now they go hand in hand. I don'tntgink incould do both working at a studio.

B. It irritates me to see people upset battle fact that ciokent video games are causing violence in children. To me this proves that games make people think just like any form of art. I'd like to try to make games with anymore positive message.

C. My favorite game is making games!

3. I look at oth per games. For example, I lost interest in candy crush so I try to think about why that happened and how I can put my own spin on it.

4. Stop? Eat? Sleep? Idk.

Thanks for asking these questions. I think it's good to reflect on this stuff once in a while.

Norman Barrows

7,180

May 19, 2016 09:14 AM

>> What do you struggle the most with while working on your projects?

not goofing off. like invention, games are 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. when its down to just grunt work, it can be a little dull.

>> What motivates you to continue working on your games, and as an Indie developer?

it seems to be my calling. also, i've been successful in the past.

>> Where do you find inspiration or ideas to start your projects?

what do you want to play that hasn't been done yet, or done recently, or done well? or what do i like that's out there that i know i could do better? in fact that's how i became a gamedev. a friend and i downloaded and checked out every star trek game out there. EGATrek was the best we found (this was 1989), at which point i said, " I could write something better than this! ". and in 6 weeks i did. the game became a top 10 DL on AOL and all of a sudden i was making 60K a year as an indie.

>> What do you wish you didn't have to do when developing games

slow content creation. content creation is a major bottleneck to productivity.

Norm Barrows

Rockland Software Productions

"Building PC games since 1989"

rocklandsoftware.net

PLAY CAVEMAN NOW!

http://rocklandsoftware.net/beta.php

Norman Barrows

7,180

May 19, 2016 09:25 AM

>> The hardest thing is developing a community around your project I would say.

you need to build uniqueness and value into your product. i still get fan mail 10 years later on some of my games. and i already have people asking when Caveman 3 will be released and how much it will cost, and complaining that the free beta playable demo is no longer available. you have to build "buzz" about the product.. you want demand to pull product through the channel, not use marketing to push product though the channel. marketing should be used to build demand. if your product is not unique, is not of high value to the player, or is not best in category, then its hard to build buzz. nobody is going to get excited about a clone, a cheap game, or and also-ran.

Norm Barrows

Rockland Software Productions

"Building PC games since 1989"

rocklandsoftware.net

PLAY CAVEMAN NOW!

http://rocklandsoftware.net/beta.php

Hodgman

52,717

May 19, 2016 12:53 PM

1. What do you struggle the most with while working on your projects?
2. What motivates you to continue working on your games, and as an Indie developer?
3. Where do you find inspiration or ideas to start your projects?
4. What do you wish you didn't have to do when developing games?

1. Paying the rent. Maintaining motivation during periods of slow progress.
2. Really wanting to see the ideas become reality, which is helped by collaboration / watching other people get excited by your prototypes... and... the prospect of being able to pay the rent.
3. Collaborating with other devs. I have one full time gamedev partner that I'm planning my current project with, and work out of an office that houses a few dozen indie gamedev studios/groups/individuals, who all bounce ideas off each other. Some of those people are starving artists, some are students mooching off their parents, and some are insanely successful and wealthy...
4. Pay the rent.

Some consistent themes there :lol:

. 22 Racing Series .

A few questions for Indie devs

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