How do you handle being an Indie game developer?

[Echo Magnum]

How do you manage to create games and keep track of normal life?

Their some cool games I've seen around lurking other forum sites and here too, most times the best games are the ones spent most time and effort in, even rtp games can be impressive.

It seems however in most communities their a few people leaving the indie game scene, claming they need to deal more with real life or something comes up like a medical test you cant repeat, or a new job, school, stuff... Those who stick around sometimes go dead then reserect with something incredible all of a sudden, Catmits does this a bit ( not to name any names ).

So, how do YOU get through your day and still manage ( or not ) to create something really class? Especially now with the November game dev month going on.

Is it better to work as a team from your experience? Do you prefer the one man army home brew, you some kind of lurker who doesnt really get anything done?

Tell us how you keep up in the daily world and keep some time to your "game-devvin", lurking, ( or other related hobbies to the development and design of indie games like spriting, spcipting, writing, composing e.t.c )

Game developing is great fun... for me its sort of an "addiction" spriting and designing character art and face-sets, speaking of that I should really get some work done lol. I don't really have a time scheduler but get most work done during weekends.

 

[BlueScope]

I don't really regularly work on my stuff... Actually, I don't work on it at all, most of the time. However, when I have an idea of what to do with it, I'm often sitting a whole day or even the day and the night on it. That might sound inefficient, but it is only if you're talking about time. Actually, it ensures that only that gets into my project that I really find ineresting, which is why I'm pretty damn proud of the battle system and general game engine I got. The negative side is definately that "mass content" is really on hold right now. I enjoy the non-existing pressure, though, as it gives me the ability to work on my own time, watch some naked girls play volleyball instead if I feel like it, or... spend some time with Raven for once :blank:

I guess in general, you could say that I need a drive to work, otherwise I much rather spend my rare free time on (less important stuff such as) sleeping, having a life, hanging out with buddies or driving around. Still, if something interests or fascinates me, I drop everything else and get to work on it... especially since I'm not on "we make games sound effortless to other indie game developers" RPG Maker anymore ^^

 

[Kain Nobel]

The best thing to do is don't waste your time on bullshit and take your goal seriously. Alot of people are oh so busy with their job and their school and their family, etc and I already know that's time consuming enough as it is, I'm right behind ya! On the other hand, I know alot of people waste time on social networking, playing facebook games, looking up lolcats, dickjokes and memes, etc. In other words, most people have time but waste it, they don't do anything constructive with their projects. I personally wouldn't put my project over bigger priorities though, for instance if you're studying to become a doctor, do your course work! I would put it over playing World of Warcraft though, that game was built to mentally lock you in.

Of course, there's that other side to it too. Are you trying too hard and coming up with nothing worthwhile? Go do another activity that is somewhat related to your project goal. Suck at art? Well, you don't absolutely have to go to college for it, there is lots of things you can find on the internet related to art theory and such. Also, break out of your comfort zone, don't limit yourself to specializing in just one thing. Are you wanting to create some sci-fi, steampunk world? Find a movie or game that sparks common relations to the bigger picture of what you want accomplished. If you find coding to be overwhelming but never tried it, face that beast, you will get it! Study on, study on!

Lastly, its necessary to take a break sometimes, don't burn yourself out. I took a month off to play Infamous, and ever since my work has improved ten fold, it gave me alot of inspiration.

 

[Echo Magnum]

Of course, there's that other side to it too. Are you trying too hard and coming up with nothing worthwhile? Go do another activity that is somewhat related to your project goal. Suck at art? Well, you don't absolutely have to go to college for it, there is lots of things you can find on the internet related to art theory and such. Also, break out of your comfort zone, don't limit yourself to specializing in just one thing. Are you wanting to create some sci-fi, steampunk world? Find a movie or game that sparks common relations to the bigger picture of what you want accomplished. If you find coding to be overwhelming but never tried it, face that beast, you will get it! Study on, study on!

:shock: Holly crap dude, you read my situation perfectly, you some kind of psychic... :crazy:

...and great advice

I'm currently frustrated , I have a bunch of ideas and ever since I started on rpg maker, I've never completed a single project past the demo stage simply because I find it extremely difficult to conform to using rtp and generic battle systems. Its a curse because now I'm working on all these resources that look like they might in total take years and then theirs the development which will take even longer.

I've countlessly tried to just either give up and conform to rtp, use some simple system like VX and just make a bunch of "normal" games that are not really that worthwhile but very achievable.
Those projects often grow into monsters requiring custom attention and more detailed plot twists... I cant make an average game to save my life. I don't know if that's supposed to be a problem but it gets really frustrating and time consuming at times, and to make things worse I cant stop this endless cycle of doom!

Spoiler

> Make simple "Normal" game
> Get ideas on how it could be cooler
> Scrap original project and start working on a bunch of resources
> Resources end up sucking sometimes or I get a better idea
> Repeat the cycle of doom

So I got this idea for a cool cyber punk game, sort of like pirates in a semi-futuristic world, the game's basically about exploring the sky-world (cities in the sky, sailing on clouds e.t.c) and fighting other ships (conquer territories and hunt and loot treasure) you could customize your ship, choose your crew, and explore a vast game world.

This idea is probably my most ambitious. It's sort of my cousins idea ( he's also a game-nerd like me ) but I've tweaked the theme, setting, story and context to make it more adventuresome and fun.

I have a bunch of other projects I have lined up before this though like Ghost Lantern and a few other well written and promising projects. The only problem I have is I'm a one man army, It would help to have a team but I've been in a team twice and it always ended up in me having to much drive and the lack of production and efficiency driving me out or not liking the pre-defined plot and characters ( thus leading me to come up with my own and then feeling like I need this to be MY project ). But I also have to realize to work more with people if I want to go into game dev-stuff as a career. No one can do it alone... I'm just a little selfish with my designs.

I used to be really into drawing manga, and since you seem to be streeming with phsychic knowledge ( lol ) I think I'll call it Haitus and work on making some manga again, drawing is a lot more relaxing.
I should probably make a manga/comic related to the story in my project(s). I might take a month of also to play some games I've left like Earthbound and Terranigma ( as well as some modern ones like Dark Souls ). Like you said hopefully this will up my motive and flow for my projects.

I need to get my mind off things and remember why I spend so much time on game making in the first place... Hopefully the project(s) I do manage to complete will be as awesome as I intend.

 

[moog]

Are any of us REALLY indie game developers, or actually indie game idea creators? or something to that extent. most of what everyone ive seen tries to accomplish becomes an idea that gets forgotten or never finished.

 

[Spoo]

I have never had an idea of mine come to full fruition; I am simply too fickle and too inclined to start over a project entirely before I get to the point where I have done so much that I can tell myself no. This is why most of my time developing anything is mostly spent doing simple RTP edits and maps followed by not much else before the reboot decision kicks in for the bazillionth. Maybe if I worked with a team on something I'd make progress but I don't think there are many people out there willing to give long-term support for free on an idea that screams mediocrity, and I certainly don't have the resources to pay, nor do I have the desire.

So, apparently I "handle" being a developer by not being a very good developer and hiding behind that fact by saying it is only a hobby. That's true, but it still doesn't stop the local people I know from asking me if I ever finished that "awesome game" I was making.

 

[Echo Magnum]

Ah so I'm not the only one who almost never finishes projects. I guess the majority are in the same boat or repeating the endless cycle of game-ideas that never get finished. Being an Indie game developer has always taken heart though simply because making any sort of game is hard work especially for a one man army.

your right about team work. Most times people are un-interested in some amateur project because they can make their own just the same. Also It seems like even after you spend years working on this "awesome project". Someone downloads it, plays like for 15 minutes or if its any good maybe half an hour or a little more then go " bah my project would be cooler " if their a developer or " I have better games to play " e.g huge commercial games on PS3, Xbox e.t.c if their a consumer/player.

Apparently their more opportunities to actually earn something from this by producing for XNA ( Xbox Indie Games Market-Place ) or iOs, Android e.t.c but then again this takes a little programming knowledge and spare cash just to pay for membership and become a recognized/official developer, and I'm sure most of these games are still free or relatively cheap. I'm not sure if one can make a living making indie games as opposed to large scale commercial games.

Their already a-lot of lame online games out their that end up making losses, some become huge like Ragnarok but its tough out their for a rookie game-dev.

But at least we have our ideas right? every great invention starts out as an idea, even though they might be a mountain of failure before accomplishing anything worth calling an indie game.

 

[BlueScope]

I don't really see the difference between releasing a game and not to as far as game design goes. If you're designing graphics, media or web pages, you are a graphics/media/web designer, no matter if what you drew up actually makes it to the stores, the web or a wall. Why should it be different for game design? After all, the art is to design, not to finish - that would be a goal.

@Echo: What you mentioned applies to projects like those spawning out of RM, GM or similar communitites: The actual creation process is eased down so much that everyone can easily throw out games after a very quick timeframe. It's similar with youtube: Before YT, you had a harder time finding videos, but there was a lot more quality around the web, simply because not everyone had webspace to shove videos of their kids farting in their pets' faces on. Today, everyone and their mother has a video-taking capable device, as well as the possibility to upload it on youtube or similar communitites. :huh:
There's also the amount of similarities between RM games, which is why I like to work on my stuff from scratch (given a very basic function library): It doesn't tempt as much to use predefined stuff, and in the end makes it feel like an entirely different game. RM people on the other side often adjust the hue and saturation of their RTP fellas annd think it's unique. Still, you can't argue that everyone will always say "Oh look, an RMXP game!", no matter how much you try to be different.

But to get a bit back on topic: Game design, especially indie, shouldn't be about producing a game. It should be about creating an experience for the player. If you manage to do that, you will be driven all on your own to work on what you have, because you know you're sitting on something awesome that you came up with. That can also be RM stuff, however the more you do yourself, the more the thing will feel like a piece of your life (and a game you like to develop can easily become that).
If your goal is to finish a game no matter what, what you'll get is something sellable: A disc in a box, maybe with a booklet. You'll get money for it, be happy because of that, but you could've just as well sowed some jeans and sold those.

In my opinion.

 

[Echo Magnum]

@ Bluescope:
Your right about indie games, whenever I make my own resources it does feel like I'm adding a bit pf myself to the game, ideally its about an experience, which is true and in this sense you can always tell an indie game from a commercial one. The detail to the experience is a lot more unique compared to some commercial games that put more detail to game-play. In a way I guess you could argue that game play is the same as an experience when you look at the bigger picture of the game.

Thanks for motivating me with your thoughts on design, I'll try look at it in an artistic way not necessarily to simply produce but to create.

Sowing jeans is a lot less satisfying than building a virtual world and experience. In my opinion. Even though its packaged in nothing more than a box with a booklet and C.D.