The Solo Game Dev Roadmap

► Get 50% off with code SOLODEV: www.fulltimegamedev.com
► Enroll in my FREE 3D course! www.fulltimegamedev.com/sign-...
► Get my 2D Game Kit Free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/free-...
► Learn my secrets to $100,000 as a game dev: www.fulltimegamedev.com/join-...
► Learn Game Dev (Get 25% off with code LETSGO): full-time-game-dev.teachable....
► Learn 2D Art (Get 25% off with code LETSGO): full-time-game-dev.teachable....
► Wishlist "Twisted Tower": store.steampowered.com/app/15...
► Edited by: www.youtube.com/@TheShelfman/...
► Follow Thomas on Instagram: / thomasbrushdev
► Follow our 3D artist, Felipe: / felipecaravelli
► Follow our sound designer, Hector! / @sailawayent
► Play Neversong: store.steampowered.com/app/73...
► Play Pinstripe on Switch or Steam: atmosgames.com/
► Check out my games: atmosgames.com/
► Ask a question on my subreddit: / thomasbrush
► My Studio Set-Up: www.amazon.com/shop/thomasbrush

[@shootermg]

While making Pinstripe.... Thomas Was Alone

[@jaulloa21]

And sad

[@tsapper3516]

Good one 😂

[@kardrasa]

dont copy my comment b000y

[@Golden_games]

nice

[@juantoledo5248]

Oh my god 😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@baahbyjoe4850]

Something the young guys can learn.. I own an appliance repair company (32 years old) thinking about creating a game to make money. Once you’ve done something difficult, the same principles apply to everything else. Get into something as deep as you can handle stresswise and your learning and growth will grow exponentially. Go bare minimum required to get started with something. I’ve launched multiple products this way. Constraints accelerate you. They don’t slow you down.

[@brunotorrao]

There's another thing which is highly underrated but changes the entire game: animation. And also one of the things that is hard to find contract workers that make a good job

[@HaydenEvanoff]

I was wondering where that fits into his slides and timeline haha

[@jaystewart4414]

Yes, I'll admit, I've felt very lonely making games. It really sucks not talking to anyone about your own ideas. And even if you show people your stuff, they don't get it, I just get a quick "cool..". Just Cool? Yeah, you don't understand.

[@ShenDoodles]

Hey, are you still making stuff? I'd love to see what you're working on. It always sucks not being able to talk about mechanics and things.

[@jaystewart4414]

I am still making stuff. Just work gets in the way. I have a few high res screen shots of it already. I'm proud of what I've learned so far. I've even been able to get stuff to move a bit too. It's wild.@@ShenDoodles

[@jaystewart4414]

I am still making stuff. I have a few high res screen shots already of my levels. I'm not sure if this will be part of the actual game. But for now, it's on a level in which I can mess around. I've been told it looks really cool. Once I learn more, I try to make things according to what ideas I have. It's all a 3d thing atm. I love 2d as well, but the 3d games have been my passion for years.@@ShenDoodles

[@3Darcos]

@@jaystewart4414 hey i am learning to use unreal but if you want we can talk about your project, I have a project in mind but I still have a lot of doubts

[@eduardollerandez9936]

I'm making a game solo and it's hard to stay motivated sometimes but I'm pushing through because I know the end of the road 🛣️ will be worth it and the end result will pay off one way or another!!🙂🙌🏼

[@leonardorodriguez9121]

Hey what are you working on right now? ^^

[@eduardollerandez9936]

@@leonardorodriguez9121 it's my first game ever im developing completely inside of blender using the game engine and visual scripting.theres some preview's on my page.excited to release the demo soon 🔜.right now just going to release on Mac and PC but maybe 🤔 later on consoles it just depends if I can get the conversion right on those.✅🙂

[@FreddieM213]

Damn I miss the Q&A. Please make more. 😊🎉 love the work and support you do

[@CharleyThePostman]

He'll make another one tomorrow!

[@FreddieM213]

@@CharleyThePostman yeah… after watching, I see there will be two more 🤘😊.

[@dragonspiritgames4936]

I am making a game solo and it will be a long process at that. Because I have set myself the goal to make it even completely accessible as well. And yes, it sometimes feels extremely lonely.

[@mikescodejournal]

I'm so excited about Twisted tower

[@MakiNoAtorie]

Yeah, after watching this I decided I can't do it the usual route. I couldn't even keep a patreon without feeling overstressed and even started doing less since I was always nervous about missing the monthly quota (just one painting per month). I can't see myself having a publisher and legal consequences on my back. I guess I'll just do stuff and release it when its ready someday.

[@mikelock6931]

I also missed it; the perils of a full-time job! :( Luckily Thomas is kind enough to upload it! :)

[@jaystewart4414]

Hey, Thomas, I've been learning C++ for a few months now and starting to get the hang of minor details from Udemy. Would you recommend your course even for someone like me? I've had some ideas ever since I started using the raylib library, I've got a website up and running, but it's not quite polished yet. Sound pretty basic I know, but I'm also taking courses to understand Unreal Engines 4, and 5.

[@xhxcxdrummerx]

Hehe I signed a contract to "work out daily" once. It's called the US Army... thanks for the chat, Thomas. Great insights.

[@dronia1590]

Thank you a lot ❤

[@luisces]

My main concern to pitching to a publisher is about the way i wanted my game to be. It's a mobile game cross platform with PC. Not many publishers around that delves into this market, I guess?

[@NeonRayn]

I'm sorry but Publishers are a terrible investment. 40% to the publisher and 30% to the steam store means you means you now losing 70 percent of the profits from your game. Could be even worse if its a higher split. Now you are only make 10 or 20 percent and most indie dev are only charging between 3 and 15 bucks for their games or less. For a loan for money you are gonna make anyways if your game is good. Worse case it's not and you are stuck paying a hundred% of your game income to a publisher because it never makes enough sales to get the initial money back for the loan. You don't need them and are borderline a scam. Just keep your day job until your game relapses, patience is a virtue, if it does good then quit your job

[@luisces]

@@NeonRayn You have no idea how much this comment fit my moment in life. Thank you!

[@Cuupi]

I've always thought solo game developers are all hobbyists XD

[@Raul-bc3zb]

I’m at the part where you talk about making a demo/prototype and signing with a publisher. If I already have a nearly completed game, is it still good to try to go the publisher route? What would be different when working with a publisher with a demo vs a completed game as far as negotiations go?

[@sen7826]

I wish I could watch this live, but alas timezones exist.

[@GamesAsArt_]

I have a question: how can we decide what genre, type and engine must be use for developing the game? For exemple, my favorite game are the story-driven ones (but I don't like RPG fantasy, mystery and any related games with these genres). I'm also have interesting and educational (and serious) games. I'd love to combine both: build a narrative game (focus on character-drive story) with educational purposes. But i'm struggling with those kind of choices about. For example: be 2d (2.5d) or 3d? Be first or third person? Be top down or not?, Etc. Do you have any tips on that? Tks!!!!

[@Jest7869]

I just had my Dream of making games kinda stepped on by the quebec government, i live in montreal and was planning on going to school this year , my friend just graduated from the course i wanted to take in december , but now its no longer offered in English, So i wanted to say thankyou for your content , if it wasnt for your videos i would quit right now haha

[@rhysekohler9263]

I'm a plumber looking to phase into a new career/hobby. I've enjoyed playing games like Runescape/ battlefield/ C.O.D, uncharted ECT so what would be a list of skills to learn say from 1-20 in order to try design/build/play a game like Runescape in terms of point and click turn based open world rpg

[@ahmki52298]

Really enjoyed the video til the Q and A.

[@BronsonBragg]

dangit... I missed it. :( oh well. I'm here for the upload.

[@jordananthony6432]

Can you go over finding freelancers / partners. I struggle finding artist as I can do the development Is that covered in your course?

[@the4tkministry]

What is your idea? What is your vision? As a freelancer I could be of assistance :)

[@JFKTLA]

What do publishers actually do other than give you the funds?

[@pavi013]

I need more inspiration and actually see the game development process when creating a real game, im good with C# and unity but other things i suck.

[@tailslessons9634]

You said that you would go crazy if you tried to master all 10, what happens if you're already crazy to begin with? does it make no difference at that point?

[@boad8270]

no you will just burn out and stop after a week

[@goatsmashgames8192]

I started with a team, and they all felt that they're talents couldnt compare to mine.... first my web designer, my longest irl friend, leaving me to develop the site; my audio designer, a swedish friend i made in my minecraft days of old, gone idk where; even my IT and Networking friend (operates his own datacenter), all gone leaving me to man the entire studio by me onesies.... I fell alone and depressed constantly. I'm literally just the lead programmer, and founder of my studio.... I only did code, now i HAVE to do it all. and my quality suffered for ages because I had to learn and comprehend so many other skills, besides just c++ and business.

[@Humpdurious]

I feel that. I had coding and graphic design friends that all bailed when I was planning a game I wanted to create. I ended up just giving up on it back in like 2017 and just became a normal software engineer. A couple months ago I just got bored of making accounting systems in Java for my job and decided to leave so I could try to make a game alone. I'm still learning the engine and all the graphical stuff, decided to buy animation assets for now to save time. Honestly I'm glad I'm doing it myself so I can better fine tune details that I envision. Would be nice to have help, but I feel like with the time it takes to explain specifically what I'm looking for and hoping someone else gets it right, I feel like I could just do it myself.

[@RainbowsaurusGames]

Not to be that guy but have you permission for that thumbnail art? It looks very cool but I can't find credits for it...

[@WilliamElliottBeverlyIV]

Aloha from Hawaii 🤙

[@directsilent9401]

This Video could be 20 minutes... for love of god someone add some timeline stamps...

[@exoZelia]

This is mainly a me thing but brushing up against your mic or tapping the desk (with mic attached) makes it hard to watch your stream for me. Your typical content doesn't have this issue but every stream I've tried to watch does. I like your content but I have sensory issues and I use an overkill audio setup so I'm kinda playing myself here. One of those things where my sensory issues are an asset with music and audio production but screw with me in other situations. Just figured I'd say something and if nobody else ever says this, disregard entirely.

[@Kenbomp]

Suggest getting your 30 minutes a day. No matter what.

[@MrMyers758]

God damn I don’t know how this guy misunderstands questions so badly. Someone asked him wouldn’t it be better to directly release on platforms like steam and epic games, which don’t require a publisher, and he rambled on about how you’d need a publisher to get a game released on Xbox, PlayStation and IPhone.

[@jackfrost4304]

Man I need your help in real life big tripleAAA dream jumping out of my head I've got three things never done before and 6 things never done before on a shooter at the same time it's a multi million dollar game idea man I need a master like you to make it real iam BTS Bow to Stern gaming company

[@user-ti6uh2hf5q]

kj

[@alfredorourke8715]

Is it bad that I actually want my games to be pirated? Its like free advertising especially if your solo

[@NeonRayn]

I'm sorry but Publishers are a terrible investment. 40% to the publisher and 30% to the steam store means you means you now losing 70 percent of the profits from your game. Could be even worse if its a higher split. Now you are only make 10 or 20 percent and most indie dev are only charging between 3 and 15 bucks for their games or less. For a loan for money you are gonna make anyways if your game is good. Worse case it's not and you are stuck paying a hundred% of your game income to a publisher because it never makes enough sales to get the initial money back for the loan. You don't need them and are borderline a scam. Just keep your day job until your game relapses, patience is a virtue, if it does good then quit your job. Who know how much money you could have made if you didn't keep signing with all the publishers but if would have been substantially more then you are right now

[@SuspenseGames]

If you aren’t a good marketer it’s still worth it. Marketing takes a lot of time and money. A publisher gives you credibility and resources. That’s what you pay for. Nearly every indie game in existence would have sold more with a publisher. A lot more. If you don’t have a following you are probably selling nothing without one

[@deliverydud190]

Would you rather keep the full grape, or enjoy a slice of watermelon? Point being some people are able to go 100% solo and be successful with it. They are the minority (not just in game dev, but in everything). Some people who would fail at 100% solo, would succeed when working with a publisher.