Can a SOLO Game Dev make GTA?

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💬 Here's a question that sounds obviously dumb but actually has quite an interesting amount of nuance
Can an experienced solo dev make GTA?
You might immediately answer No, but...
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[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

💬 Do you agree with my take? Would you like to make a GTA1-like game? 🌍 Get my C# Complete Course! cmonkey.co/csharpcourse 🎮 Play my Steam game! cmonkey.co/dinkyguardians 🔴 RELATED VIDEOS 🔴 Learn C# Beginner FREE Course! kzbin.info/www/bejne/poPIg2mQbtd-Y9E My Game Dev Journey (40+ Games! | mIRC to Flash to Steam) kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqvWlIOclLpkjLs I made a Top-Down Shooter in 7 Days! kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6rbZHicptaZg9k Can I make an OPEN WORLD Game in ONE WEEK? kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJaukoqOadJoaKs How much MONEY my Game made (and how much it cost!) kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZiWiaWsbM-Iqs0

[@BigDStudios]

There’s an asset called Highroad Engine that’ll make a GTA 1 game in a day.

[@facetubetwit1444]

I've always wanted to make my own Command and conquer generals game, But for fun not for money.

[@ProrokLebioda]

I think that achieving GTA 1 (or even GTA 2) is possible as solo dev in reasonable time. Of course quality, amount of content and gameplay concepts depend on time spent, skills and persistence. I've tried making GTA 1 but failed, not enough all of the above :D

[@Trust799]

Yes, If you are devoted SIKE

[@t.mfootball]

Of course

[@smallg9109]

not to forget that it's way different to make a clone of an existing game than it is to come up with a new game, with a clone you probably already know the look and feel you are aiming for but with something unique you spend way longer testing out the feel of the game/features

[@tiqosc1809]

i think cloning isnt as simple people made out to be, you have to really understand how the game "ticks" to make a perfect clone of it

[@yeye3999]

@@tiqosc1809 you know where you are going vs not knowing where you are going. Thats why we have GTA6 and not a new game, because not knowing where you are going is a "waste" of time and resources most of the time

[@GlasTaibhse]

I think it's definitely possible. In the last year, I've built systems for walking, driving, entering/exiting cars, police stars + chase, and projectile shooting. A lot of the core systems on their own aren't insanely complex (esp if you're like me and leaning to cartoony physics and look), but the sheer volume of dialogue, animations, quests, random events, and such??? It'll take forever!!!

[@yarmgl1613]

the content and mission specific scripting would take 2 lives to complete

[@MichaelGGarry]

As someone who has some experience working on one of those titles in the vid, what is not mentioned here is the sheer amount of time making it *right*. There is making something, and there is making something that is better than what is available, it is making something that is truly polished. Does the new feature work as intended? Can it be improved? Does it fit the game world, the character development, the story etc. That's on top of "is it actually bug free". This takes a huge amount of time and often features multiple disciplines at once - coding, design and animation for example. There is making a game, and there is making a good game. Many, many people underestimate this massively.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Yup great point, there's a huge amount of work that goes in between a good game and a GREAT game

[@taavi948]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity I made a GTA like game (more like GTA Advanced) in Game Maker back in 2000's.

[@DenatusDotCom]

Just look at "Retro City Rampage: DX" from 2012 as an example. It's an awsome GTA like in 8-bit style made by a very small team.

[@gameworkerty]

part of the question with GTA 1 is yes, I could definitely make something that looks like this myself but I don't think I could invent the concept from scratch by myself without a similar amount of exploration and iteration and collaboration as the original team did. They also had to make all the parts that stayed on the cutting room floor.

[@MichaelGGarry]

Thats a good point - its a lot easier when someone has already shown you what is possible and what works.

[@SunSailor]

Recently, someone remade Hit and Run in Unreal, mostly alone with the help of mostly one modeller. As Hit and Run is basically an arcady and cartoony incarnation of GTA, yes, that is doable. All a question of scope. A not too big city, clever design in tools and endurance and something like that can be achieved.

[@devzozo]

Using the asset store and free open source software is equivalent to outsourcing a portion of your development that could take months or even years. Back then devs only had very barebones and niche options for purchasing textures or 3D models. Even building your own engine is much more practical since you can literally just use Nvidia's physX engine for free instead of building one from the ground up.

[@magnusm4]

Like one funny story about a software developer who they found out had a lot of bandwidth to India. Turned out every assignment he got, he paid Indian tech guys to do for him for a low cost and pushed it off as his own work.

[@daniel3dart]

GTA 3 brings back some memories. Project scope is crazy, I wish I had started estimating project scopes 20 years ago LOL I'd have more practice at it now.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

heh yeah scope is always so difficult to estimate

[@khealer]

The GTA 1 flamethrower was the bees' knee! I was there, starting highschool. NovaLogic's Delta Force 3 (Land Warrior) was also a great game! Also Mortal Kombat 4, Carmageddon... the memberberries are kicking in.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Yeah the flamethrower was awesome! Delta Force was also awesome! Although really difficult, I remember dying over and over again lol

[@SoloGameDevid]

Hey code, just want to say thank you so much for being a huge inspiration, motivator, and teacher!!

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad my videos have helped you!

[@SoloGameDevid]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity health/ui video was a game changer for me. Also loved to see you are a fellow lifter! I have a home gym squat rack/setup. Cheers!!

[@haarisajmeri9811]

In my opinion yes we can make it But obviously it needs a proper thinking a proper plan Like map size Mechanics all that stuff Then story especially since it's an open world game you really have to focus on that world and the details and environments Now yes we can actually make GTA 5 & RDR2 but in terms of solo process it tooks a lot of time so obviously you need a team to speed up processes and a publisher to fund that project. The answer is yes but time consuming

[@dontstopbelieving1]

I finally decided to dive in to gamedev thanks to your channel and philosophy on game development. I put out my first demo on steam this year, it flopped pretty hard. I am a lot more comfortable in my skills now and am refactoring a ton of things to improve the game and I feel like it’s finally hitting a stride. It took me a lot of trial and error and frustration to get there but things are really coming a long and I even put out a few itch projects I am pretty proud of. I would love to see a video on how you plan your games before diving into code. In hindsight, having a better plan and a more modular design would have saved me so much hassle. A good plan makes creating the game way easier and I think hearing your process would help a lot of folks

[@ElianeGameDev]

I love the fact GTA had "Moral support" in their credits.

[@AHEK8]

Ya but they are not self sufficient 😂

[@NickAndriadze]

Considering how many insane projects, be it animations, games or anything you'd like to name, have been done by singular very passionate and hard-working people, I'd say something of a similar scale to a later GTA game can be theoretically done by a single person. Just a rough assumption of mine though. Considering Michelangelo was a sole person who painted the entire damn Sistine Chapel, ANYTHINGa is possible by a person passionate (Or harassed and pressured, as in Michelangelo's case 😭) enough, even something as grand in scale as GTA V

[@r.f886]

Good old days when GTA 3 looked like a movie to me. Thanks for the great and informative video 👍

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

It looked insane at the time! I couldn't believe games could look this good!

[@r.f886]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity Exactly, back then it had the graphics of BG3 for me now :D

[@prototype21]

I'm downloading Unit, bookmarking coding tutorials, and going to make The Game it will be the only game you'll ever need. The Game will feature, swimming, dancing, furbies, fishing, difficult choices, choices that make you question your previous choices, and things on wheels. Lookout rockstar and GTA6

[@StaredownGames]

GTA 6 has NPCs that can create their own animations and (possibly) dialogue at runtime. That is simply unheard of. They are fully aware of their environment (weather, mood, money) and react accordingly. Ex: The guy with iguana was asking for money because he has none. The guy filming did it because he wanted to. Source: Rockstar Patents. EDIT: All that said, I look forward to playing The Game, as long as font isn't tiny.

[@teawa_]

Need all game dev youtubers to come together and build this

[@torylva]

I mean, there is nothing magical that Rockstar has that makes it possible. More people cuts down on the cost and time, and you'd need A LOT OF EXPERTISE in many many fields that would be unfeasible. Like, decades and decades of experience in programming, animation, back-end systems, network systems, modeling, texture work, and so on. But in theory it could still be done.

[@martingreen6194]

No, but a combination of open street map, a big asset store budget, procedural generation and some wizard like programming skills might get something respectable.

[@AHEK8]

I loved your April fool video

[@mohamadbakr6474]

We want a full ECS course including (Animations, pathfinding) thanks for your efforts.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

It's definitely on my to-do list! Hopefully in a few months

[@mohamadbakr6474]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity thanks, appreciate it

[@chethanvenkataramaiah6940]

I would like you to give a high level overview on how to build such open world games. Thanks in advance and I really like the way you teach in simplified ways

[@TheMystogrigen]

The two biggest roadblocks to a 3D GTA title is time and Tedium. There are at least 60/70 missions in a game, and that means you have to do a bunch of the fiddly bits, where you have to dictate mission specific spawns, dialogue, objectives, rewards, environment changes.

[@iliqnikushev3820]

Man i love your content. Its so easy to follow and been watching for years. As a fellow game dev: Can you go in depth why Top-Down is tricky to get into? You showed some HellDivers1 moments and even though Helldivers2 came out(and is a blast), it just shows that Top Down has lost it's Flare and First Person/Third Person has a higher interest

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

I'm not exactly sure why, it's just players tastes. Helldivers is a great example because the first game is top down and from what I understand it's a pretty great game but didn't sell anything special, whereas Helldivers 2 is in first/third person and is one of the most successful games of all time, I do think the change in perspective is a big reason for that. There is still an audience for top down games, it's just much smaller.

[@Salman_Ali.1]

Thank you for the wonderful work you do

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Thanks for the super thanks!

[@Sim2322]

GTA was made by a very small team, pretty much the exact same one than the original Lemmings game. Although small in numbers, these guys were (and still are) VERY talented people, some of them now heavily involved in the GameMaker game engine. Hotline Miami ia a good example of this genre adapted for indies

[@hamzahgamedev]

As a solo game dev who is making an open world game myself, the answer is NOPE only if you are doing everything on your own. However, 😏if you are using 3rd part assets for models and scripts, it will save you truck load of time and money and you can really make something significant without a doubt! 💪

[@viperjay1]

In the 1990's it was like a crazy whole new world making games. computers were expensive and not very powerful , resources and design were still being discovered. I am not saying today it's that much easier but now there are tools, internet and videos like yours that help.

[@ChristopherDiot]

Thank you for that video, it's interesting, it confirms what I thought, today we can do an old generation gta for fun but new generation it becomes much more complicated

[@TheThursty100]

You'd think so with enough time, but it would probably take more then a single life time

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Yeah with the use of the asset store for visuals, and maybe AI for writing, if you could pause time then a solo dev could possibly make GTA4+

[@dbweb.creative]

Do a video overview on concepts/structure of making a game. What i mean is, for example, I recently realized that it's better to split "Player" from a playable character, even if it's the main character. Player should be its own thing and then sends control commands to whatever character you want. Similarly UI hud should probably also be on a dynamic/separate observer side of things.

[@cogwheelsoftware3581]

Actualy I know small team that is making such a game (similar to gta 1) and it looks pretty cool and is quite big. I think they'll announce it within few months

[@BigDStudios]

I finally figured who your voice reminds me of; The guy from Frozen who had that shop where Ana got her snow clothes from.

[@dam_ly]

Glitchpunk (2021) was made by one dev. It's Cyberpunk Gta but he abandoned it unfortunately.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Looks really cool! Sucks that it was abandoned, I guess they were counting on selling tons of copies in Early Access

[@billyfighter6945]

There's an indie game called Bad Guy Neighborhood which is basically GTA in a small neighborhood. It has a surprising amount of content.

[@youngknight5589]

Fallen Tree Games made American Fugitive and are making The Precinct which are both like gta chinatown wars since its 3D top down. Its made by core team of 5 with contracted work, though they’re experienced developers.

[@StaredownGames]

The Rustler team is also going to the Wild West next. Exciting!

[@youngknight5589]

@@StaredownGames so Top Down Red Dead thats pretty cool

[@StaredownGames]

@@youngknight5589 except parody lol It's called Cowboys and Rustlers, was announced a year ago.

[@youngknight5589]

@@StaredownGames youtuber javidx9 was also teaching how to make a game like GTA 1 tho he stopped the tutorial sadly i was hoping hed continue it was built in his own custom engine

[@aaaaaa8410]

A few years ago I saw a nice GTA 1 clone in a GameJam. Done by four developers in one week. The game had only a few cars, a few missions but was playable and fun. And as mentioned below, Retro City Rampage and Shakedown Hawaii were also done by a single developer. Or look at Hotline Miami. Not exactly a GTA clone but when looking at the overall complexity both games are comparable and Hotline Miami was done by two developers.

[@PaintsAreOp]

Retro City Rampage is awesome! The guy not only did the game almost full solo (he did have artist help with visual design in the late stages of production and hired three musicians), he also created the engine and tools all by himself and ported the game into 14 platforms. That's dedication!

[@PotatoManager420]

The original Bright Memory FPS in Unreal was also made by one person Of course by using available assets

[@suicune2001]

Given how many assets someone can buy, if they were really experienced then they could probably make it. I save all my working code so things like a blind accessible start menu screen is just copy and paste code then make tweaks to suit the game.

[@lanceroygames]

I think people are pretty excited for "Race and Chase 6".

[@imraanakollo-arenz1449]

I'd say it's possible to make a *_very_* barebones GTA clone physically by leveraging things like the asset store, the fancy features of game engines, humble bundles and in some extreme cases, hiring a freelancer on sites like Fiverr to make some of the assets for you. The difficulty comes in with making it good and getting it right like someone in the comments mentioned but also filling it with content and other systems. While driving, combat and a main story exist in GTA, you also have the option to do things like go bowling, eat some food or go see a show or do some side missions. Doing all of that combined with creating content outside of main story and gameplay loops to add to the immersion and making all of that gel well and feel good is what drives it to the level of very improbable.

[@gameplayripper]

yes, it's just lots and lots and lots of content that just add to the actual game, not to mention the quality of it...

[@billlhooo6485]

It could be done but would be a huge pain in the ass. The amount of assets and animation you need to make the world feel alive and coding it would also be hard.

[@jamesmillerjo]

"Can a single man build an Empire State building?" Theoretically it is not forbidden to say 'possible', but there are reasons people trying to stop you.

[@BahaaSoliman]

Using the Asset Store, although it might seem expensive on first glance, will save you YEARS and THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS down the line. I know because I rely on it for my personal development... Synty made me skip YEARS of Blender, to say the least

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Yeah sometimes I see some comments saying that some asset pack is really expensive because it costs $50 and has 200 objects, but if you hire an artist to build that it will cost tens of thousands, definitely a huge time and money saver.

[@BahaaSoliman]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity depends on how serious you are. If you're serious, money won't be an object That's from personal experience

[@St4rdog]

GTA 1 through Vice City could be done by 1 person these days, but indies should avoid "content heavy" games. That is, if you already had the systems/world/graphics completed, it would still take years to make the content (quests, cutscenes, etc).

[@batty251]

Not to mention the carful planning that is the quest and cutscene and story of which does not lead the player down a rabbit hole of which is not in anyway to do with the story or progresses the character development in anyway. The systems and world design can be done my 1 person but what takes years and time is the quests and planning out how it all works together and not just dump it on the player.

[@MxzStudio]

GTA 3 can be done now easyly for people with experience. You can get asset that is almost like gta and just update it and add feature. I'm sure people can do it :P

[@branidev]

There is actually GTA 1/2 style game came out just few days ago called "Maniac" and it doing pretty good i was thinking you gonna talk about it didn't show up on video so game is great success

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

I just saw that one! It's one of the games I selected for my Top New Games of March video. It looks great although I didn't see if it was done by a solo dev but definitely doable!

[@branidev]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity ye small team under 10 people my bad I assumed is solo dev

[@hamzzashaffi]

Reminds me of that offer I got on Fiverr asking me to make GTA 6 with 5 mission and 2 characters for $100.... 😅

[@voodinator]

I thought this would be a cooking channel by now? It was tasty though

[@dreamingacacia]

You could even go as far as making GTA IV or San andreas, but you have to be super precise to nail down the core mechanics before mass producing variety of assets and work on the world design. I mean systems in GTA are not as complex as some indie games. Actually there are already some solo GTA clone projects, though they're buggy and janky, I'd say they've done a good job working alone. But as Code Monkey said, it'd be impossible to match the quality of these games as a solo unless you're using outsource and that's borderline solo.

[@impheris]

you can do it alone (if you have all the skills), i thing, the problem is the time you would spend on it...

[@deviser8274]

I have a question, if I get a freelancer to help me with my game and they use 3D assets from the unity store will I need to purchase those same assets to not breach any terms with unity's licencing?

[@Nathan-zg7eb]

The way I see it I think it is possible to make a game with similar mechanics like GTAV even if the graphics are crappy, with a lot of tutorials there are it makes implementing things like a NPC traffic system, NPCS, Vehicle driving, be possible to make a knockoff game. But to make it have the visuals, audio and dialogue that would be more challenging to a solo dev unless you use AI generated voices and High-quality assets it can be possible to make it look and sound good but would cost a lot and it wouldn't be worth it.

[@kevz_14]

Theres a nice movie(?) about the creation of GTA. The one with Daniel Radcliff

[@Freiheit-XXL]

with the AI techs in the future you can make everything alone.

[@dealtime2774]

My ultimate goal in creating video game is creating Kenshi Medieval game , more greener, with more normal living being like cows, horses. I really like Kenshi but the post apocalyptic desertic mad max environment make me want to make the game more greener.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

That's a great goal although an insane amount of work! It can be done but I would definitely advise you to start with the smallest scope possible and build up from there, otherwise it will take you 10 years to complete like Kenshi heh

[@Sneedstein]

Would you say something like gen 1/2 Pokémon would be harder, since the creature assets are arguably the biggest piece, despite the programming being relatively easy?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

That's a great question! I think yeah Pokemon would be harder in terms of art assets but easier in terms of code, it's mainly just an top down character game with a combat system

[@The_Orgin]

I'm pretty sure the answer to "Can a SOLO Game Dev make Minecraft?" is the same, cause it was initially made by a solo dev. And up to 1.12, it is possible to make it starting now in about 2-3 years? Maybe?

[@user-cb9kp1tx8p]

Could you make a 3rd person game but with the GTA 1 and 2 mechanics?

[@r1pfake521]

There is a huge difference between coding the core systems (game loop) and using these system to fill the game world with actual content. I think many people (including you?) underestimate that part. Can a solo dev write the core game systems for GTA 1-3 -> Yes, I would even say that it is "easy" for any experienced dev, I would even go as far as say that a very experienced solo dev could write the code for all systems (main game loop) of GTA 5 singleplayer mode. Writing each system is "easy", a experienced dev knows how to write a mission / quest system, but can they also come up with tons of interessting quests or a even just a strong good main story? Buying 3d assets is easy, but that doesn't make it easy to use these assets to build a whole big interessting city that players will enjoy to explore. I could continue this argument with every system, but I think you get the point. So unless you "copy" the content (like story and quests, world design, etc.) from an existing game or reduce the scopy drastically, I doubt that a solo dev could make any meaningful GTA3 like game.

[@zhulikkulik]

GTA is all about amount of physical work. It's not that it's too complex, but rather it's a hell lot of stuff put together. Hours of cutscenes, hundreds of possible «scripted» interactions and thousands of tiny things like crushed soda cans and bullet casings, grass and leaves, rocks and whatever. «One» person can easily do it. One person won't ever be able to do it.

[@t.mfootball]

When will you release a new game on steam

[@MarcV_IndieGameDev]

20+ years after GTA 1, one guy can build it. in another 20+ years, one solo dude will be building GTA 5.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

That's certainly an interesting possibility, I wonder if it will come to pass, I can't imagine what the tools will look like in 2035

[@PoiseChoice]

0:17 youd be surprised

[@DigitalCanineGames_]

technically a solo developer can make Gta 6 aswell but it'll take forever

[@Mijastik]

i have a question: I am a professional software developer well kinda i have over 8 years experience with c# and .NET in general and round about 5 years experience working in the industry and aim kinda confused. Is there a big different between software developer/ engineer and game developer? Are one of these 2 paths better in some sort of spaces? I can imagine that a software developer that works in the "normal" industry have a better knowledge in build and designing software architecture and implementing well known patterns that a game dev cuz for what i know is that creating a well-structured software architecture in Unity can be quite challenging.

[@reessoft9416]

If you've used c# then I'm not sure why you're even asking the question. The Unity engine uses c#, so you'd be at home, right from the start. Unreal uses c++, so that's a bit more of a learning curve. I think most engines actually use c++, including frostbite. You don't really have to worry about design patterns for unity, or unit testing. You need performance more than anything, for games, so patterns are an unwanted distraction, that can overcomplicate things, and reduce fps. Even in my "day" job i try to avoid patterns, as they just add another layer of abstraction. Microsoft would have used patterns behind the scenes anyway, when they wrote .Net. Unity is built up from a series of interconnecting scripts that relate to game objects, so the scope to use software architecture is fairly limited anyway. Download unity, and give it a go.

[@cpu_UP]

I doubt. A single developer yes, but you need at least one graphic artist for all graphics. Probably 2. If you can buy the graphics, then yeah, can be done. If you have to do all graphics by yourself it will take years for a solo dev.

[@Shakor77]

Are there really any good AI tools to generate 3D models? 2D definitely but haven't found anything good for 3D.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

There's a bunch that I've seen but the results are still very rough, maybe in 1 year they'll be much better

[@Shakor77]

@@CodeMonkeyUnityYeah agreed. I have been using stable diffusion XL to generate 2D images that are good enough quality to be used in indy games but for 3D we need to still buy those in asset store :/

[@random_precision_software]

Jimmy Vegas was in the middle of a tutorial on GTA. Untill his Brain Exploded !! SORRY JIMMY You know im only messing !!

[@hambonetunes1988]

I was honestly afraid you would say a simple "no". I think a solo dev could realistically make a low res version of GTA even within a reasonable amount of time.

[@wendten2]

i have 5 years of experience I think I could make GTA1 in about two weeks, maybe even less than 1, and thats without using any assets

[@jaymann6463]

I’m a solo dev working on a GTA-style open world free-roam game. I’m gonna start off with a small to medium-sized map, and build onto it as I see fit. There’ll also be tons of weapons and features. I’ll work on it for as long as it takes and never give up. It’ll also be free on Steam when done. All of my future games will be free

[@edupe6185]

How will you make money?

[@jaymann6463]

@@edupe6185 Well, I’m also working on an extreme horror novel that I can sell for a few bucks once it’s finished and published. If I don’t make much money that way, there’s always alot of other ways

[@jaymann6463]

@@edupe6185 So sorry for the very late reply. To answer your question, I won't be making money from the game at all, but I'll make money from doing art on the side

[@emanueltejadacoste2250]

whats the game you put after minute 5:00 ?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

That's Helldivers 1

[@emanueltejadacoste2250]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity thanks

[@VastavPansuriya]

UI Toolkit?

[@hello.4693]

Gta San andreas was so good that you didn't even try to explain it i guess 😂

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

heh yeah there are so many games in the series that I focused mainly on just the numbered ones. Doing San Andreas or Vice City would be similar to GTA3

[@hello.4693]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity No worries there are way too many Gta's like Chaina Town wars etc. But honestly Gta san andreas is probably the most interesting in terms of Developement. Because of its features and possibilities.

[@kawaikami]

if you're a talented and immortal vampire, with a huge amount of time and effort of course you can learn all the stuff hunderds of people did but yeah, it's not realistic if you wanna have a good voice acting, you cannot do these and other visual stuff all alone

[@oghardware4799]

My sibling and I are still learning unity and everything there is to know to make a game, we wanted to try to get a game out for the Octobers next fest, we haven't even started on it yet, think we would have time to get the demo registered on time in like 3 months? I'm trying to think if that might be pushing it but at the same time we like the goal

[@dam_ly]

You could definitely have your demo done in 3 months but it depends on your games scope. You don't need to have a demo finished to register for Next Fest just your steam page.

[@arunachalpradesh399]

mini map gta 5 type game is possible by solo developer though there should be solid knowledge of level designing and game mechanics. now days asset store is flodded with assets like cars, buldings,humans, city builder etc and generative ai is also producing work of 50 people in 5 minutes. but making the mechanics and physics accurate is lot of pain. there are videos of people who made as a hobby , but i wont try it because its time consuming and people who try have lots of free time .

[@user-go7em8wm8l]

Can i make 100+ levels in my game without get any subscription in unity

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Not sure I understand the question, Unity is free until you make $200k so you don't need to subscribe to anything

[@TidaliCreative]

Title: Can a solo dev make GTA? What I wanted to expect: 1 second video of him saying NO, just too random lmao

[@skiez7430]

i was expecting him to make a gta clone

[@TidaliCreative]

@@skiez7430 yeah true

[@Angel-cf9hy]

I've done a game by myself. Big one. Matrix Revolutions Zion Warcry. Have had help to code it, the rest was mine. If I was able, anyone can!!

[@idle.observer]

You have been programming for 25 years? How old are you?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

I'm 35, started writing code when I was 10 making mIRC scripts kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZqvWlIOclLpkjLs

[@idle.observer]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity I'm 27 and started at 20 y.o felt bad now haha

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

That's cool, we all have our individual journeys! For example I only started lifting at the age of 27, I wish I started when I was 20, I would be much stronger nowadays. But no point in worrying about that so I just do the best I can

[@idle.observer]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity thank you for the motivation:)

[@watercat1248]

i know it not the topic on this video but what is you opinion on free to play cosmetic only the game im working now is goin to by PVP multiplayer and the most likely i will selling cosmetic on game store but don't worry the game im working it will not relay one single server wail my game if far for finish I will have plan make several ways to play multiplayer 1. local multiplayer the option to play up 4 player's on single computer 2. lan game to play with other people's that use the same ip 3. online play the option to play with other people online 4. local multiplayer and networking at the same time the idea is you play up 4 player for you computer and you connect online or lan and play with event more players and that's in theory you able to play up to 8 player with 2 computer's the game im working is still early in development and it larg scoop game i will take a wail to be playable however wean this game i will be self hosting the reason i wand my game to be self hosting is for multiple reasons 1. i like the fact that in old multiplayer everyone able to make custom games. 2. i like the fact in older game you have the option to play lan game event if you are not heaving internet. 3. make the game self hosting and having lan game it is great because if something happens and don't able to keep the online room to work and the other online servers people i will able to use the lan game and make the own server's even if the sacrifice the cosmetics and few other small parts for my game.

[@cubeflinger]

Question is will anyone want to play it.

[@jihadrouani5525]

GTA 6's budget is said to be $2 Billion with a B...

[@everythingcouldbesimplify818]

I think it would be smarter to make a game that uses some mechanics of GTA and do something unique and fun with it in a commercial way because cloning it is naive and hard to obtain success from it.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

Yeah a straight clone wouldn't find much success, but an open world top down game with a unique twist could work

[@bioburden]

Are top-down games really that unpopular?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

For the most part yes, it's really tricky to make a successful one. Although there are always exceptions, last month one game called Maniac found a ton of success

[@bioburden]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity Interesting, I can think of quite a few successful ones, but they're most likely outliers as you mention. Also, I do think the target platform is a big one here, ie. certain games just play better on a controller + big TV.

[@sasquatch_devs]

Can a solo dev make a Bully Clone?

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

I've never played it myself but from what I understand it's a game with an intentionally small scope (just inside a school) and it's kind of an RPG right? So yup that sounds doable

[@devinmcgee5130]

10/10

[@MaZyYTube]

Race n Chase 5 xD. I think Stardew Valley Dev isn't skilled much. You can see his code and it looke like a mess. But over years I am sure he gain lots of knowledge to do it better next time. I think also beginners are able to code games like that but the will failure when they want to expand their code or need to scale. This knowledge is missed by all beginners. For instance I worked as freelancer on different games. One is even in steam. I told them it look like a mess it needs more structure or expanding will be too difficult later.. and yeah.. years later they gave up the project because it costs too much because they need more time to fix and make able to add new features. If they had solve or at least think about it at the start I think the game wouldn't be dead.

[@mostlycarbon9576]

Google's auto subtitle says you're a "Cod Monkey" something fishy about that...

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

heh yeah I use the "Audio Transcribe" option in Adobe Premiere to edit the videos and it sometimes says some really strange stuff. These audio tools aren't really suitable for strange accents like mine lol

[@MuchCow9000]

Race and Chase San Andreas

[@D_To_The_J]

Yes they could over a LONG TIME and it will be outdated by the time it is finally released. So not worth it.

[@mayank4156]

GTA 1 should be possible, but the others? Nope.

[@jimmyd4341]

No donation, no salvation

[@TazkoHoZabit]

PC game is like a woman, from certain point it is not about graphics but about playability 😁

[@johnleorid]

I like to answer this with simple math. GTA was made in 5 years with a team of 360 core developers and about 700 additional workers from all around the globe for all kinds of tasks. But let's simplify it. 360 Developers working for 5 years. This means it would take one developer around 1800 years to accomplish the same task.

[@CodeMonkeyUnity]

That's some good math but remember how tools also improve. So for GTA1 it took 30 people * 2 years but now a solo dev could make it in a few months, thanks to how much the tools have improved

[@gameplayripper]

@@CodeMonkeyUnity I think you can definitely make GTA 1 or 2 clone by yourself considering you are a more advanced developer. But still, the scope of the game matters, how long will your game be? Will there be cutscenes? Will you write the dialogues? Anyway, if you are not scoping high your game, I think you can make it. But it still difficult because you have to understand that the game also needs to be polished and feel good. Lots of playtesting, iteration, design decisions and getting it to an end, not working forever on it.

[@user-hy3if4cs2n]

no

[@OriginRow]

Yes. Can Can