How To PLAN your Game as a Solo Developer

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[@uheartbeast]

Here is the substack post: heartgamedev.substack.com/p/production-point Here is the book: courses.heartgamedev.com/p/my-downloadable-87616?coupon_code=KZbin_REF

[@KryyssTV]

Nintendo actually uses this exact approach for most of their in-house games. They have teams who just develop game systems with no planned products to use them. When they come across something fun then the senior staff decide what franchise would make best use of that gameplay, then the product is developed around those systems. This approach seems to be the legacy of when Nintendo was a toy company as that industry does a lot of prototyping for toy concepts and the best are chosen to go into production. This method is why we have Splatoon. If you ever watched documentaries on its development you'll discover that the senior Nintendo folks loved the prototype but didn't feel that it fit with anything like Mario, Zelda, Metroid or any IP they had. But rather than discard it, they created an all new IP built around the gameplay - and so the Squidlings were born.

[@Donzy213]

That is... legitimately interesting. I think this is why feel some game franchises can do with some "unguided" experimentation. A little time to play around with some ideas. Though I imagine that that can get expensive.

[@KryyssTV]

@@Donzy213 Not as expensive as starting with the idea for a game, then building systems around the idea before realising too late that the idea worked better on paper than in practice. Start with systems and build the idea around that gameplay. Quite often I've seen gameplay problems occur with clear solutions but the creators avoid those solutions because they don't fit within the aesthetic of their game idea.

[@Donzy213]

@@KryyssTV yeah I can see that. I remember when I was working on a stealth game for an online Videogame development course it was difficult for me to conceptualize the game without the characters, graphics etc. But that was the point: working out the mechanics on paper can be an important exercise. Something that was reinforce in my Computer methodology class.

[@adithya260]

Exactly i find that really fascinating a big reason why Nintendo games can be so fun and deep at the same time is because they approach gameplay first and how it feels. If it dosent pass that stage then they dont even bother they build an entire game with those mechanics rather than coming up with a story point and having to jam gameplay alongside it.

[@revimfadli4666]

That explains the diverse mechanics in Mario spinoffs

[@thomrade]

This is a really smart take on project management. A lot of people get bogged down for example, in fine tuning graphics and content really early on, when they could drop in some ms-paint placeholders and focus on getting the mechanics done. Thats especially common in the RPG maker community, you can build an entire game with the standard assets and come back later and replace and refine them as needed. I really nenjoyed this video, would love to see more like this!

[@atlantic_love]

What types of games could you put ms-paint placeholders in early in the process?

[@Zoyous]

@@atlantic_love Usually any type of 2D games. The equivalent for 3D games would be something like "grey box" levels where you mostly use untextured cubes to rough in the level layout, check sightlines, and work out how to direct the player's progression through the map.

[@atlantic_love]

@@Zoyous Okay, so most serious game development wouldn't include putting in ms-paint placeholders?

[@timezonelafontaine4987]

@@atlantic_love Are you implying that 2D games aren't "serious game development"? Or no serious developer would use MS Paint? If you're a solo developer and you're prototyping a 2D game, MS Paint is a perfectly adequate tool to use for placeholder art that doesn't cost $50/month like Photoshop.

[@DexFire1115]

@@timezonelafontaine4987 They aren’t serious. If I’m being honest, neither are 3D games. 4D games are adequate enough I suppose, but 5D is where it’s at.

[@erikahlundhelguera]

I decide to make an arpg game using Godot, HeartBeast starts his arpg series literally the day after I begin. I get unmotivated, a few days later HeartBeast has a video about him feeling unmotivated and how he deals with that. I take a break and start thinking about how to manage my time and the project in general. Again, LITERALLY the day after, HeartBeast posts a video about it on youtube... Are you in my head or what? I swear if I ever finish the game it'll be thanks to you

[@IcedCub]

Did u finish it?

[@ghaydn]

I think, very important thing in solo developing is change of activity. When I code day after day, at some moment I get tired and my productivity is declining. At that moment I need to switch to writing music or drawing graphics. If I don't do that (like, I cannot draw graphics when I don't know where to use it), I won't be able to get any progress and will abandon the game for several months. That's not what I want, so it's important to always have possibility to switch between prototyping and production. It is sometimes very hard to finish something, if it is big enough. Not hard or complicated, just big.

[@alpack2027]

wow thats clever when i was doing some coding later i was just drawing characters, background and never returned to it sadly

[@atlantic_love]

I second the activity changing, but what destroyed any chance of me becoming a software developer is that I have multiple interests (fine art painting, programming) and I would switch back and forth between those. Obviously when you switch back and forth between a text editor and an easel it is very difficult to get back in that frame of mind again.

[@Unelith]

@@atlantic_love I'm a bit similar, I cannot stick to anything, it just stops being enjoyable for me, and I only began any of my projects because I really felt a strong compulsion to do so. If there is no more enjoyment, I just won't do it. Sometimes I even start working on yet another idea I have while 100% aware that I'm gonna just work on it for 2 weeks and drop it afterwards

[@MichaelCoorlim]

@@atlantic_love I'm the same way, and I juggle multiple projects of multiple sorts all day long. What works for me is dividing the day up into two hour blocks devoted to specific tasks - long enough to get into that 'flow' but not long enough to get tired - and then switch. So from, say, 8am to 10am I'm writing a novel, from 10am to noon I'll be coding, take a break for lunch, then from 1pm to 3pm I'll be doing pixel art, then 3pm to 5pm maybe I'm doing marketing or working on a different project or doing some video editing. Keeps me busy, keeps me fresh, keeps me productive. (I've also tried breaking things up *weekly* - like project A on Monday and Wednesday, B on Tuesday and Thursday, bookkeeping/marketing/blogging on Friday, but this has seen mixed results.) The key is scheduling and being flexible enough to adjust when needed.

[@pamparam3495]

Yeah that's reasonable, I'm trying to regularly switch between coding and modeling/texturing

[@cool.guy.]

One critique I want to make and that you should address is, as a fellow solo developer, it’s really important for me to break up the monotony, working too long on systems or content production can really be draining mentally. On the other hand, alternating between content production and systems can really be fulfilling once you get into a sustainable rhythm. I feel like the most important aspect of making games, especially if you haven’t released any commercial games yet, is fostering your motivation and creative drive. If you are not fulfilled with your current project it is often too easy to switch to another project. Take this with a grain of salt tho as I’ve only released my first commercial game last year haha

[@nyscersul42]

Agreed.

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Same way and I've been Youtubing for 9 years with 6k+ videos and 1.6k subs,Writing novels for 2 years with 1 released, been doing arts and TT/Video game dev for 1 year and music writing for a few monrths... Jumping between by works when I get bored of one, works great!

[@vast634]

Really important: keeping files, assets, code-examples, design docs and workflow-steps etc organized. Projects often run into a complexity trap, where adding a new system or mechanic is exponentially more complex than in the early prototyping phase, simply because there are so much more files and dependencies to regard, a much larger codebase and unclear workflow in the asset pipeline.

[@siidaf]

I find this approach very useful phase 1: experiment and find a solid and fun "game loop". phase 2: complete levels, graphics, music, fix bugs, etc... Thank you

[@pigdev]

Awesome content Ben! Regarding the "when to switch to production phase", had you read Sprint? The Google's book about prototyping? There they mention something that really stuck to my head: - Each prototype should answer questions that must be known by the time of the actual production Things like "how players react to X mechanism" or "which GUI is more intuitive". So I think that when you have these important questions answered with a prototype, it's time for production

[@uheartbeast]

Yeah, it's about removing uncertainty. If a developer is really new to making games they should combine all those small sprints into a completed experience before moving to production because even the act of putting it all together may cause large issues for a new developer. If they have experience with stuff like that they may not need to. I've also come to the conclusion that calling phase 1 the prototyping phase is bad, it makes people assume that the phase is about making a prototype, but it's not, it's about making several prototypes and finding one that has removed nearly all the uncertainty. I think a common issue (one I've experienced myself) is committing way too soon to production when there are still large areas of uncertainty.

[@pustota7254]

Your comment got liked 69 times.

[@GnRGaming]

One thing that really helps you learn proper planning of a solo project is to participate in game jams. You have limited time to get everything done, so in order to finish on time you have to learn really fast what's gonna help you progress & what's gonna slow you down. And when you're done with the jam, you can keep working on the project using the same methodology applied to a longer period of time.

[@lewiji]

Game jams definitely help you manage scope and decide what's important and what isn't, what can be cut and what the core features are vs nice to haves, that's a reaaaaally useful skill for a solo gamedev. That said, planning and executing over a long period of time (months, years... decades?) is a whole other skill. They compliment each other.

[@julio1148]

Shoutout to the book “algorithms to live by,” you’ll get nuggets of wisdom like that (like the multi arm bandit problem). Definitely worth your time to anyone interested. Audiobook is great too.

[@apoxfox]

I feel like the first indicator that you’re ready for the production phase is when the prototyping slope reaches its limits. I can get caught up polishing my prototypes “game feel” forever, so I think that’s probably the first hint that it’s time to move on

[@VerdantROBLOX]

What do you mean propping slope?

[@Inanedata]

​@@VerdantROBLOXidk, but most likely it's a diminishing returns kind of thing, where after working on the prototype for so long the changes and benefits are smaller and smaller over time.

[@samuellotz8304]

The scope aspect was particularly insightful, thank you.

[@sweet_dijon]

Your videos are so great, man. They inspired me to start my solo-dev journey and they continue to inspire me. Thanks for all you do, looking forward to your stuff coming out!

[@rogueagency7714]

Such a boss I resonate with everything in this especially that superposition stage. Thanks Benjamin, can't wait for more on this as a solo dev very insightful, and clearly experienced based insights you're sharing.

[@defomort]

wow, what a perfectly concise and helpful video. understanding where to put your energies at every stage is most of the battle but the way you explained it makes it seem intuitive.

[@jj-qq8dg]

This is really helpful. Thank you for clearing up my mind. I love the point about being playful with the prototype phase, sometimes I really spread myself thin by aiming for polish when prototyping.

[@reyhax7132]

Great video! I never looked at development this way but it makes so much sense. I've had moments where I'll be making content along side a system causing me to go back and forth and not getting much progress done. The distinct attitudes to have for prototype and production that you mentioned make having consistent progress attainable. Thanks for sharing!

[@NullMello]

Thanks for this video! Definitely looking forward to anything else you release on project management as a solo dev or small team. I'm always trying to plan better mainly cuz when I'm unorganized I've noticed I lose a lot motivation in my projects. In fact, your point to separate the 2 focuses (prototype v prod) is really useful. Can't wait for the next vid!

[@ryan.j113]

This video so perfectly describes thw issues I've been having with the development process. I can't wait to apply this. Great video.

[@HadiLePanda]

I really enjoyed the presentation and clear explanation of this concept. I find it very useful to clearly see the line between both the prototyping and production phases :) Thank you.

[@mindrunegames6658]

It's great to see you here 😀. This is an amazing advice on management, and I'll probably apply this to my game development process (solo dev here). And I would definitely buy this book. Thanks!

[@nturceni2172]

This video was extremely helpful! Also looking forward to checking out your book. Thank you

[@daka.notatp]

MASSIVE value, thank you for debbunking the thinking process

[@cjwang1121]

This is by far the best solo dev suggestion video! Thank you

[@javanaguirre4425]

Thank you so, sooo much. I've been looking for a video like this for a while now and this is the most helpful! 😢

[@notthenine2780]

Absolutely incredible video. I have struggled in this exact point during game development and was unable to articulate why and how to fix it but I believe that this video has just done that.

[@TackerTacker]

Thanks for clearing up in my face attic. I was already doing most of this intuitively, but more in a jumbled messy way, really great to see it all clearly laid out like that. That should really help.

[@HexonineGames]

Thank you for the great information. It is great that you are using project management methodologies while maintaining a simplistic explanation.

[@lochrowley9997]

Really great video man, I've been watching you since your RTS tutorial. Keep up the great work!

[@gaudenzin]

I really liked your explanations, and it was all very relevant to my own experience going solo. very well done

[@hawkgamedev]

I can thank you for this enough, the amount of hours and headaches you just saved me is unimaginable.

[@opti12]

Very interesting to hear your perspective and approach to this, it seems effective and attempts to eliminate most problems, thanks!

[@nomad7317]

No one could have done this better. This is really helpful! Thank you so much!

[@swessdev9561]

Awesome content! Very well explained, concise and applicable. Good work!

[@Macalaka]

This is a great video, helped me realise that I'm in the prototyping phase on my project and dipping into production a bit too much. It seems much clearer how I should manage it now, thanks very much! :D

[@RobSeib]

Absolutely fantastic & practical method, thanks for sharing!

[@etdenever4944]

11:14 that startled me when you mentioned rpg maker, i picked your video to take notes on specifically bc a friend recommended them to me but i was feeling a little lost on where to start! thank you for making this video i feel a bit more confident now

[@JohnMitchellCalif]

love the talk and the graphics! Subscribed

[@themathmoth7393]

This is genuinely fantastic.

[@jamesgracia8643]

Such fun comprehensible content! Thank you :)

[@SinfulCreature]

As a learning solodev with a bad habit for leaving or forgetting projects, starting a new project... this video has helped me think about prioritising what I need to focus on and what can be done later in development Thanks for keeping the gears in my head turning!

[@Ivorforce]

This is solid advice! You know a solution is valuable when after you heard it, it seems obvious. I have previously experienced similar problems and come up with similar solutions, but you put it down very concisely and clearly!

[@SuperJohnsmith]

I naturally discovered this approach in working on my latest project. This video has confirmed I'm on the right track with how I'm tackling things.

[@ErwinTheEmperor1]

Good timing! :) Thanks for this video

[@HYPERMUSH64]

Great observations about game design, but also project management in general!

[@TaraRaeDev]

This is sooooo good!!! 🌟 Thank you! A huge trap that I fall into is making more content when the game isn't fun enough.

[@Spada676]

Great video. Congratulations. I will use this from now on

[@b4ph0m3tdk9]

This is pure gold, thank you!

[@JoeTaber]

The comparison between work modes expressed as exponential vs linear effort/reward is wonderful. Even a large long-term project could benefit from clearly transitioning between these prototyping/production modes at a regular interval.

[@tryptamigo]

this is really well thought out. great advice

[@unityvelop2763]

This has been a huge battle for me in every single project. I don't know how to create a good plan to follow either. I get inspired and jump straight to coding it which is fun until it's not lol and not the right way to go about it from a business standpoint. I was just last week able to identify why all my projects stop and this was it. This and separating classes and systems with good communication between them. Great video hope you and the family are well.

[@The_Omega]

As someone looking to test their capabilities and not being sure where to start this video is really helpful as overview for a clearer start point and progressive goals, very helpful, thank you!

[@madpinger]

Thanks for making the video, it was useful and I look forward to you flushing it out to even the extent of a book.

[@tissueinu]

Thanks so much for this video. Project management is a very complex discipline. After investigating several approaches none seem to really fit with the process of solo game development. Agile for example has been tremendously hard to apply because of the months and months of no "releases" as such. It was about time someone took a good look at how to better organize this type of workflow. I would be very interested in a book if you decide to write it!

[@splinefox]

It's great that you bring up such an important topic, thank you!

[@uheartbeast]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ExploreGameDev]

Very interesting concepts. I notice myself shifting between the two styles of working described here. Getting more clarity on properly allocating time spent in those phases (as you’ve summarized here), is really helpful. A book on the subject would be great. Also, Really like the style of this video. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

[@Smartcoughdrop]

A lot of good info, I have struggles with balancing workflow, and it's nice to have it broken down into a simpler process.

[@b-l1969]

This is really amazing stuff. Thanks for thinking something like that through, I think you gave me something I didn’t even I know I needed!

[@uheartbeast]

Glad I could help!

[@AugoER]

Love this video. It made things a bit more clear for me

[@thygrrr]

Wow, this was super insightful!

[@jamesbogart3334]

Wow, I was just describing the "super position" feeling to a friend earlier this week. You really helped me diagnose why I was in that state, and what design issues I was having.

[@thinktanium9789]

this is phenomenal, thank you

[@RobertDoman]

Absolutely amazing and helpful video!

[@jyeo5556]

Great video! For the planning phase, I think it's good to focus on locking down the key and bare minimum features for the game's core loop.

[@Wrathgir]

OMG this helped me out quite a bit. I am really new to making any games that I wanted to bring out, but I needed to figure out how to actually start. I have been in the stuck for many many years on this game unsure where to start and what all to do. Though I did figure out more of the story aspect while in this phase. I did figure out a few things I wanted to do with it, but it is still a very much WIP at this point. Someday I want to see my game out, but it will be a good while since I am working on the story and everything myself. Thank you for making this video. I will try doing my best to set myself a deadline for things to be finished so I feel a bit more organized with it.

[@DillonDev]

This was awesome, thankyou!

[@FireManiac58]

This is quite helpful. I think I’m gonna try and mess around with different game mechanics and try to find something fun and then build an idea onto that game mechanic

[@ThamGameDevs]

This is so valuable thank you !

[@kalleskit]

Absolutely loved this.

[@TelesphorosGAMEDEV]

I appreciate the video, I was just wondering how the heck to start and this really helps put everything in perspective. Cheers, Tele

[@keymaster16]

needed this thanks. subbed.

[@PaulHockerOnEarth]

Great Video! I already have some takeaway that I will try to use in my next project. I think a book on this would be very helpful.

[@davidmcbride5357]

People doesn't understand the importance of methods and ways of working! Thanks for helping people.

[@pythonxz]

I really like the Valve process which mirrors a lot from this video. They put emphasis on play testing early and often.

[@shallowdive]

Thanks for a video. Your videos can support. They are insightful and your attitude is stoic. Although I was conscious about prototype / polish phases, in the retrospect I fell for the trap in the last year, polishing features that are then thrown away. On the topic: during the prototyping those exploration paths that are most uncertain must be explored first, I think. In a sense there can be a value metric to choose the next task - in the exploration phase it may be positively dependent on the uncertainty. In the exploitation phase I find it convenient to use some kind of agile methodology with frequent releases. So the most important tasks requiring the least effort should be done first. I don't follow a strict plan or timed sprints, but toss around tasks to make a release as soon as possible having the least possible amount of features. Thanks again.

[@asphegames]

Enjoyed the video. It's a simple idea once it's understood. I related to the issues brought up about not having a defined separation between prototyping and production.

[@BitTinker]

best greeting ever "wherever and whenever you are" 😄 Nice content too.

[@StepBaum]

Really well done video und breakdown :)

[@landnavgame2160]

This is very useful. Thanks. one thing I might add from my experience as solo developer is that in prototype phase you may also need to prototype your production pipeline. Depending on the sort of art assets you are using, it may be a serious endevaour to figure out how or if you'll be able to produce the content you need, and so you need to actually go through the process of making that stuff to ensure you'll be able to survive the production phase. And so if you have to do a bit of that, then you sort of end up making a vertical slice by the end of your prototype phase - that is, you have a good bit of "finished" art ready, anyway. Obviously it depends on your games art needs. If you are relying on bought assets and wont need to make things on your own, you probably wont have to spend time validating production pipeline liek this.

[@weakvar]

Brilliant video, thanks a lot!

[@garrettwidner8199]

Thank you, this was a fantastic and useful video. Thanks for sharing it with us!

[@uheartbeast]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@RastinPlay]

Thanks. That was awesome. I will buy the book.

[@usarian]

REALLY great info. I'm a self taught database developer who moonlights picking up gigs on upwork, and I just don't have any training with managing projects at all. I've been doing it by the seat of my pants for 20 years, but I recently landed a bigger contract and I'm drowning in managing it to the point where every time I sit down with it I just stare at the screen not knowing what to do next. Your concepts are applicable to general programming. I can kind of cross apply most of this, but I would love to see another video where you abstract this out and maybe even talk about tools that help you manage everything.

[@RayFlowerGames]

Excellent advice and with the experience I've gained working on my own game the past 1.5 years, getting advice from mentors while working on it and even doing a 180 spin on the development of the project, I can say this is well-rounded and solid advice that is very helpful. One point I'd like to illustrate more on is game "feel". The game you make should still feel good in the prototyping phase, (if its not thats a problem) and there are some smart ways to add game feel that is very lightweight and doesn't slow down the iteration speed. These are things like screenshake, squashing and stretching of sprites, rotations, simple movement, lerps, hit-effects, flashing, transparency, etc., which are super simple effects which can be copy-pasted to just about everything else in the game to make it "feel" better and give proper feedback to the player (as well as other feedback systems like the blood splatter you said). This is important because this allows you as the developer to actually see if what you have is fun or not -- and a lot of fun is usually derived from the effects and feedback of the game. During prototyping, you only need these simple quick effects. During production, the game feel can be expanded upon with full effects, animations, art, permanence and whatever else is required to fully flush it out that typically take a lot more time to make. These are things like the specific texture of the blood splatter like you said, detailed unique animations per entity, particle effects, etc. Anything that can't easily be copy-pasted to other objects and/or takes a lot of time to make.

[@danielrosedale1543]

Amazing video, very helpful.

[@green_gecko]

well explained, with all to-the-pint stuff that makes sense. Great.

[@nixel1324]

Thanks for making me better at the Pokemon Game Corner with that slot machine intro.

[@SandyGarnelle]

Treat your project the way you make a cake - even a virtual one Create a base - the biscuit, the bread - the base of your gameplay Then create fillings - cream and jam and stuff - add your personal touch to it Then coat it in icing smoothing out the surface - make it all work Then decorate it - and only then add flishy-flashies like sound design, music, effects, polish out the graphics and what not

[@yuriyzvirblis5327]

Thank you very much! this is very inspiring.

[@vimukthikulasekara2109]

Thanks man really appriciate this🔥😍

Wow, this is exactly what I was looking for. I'm graduated in Game Design, but there we used to create games in groups. They haven't teach any solo game dev methodologies, strategies, frameworks, etc. Thanks very much for this video! Subscribed to your channel.

[@uheartbeast]

Thank you! Welcome to the channel :)

[@SebLeCaribou]

Excellent deliniation. I might add that, as boring as they can be to create and to use, unit test can be life savers for the prototyping phase and the transition from prototyping to production. With tests that make sure that the systems in place are working fine, you can catch very early on when you are building something that breaks the rest of your systems on a code level. Say you are creating a LootDrop system that goes on top of a damage dealer for enemies, and you somehow messed up something, it might take a while to see that you messed up, especially when testing just for fun you might be focusing on the feature you are building. With unit testing you just see the gauge go red and say "yep, something's wrong, I might want to do that differently". Oh and version your project for the love of you! Make feature branches for the prototyping and merge into dev or main when it's polished enough (and when it passes all of your unit tests ;) ) You'll feel even more free to go bonkers if you know you can just switch branch to go back to the clean project.

[@kennethkline7702]

I definitely go back-and-forth between these phases.

[@1gnore_me.]

amazing video. thank you so much

[@Fangamer1254]

Thank you for this video.

[@Pengoony]

Your "How to scope" section alone has solved the problems I always faced planning projects

[@oDinodyr]

This approach is perfect to me, when I saw the first question in the faq section I realized how to separate prototyping and production in my game, which is a roguelike, so is quite hard to leave the first phase. Great video as always! I've been into Godot watching your action rpg tutorial and never left it since, I'm very grateful for your content!

[@BlortNet]

The exponential graph for Systems and Mechanics. Wow, thanks for pointing that out

[@lordhn6699]

thats some real project management gold here, have never thought about that yet