Game Dev Failure

[@Duckamoly]

My only game I’ve released on steam was a ‘failure’ but that’s what I was expecting, at no stage did I want to stop. The nuance is good, nice video again.

[@dogma.questlog]

heck yea

[@Dailyfiber_98]

What’s the game called? I’d love to check it out!

[@typing4mylife]

You’ve quickly become one of my favorite devlog/indie game creators on KZbin. As a comic creator with dreams of eventually dabbling in game design your vids give me a lot of encouragement and inspiration.

[@dogma.questlog]

too kind, thank you. That's sick, if you ever eant to share comics I'd check them out!

[@JD-wv1yi]

same

[@thegenesisgame]

same, i love so much his vision of creation

[@zicraftian]

Honestly, I agree that this game has a solid concept, and I also really like the game's simple aesthetic. Overall the game is diamond in the rough. And I absolutely agree with you that there is much more to gain than just profit, some great lessons from you!

[@dogma.questlog]

I appreciate the kind words!

[@RGB-ot1uu]

Thank you, this was a very warm video to watch. I feel energized again to continue my dev boat sailing c: To believe that it’s possible, I’ll keep that in my near memory. I hope you can continue learning, and helping us out too! 🍞

[@dogma.questlog]

glad it was! heck yea. the possible bit is mostly what keeps me going haha

[@edindjc8735]

More indie dev videos please man these are a blast

[@dogma.questlog]

thanks for watching! I'll be putting out some devlogs soon!

[@ThatCarrotFella]

I have release 6 games now. My first one did extremely well as some big youtubers played it and that game me a false sense of what game dev is like. My next 5 games all made around ~$200 each with about 2 months spent on each game. For anyone reading this, advertising is arguable more important than the game itself. IMO, either make your own content, or save up maybe $5k-10k from a job and then sponsor YTbers to play your game. This can push your game and really get the snowball rolling.

[@dogma.questlog]

fair take. I agree the markrting is at least 50% of the battle

[@indiecore-2022]

Fr bro, it's like making a movie

[@RealJesus]

what are your games called?

[@cloudcontrolgames]

Oof the break even on time spent is a tough one to hit compared my day job 😢 Cool video!

[@dogma.questlog]

haha yea I use a much lower base rate than current job positions, so it is very much scaled down but I will eventually increase my estimations if I continue to improve and release better games. Thanks for sharing!

[@ugib8377]

This was a really good video. Thanks for sharing your experience. Very positive outlook and message to your viewers. Which is refreshing in a sea of clickbait, with little actual substance to it.

[@dogma.questlog]

thanks, I appreciate that. Trying my best to be honest and realistic haha. cheers

[@beeast4853]

really insightful video!

[@dogma.questlog]

thank you!

[@iisaacsll]

your videos are super inspiring!!!

[@dogma.questlog]

thank you! glad they can help

[@FBNL]

Great video, thanks for being so candid :)

[@dogma.questlog]

thank you! glad it was insightful

[@SpeakerLive]

Thank you very much, this type of videos are needed on YT. it often happens that the game ends in failure and it is okey

[@dogma.questlog]

ill have to check it out!

[@AlansQuickSave]

super inspiring when it comes to ur mindset towards "failure", it sounds so simple but as long as u continue to release games with that mindset and apply what uve learned from previous games i have no reason to think u'll keep "failing"

[@dogma.questlog]

thanks for commenting, mindset is where it all starts

[@sdkyt6]

Great video - love the transparency! I like the font you used. Was that custom made?

[@dogma.questlog]

thanks for watching! and yea the font is hand written and converted into a font file!

[@thomashamilton1367]

Great video homie, love your content so much

[@dogma.questlog]

thank you!

[@dogma.questlog]

shout out the goat right here

[@dirtyderkus]

As a somewhat new solo dev I have realized how much time NEEDS to go into marketing. I consider marketing a part of development. Good luck going forward!

[@dogma.questlog]

good point, it should be considered part of dev time

[@ultimaxkom8728]

Marketing is not a part of _development_ as it is of _""sales"";_ free included. *Done only if sales matters to you.* While marketability is of _design._ (imo)

[@dogma.questlog]

@@ultimaxkom8728 I agree with this distinction, I'd say Marketing should be treated as part of the development (creation) of a commercial project, commercial being the important qualifier, like you are saying. only if that distinction matters to you.

[@AhmedBenAbdallahDev]

But what defines marketing exactly? I feel like as an indie dev with zero budget, one cannot approach marketing at all because it's ultimately linked to how much money you're willing to fork out, no?

[@dogma.questlog]

@@AhmedBenAbdallahDev There are many ways to do it for less, like collaborating with people, posting your own stuff on socials etc. Even a Kickstarter or something of the sort can work and just takes time. They are definitely small ways, but can help a lot.

[@osamareema3008]

love this video !

[@dogma.questlog]

thank you!

[@BaugipGames]

Great video! Keep going, we're in this together!

[@dogma.questlog]

yo thank you! heck yea

[@Asonc1]

The thing is, i am still in the starting line and my first step got me into a wall I want to create a prototype of a game i have pretty much a good vision of which means i create things from 0 Hit the wall in blender already, but not gonna give up.

[@dogma.questlog]

there will be many walls, you got it, keep going!

[@nogo]

awesome video

[@dogma.questlog]

thank you!

[@1ulicaaNerd]

I ve stopped making youtube devlogs because I put a lot of effort in the vids than actually working on a game, and getting absolutely no views

[@3than0lvideos22]

devlogs not yt videos tho they should give feedback to audience or history of development not to make content

[@dogma.questlog]

yea devlogs can be hit or miss, youtube is an entertainment platform so you do kind of have to play into the algorithm to get it started, I feel ya

[@andre20026]

Your videos use ai voice, sorry but ain't nobody watching that, your videos could be top quality but as soon as you put a robot talking and its not in a short form video it's over

[@1ulicaaNerd]

@@andre20026 that s because im actually romanian, and speaking freely english îs preety hard

[@AhmedBenAbdallahDev]

I understand that feeling 😅 As an African dev I simply cannot make English commentary without a bad accent

[@rotrixgamer1822]

Failure is just another chance to learn of how to do things better, or just differently to what's most fitting. Sometimes is better that your first games have not instant success and you get stuck so that you develop your skills and vision further. Worry not on numbers too much aside for need and focus on following the process and getting to the top of the next mountain

[@dogma.questlog]

100% agree. thanks for sharing

[@Leomerya12]

0:32 It's actually intents and purposes, not intensive purposes. Anyway, as you were.

[@dogma.questlog]

thank you for the clarification

[@mabuza713]

cool video as always.

[@dogma.questlog]

thanks 🙏

[@jamdonut]

nice retrospective

[@dogma.questlog]

thank you for watching!

[@thedeveIoper]

There are many game developers out there, and a lot price their games low on Steam because they feel the quality isn't there. If we don’t believe our games are worth even $10-15, whether due to low quality or a bland gameplay loop, why would a gamer want to buy it? The game will likely get lost in the sea of cheap, lower-quality Steam titles. And if your game is niche, your chances are even slimmer. Even if it’s good, some players may refund if it doesn’t deliver 2+ hours of fun. But financial success isn’t the only measure of achievement. Success can also be finishing a project, hitting the green button in Steamworks, and feeling proud of what you’ve built. Failure only happens when you give up. As long as you keep trying, learning, and improving, you’re still on the path to success.

[@dogma.questlog]

It is interesting pricing a game, the value proposition is tough. Many people get upwards of 20 hours out of a game and still complain if its 8 dollars. they are happy to have a 60 dollar game they can play for life as well, so it's just an interesting problem but you make a good point.

[@motioncache]

New Sub. I have a background in animation but no coding background. It's quite the challenge but I love it. I'll be posting a video hopefully tomorrow on this journey.

[@dogma.questlog]

heck yea, I'll check it out

[@motioncache]

@@dogma.questlog I appreciate it!

[@41ex]

Ngl that beat at 0:50 goes hard, beat name?

[@dogma.questlog]

thanks haha, it's actually a song I made for the game, but I haven't released it anywhere yet. I'll reply to ya again if I ever put it out on youtube, or soundcloud

[@41ex]

@ awesome man haha, please do upload it, I replayed that part of the video like 10 times lol.

[@healky]

The video is nicelydone very entertaining :>

[@dogma.questlog]

yo thank you!

[@Surajkumar-ek7xe]

😮

[@AlfieL2790]

Ive had your phone game from christmas time on my phone and I just think its insane and awesome, I feel as tho having lots of different typa people to pick from would be funny and keep some people playing longer like habing a snake and using its tail to throw the paper airplanes or a crocodile spitting it out or smacking it away causingvit to hit the packages and luggage or the trunk of an elephant I'd like to see a penguin, just habe no idea on the consept or how to make it special you could have an armidilos long tonuge sticking in and out its mouth for them or hegdehog spikes I think having little sonic shoes would be cool and little flimsy danglily arms referencing from slenderman and turning the not very helpful plant into a pee shooter and can upgrade it to a gatling per later on in the game just keep focusing on the typa things you like and how your feeling like living and looking after yourself dude, ohhoh yeshahe and leon kennedys little gun from resident evil 2 and the blue eyes white dragon from yu gi oh, just take your time theres no rush long as your habing funx/x_

[@dogma.questlog]

yo thanks,, great comment, i like the ideas with other animals too!

[@domeen0gt895]

Neat, so that's all the games covered then? Guess now only the devlogs are left to watch out for(unless you do game jam vids).

[@dogma.questlog]

yea, I'll plan on doing more jam vids and devlog stuff soon. I wanted to get these sort of high level learnings vids out. I learn quite a bit from making them too haha. I also want to do some game art / code / sound design etc. crash course videos. Any ideas for what I should cover or do videos about next?

[@domeen0gt895]

@@dogma.questlog May I suggest the evolution of your artstyle from game to game, and how you create your current style?

[@exuld8338]

So are you working on a new project ? Or not yet

[@dogma.questlog]

yea! ive been working on a game called cavern for about the past year

[@omrdmns9590]

How do you not burnout from having a full time job, and working/updating multiple games at the same time?

[@dogma.questlog]

I do continue to burnout, and I have in the past haha. After doing it for a while, I think the important part is to take it slow, and try to have fun with it. Its important to have good other hobbies as well to turn to. I like skateboarding and woodworking, qnd those help me not get burntout, along with seeing friends and family! Dont be too hard on yourself, and when you get burntout, give yourself a bit of tine to reset.

[@thenamelessdev]

Great insight!

[@dogma.questlog]

thanks for watching!

[@Achmat270]

Hello, World! :3

[@louisbenedictbanzuela5187]

where did you design the sprites?

[@dogma.questlog]

I used photoshop for the UI, they are all hand drawn or a combination of basic shapes, and then blender for all of the 3D elements!

[@shaionline]

0:43 hard

[@midvelocity7412]

Frog

[@AJSquirrel53]

I'm pretty sure you're violating Steam's terms of service or whatever by making it more expensive on Steam than other platforms. Maybe mobile doesn't count though...

[@dogma.questlog]

To my knowledge there is nothing in the distribution agreement stating that they need to be the same price since you aren't getting a steam key from mobile (and maybe it wouldn't count because it is different software (built for IOS etc.?)). Steam also doesn't allow in-app purchases which the version of the game on mobile includes, so there is a case to be made it is not the same game, and cannot be the same on both platforms. When you upload a game on steam you grant Steam a license of the game for sale purposes, It was my impression that that license would pertain to a specific version. I've browsed the user agreement, distribution agreement, and the subscriber policy because you brought this up and couldn't find anything literal, I'm no lawyer haha so you could be right. If you find something please point me to what you are mentioning! anywho thanks for sharing!

[@AJSquirrel53]

@@dogma.questlog Ahh makes sense. Thanks for the info!

[@spencerdunn2313]

Bruh what you actually had a full time game dev job?

[@dogma.questlog]

yeaaa, it was for this startup that then went under, but I worked there as a game programmer for a year

[@spencerdunn2313]

@@dogma.questlog damn how'd you get hired? No insult to your skill it's just so hard to find that kind of job

[@dannyd4339]

No offense, but no wonder it failed. It is a cluttered mess. Just a bunch if random crap happening in the screen with no cohesion whatsoever.

[@dogma.questlog]

thansk for the feedback