The 2018 Failure Workshop

In this 2018 GDC workshop, developers Hugh Monahan & Tanya X. Short share stories about failures in their work, giving space for you to celebrate and learn from both the ups and the downs of independent game development.
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[@MichaelZesty]

It makes me happy to see hugh grow and find acceptance, I remember seeing his original talk and feeling how broken he was.

[@countryhat5531]

I definitely agree that the industry, and frankly society as a whole, needs to be more open about failure and about facing difficulty. Thank you both for a great talk!

[@Vederant]

I really like how calm he is during the earthquake.

[@MossSquid]

San Francisco, A city that loves to dance.

[@Jonohobs]

What's the time code for the earthquake?

[@seditt5146]

I ask as well because I seem to has missed the EarthQuake part

[@spencechan]

@@Jonohobs it's just a joke about how the camera was shaking

[@fshiruba]

I was following Brigador very closely when it was early access, even so, I totally missed the launch and found so strange that I could not find any info about the game, one day it simply appeared on my steam suggestions, and I was like "WTF, where were you? Why didn't you tell me you were around?"

[@armintakacs7186]

I like how he adresses this self-conceiving culture of success and the meme built around it in social media. So true, how he sees it.

[@think2086]

♥ Great talk. I'm so glad you put yourself out there like this. We *all* need to hear this. Every single one of us as a human. That Japanese motivational clip actually just made me tear up. I thought I would laugh, but no. Straight to my heart. Will rewatch. Thanks for this.

[@Feriominpia]

28:55 "Failure is part of craftsmanship."

[@nathanhajek9039]

I was going to quote the same thing. So good.

[@afourthfool]

@@nathanhajek9039 I screenshotted it, then found it timestamped down here. *edit: **i.imgur.com/O8iubyN.png*

[@sealer1675]

This line is gold

[@adoxtnw]

I think there never was an indiepocalypse at all. This is just now a regular videogame development thing: hundreds or thousands of developers who think they can make it in the industry but don't have any of the actual experience (both technical, business and marketing) to make it. They just believe they can and that they're doing their best and that they'll be lucky... So it's like a "rite of passage": fail hard, let some years pass, realise you and your team had no idea of what you were getting into, learn from your mistakes and then deciding if you want to go again into it (this time for real), move on to another industry or get into a big, already established studio. It happened to me and yeah, of course I wish I knew aaaaall of the things I know now, but that's just unfair with my past self. The only way of learning, is failing. What the industry should actually do is encourage universities and institutes to lecture future game devs on the very real pitfalls of developing and launching a game. Maybe that way less people would have to end up crashing and burning in order to learn. BTW, my game is Otem's Defiance, and it's still available on Steam. :*

[@ferb1131]

This is business as usual - those who talk about an indiepocalypse are looking at a very short term view, but those of us who made indie games about twenty years ago think things are still better than they have practically ever been! Hardly anyone even used to consider buying games that weren't on sale in a physical shop - now those were difficult times for indie devs, who did nevertheless exist in the past - for example the creators of 'Dizzy' were what would today be called indie devs.

[@WillRobinson]

Basically Steam devs are learning the hard way what it's been like to be a mobile dev for the past 10 years or so.

[@michaelodetola]

Your game looks really good, what happened? It seems like a lack of marketing

[@lucasbonatti1664]

I am in the process of finishing my first game and can already relate to this. Probably the most realistic comment about indie dev I've ever seen, better than any GDC talk.

[@Sarahchamorro]

"It's okay to have a hard time" Damn, so true but so dificult to accept.

[@lunkel8108]

I can't quite put my finger on why, but i find the first guy to be really sympathetic

[@julian1000]

The way he sort of stumbled when he was talking about "having a hard time" made it really clear he dealt with some bad depression following that launch. That shit makes you really feel for your fellow man once you're out of it.

[@2Cerealbox]

He seems like he legitimately suffered and still feels bad about it. He comes across as very human and genuine. He's actually struggling with emotions.

[@DimiArt]

and the lady seemed like a drama queen in comparison (in my opinion)

[@gamongames]

the guy sounds depressed, the lady is cheerful and says clearly she didnt even experiencie burn out and she's the drama queen. oh, the internet...

[@2Cerealbox]

You're literally combining several different opinions from different people in order to come up with a perceived contradiction.

[@doohresarf321]

Two really great speakers in this one!

[@MeRenegade]

Thank you.

[@NuckinFutzCrust]

Watching this video for a class. 14:06. You won me over with harvesting asiatic clams in -10 degrees.

[@simjans7633]

Hugh's voice is really soothing

[@DerDudelino]

Can't imagine how tough launching is. As a tiny indie the press fairly often doesn't care enough to review your game / is too buy with triple-A, so you have an attention problem. And if you launch something giant like Anthem and you don't meet expectations, people will burn you on the interwebs and your private twitter channels. In general I love the level of honesty at GDC where devs speak very candid about mistakes and failures. That's not something we've yet cultivated in game journalism which would be super interesting.

[@Table53]

Well I certainly want to take a look at Brigador now... Guess I'll add it on the 'To Review' list..

[@johanpruys]

Very well spoken!

[@vomisalabs]

His voice and cadence sound like Loius CK.

[@Maarten2142]

Didnt notice it and after reading this I cant not hear XD

[@RSProduxx]

"he who never failed, never tried something new"...

[@PHYTEthePOWAH]

Finally got three friends together to run through Moonhunters. It was a lot of fun and Im jacked for MH2. The concept is great and I think a better MH will be a truly a amazing game.

[@harmonyhoney7115]

Chris DeLeon from Gamkedo asks a question at the end! I recognize that voice haha

[@Ben-uk5qt]

I’ve played moon hunters...

[@TreetopCanopy]

I love Moonhunters now

[@dakotagarcia997]

“There’s other things to help you relax on that” Me: instantly looks at the 1/8th on my desk haha

[@Sparrow420]

;)

[@ludovicmahieu8278]

I've got Moonhunter with Humble Bundle, I think it's great, cool, indie game. Anyway, I've enjoyed it :)

[@evtikarina]

dude looks like he might ask me "if i tried turning it off and on again" any second

[@idklol4197]

i didnt know louie ck was a game developer

[@RonanSmithUK]

27:34 .. does that guy in the glasses ever smile?

[@D4n3l0]

Instantly downloading Brigador (as i already have it purchased through Humble hah)

[@greatachieversgatransforma3535]

It is a Good One Impressive, Inspiring and Motivational. The only Nausance in your Speech ar Many AAs which is against the Skills of Communication. If You can Take ove the habit AAs it will be more effective.

[@SiGhast]

Brigador looks fan-fucking-tastic.

[@FullBitGamer]

SiGhast Brigador is a very fun game, in short bursts. If you ever played or enjoyed the old top down Mechwarrior 3050 on SNES. It's a lot like that game, only with modern systems. Pure underrated excellence. I got my copy though humble bundle, but after playing it, I would gladly have bought the game.

[@dniliveact]

💯

[@carltonbauheimer]

Keep tank controls in Brigador Killers.

[@monopoly2170]

Anyone have a link to the Never Give Up fisherman?

[@taker3d]

You can find the clip by searching "Shuzo Matsuoka" on KZbin. I didn't know his meme is popular for westerns too.

[@monopoly2170]

@@taker3d this video was the first I'd seen it, but I like it!

[@VictorQianYT]

Why Brigador is considerate as a failure? it has 95+% positive review on steam. Just because of the sales?

[@Eatmykum]

It was re-released 2 times. Mentioned multiple times in the talk.

[@frostyfingers9282]

I have a game on Steam with 100% positive reviews. This is nice, but to this day I haven't yet made $200 on it (and it came out 2 years ago). Am I hugely successful, do you think?

[@42Lailoken]

@@frostyfingers9282 ok I'll bite. What's the game?

[@rhuugh6438]

damn that's some salty wiseness that lady gained

[@victorrubinstein1675]

the first guy reminds me of Louie CK somehow

[@tiemx2039]

if your game advertises online multiplayer, that's a selling point wether you realize it or not... can't just sweep it under the rug and label it "beta" when it's more like pre-alpha server stress test

[@SpanishVanguardia]

am I hearing mark brown at 14:44?

[@slowbro13215]

Different accent

[@HiHi-iu8gf]

Lotsa hatin' on the Kitfox lady in the lower end of the comments lol I think the thing people aren't liking is the contrast between the first guy and her, cus the first guy has a personality and demeanour real likable, especially to the less extroverted audience, which gamers and programmers, assumedly the majority of the viewers of people watching this video, typically are (that's not to say gamers are exclusively introverted, but you get where I'm goin' yeah). Kitfox lady (don't remember either of their names, can't be bothered to check lol) on the other hand is very much so on the more extroverted side, which is a personality trait I do notice can be found overbearing at times, especially to the aforementioned demographic. For the record, I personally prefer the first guy too, but don't have a problem with Kitfox lady either. The main issue people seem to have with her is that she's really cheery, whereas the other guy talked about how shitty he felt in an appropriately downbeat manner. This comes with not only the personalities of the speakers but also the topic of their speeches. There's a distinction between the presentation of the topic in the first and second talks, in that the former was presented as flat-out failure, whereas the latter was more discussed as a mistake which resulted in less than expected success. Both were undoubted 'failures', but the first was presented as much more so. Kitfox lady also spoke almost facetiously at times, another trait which I find some people can find overbearing, or can send the wrong signals. A few other issues I saw people having; that she was making excuses and not giving any actual tips, which just isn't true, they just might not apply universally (as almost all tips won't, but these in particular, her being proud of her production skills, which isn't an immensely common trait. That doesn't make her tips not worth spreading though, for whoever they may assist, few or many). She literally had those incremental slides pointing out the tips. Overall, basically explaining to not get too caught up in rushing out a game before it's ready. I also saw the comment of her just not seeming very nice, which tbh I think is a result of just an unfortunate resting face. "Resting bitch face" sounds ruder than I intend, but you get where I'm going for. People saying she looks scornful or smug, particularly during the Q&A when the guy is talking. I definitely got those vibes too, but from past experience with people with similar tendencies and looking at just her facial structure, she looks more like she's just zoning out, or is thinking about something.

[@skreutzer]

2:02 You can decide to only engage in things that can't fail to make incremental improvement, with a lean, non-risky, no or small investment strategy.

[@plum_swf]

a succinct comment, and very helpful. Thank You.

[@b152349]

That's one method of risk management but failing slowly over time is still failing.

[@thomasmcmichael4001]

Hello from Illinois.

[@TheBurnedGamers]

Man, that first guy sounds like Morty's dad

[@skaermf]

boyfriend dungeon is a very good name

[@TheCivildecay]

sounds like a abusive relationship to me ;)

[@user-li2zq3wf9u]

Platypus

[@susch7466]

UUUHHHHHMMM

[@afourthfool]

First guy sounds like Ash Ketchum

[@FatheredPuma81]

43:10 RIP

[@dannyruggles7020]

once you notice the "uhhs" and"umms".. you cant unhear it

[@cerebralm]

to be fair to him, he does have very good sounding "uhhs"

[@TikiShootah]

I guess it hard for me to understand how a isometric game took 5 years to make. I don't know of Hugh or his games, but just looking from the outside in. Alot of it could have been issue related to time/resource management. I would rather fail/succeed on smaller projects, then to dump all of my effort into my Magnum Opus of a first game.

[@WillRobinson]

Destructability is a HUGE timesink. It's not particularly easy to implement in the first place, but the real monster with it is the 80 million edge cases it introduces; miss one and the whole thing looks ridiculous.

[@kryvian]

did the cameraman forget the tripod; or was it nicked? cause boi he does NOT have a steady hand; PS: to editor dude, you are already splicing 2 video feeds, put a bit of extra time and throw on a stabilizer when cameradudue debuts as a tripod as well

[@dago6410]

Is it normal, that i feel like he is cool and nice person, and she is not, BECAUSE he is sad and on a verge of breaking up and she is so cheerfull and i feell like i hate her for that immidiately?

[@Mixppmix]

same here

[@arnobirner8153]

No, it is not normal. Why dislike her for being cheerful, it is not as anybody had died? I found her to be very openhearted and tru(e)ly (too lazy for dictionary) conveying her experience.

[@Mixppmix]

I would not be able to work with this girl. Her drama attitude would kill me.

[@oels9507]

Plus vocal fry and uptalking

[@aminthemar]

The girl is here tu justify their failure rather than giving notes about not repeating their mistakes.

[@DudeWatIsThis]

I'm so happy that the Brigador guys managed to pull through. They've even surpassed that other fat whale's game in terms of sales now. It wasn't the case when I saw this workshop a couple years ago. Thanks Mandalore!

[@amostake]

Back in 2001, I was a beta tester for a game, and it was given to me for free. Absolutely free, and it was buggy as crap. But I simply reported the bugs. Now they want people to pay for early access, and beta, and pre-release games. if I have to pay money for it, then I'm going to write a review for it. So you had better make sure you software works. You have it with limited content. That's fine. If you have a great game, in 'beta' that works fine, but only has one hour of content, I'll give you a good review. But if I pay money, and your game crashes over and over, yeah that's a bad game, and it will get a bad review. Don't make me pay for crap. If I have to pay for it, it had better work.

[@elenavid5222]

Tanya is more optimistic and brave in my opinion.