What I've learned in my failed 1.5 years of gamedev, and a message to anyone starting up |
- What I've learned in my failed 1.5 years of gamedev, and a message to anyone starting up
- Free legal AMA, with your pal, VGA! Come ask anything that your heart desires about the world of video game law or otherwise.
- Epic Games Announces $1 Million in Unreal Dev Grants
- Picking a launch date advice
- Sketchfab 3D Model Store Launches Out of Beta
- Google Play Store’s Algorithm Changes. Anyone noticed anything for their apps?
- I talked with Co-Creator on our game about how we made our bosses and what we learnt.
- Tips and help with steam capsule art
- Gift ideas for a Game Dev?
- Is RPG Maker MV the right choice for the game I want to make?
- Swift Learning Partners
- Gamasutra: Vlad Chetrusca's Blog - Thousands of indie android devs on the brink of extinction after Play store changes visibility algorithm rules
- Where do you advertise your game?
- I'm looking to make a GPS-based Android game that uses Google Maps. I probably won't need anything other than an interface, so no 3D graphics. Might use phone's camera as well. Any engine recommendations for that kind of project?
- Split a spritesheet into different images with a 1px buffer?
- Handling keys for Kickstarter backers
- How did you indie Californians file for LLC? We're looking at Nevada but seeing conflicting information.
- General Questions - Google Play Console
- We recently reviewed Smoke and Sacrifice and were fortunate enough to secure an interview with Solar Sail Games co-founder and lead artist Tancred Dyke-Wells (@TancredArt). Could be an interesting read for any budding game developers/artists.
- How many of you are making a game without a game editor?
- Zombie Killing Simulator Gameplay Trailer. What do you think? (Steam link in description.)
- How to make pixel portrait using Piskel Edit & Photoshop(3 mins Timelapse)
- Anyone know a good tutorial on how to create a fully animated controllable 3rd person character in Unity3D
| What I've learned in my failed 1.5 years of gamedev, and a message to anyone starting up Posted: 27 Jun 2018 07:59 PM PDT Since late 2016, I've been trying to make a game (RPG, the details aren't very relevant). The story came to me while watching a stream; several other games I had played left me in awe and I wanted to create an experience of my own. Taking from Toby Fox (the creator of Undertale), I installed GameMaker Studio and got working: I rushed through the Pong and Mario examples (mistake no. 1), then went right on to my game. My excuse was "I knew programming" (mistake no. 2) and I went right to developing my game. The first couple days went okay, with decent progress on the intro. And from there, it went downhill. Progress became exponentially slower. After a couple weeks I still wasn't done the intro. I ended up moving on to the battle system (mistake no.3). Progress only deteriorated further and I did not have one moment in which I enjoyed developing my game. This went on until early 2018. Tired of GameMaker and with very little progress over a year later, I decided it was time to scrap what I had and move on to Python, a development environment I was much more comfortable with. I began writing my own engine, originally based off of Pyglet, then PySDL2. For every ounce of progress I achieved, another ounce of clutter came in to rip at the structure of my engine. As 2018 went on, I gradually moved my focus to other projects (while still convincing myself I'd have time for my game). Eventually, enough evidence had stacked up to tell me I needed to stop development and throw the game into the fire. I probably had enough evidence within the first couple weeks of having the idea, but the mistake that put a brick under the breaks was overconfidence. I thought my idea was great, I planned to have 8+ hours of gameplay and "just couldn't" abandon it so easily. I felt I needed to get it done as soon as possible, and if I did not release it within ~2 years time I would be too busy to finish (mistake no.4). After finally dropping my project, along with realizing the stupidity of my old ideas I've also came to a few other important conclusions. First of all, notice the pattern: Toby Fox (creator of Undertale): Started as a joke sequel to a joke Earthbound mod (UnderBound), then eventually evolved into its own game which became today's Undertale (It is possible Toby had already planned to make a full game by that point - it's a little difficult to tell as Toby deleted his original post). Markus Persson (creator of Minecraft): Created a small dwarf-fortress inspired 3D sandbox with a few different materials; eventually, after tremendous feedback this evolved into Minecraft and also led to the creation of Mojang. Andrew Hussie (creator of Homestuck, not a game but my point still applies): Began with only a rough idea of the story ahead for Homestuck; eventually, the viewercount went from thousands to millions and the webcomic went along with the ride. Garry Newman (creator of Garry's Mod): Started off by messing around with Half Life 2 by adding ropes and some custom weapons. Eventually, more complex features were added (eg. A spwanmenu that allowed you to place props and entities), a couple of custom maps were thrown in and Garry's mod was released as its own game on Steam. Unbeknownst to him at the time, GMOD has now sold over 10 million copies and is one of the most successful games on Steam. I could list several more examples, but my point is: most solo-dev games started off with small plans and and without intentions to sell big or sell at all. If you're getting into development and you have even an idea for a large game , Don't start yet. Make a mod first. Make and finish at least 5 projects that people like before even considering it. "Oh, but I've done 3 projects in Python with an overall line count of 2000, I'm differ- " Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. You are no exception. Making games is entirely different then programming. Making test games is entirely different than making real games. One day, you'll start a project, it'll get good feedback and it'll evolve into something larger. If you want to start a large project without any base to work from, this shouldn't be a huge struggle and you should be able to make very good progress within the first few weeks. By that point you'll have had more than adequate experience. You may criticize my example of Toby Fox, as he's stated multiple times he had very little programming knowledge when creating Undertale - but he had made and shipped multiple Earthbound ROM hacks beforehand, some of which have had huge success. So do yourself a favor. Don't be overambitious. Don't waste the most precious resource of all - time. TLDR: If you're a single developer starting up a large game, think twice, make sure you have enough experience and think about making smaller projects or mods first. You aren't special nor an exception. In the meantime, this is where I get off. sorry EDIT: Thanks for all the feedback and stories. It always makes me feel a touch better when I find someone else with the same experiences. I'm sticking to source modding and mapping for a while now (I may still tinkle with my Python engine and see if I can get it functional). [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2018 10:37 AM PDT For those not familiar with these posts, feel free to ask me anything about the legal side of the gaming industry. I've seen just about everything that can occur in this industry, and if I'm stumped I'm always happy to look into it a bit more. Keep things general, as I'm ethically not allowed to give specific answers to your specific problems! Now that said, let's get rolling! DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this post creates an attorney/client relationship. The only advice I can and will give in this post is GENERAL legal guidance. Your specific facts will almost always change the outcome, and you should always seek an attorney before moving forward. I'm an American attorney and therefore will be discussing American law. Prior results do not guarantee similar future outcomes My Twitter Proof: https://twitter.com/MrRyanMorrison [link] [comments]  |
| Epic Games Announces $1 Million in Unreal Dev Grants Posted: 28 Jun 2018 09:07 AM PDT |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2018 08:39 AM PDT I'm the lead of Kitfox Games and someone asked me this weekend how I pick launch dates, or when to reveal a new trailer etc. So I put together this list of just timing variables (assuming 'press' refers to streamers, youtubers, etc):
Hope it helps! [link] [comments]  |
| Sketchfab 3D Model Store Launches Out of Beta Posted: 28 Jun 2018 07:49 AM PDT |
| Google Play Store’s Algorithm Changes. Anyone noticed anything for their apps? Posted: 28 Jun 2018 08:56 AM PDT Hi guys, So it's reported that a lot of indie developers have been noticing huge drops in the installs that they been getting from their apps on the Google Play Store over the last week. To be honest, I only have a couple of games on Google Play Store that I am actively promoting with paid advertising while I am trying to build up an audience and hopefully start to increase in the rankings for keywords so I haven't noticed much of a difference myself. I was wondering if anyone that has some big apps out on the Google Play Store market have noticed this drop off in organic downloads due to the very recent search algorithm changes? Some developers calling it the App Store pocalypse! But in all seriousness, I am hoping it's now not even more difficult to actually get organic downloads from the Google Play Store. I would be interested to know if anyone has had any major issues? [link] [comments]  |
| I talked with Co-Creator on our game about how we made our bosses and what we learnt. Posted: 28 Jun 2018 03:32 AM PDT |
| Tips and help with steam capsule art Posted: 28 Jun 2018 09:23 AM PDT HI this is my first game I'm putting on steam and I was wondering how does capsule art differ from other art? Is it going to be significantly different from my logo, box art, and art in my press releases? Are there any good ways to structure it compared to the other art? Any tips when making it like how busy or simple should it be? Should I make it completely different than the other art? Basically any tips or wisdom would be greatly appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2018 06:44 AM PDT My little brother's birthday is coming soon and I wanted to get him something related to game development. He actually enjoys making games more than playing video games and he's only about to turn 16. Thanks for the help :) [link] [comments]  |
| Is RPG Maker MV the right choice for the game I want to make? Posted: 28 Jun 2018 11:47 AM PDT I'm planning on making a narrative-driven game, with branching dialogue and story paths. I don't plan on having any action or combat mechanics, except for maybe some few stealth sections. Programming isn't really an issue for me. I am a web developer fluent in JavaScirpt. I have no problem using C# as I have a working knowledge of it. I'm creating a prototype in Unity right now and I have already gotten the character to move. However, I'm not sure it's worth the effort of using Unity over RPG maker if I could easily make the same game in RPG maker with the same assets. I'm a busy guy who already programs all day for his job. And I really want to focus the limited time I have to work on it on making sure the writing and story-design is good. I've used both Unity and Game Maker Studio 2. I know that GM:S has a drag and drop mode, but I haven't used it because I'm not sure it could handle the game I want to make. Part of me is aware of the stigma RPG maker games face. And I'm not sure if RPG maker will ever have support for PS4 and Switch. But another part of me just wants to focus on the story and design. And I'm planning on releasing it for free on Steam so that more people would play it, which hopefully would make them more open to trying out an RPG maker game. Should I just settle for RPG maker or is it not worth it? Is Unity overkill for the game I want to make? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2018 11:43 AM PDT Hey All, I've been wanting to learn programming for a while now, but have always had life and motivation getting in the way. I now have a more flexible schedule to take the time I need to learn, but still find myself stalling with the problem of where to get started and staying on track. I figured a great way to tackle this problem would be by finding a partner/friend at the same learning stage to hold each other accountable for our goals. My intentions in learning programming are to start developing mobile games and hopefully generate cash flow from those games that will allow me to pursue game development full time and start focusing on more ambitious projects. I'm 23 living in Arizona and very business oriented with a degree in Finance. If you're interested shoot me a PM. And if any more experienced programmers have any guidance on the best way to get started from here I'd love to hear from you. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2018 11:36 AM PDT |
| Where do you advertise your game? Posted: 27 Jun 2018 03:57 PM PDT I've developed a simple game, an MMO for PC to be specific. Where do I advertise it? I dont know anything about advertising. Could someone please suggest some websites or forums where I can post advertisements? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2018 11:07 AM PDT I'm very familiar with Unity in C# but I wasn't sure that was going to be the right engine for this project since it's not really graphics or physics oriented. I don't know anything about that Android Studio. Would that be what I want? Any other suggestions? [link] [comments]  |
| Split a spritesheet into different images with a 1px buffer? Posted: 28 Jun 2018 07:16 AM PDT I've looked online for decent tools to split spritesheets, there are plenty, but there are not any that I've seen that take into account a 1 pixel buffer (both x/y) between each image on the spritesheet. Unity does, but it only pseudo splits them, you can't extract those images to separate PNG's (at least, to my knowledge). Any help would be appreciated! [link] [comments]  |
| Handling keys for Kickstarter backers Posted: 28 Jun 2018 04:51 AM PDT If you happen to run a successful Kickstarter campaign and end up with thousands of backers, how do you handle distributing the keys? This gets more complicated if you offer the choice of what platform they want to receive the game for. Do you simply email every single one asking or is there a smarter way? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 27 Jun 2018 06:43 PM PDT Hi guys, So recently we got 2 publishing deals, however they're requiring us to form LLC before publishing. The problem is that we don't have the money to pay for the California LLC fees and we've been looking at forming in Nevada. We've been seeing people saying that in California you cant do that (figures). Anyone have any experience in this? [link] [comments]  |
| General Questions - Google Play Console Posted: 28 Jun 2018 10:20 AM PDT I'm having a little trouble finding answers on a few very basic things regarding the play console. Documentation seems mediocre, but I suppose it's possible the issue is with my search skills as well... Anyway, here goes... The first and most basic question I have: I notice that there are two places to "create" an entry for my game; one is "Game Services", and the other is "All Applications". My assumption had been that "Game Services" is just for things like play login, leaderboards, achievements, etc. But what threw off my assumption is that there's a "publish your game" button which clearly states that "the game will be available to the public in a few hours" after you click it. This, depsite the fact I haven't actually uploaded an application anywhere just yet. What's the relationship between "All applications", and its publish button, and "game services", and ITS publish button? My second question is: can I publish the app in a way that only testers can access it from the play store, and not the general public? [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2018 09:48 AM PDT |
| How many of you are making a game without a game editor? Posted: 27 Jun 2018 05:25 PM PDT I saw the IDE thread and wondered how text-only people go. Are you building your game without a game editor application (a Unity/Unreal-like GUI where you drag and drop things into your scene)? I've done personal stuff with just code, my scenes were simple functions, tuning was ini files, hotloading was reimporting my ini files on modification (and, I think, reimporting python modules). I keep thinking it would be great to have a scene defined as a single Lua file (a big table). Probably can merge more easily (or easily write merge tools), obvious conversion to runtime, don't need to use a mouse to edit. Mouse positioning could be done within a running game (with clickable gizmos, etc). Do you skip the game editor to avoid the mouse or because you haven't got around to writing an editor? [link] [comments]  |
| Zombie Killing Simulator Gameplay Trailer. What do you think? (Steam link in description.) Posted: 28 Jun 2018 09:34 AM PDT |
| How to make pixel portrait using Piskel Edit & Photoshop(3 mins Timelapse) Posted: 28 Jun 2018 05:40 AM PDT |
| Posted: 28 Jun 2018 09:22 AM PDT Ive got the model, and animations, but I don't exactly know how to get them into a playable character. I cant find a simple, straightforward guide on this, they all seems to be linked to something unrelated. [link] [comments]  |
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