The MUST Follow Roadmap For ALL Solo Developers

[@dev-worm]

Hoping This Video was Informative!! The first 500 people to use my link skl.sh/devworm10241 will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare premium!

[@FlipperDumm]

amazing video as always :D

[@Itiswhatitisman-ru8dv]

13:45 I might have mocks tomorrow but i sure ain't missing the finial product

[@Lowwaels]

man you saved a lot of solo dav thanks

[@developergd-y5r]

Making a separate project for each feature without worrying how they would communicate or connect sounds exactly like what I need to stop overthinking and developing horizontally, so I can develop faster. Thanks for the advice!

[@dev-worm]

exactly the reason I do it lol!! it makes things so much less complicated!

[@danm3573]

I have to say I 100% agree with everything stated in the video except for 'make copies' at 7:00 You should take the time to learn how to use a VCS software like Plastic, Perforce, Github, etc and regularly check in updates to that. It will really help you stay organized and to roll back changes if something breaks.

[@baldycoder]

06:55 use git, use git, use git please. With branches for separate features ofcourse.

[@dabbi774]

yes, I was going to comment that

[@dantegarcia9227]

Yeah I was going to say that, it also is useful in the first stage of creating different projects... you could do one project, 1 branch per feature and then merge them together

[@gustavokupcevich7895]

I too was going to say that, or at least use some other version control system.

[@dev-worm]

very very very good point! thank you for mentioning that!

[@m21-cerutti]

Same, Git, SVN, Perforce, PlasticSCM, whatever x). So much more reliable than game copy. (But keeping build can be interesting too to compare versions)

[@fastest_mia]

Not sure if I missed it but I definitely recommend creating a git repository for your project ASAP in addition to doing manual backup copies. Using branches especially can be incredibly helpful for organising features as well as creating pseudo backups you can quickly revert your dev branch to if you mess something up.

[@joaovitorgutkoskipaes1850]

You missed nothing. He didn't talk about git

[@XGazudin]

He said to make actual copies of your project regularly. I almost couldn't believe my eyes and ears. Like... What?

[@lout160]

Immediately when i complete a task, I save changes to the repo. As a beginner, it's extremely useful to just discard changes if I royally screw something up or don't like the changes I've made.

[@somebodystupid837]

@@XGazudin Yeah that even exists in godot

[@jeux1d100]

You’re one of the best worms on the internet, thanks.

[@dev-worm]

awee so sweet! thank you!

[@flipa62]

Hi dev worm 🪱. Nice videos I have just come across your channel. Am not leaving. Nice content

[@flipa62]

Bruh your channel description. I know this is the right place. Godot is the best. And game dev is my favourite hobbie. Though am still a noob, for now

[@jak3legacy]

This is my first time anywhere hearing I need to make entirely different prototype projects for each system and I am absolutely not doing that 😅😂

[@marcdel_]

this is what i’m doing 🤷🏻‍♂️ small tech demos focused on different systems/mechanics i want to learn.

[@lHuskyy]

Yea, I just make them on different scenes.

[@marcelslofstra2157]

That’s because it’s a load of crap. Next thing he’s saying ‘never reuse an existing engine’.

[@VM-wt5bl]

It makes sense if you want to implement a feature you never tried before (never tried in the way you implement in this new game). You don't want to learn how to implement inventory system while getting snagged due to attack state or some other unrelated bugs. Focus on keeping the scope small and start putting things together once you have a grasp of the feature you are implementing.

[@shaon1412]

​@@lHuskyyyea, that's what I do too. Just a completely different scene and scripts, unaffected by the rest of the game. At first implementing the system independently, then integrating it with the rest of the project. That should be enough. Creating a different project is just more time consuming and you'll have multiple windows open at once for no reason.

[@aaronsommers9078]

I have been working on my first game this year and I can confirm that if you can learn the basic skills for coding/designing a game (which anyone can), the hardest part of Game Dev is staying organized and not jumping from task to task without completing anything. Notion has been a lifesaver and being able to dump all my ideas into a page has made it feasible for me to continue on my project!

[@Aquilasdev]

I’ve watched a lot of game dev videos in downtime and this is the best solo dev video I’ve ever come across. It makes perfect sense to develop your systems in independent projects. Why didn’t I think of that?! Bravo ❤

[@dev-worm]

Aw thank you so much!! I am truly so happy you found it useful!

[@AvectaInteractive]

I really like the idea of building each prototype systems separately, in my head I'm thinking you can then also build up a bit of a library so the next time you use next time you need a feature.

[@gemzi1426]

Honestly I was strugling with making a game, since I was allways looking at it with the perspective of 'Lets make a game and add stuff midway' so your approach it's very logical and made me feel stupid, great video

[@Xero_Wolf]

I was shouting "use git!" the moment that folder of backup copies appeared and he didn't mention it. You can still make your backup copies now and then but please guys for the love of all that is good in the world, use version control.

[@Skeffles]

Fantastic to see the roadmap you go through. In particular I like how you're making each mechanic in it's own prototype project. That's something I should look at doing myself.

[@dev-worm]

thank you! but you 100% should!! It has really helped me out a lot!

[@mousepotatoliteratureclub]

Wouldn't it be easier to just keep prototypes in separate scenes and folders than to have a whole project for each? Still work as if they're separate projects, but don't actually make them separate games.

[@Drunken_Drake0]

I think it would depend on how you work. Take the concepts he lists here and do them in your own way.

[@codeandcraft]

thx! have been looking for a vid like this! The way i started was just diving in head first and then burning out after a month or so lol

[@dev-worm]

haha yep that burnout will get you, its for sure gotten me a couple times. I hope this method is able to help you stay on track a bit better!

[@bluzenkk]

i like the idea that you break down the project into system and each system is a seperate project.

[@mcoorlimDev]

I've used both Hacknplan and Obsidian (with the kanban plugin) as alternatives to Trello. I've found they work well.

[@dev-worm]

thanks for sharing!! Ill be sure to check them out!

[@vorrdegard2176]

😂😂 I use a notebook

[@MegaGangsta4life]

Thank you for your honesty. Subbed

[@dev-worm]

aw thank you! just hoping the video helped!

[@C4ManMike]

My man! Great job the video!

[@dev-worm]

thank you so much, it means the world! I hope it helped!

[@UT-Chara]

I love the consistent mis-spell of "finial."

[@403gtfo]

7:00 my strongest advice is use GIT and learn about creating branches. It will honestly be the best thing you ever do. Source: me a senor programming dev for 6 odd years.

[@RadOpsTV]

Love the advice but 6 years is not that much. Not trying to bash you, I just really dislike people using world like senior, pro, veteran, etc, without actually being one. Discredits actual senior devs that have been coding since the young internet days or before. That’s a senior dev.

[@403gtfo]

@RadOpsTV totally feel you. But that is my official job title, technically it is ' senior web application developer'. Prior to that I was a regular Dev for about 8 years. Not trying to be a douche and flexing.

[@RadOpsTV]

@ ah okay, I get you that’s definitely valid then.

[@bugglesman]

thanks worm guy!

[@dev-worm]

haha of course buggles man!

[@bunnybreaker]

Solid advice. I'm a big fan of the "prototype systems separately" one. It helps keep things organised and promotes code/asset reuse. 👍🏽

[@dev-worm]

thank you so much!! and I couldn't agree more!

[@nrwl23]

A couple of thoughts: The concepting stage is never over. Sure you can come up with something to start, but it always morphs into something else, even if the game is very similar to the original idea (I'll bet it isn't though in a lot of cases). Also, I would never create a different project for each feature because that makes everything 10 times harder, and causes a lot more cognitive load on a beginner (and a pro). A lot of the game will need to be integrated to work together, especially if you want to make a better game than most. Having 20 projects for different features just multiplies the issues you will have with each. What UI is there, what menu, backgrounds, and what art is used in different projects? It just makes tons more to manage and that is already a lot for most people with assets in one decent sized project. Make copies of your game if you must as a bare minimum, but again, this will cause a lot of confusion and if you don't name them very precisely it will be hard to know what code is where. It is far easier to use git for this as you can easily have incremental copies with the click of a button without storing all that on a hard drive that may die at any time too. Just makes no sense.

[@nrwl23]

​@@smokelingers Nope, didn't miss that. I get playing with things in isolation, but the integration of all the things might be the more difficult piece to learn and this will prolong that happening and be more confusing especially for beginners. I'm a professional programmer and game dev, so I know how this goes down the road. It is not easier. Relying on a local hard drive ONLY is the way you lose years of your game dev progress because they do fail often. Git not only makes things easier but allows you to go back in time and see each change and how it affects your game and is the RIGHT way to do it, eventually. It may not be needed for a while when learning but making copies is a bad practice when there are better options. You could at least copy it to a Google Drive or dropbox, etc. Losing years of progress is how you stop being a game dev quickly. I know because I have to help people pick up the pieces of their lost data frequently.

[@nrwl23]

To be fair, I don't just want to be critical, because I think DevWorm is one of the very best on KZbin, makes way more sense than most tutorials do, and is very accessible for new devs (and old ones like me). Just wanted to add my thoughts from experience on what might not be the best ideas. You can for sure do what you want, but I wanted to chime in, just in case it helps. If not, that's cool too.

[@mcoorlimDev]

I personally have to stop conceptualizing when I move from pre-production to production, or scope creep kills me.

[@smileytoad0016]

About the different projects for different mechanics, i don't do exactly that, but if a mechanic is too complex, or it's too unique, i will create it as a separate project, if not, just different scenes will do the trick

[@dev-worm]

I like it, but yeah sometimes just opening up something fresh whether it be a project or a scene is just so much less overwhelming.

[@nickhatboecker]

Thank you for the video! I think it would be nice if you could add the game title on the footage of the games you show. For example, I really like the game at 0:43 but I can't find a name here EDIT: Ah sorry, you added the game titles on the other gameplay sequences. Then maybe 0:43 was just a mistake :)

[@dev-worm]

ahh yes that mustve been a mistake, but the game at 0:43 was Paw Rescuers by Meh Studios!!

[@MrBrigadierArchived]

So, it's something like reinvention of the cycle "concept-prototype-verticalSlice-content-CBT-OBT-release", but I am honestly not sure about making different projects for each mechanic as then you are going to spend a lot of unaffordable time to integrate different project into the main (if you don't lose it in list of all your projects). Sure, you can make something universal and use it everywhere, but then your players may get bored of the same mechanic realisation or - even worse - you may get bored. And yeah, after all the game is getting very common if you fail descriptions at concepting stage.

[@Lorry127]

Great video, thy!

[@dev-worm]

thank you so much!! I hope it helped!

[@ArcadeNestGames]

Single most important part of game development is the PROTOTYPE. Games need to be fun, find the fun first

[@vasanthsarathy8476]

Great video! Would love some elaboration on step 1 - how do we know what our core features will be? How coarse or fine should this be? I’m having a hard time deciding this. Advice?

[@mcoorlimDev]

Depends on the project. I do a lot of 7-day game projects, and day 1 is spent brainstorming. I think of all the features I might like... and then, because I know how much work I can get done in the 3 days I have to work on the mechanics, I figure out what I have time to accomplish. I would suggest doing some very small projects to get an idea of what you can pull off in your budgeted timeframe.

[@vasanthsarathy8476]

@ thank you! That makes sense.

[@MayMoodArabia]

Why separate the prototype?

[@akumitakasu7978]

For some people its a way to make small projects that they can then learn to mesh together in their more finished project. its fast and is a good reference if you need to go back and look at notes. each project is essentially notes on each mechanic that you can reference if you're having trouble remembering something. also its good for repetition. The more you do something the more you remember and the better you get. It also helps when you're going in blind on something and you're testing out a bunch of things, you don't have to worry about it messing up weeks or months of progress if you really mess something up if you can't revert it for some reason.

[@dev-worm]

it just helps to make that big project less overwhelming as you are only focusing on each aspect completely separate of each other. But yes @akumitakasu, that is a really great explanation of it.

[@mohsenkheyrabadi4458]

May I ask you to provide the list of games played in this video? Creating a video about good indie games is a good idea!

[@NeonDreamGames]

Love your videos, I've tried to do most of this but I can see a few things you've presented that could improve my process. I still haven't completed a game. I'm coming close right now but I'm also thinking about abandoning my project because I just don't think I did a good job creating a game loop that's fun' I'm struggling to make my game fun. It's making me want to scrap it and move on to something else that will inspire me and hopefully seem more fun to play for me. I'm realizing I need to spend more time in the prototyping stage specifically. Figure out if the game is fun before moving forward with it. I love how you said to split up the prototype stage into multiple small prototype for each game feature. I think that's really a great idea. Anyway, do you have thoughts on abandoning a game? I've spent about 75-80 hours on my game so far. I'm making small scoped games but I'm guessing it would take another 40-60 hours to make it some I could call a game even if it isn't fun. Let me know what you think about scrapping a project?

[@Alayric]

What game is it at 9:29? It's mislabeled as Daisy Dangerous.

[@Hannah-sn9ci]

That game is Gourdlets. It's super fun.

[@Alayric]

@@Hannah-sn9ci Thanks!

[@KurtBuhler]

Another banger from the king 🤴

[@dev-worm]

haha!! thanks Kurt!! your support really means the world to me!

[@D3ADLOLO]

Obsidian is a go to for note taking (self hosted and allow for kanbans too)

[@dev-worm]

I actually have never heard of it but for sure will go try it out, thank you so much for recommending it!

[@D3ADLOLO]

@@dev-worm if you're into note taking you'll see it's quite a goldmine (check the community plugins to extend it's functions) also since you might need to sync it to your phone or other PC, you can achieve it using resilio sync (a peer to peer syncing program), so you just sync your vault's folder and voila (the plugins are linked to the vault so you don't even have to reinstall them)

[@kashifshamim5351]

What games is playing in the background in the foundation stage section? 0:40 - 0:55

[@NinjaGuidesHQ]

4:51 game name?

[@ArksideGames]

Actually great advices

[@dev-worm]

glad to hear that! thank you!

[@ArksideGames]

@@dev-worm 🙌

[@EverySunday6637]

Sir I know nothing about coding can I create my dream project with any engine like unreal and for some coding If I need then Lot of AI bots ate there in the market. Sir I know nothing about creating a game. But definitely I wanna create the best ever made in the battle royale area.Can you suggest me some detailed way to get that done.By the way thanks gor this video.

[@Kenvie2000]

That gnome game looks fun

[@SHAHMEER__Animations]

Still making my prodotype

[@dev-worm]

how is it going?

[@SHAHMEER__Animations]

@@dev-worm I got player done = movement done , the jump & double jump , dash !

[@LeinMarley]

Thanks for the analysis! I have a quick question: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). How can I transfer them to Binance?

[@Zahardnik3]

Where can we buy your game(s)?

[@alexandergovorov6708]

Don't ever make copies fellow devs. Use Git or another source control software

[@DrOtter3000]

Y not just use some version control like git on 7:00? So you don't waste so much space on your disk.

[@dev-worm]

you are right, that would probably be much smarter. I will most likely switch to that method soon! thanks for letting me know!

[@The_g.o.s]

0:45 what to do if i dont have an idea but want to make a game?

[@breadsticks992]

You can start to make random concept images

[@FillMakesGames]

This video was informative, but the music was too quiet.

[@Mark-yy2ki]

How much of your time is spent making games vs playing them would you say?

[@dev-worm]

unsure to be honest, I for sure spend much more time making games then playing them though!

[@niyazkhaybullin4618]

That is some interesting take on prototypes! I've been thinking about prototyping lately and came to an opposite conclusion - I don't think it's always necessary. Since primary goal of prototype is to test whether the idea/mechanic is going to work, it really doesn't make sense to waste time on prototype if you are making an already established and proven mechanics that are present in existing games. For example - there's just no point in testing celeste-like platforming gameplay. You just know that it works, and it will work for you if you do it the same way. The more you deviate from proven gameplay and go wild with mechanics the more prototype becomes necessary. So you might need to prototype a few really experimental mechanics that might get you doubting, but that's it.

[@akumitakasu7978]

I mean sure, unless you're just learning game dev and those mechanics might be normal for veteran devs, but for new devs... you have to start somewhere. I mean pick up mechanics are simple to you or me, but to someone else its not as simple. not only that reputation is how some people learn and the best way to do that is to do something over and over. you can't just add a pick up mechanic in your game and then do it again for repetition, but you can if you do it in another project then do it again while adding other mechanics into the game. Yes this is going to take longer but this vid isn't for people who have experience. It's for newer devs, most more advanced devs know what they are doing and works for them.

[@marchesilvet8096]

Nice ads transition lol, anyways, i think im gonna continue my game now, without combining the game development and blueprinting.

[@marchesilvet8096]

also, finial.

[@flipa62]

Hi dev worm i have a question

[@dev-worm]

yes what is the questions? I hope I can help!

[@we1n1ng]

I thought it was crazy to build each part of my game on a separate project first. Glad to know that it was a good choice. Thank you 🙏

[@nrwl23]

No it isn't a good idea. You are just giving yourself more headaches. One project or multiple doesn't matter really. Debugging is not easier that way.

[@akumitakasu7978]

@@nrwl23 it really does matter for some people though. this vid also isn't for people who have a bunch of games under their belt, its for newer people that are going to make mistakes and debugging is easier when you don't have unrelated things causing the issues. If the systems interconnect then yes that is good to have in one project, but an inventory system and a fighting system can be done separately and then combined later. Just because you can't manage to do this doesn't mean others cant, it doesn't give any headache, if anything when testing new things out, having other things interact with it in an odd way because you're testing things is way more of a problem. Multiple projects can also prevent unused code that you forgot to delete because you were testing. I'm not saying everyone should make multiple projects for one game, I am saying that if it works for someone, they should do it. There isn't a right or wrong way to prototype, and for new devs they should either make small games or multiple projects as its the best way to learn. Just because you like doing it one way, doesn't, mean that way is the best for everyone. that type of mindset is bad and doesn't help anyone.

[@weirdbuggames]

i personally don't do it, i always push changes to main since i get to track only one project at a time. could be very useful for beginners that way but i think creating different branches is inefficient if you're the only one working on your project

[@marverickbin]

The prototype do not have art?

[@nostalgianinja]

Art isn't important in prototypes. Hence "Programmer art."

[@dev-worm]

it isn't important, prototypes are mainly just to get those features working together!

[@Raysureeea]

Finially

[@DanYami]

wait Godot? that didn't look like C# tho..

[@RhevoRamirez]

Thanks dude, honestly I think your road map is too much theoretical, a lot of things can change depending on the game type and the way the brain of the developer work, such factors impact a lot on the needed steps for each game road map

[@vhoyer]

the lengths people go not to learn how to use git

[@paxluporum4447]

Comment and favorited.

[@dev-worm]

thank you so much!! it means the world!

[@hawkgamedev]

so you want to make games? if you think its gonna take you 1 year, multiply it by 2 then multiply it by the times a day you think you are tired of studying game dev, then you get the amount of years you need to be good enough to make a game. lol

[@SideWxyzShorts]

Can you make a tutorial on how to make a jetpack?

[@jugibur2117]

I wonder if you deliberately showed “Pingo Adventure” here, as the developers seem to have done little testing beforehand and don't always respond to critics / comments (on Steam). That's a real shame, you shouldn't betray the trust of the first players / buyers.

[@dev-worm]

Oh no, I actually didn't know that happen. Thanks for letting me know that is really interesting!

[@TheGoldenLineStudio]

I hope this blueprint is garenteed to actually make progress and finish my game. I just feel stuck and not going anywhere on my tring to make my game in my Godot game journey.

[@jak3legacy]

Learning how to effectively use Kanban boards or a similar project management system / tool will do WONDERS for helping you progress on a project of any kind

[@TheGoldenLineStudio]

@@jak3legacy Thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely try it out

[@dev-worm]

I hope it will!! But like @jak3legacy said, organization and task management is so crucial

[@FillMakesGames]

I like your music.

[@dev-worm]

aw thanks lol, it is Island Dream by Chris Haugen!