5 TIPS for SOLO Indie Game Developers (Focus, Motivation, Devlogs?)

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💬 Here's an interesting video talking about 5 Tips for solo Indie Game Developers.
How important is it to focus? Should you write to-do lists? Should you do Devlogs? Motivation vs Self-Discipline?
I've been a solo indie dev for over 10 years now so let me share my thoughts that will hopefully help you on your own game dev journey.
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[@w0lfend0]

1. 1:35 Shiny new ideas and distractions 2. 5:35 Fun versus not-so-fun tasks 3. 8:34 Devlog and extra burdens 4. 14:44 Hyper-focus and polish 5. 16:54 Motivation vs discipline

[@ServantKing72]

Time stamps to avoid the noise, maybe the channel will get the point?

[@TheArtOfBliss]

I really like this style of video! It really helps me whilst I'm making my first game, very real and down to earth

[@jacobs.7925]

Shoutout to paper notes! I tend to organize everything in virtual backlogs (Notion, Clickup - I used to work as a game producer) but nothing beats good old pen & paper :)

[@mandisaw]

Pen+paper is fast & versatile, best for jotting down freeform ideas, diagrams, storyboards, etc. I can snap a pic of the paper notes, then add/categorize them alongside my more structured Office/Design digital notes. Having some way to actually structure, search, and retrieve notes is as important IMExp as getting them down in the first place.

[@phen-themoogle7651]

This dropped at the perfect time! Was debating about making a video of myself doing gamedev just a few hours ago haha but I'm just getting back into it, and I almost overwhelmed myself, this relaxed me a lot and I took some very important points from this video such as to not punish myself lol xD very very nice! Thanks! :)

[@alec_almartson]

Thank You for analyzing these Indie Dev Tips... 💯👍🏻💵😄 It reminded me of some very important aspects, especially the one about: "focusing on every task equally, avoiding hyper focusing on only one or two features" (this one sounds easy and intuitive, but at the end of the day it requires to be very well organized and keeping awareness of the 🎮 Scope 🎮 of your game... and what you really want to achieve in terms of features and Mechanics). Awareness of your Game Design Document (GDD) is essential for succeeding with this Tip.

[@BingoGo2Space]

Thank you, sir. The to do list advice is a great help. I'm always a more motivation driven person, that can help me a lot to balance myself.

[@RobLang]

Another reason to use YT: As a solo dev with a small YT channel, the biggest benefit is the comments. I get feedback, ideas, validation and use a huge community of people to sound off. Not a great fan of you reacting to other's tip videos - especially if the tips are essentially "man up", "get gud". More than happy to hear your original perspective but not as a reaction.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Genuine question: Would it really be different/better if I said the exact same thing but rather than having a different video in the background if I just had a powerpoint presentation? If I just said "don't spend 2 years working on a game" instead of hearing that part in the video and saying the same thing, would that really be different/better? I already do videos giving general advice (like When to Polish), this format is simply a different presentation

[@RobLang]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity fair question. It would be much better if it were just you - even in a "5 things" format. From my perspective I have to listen to a terrible computerised voice and watch a lack lustre game give a not very well thought out opinion and then you say "I agree with that... additionally...". I'd much rather just you give your well thought out advice over the top of your game footage.

[@Ijisthee]

I love your videos they help me a lot. Thank you very much. ❤

[@valhallagalex]

you've been doing a lot of these motivational/advice type videos, and honestly, for me personally, this market is over-saturated, there's hundreds of not thousands of youtubers giving advice, but the reason I started following you was for the technical stuff, guides, entire courses, specific mechanics. I feel that's been missing a LOT recently. I understand that this content is much easier to produce, but just food for thought. I'll still follow you, but I look forward to seeing more technical stuff in the New Year. Happy holidays!

[@mandisaw]

I think these are pre-recorded "evergreen" vids from before his game dropped (according to the note/edit). See it a lot with YTers when they are gonna have vacation or downtime, but still need to continuously feed the algorithm. Dude's probably on holiday with family this time of year.

[@mandisaw]

@@SkeleTonHammer I think you're disproving your own thesis 😅 Your audience/customers are not really there to provide motivation, esp during development. I can see with long-term devs where having your community hyped for the next release is handy. But if you don't have a backcatalog, or an existing audience, then prospective players don't really have much to latch onto until you are already close to "Done". Meanwhile, if what you are seeking is tips to keep progressing towards your goal, despite the inevitable ups/downs of morale & motivation, then maybe these sorts of "practical secrets of successful devs" are just the ticket. Sometimes it's not always easy to even see/recognize what we actually need, vs what we think we need. Just my $0.02 🤷

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

I get that but the simple reality is tutorials take a mountain of work to make For example I've been working for the past 2 weeks on my upcoming DOTS 1.2 tutorial, it's a 1 hour technical tutorial, but I can't really produce something like that 3 times a week. I'm also working on my upcoming free C# course, also another think that takes 2 months to make, also not something I can produce quickly to keep the channel alive with several videos per week. So in between those videos that take a ton of work to make I need simple formats like this one or my assets/games lists videos in order to keep the channel alive in the meantime

[@nickvines5341]

​@@CodeMonkeyUnity I personally like the combination of both. You're doing a great job of keeping the content balanced.

[@kerduslegend2644]

I don kno bout u but i need this kind of videos every now and then. As someone who's making game that literally got flopped these kind of videos help me got the motivation i need and to keep the fire within me to keep burning, especially when it comes from someone who's probably has many first hand experience about gamedev

[@coachmcguirk8277]

I would suggest entering a lot of Game Jams. I've only done one so far, but in the week that it took place I actually managed to create a working game - as opposed to the 20 unfinished projects that I've given up on over the last 3 or so years. Mind you, I did learn new things when working on those different games, but I think it would've been much better time spent had I finished them. 1) An account on itch is a nice and easy first step in marketing your work. 2) You build a catalog of games to show-off at one central location. 3) You're more motivated to finish the projects due to the strict time limit. 4) The strict theme forces you to settle with one idea and helps limit distractions. 5) The feedback from people reviewing your games can be very important. "I loved your game" is a great motivator. The list of benefits goes on and on!

[@yudanaim6849]

One of your best videos.

[@hoangnguyenminh6667]

thank you very much, these tips are very helpful, especially that "write down the new idea so it won't distract you", I have this idea stuck in my head for a while and after writing it down, I feel less concern about it.

[@dreamcatforgotten8435]

Mixed thoughts on this video, but take them with a grain of salt since I'm a nobody-- - 'Don't spend 1-2 years on your first game': Ultimately, I do agree. However, some people may feel as if they don't know enough about gamedev, especially for the target genre they want to approach. It may take them longer to train skills OR find skilled individuals to help them complete a project within a short period of time. Obviously, the solution to this question would be to advise against genres that may take more time (RPGs, for example), though that genre may be what gave them the drive to want to approach gamedev in the first place. - 'Don't be distracted by new ideas (Stay Focused)': This one is something I have mixed feelings about, as it depends on the context of the game as well as at what point in development that the new ideas are thought about. A game's design is like a recipe, and then you use code to implement the recipe... Assets and modules acting as live 'Ingredients' for the recipe, and the finished game being the finished product that adheres to the recipe. However, the end-product might not be very good, and require a fundamental change... and often times it is better to catch the issue in the middle of development to try to fix as opposed to the wishful thinking of being able to fix it near the end of development. I think new ideas can be helpful for making a better recipe and ultimately a better product, but they should definitely be considered near the start of development, or maybe no further than the middle, unless the game is designed in such a way to allow for those new things to be easily added. - 'Don't be distracted by new ideas (Bouncing between Projects)': Mixed feelings on this one as well, because it might be more appropriate to save the desire and energy that you might have to put into one project and isolate it to another future project idea later on. Bouncing between projects might also be a good way to keep practicing gamedev while the drive to complete a particular project is low, but I do admit that it should be no more than 1-2 other projects that one is bouncing between to be reasonable. - 'Fun versus non-fun parts': Agree that the non-fun stuff is still just as important as the fun stuff. It can't be helped. However, to make certain aspects easier and possibly feel more fun, it might help to use Assets to supplement any aspect that might not be fun due to taking a long time to implement and bugfix, etc. - 'Devlogs and extra burdens (You disagree)': I actually understand where that developer is coming from. A devlog typically requires video editing in order to properly communicate the progress of development in an entertaining way. Video editing alone can take time. Not only that, but a devlog typically resonates more with Game Developers more-so than people who want to play games, creating a situation where it feels like you're preaching to a choir as opposed to reaching out to a target audience for your content. My opinion is that there should be a KZbin channel dedicated strictly towards gameplay elements for the game, showcasing actual gameplay without any technical stuff, so the appropriate target audience can be built up. - 'Hyper-Focus and Polish ( balanced polish )': I do agree that polish should be balanced across many aspects of gameplay, not just one. If the end-user (the Player) doesn't complain about something, it means it was good enough to not get in the way of their enjoyment of the game. That is minimum level of polish that gamedevs should strive for. - 'Hyper-Focus and Polish (the developer emphasizes that taking too long to polish can be bad)': I'm biased since I am a perfectionist. I personally think the polishing phase should take the longest, as polish typically involves good Gamefeel and good UX so the game just feels better from the Player's perspective, and that should never be undermined in any capacity. - 'Motivation versus Discipline (both you and the developer of the video agree that Motivation should not be relied upon)': I have mixed feelings about this because it is highly likely that the motivation to complete the game might become low as a consequence of the game not feeling fun to play. Low motivation can be an indicator that something is fundamentally flawed about the design, and can be utilized to fix things at an early stage. Low motivation could also just be due to the task being much larger than the developer originally envisioned, causing them to realize that maybe they should focus on smaller-scoped projects before they work on large ones, or consider scoping the project down. I guess I believe motivation is important for potentially identifying issues at a fundamental level in some scenarios, and should give the developer a moment to think and realign with OR change the game design directions and goals.

[@crtglowgames]

A great and thoughtful comment. Re: motivation I've always found the Unity editor a bit of a motivation crusher; its dull appearance but particularly around time required to enter play mode, so I've found benefit from speeding that up as well as keeping Scenes and assets well organised. Ultimate Editor Enhancer gives a nice splash of colour to the asset hierarchies. Basically do whatever you can to make the tooling fun to use!

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

The main question is ask yourself are you trying to complete a game or just making games for fun/learning? If it's just for fun/learning, then yup switching ideas and trying tons of things can be super helpful, I always advise people to make tons of games in the beginning to learn a ton But if you're trying to complete a project, you won't do that if you're constantly jumping from idea to idea when things get hard, at some point it really requires sticking with it even through the hard times. Low motivation is indeed a potential indicator that something might be wrong so it is important to listen to that. But most of the times I would say it is more likely simply a normal part of the dev process. Personally I can say that every single one of my games definitely had low points in terms of motivation, despite being really happy with the final results. Thanks for the very thorough comment!

[@Stefan-gj6yf]

Hey Codemonkey, I commented on your previous video saying I created my first game, where you advised me to upload it on itch I’ve listened to your advice and If it does well, I’m definitely uploading it on steam, thank you for your consistency and thank you for giving tips as an experienced game developer, really means a lot for us beginners

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Nice! Best of luck!

[@krenarpiraj2628]

why you're not sharing link also? maybe someone will play and give you helpful advices

[@Stefan-gj6yf]

@@krenarpiraj2628 Escape Capyland on itch :)

[@spearlex1461]

yeah share a link

[@FortnitePwner]

May I ask the title of your game so I can find it on itch and check it out?

[@QuangNguyen-lf4lu]

To-do list and Devlog (I called it devlog but it's more like dev diary where I write down whatever I've done in my project on each day) are the 2 best things that I have ever made since I started my first game about a month ago. To-do list, which is checklist, keep track for me what I should do and what I have done, so I dont have to remember myself. Every time I open my project, I will first check my To-do list to immediately remember what I need to do next. Devlog help me with both motivation and discipline. I wrote down every small thing that I have done, no matter if it's new feature, fix bug, rename class, or even learn new knowledge or buy new assets that can apply in the project. So that whenever I look back, I know that I have done so many things for my game, and that keeps my motivation almost always high. It is also used as self-discipline, as I will try to do at least one thing to write in it everyday, no matter how small it is, so my game will continue to progress, slowly but steadily.

[@dreamcatforgotten8435]

I think having both a Dev Diary and TODO list is a really smart approach. I've noticed myself jotting down my incremental progress in studies for Gamedev, as well as other fields, and it has helped shape me as a Gamedev and as a person.

[@michaelpease2103]

Love this advice. Makes sense to me because this works in every other area of life. I have a workout spreadsheet, calorie tracker, and log EVERY job in my detailing business. And those are the areas I'm most successful in life.

[@gmgames13]

Just to say, as indie dev who jumped on the train from nowhere(no any background in gamedev), your help is priceless for me! I really like your tutorials and review videos, they are so helpfull and interesting. I managed to learned a lot in last 3 years, and following your instructions, I will release my first steam game next year. Thank you so much! You can see some videos of gameplay and teasers on my chanell if you like

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

I'm glad the videos have helped you! Thanks!

[@PotatoManager420]

Hi, do you have same tips material for those who are in learning phase in game dev? For example for people who are learning Unity in free time, whilst their main job is not being related to game dev, but willing in near future to switch to game dev (as indie or as company employed). For example, my main job is different than the game dev, but in my free time I research Unity and learn all necessary features for my future projects/goals. For past 2 years I studied Unity and learned a lot, and currently my plan is to complete the following steps: - Finish mastering DOTS (I view it quite potential since it's in released stage, but sadly no animation support yet) - Learn and master Netcode for GO and Netcode for Entities - Learn and master UGS (Lobby, matchmaking, leaderboards, Relay, Cloud Save, Cloud code) - Learn addressables (to managed build size and modding) - Learn zenject (some devs recommended this) I've picked these steps, because my future goal is to make fast paced online PVP FPS with short sessions. So, sometimes I find it it difficult to build my project since I lack some necessary knowledge, and don't know how much time I could spend learning them

[@eugeneivanov353]

great vid

[@Mira__450]

He's becoming a reaction channel🤣

[@blackcitadelstudios]

My devlogs really helped me get feedback from my audience. True that it is time consuming, but it's all worth it. Not to mention getting wishlists for every video i published, definetly worth the time to make them. 😊

[@terry-]

Great!

[@GamesAreArt1]

Those kind of tips are basically everywhere not the first or last time i hear those tips the Difference is The Perspective of View each have different experience resulting in different result and methods to solve problems, If you make a Game Dev Tips video some will agree others won't. Something that's need to be mention is Those Tips simply doesn't apply on Everyone each have there own case and situation to handle. Thanks.

[@pedroaboffa]

first time using unity.. i started 1 month ago and finished first game.. I am happy with it, but still want to progress more as I know I can.. but also I already want to create another one.. prob will finish this one first after 3...4 months and go to another one

[@ciberdead9301]

About devlog, imo I think its not a bad idea even if no one is looking at it, because it forces you to have a better view of what you are doing, prevent tunnel vision and be able to put words on what you are doing. Also it helps you sometimes to find that one thing that you made a week to do wasn't very important for the final game because its a side feature and you are lacking of main features

[@Project-NSX]

Brilliant video as usual, thanks Hugo! One question though, you mentioned twitter isn't a good platform for reaching a game playing audience, but what are the good ones? I mean I get you'll need to build a community and setup a mailing list etc, but which platform do you think is an actual good one for advertising your game is? Thanks!

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

TikTok and Instagram are good ones nowadays, they are also difficult and very crowded but a video can go viral and get you thousands of wishlists. Devlogs can be good especially if you go for the more "entertainment" side, but that requires that you have that skillset, for example I don't have the skills to make entertaining videos like Dani Twitter/Reddit can be good if you manage to find a good workflow to prepare gifs in bulk and then schedule to automatically post them. Just don't spend a lot of time on them Then one of the best ways is simply have a great game with an excellent demo. For example Jonas Tyroller's game had a decent amount of wishlists from his devlogs, but them completely blew up and got 100k more wishlists due to an excellent demo during a Steam Festival

[@Angry-Lynx]

burnout can be deadly too. I had so bad I couldn't even look at code for more than year sometimes. It's like being allergic to it. But that only comes after years in field

[@tommiilmito]

nice one! who is the artist of the thumbnail? I like it!

[@Falney]

My first game was a 3D asteroids game in UE3 (long time ago) it took me about 3 days. I am a firm believer in picking a project to use to learn with, and it can be a project that takes days, weeks or months. But it shouldn't be something you intend to release as a finished, paid game. If you intend it to become a finished, released and monetized game then you are 100% going to run into 1 of 2 problems. 1) Highly optimized code that will cause problems either just with the game its self or with computers as well. Or 2) You will be rewriting code over and over again to fix the optimization issues causing development delays and potentially burn out. Or both if you are unlucky. Just pick some quick and easy to build projects. Even if you are an established programmer with heaps of experience as a software developer, or a beginner. Start small.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

That's a great beginner project! And yup definitely agree that the first handful of projects should mainly be seen as learning projects and not something that is meant to be a professional paid game.

[@gameworkerty]

The original video sounds like it was written by ChatGPT (in addition to being voiced by an AI)

[@Juan_Manuel_1988]

Hey, monkey! thank you a lot for your advices, mostly the first one, you say to start with short games and gain experience from them and publishing, I am actually working on a game that, making it in my free time, would take like 1,5 / 2 years to finnish, it bugged me and didn't know what to do but if you say so, I'll pospone it and make a short one first i guess. I want to ask you, you say twitter is a bad platform for making a dev blog, wich ones would you recommend? including maybe forums.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

For a dev blog (basically posting gifs showcasing your game as you make it) Twitter can be good for that. It can be good for getting feedback from other developers so I encourage you to do that, just don't look at Twitter as your primary marketing method because usually that does not work Reddit/Forums can also work in the same way Best of luck!

[@phutureproof]

how about this platform?

[@mohammadtausifrafi8277]

Could you please make a video on blocking and parrying system like the SoulsBorne games?

[@sashabagdasarow497]

I don't think he does such games...

[@mohammadtausifrafi8277]

@@sashabagdasarow497 He made a backstab tutorial.

[@sashabagdasarow497]

@@mohammadtausifrafi8277 hm, curious

[@evanciao]

I'm working on my main project rn and I realize that I'm lacking in many different skills such as character modeling, animating, ... I had planned to learn these skills along the way and to continue to work on the game. Would you recommend to rather pause the main game development to build those skills first with smaller projects and then come back to that project?

[@Norritt42]

Yes do it. An no you will not get back ribthis game but that is ok. Make small games to done.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Depends on how much time you have available, if it's not a lot per day then it's probably best to focus on just one thing at a time For example when I was learning Blender I was learning just 1 hours per day and the rest I was making videos/games and I did learn quite a lot in a relatively short amount of time unitycodemonkey.com/video.php?v=95pEfMyhScc Doing it alongside a game has the benefit that you can include your newly made models in your game and see them come to life which can be a great feeling

[@tirtaodd997]

speaking of discipline, what is your recommended schedule for a 3 -6 month game, like how many hour I need to spend on this project a week of how many days in a week I need to spend working on this project and how many hour a day I need to spend on this project ??

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

There's no fixed schedule, it really depends on what you have going on with your life Someone with a wife and 3 kids will have less time than a 20 year old student. So it's up to you to figure out how much time you can dedicate to it My main general advice is simply do something every single day, whether it be for just 10 minutes or 4 hours. Then depending on how productive you are in that time you maybe be able to build something in 3 months or might take you a year Best of luck!

[@kloa4219]

Do I stick with tutorials after being experienced with an engine or do I make personal projects instead?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

After following some complete tutorials/courses you should definitely be making personal projects, start small, try making something like Flappy Bird by yourself and then slowly increase in complexity

[@SpeedOfDarkStudios]

Shiny new object syndrome is so real!

[@playbehnder]

Do you think its ok to plan a 8-12 months game afteer doing differents complete projects (8,3,6,2 months each).?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

How successful were those smaller projects? If you managed to hit your goals, then yup go up one level in complexity If not, then I would say stick with that same scope/complexity until you can do it properly. If you don't and you increase complexity it will quickly become overwhelming

[@insentia8424]

I think strong considerations for devlogs should be taken that.... many people watching them doesn't mean many people will buy them: Game Devs will be more drawn to watching those than gamers. So not the audience you want to appeal to to actually sell.

[@indieApocalipse]

code monkey, what would be the social networks that are really effective for marketing a video game?

[@sashabagdasarow497]

Good question!

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Nowadays TikTok and Instagram seem great. If you have a video go viral you can get thousands of wishlists. But naturally it's also really difficult since everyone is trying the same thing Devlogs are good if you have an interesting game and manage to grow a following And if you have the time and if you can make gifs really quickly. post them on Twitter/Reddit kzbin.info/www/bejne/mmPae2OblNafeq8

[@lennihuopa]

What method of marketing would you recommend then? Devlogs are something I don’t think I am capable. I’ve been doing twitter but it’s honestly pretty sad so far. I’ve so far only been getting game developers as followers.

[@waldehuebli6854]

Without having much experience myself, I believe the following things to be usefull for marketing: Maybe create a demo and upload it on steam - for example "backback battles" seems to be doing very good as a demo just from the sheer content it creates from various youtubers and streamers just from the demo alone. I imagine it will convert to sales very well. Find and make a list of streamers and youtubers, no matter the size of the channel and maybe contact them and give free keys. In the best case youtubers who play certain genres fitting to your later game. FInding them would be for example by looking up videos and vods from similar games to yours. Dont know the intricacies but their audience is gamers - having others with a big gamer target audience play your game sounds more effective than of using your own time to create videos. But like I said just ideas of someone who didn't go through the process.

[@mandisaw]

Marketing is a skill to be learned like any other. There are loads of resources, particularly for mobile games, where mktg is treated as a science. Even if you're not doing free-to-play, the info on advertising / user-acquisition, market-research, community-building, and player-engagement are all applicable to any platform or genre. I've also found good info for authors doing book self-publishing - a lot of their approaches are similar to indie game self-publishing. Plenty of book, blog, & video resources, you just have to look.

[@mandisaw]

Pre-Elon, Twitter was great for game-dev *networking*. So if you wanted to build up your professional contacts with other ppl in the industry, that was the place to go. Now it's more fractured, as some of those folks went to Blue Sky & Mastadon (and maybe Threads??), and others have just retreated from public social media entirely, and only communicate with their existing contacts. Stats say that even at its height, Twitter wasn't really great for actually advertising games, even for the big companies. You've got to look at your game's target audience, and see where those folks are, and then advertise there. So if it's younger folks, maybe TikTok, or older folks, maybe here on KZbin, just with trailers & streamers, not devlogs.

[@lennihuopa]

​@@waldehuebli6854 Yeah I think this is some pretty good advice. I should focus more on the page and a demo rather than busting out gifs for twitter :D Something I also learned yesterday is that the Steam page is the place you should put most of your marketing thought into, as it's the way most see the game at first. It was from a GDC talk called Nobody Cares About Your Game. Pretty good talk, worth giving a watch IMO.

[@kocetonub8810]

As a starter game developer which a plan of a game i cant buy any assets because of my bank. If i have idea my game to have better graphics what should i do. (i wont be very good at designing)

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

There's a ton of free stuff on the unity asset store

[@KutluKanyilmaz]

Hey, CM. Are you working on a course?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Yup! Currently writing a complete C# course

[@pakhrom]

I knew that I have to make todo lists and store my ideas somewhere but for me there's a problem where 1) I constantly switch between todo lists on a paper and digital ones; 2) I have some ideas in one place and another ideas in another place and this results in an antrackable mess. How and where do you manage your todo lists? (2:45) And where exactly do you store your ideas? (4:45)

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

For long term ideas it doesn't really matter, store them wherever you find, I've got tons of ideas all over the place in paper, digital, phone, computer, etc. What matters more is your day to day tasks, for that personally I have a mini whiteboard that I erase and write every single morning with the tasks for that day Then when working on games I have a notebook with the next few tasks that need doing, as I do them I tick them off and write new ones

[@Alon_B]

do you sell merch?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

heh no not really, the tshirt I have was a gift from a friend of mine, don't really have a way to make them in bulk

[@arcday4281]

The market is so oversaturated that developers are trying to convince other developers to buy their game)))

[@HapkinsPL]

i dont like animation system in ureal engine and particle system textures system for me its hard but i making music 20 years its easy to make symphonic music or effects

[@mandisaw]

9:26 Devlogs are the most inefficient form of marketing. As mentioned, they attract devs, not players, and they tend to be visually boring and don't show your game's strengths. I think those "1yr of game-dev in 100 seconds" or "these bugs are crazy!" montages are cool, so feel free to record screengrabs throughout development. But most people are not good at both charismatic video production *AND* game development. If you want to teach, or share skills, then create videos/blogs/channels for that. If yoh want to advertise your upcoming games (and your backcatalog), then create videos/channels for that. Cross-promotion is cool, but do treat them as separate things, and each is probably more likely to find its actual target audience.

[@sashabagdasarow497]

But devlogs may keep YOU interested. It's great to develop a game, but sometimes it might get a bit monotonous. Devlogs introduce some dynamics and may give you a little more drive to actually go and dev. That's a positive I see.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Devlogs don't necessarily have to be "tutorials", for example Dani's devlogs are very much entertainment focused. Another example would be the channel Randy or Barji Those are all devlogs but more aimed for entertainment which does attract a more general game-playing audience, as opposed to my own devlogs which were more focused on the technical side which did indeed attract a more game-dev audience. Like you said most people are not good at some genres, I know I'm not good a entertainment like Dani so I didn't even try that, always play to your strengths

[@mandisaw]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity You are entertaining 👍 This channel is what we'd call "edutainment" in the States. Like Sesame Street - teaching in a fun, upbeat package. Most devlogs [from anyone] are really dry, and don't convey much actual info or feel for the game. Basically the opposite of a Let's Play or gameplay ad. Devs need more marketing courses LOL

[@mandisaw]

@@sashabagdasarow497 Joining a game-dev social group (in-person, Discord, FB, etc) would have the same motivational effect, and be way less work. And it would be a better use of time - professional networking, a space to ask & answer questions, much-needed socialization 😅 Just seems like "make a devlog" became a popular indie marketing idea, but is not a technique that actually works well for most people.

[@laserbean00001]

So if twitter is bad for marketing, which social media platform is good?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

TikTok/Instagram is good for short content, KZbin is great for longer devlogs

[@dreamingacacia]

Devlog and marketing are different. Devlog will draw some gamers, but more fellow game developers. You need solid plan for marketing if you think similar to me.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Devlogs don't have to be super technical, if you make htem technical then yeah it only attracts developers. However Dani found great success with making much less technical devlogs and focusing on entertainment, he intentionally doesn't show any code in the videos

[@dreamingacacia]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity That's a way to do it right? From what I've seen so far many people still posting normal devlogs. But I think even indiedevs should find more professional ways to do marketing. I mean work smart is always better.

[@siidaf]

keeping a KZbin channel active takes a lot of time, if you only have 20 hours a week to develop the game, you may not have time for KZbin, but if you have 50-60 hours a week then it is possible

[@isjesse1]

i need help, i get half way through my games then start thinking, well this be fun? then i start losing interest in it. i feel i get to driven by money, rather then just making something from my view

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

If that's a regular problem that you experience then my best advice is don't do something extremely original. Take some game that you already enjoy, and make something similar with 1-2 different features. That way you already know the core is solid.

[@edupe6185]

Have I seen this video before? Code monkey is this a repost?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Not a repost but you might have seen the original video before, it's about 7 months old

[@nikolapavkov6318]

du you know how to delet tiles on contatc with a object

[@nikolapavkov6318]

not tiles Rule Tiles

[@Mefayor]

I think that this dev made an initial mistake, that being is that he probably speaks a fluent English and instead of text to speech he should have imho used his actual thoughts and voice, and also from those 2 years at some point I hope that he opted for audience or gamer feedback, because indie game solo dev is basically a one man business, and lots oftimes I have heard people say that they would rather go and do a full time job as to have a "clear head" as opposed to having a business, because unless you or your associates are a company, and if you decide to become a solo, then you have to manage a lot of things APART from just creating a game, marketing, even the sole basics of a marketing seem to me like laready a 2 people job so doing everything solo it probably means a lot of time and efficiency has to be included and pretty much a dedication to such direction, with the absolute realisation that despite your best efforts, as in 100 % effort given, one still might fail. I cannot help but feel like that nowadays going a small dev team is still much better than solo dev, because after all we are still humans and in such business I feel like that most valued resources are time, manpower, willpower, and stress - you can only go so far as solo until you reach your limit, meanwhile with a small team you can share such resources across and probably avoid a burn out.

[@SomeGameDeveloper]

I'm thinking too ambitious I wanna make a simple game but then I get all these ideas, then I think I can't make the game cause it's out of my skill level

[@jozimastar95]

İ dont want be solo but i also dont want to make relaying connection with strangers , sometimes i have work and the idea can wait but others cant . İ cant quit my jop but also can't give up on game developments and if i keep like this it will take me 10 years when my idea is outdated , i cant he the only one but i dont seem to find somone who can deal with it

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

My advice is simply don't try to build ideas that will take you 10 years to make There's plenty of awesome games you can build in 6mo to 1yr

[@abdulhaq2839]

Sir how will I polish my coding skill?!

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Experience The more code you write the better you become and the easier it is to write new stuff So make tons of games and write tons of code!

[@kozmobotgames]

I have made my second game called Bird Universe. It is available for Android!

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Nice! Congrats!

[@Graghma]

Not sure how your audience skews, but I'm one of the more professional game devs that likes to watch. Even tho you tend to skew less so. I don't wanna say don't do this content, as I do think there's an audience for it in your subs. However, it isn't what I usually tune in for. That being said, your channel does ride that line so can't complain. That being said, I feel like you should add something more substantial to the conversation than this review. That or a source video with better advice? Most of the points really aren't game dev specific, but just executing on a idea.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

I try to do a mix of type of videos, I've been working the past 2 weeks researching DOTS to make a really complex 1 hour tutorial, but those videos take a ton of time to make so in the meantime I need simple formats like this one to keep the channel alive

[@Graghma]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity gotta please the algorithm, thanks for the content!

[@Graghma]

You made a good point about needing easier content to make at times so I was trying to think up an answer. How about a series where each video is talking about something useful you learned or did or changed while developing. Example - You could reuse old videos and explain what 'mistakes' you made while making the video and how you debugged and solved it. It is easy to say what was wrong, but walking through the thought process is underrated practice imo I would rather a shorter video that dives deeper into a single tip/trick, easier to look at the video title and gauge if I think I would get anything of value by watching it. I may still even watch it, but more passively instead of actively.

[@mohokhachai]

How much money you earn

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

I covered the results for my last game here unitycodemonkey.com/video.php?v=gg3Xrv7jUtk

[@user-wy8bk9ks7u]

I will love to see you making a mobile game because i am also making a mobile game and it will be very fun to see you make a mobile game.

[@screensquad121]

shoul i use unity ?

[@lennihuopa]

Just pick any engine and try it out, it’s pointless to overthink about it.

[@OneSlavBoi]

yeah it's not a big deal. if you know programming some people prefer to just work with some frameworks and libraries, some like unity, some godot, unreal is generally overkill for most indie games though. you can look it up more in depth but the general popular engines are completely fine

[@dam_ly]

Use the engine that you're drawn too, the one you know you want to use. Unity Engine will be around for years to come so don't worry about the companies negative press and naysayers.

[@noxy539]

depends on what you want to do, for both 2d and 3d you can use unity or godot, for 3d you can use unreal, for 2d you can use gamemaker, play around with game engines

[@nursultannazarov8379]

at this point only state-of-the-art Unreal Engine 5

[@michaelpease2103]

Is nobody going to mention this guy's protagonist is Donald Trump jumping and gunning with a mini 14? Lmao kudos mate

[@rootbindev]

1:55 for about a month? I get bored and want to make new game ideas after 1 day 🤭

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Experimentation can also be fun!

[@Robrosailor]

Whats devlog

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

It's a video where you showcase the development progress of your game

[@melomaniakjm]

I agree, spending 2 years on a crappy looking platformer is way too long…

[@AlpacaHacker]

'Don't do gamedev youtube as it distracts and makes your game take longer to make' says gamedev, who has taken 2 years for their first game, on youtube

[@idklol4197]

I'm six minutes in to this video and decided to listen to something else. Too many ads

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

KZbin ads? Personally I really recommend KZbin premium, I can't stand ads so that's what I use

[@hambonetunes1988]

Hard disagree on number 3

[@mouraleon]

Your game Dinky Guardians needs a lot of work in terms of marketing on steam, I see the game has potential, but the intro text to me is quite confusing, full of emojis, don’t really describe anything about the game rather than enumerating features it has, that’s not how users get attracted to buying a game. I would suggest you hiring someone to do that for you, the arts and teasers could also use some work from a professional designer and marketer. Cheers

[@adamh3945]

Why are we listening to this game Dev, he is just regurgitating and trying to justify why he spent 2 years on this type of game that should have taken less than year. Btw this dev posts this game everywhere and never takes any feedback or advice to improve.

[@Luluskuy]

interesting...

[@greenheart5334]

I dont even use unity why yt recommends these videos?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

These tips aren't specific to Unity, they are applicable regardlss of what engine you're using

[@Alex-gc2vo]

these videos are always so depressing. I assume everyone watching these is like me and only making a SOLO indie game because none of your friends are interested in game design and the ones who are only want to make their own game ideas and you dont trust people enough to team up with strangers on the internet. so you just chug along forever alone and the only one who actually believes in your game being a success.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Game jams can be a great place to find like minded people so perhaps try looking for a team on those Or there's a bunch of Discords, like the Unity official one, that have tons of people on there, some looking to collab

[@kloa4219]

composers will dm you for your game if they think you're good

[@maelhagel]

Lo único peor que los video de youtuber de reacción son lo que son en reacción a otro youtuber

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Genuine question: Would it be any different if I said literally the same things but in the background I had a powerpoint presentation instead of a KZbin video?

[@cynth4941]

We a reaction channel now? Where are all the tutorials?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Really? One video out of 800 changes the entire channel?

[@cynth4941]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity One video? Look, I swear that I'm not trying to be overly negative, but I just find the reply very disingenuous. The last tutorial I could find was the Character Customization one 4 weeks ago, and before that, I couldn't find anything for months. So much so that you literally made a video named "Why no tutorials?". Just a bit disappointed, I used to love the channel, it was my go-to place for anything Unity. But at the same time I understand, tutorials take a long time to research and record, and don't get as many views, meanwhile you can just sit in front of the camera for 10 minutes, react to someone elses' content and call it a day. I just find it sad that KZbin has became like this

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

You mentioned "reaction channel" and I've only ever made 1-2 reaction style videos The video before this one is talking about how I started making $0 and slowly gained experience Then a video on an asset list Then a video on a game list Then a video on the QOTD system to help you learn by answering questions including a mountain of references related to every question. If what you meant in the original comment was "why isn't every video on this channel a tutorial?" then the simple answer is that's just not possible Tutorials take a ton of work to make, for example I've been working the past 2 weeks researching DOTS to make a 1 hour tutorial on it, I can't physically produce a video like that in 2 days. I'm also working on my upcoming free C# course, that's something that will take 2 months to make, it's simply not possible for me to do such a thing in 2 days. So the options are put out only one video per month and make it a long tutorial, which would likely kill the channel since tutorials get a very low amount of views Or I can do what I'm doing and work on detailed tutorials while also mixing in videos that are simpler to make like this one to keep the channel alive in the meantime.

[@JeromeMillion]

This sounded quite generic and bland to be honest. If his devlogs use an AI voice and the most basic one at that, of course they won't do great. There is 0 personality, 0 humanity and it feels like even the text was generated by AI so it's hardly a valid argument in that case.

[@ExpensivePizza]

This guy is creating crappy KZbin videos and wondering why his videos aren't being watched.

[@nursultannazarov8379]

to whom are you referring to? CodeMonkey?

[@ServantKing72]

Some advice, I am trying to learn unity from your videos, stop with the constant intrusions of self promotion, don't waste our time, mellow out your voice, this low to high pitch per sentence is very annoying, and slow down a bit, you have to make sure you guide the users to what your clicking on, having to rewatch just to see what your clicking is not helpful, so take this criticism how you like, I am learning but am not having fun doing it due to what I mentioned! BTW, I like that you try to be a clean coder, but coming from someone that has 20 years coding c#, you are still far from clean, I refractor everything you write, you have some bad practices, probably due to learning another language first (Java Maybe?)! Just mentioning this as it seems to me you brag a lot about this vs other content creators but all in all, your no better on the code side!

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Without self promotion this channel would not exist. Want to take a guess at how much a tutorial (that takes 50 hours to create) makes with KZbin ads? About $20 Even though I live in a low cost of living country I absolutely cannot live on $0.40 per hour In terms of code style, if you prefer your own code style over my own that's perfectly fine, what I always say is the thing that matters most is consistency.