The TRUTH About Making Your Dream Game

[@stayathomedev]

Hey! I fixed the audio...hopefully. Sorry for the mixup. Recorded directly on the camera for this one. Got to go make a sacrifice to the algorithm gods now for the reupload. Oh...and what game has given you the most game idea inspiration?

[@DevJeremi]

Until recently, I wanted to create my dream game inspired by Rayman 2 and 3, But then I started playing Rayman 3 GBA and I liked it very much. And that inspired me to reduce my dream game from 3D to 2D: D

[@Zane_2029]

I actually already started using this method a couple of years ago during Game Maker Studio 1 era when I was around 10 to 12 years Old. Now I have you to solidify that this method works out better than the huge project Idea I had in mind, thanks! 😀 now I can carry on making my first dream game 2 Options (Hopefully I'll get you to feature it on the "This Week In Godot" playlist). I'll keep you posted if you're interested

[@renthokstu]

As a kid I wanted to make my dream game too but my coding or art skills were blah. After 15 yrs I can make anything in Blender, now that Godot has direct import it giving me funny ideas. :(

[@stayathomedev]

That's awesome! Blender/modeling is a great skillset to have. And Godot does work very nicely with Blender 👍

[@riufq]

why sad emot?

[@renthokstu]

@@riufq Because coding is another nightmare inducing monster. I will try regardless. :)

[@MastermindAtWork]

@@renthokstu 100% agree with this. I hate it when you have a great game Idea you want to tackle and most of the skills needed but you are unfortunately bottle necked because of programming.

[@zZMazeZz]

I dont think of individuals games as my 'dream game' but instead i think about building my 'dream library' of re-usable code (and assets/vfx/sounds) that will be able to make many games for many years to come.

[@stayathomedev]

Very cool approach

[@the_Acaman]

I like this very much!

[@ringworld251]

People who have a dream game and autistically chase after it for years and years and years make some of the best soulful genre changing games. Kenshi and dwarf fortress being examples. Sometimes you just got to chase after the impossible to make something unbelievable.

[@BastiaanOlij]

Very good advise, my only addition is to warn people not to go too far down the rabbit hole of detailing out the wrong things. Programming problems don't show up until you start coding, its a time waste to focus on those, instead focus on the higher level game mechanics. Like you said, how does your character move, what actions can it perform, etc. Fun trivia point, when Tim Cain developed Fallout 1, he started with a game on paper that they would play around the office D&D style. From those play throughs, on paper, game mechanics evolved, problems were solved, quest ideas formed, etc. Doesn't work for all genres but if you can't imagine your game logic on paper, it'll be hard to do it in code.

[@stayathomedev]

I didn't know that! And very good point. You can get into way to deep into the processing too. With practice I feel you're better able to know when you're ready to get creating.

[@BaileyPhillipsComposer]

This is super helpful! I decided instead of making my dream game, I would make a game that uses the same world in a much smaller capacity, and in a genre that is easier to make. It's still a part of my dream game but allows me to learn the skills required for the bigger one. 🎉😊

[@stayathomedev]

Let's go! That's awesome!

[@WillHuizenga]

When I was a child my little brother and I dreamt up a multiplayer zelda game. We created everything we wanted on paper. I wish I still had those notebooks. I'd love to try to make it finally now that he's passed away..

[@stayathomedev]

See...that idea gets me excited...then the realization of what the means hits haha. I wish I had footage of my first steps in game development...that would be a funny video. So much easier to document everything now.

[@Blinkers2007GameDev]

I am so sorry for your brother

[@Mate_Antal_Zoltan]

Now that I think about it, it sure would be easier to break my ideal game down into just its mechanics, and make a little game around each one to understand them better. Then they could just be combined into one game very easily. Something akin to building a shed from scratch. Thank God I could see this video before even beginning to learn to code lol

[@kaishido6698]

I feel like this applies to game art too. A lot of the time, we get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things to add to a concept and we procrastinate. But planning and turning that big quest into multiple side quests makes the whole task way more doable. Great video!

[@outkastagc]

Once again, a concise and beautifully edited and executed video. I'll be watching this a few times as I follow those steps. Thank you

[@stayathomedev]

Thanks! It's a little different in style for sure

[@Gecko_builds]

You are a legend! This has made me rethink my process completely. As I’m all new to the programming part condensing it down to the key parts and only a couple more interesting mechanics is a great idea. The whole game idea is now completely different, however I’ve still kept the main theme and it feels a lot more manageable too!

[@HelperWesley]

Been there, done that. 😩

[@twilightthepony]

Design document is a must for game dev... Aside of dumping everything to a written (or digital) media gives you time to mull over everything... And even scrap it if things just don't work...

[@stayathomedev]

Absolutely! Want to do a video walkthrough of creating one soon.

[@twilightthepony]

@@stayathomedevI eagerly await for it.

[@Khaleesiification]

​@@stayathomedevas an aspiring gamedev I would love this, I'm great at learning new stuff, not very good at planning for said learned stuff :)

[@LuckyRaphi]

I don't get design documents. I can make up in a design document that my character speed is 500, but it's useless when it looks bad in the engine. Then I change it in the engine to 350 and I have to go into the design document and change it again there. So the design document gave me 2 additional useless tasks that took time.

[@xchronox0]

@@LuckyRaphi While I've personally never written a design document (I should figure that out without ending up using that as a rapidfire way to feature creep a project), I don't think you should be doing things like setting speed values in a document. The document is about design, not code. So instead of thinking how fast your player moves in the document, instead you should maybe try and think about how quickly you want them to be able to traverse an area (more about time rather than speed), or reposition during combat (more about relativity). then when you get to the code, you can just do the math without having to change your design

[@lethn2929]

Joking aside, my real pro tip for noobs in this situation would be, don't look at making game projects yet, focus on learning how game mechanics work instead, that means start with the basics and learn things like proper player controllers then work your way up from there to what you want your game to be. When I started doing that and just researching whatever mechanic I wanted to play with that's when I started making real progress. I guess I was kind of doing that on instinct even at the beginning, but now I can explain it a lot better and I'm a bit more methodical in my approach.

[@derrickjohnson4952]

That’s the best advice

[@miguelinop]

Currently I've put off my many dream games to focus on creating shorter and reduced games. This year I was able to make some awesome game jam games, and they were really great learning experiences for my upcoming games and hopefully my first few dream games.

[@stayathomedev]

That's great and you have something to show for all that work that you can look back on.

[@darkvulpes4826]

That's what a lot of tutorials should start from, a skill of proper operationalization of ideas instead of just "okay, let's click create new project"

[@lostcause7489]

stumbled across this while looking for UE5 tutorials(glad i did) and realised i did pretty much exactly what you'd said at the beginning, started designing it and working out how to implement everything, ran into several walls and eventually ended up deleting the heightmaps (spent ages making one for a full NMS scale planet to use as a distortion map) and everything else id been putting together for it out of frustration. (still kicking myself on that one) I'm starting to put a game together in UE5 based around a group of mercs that land on a new planet and clearing some of the more hazardous predators from the area before settlements are established and the ark ship arrives from earth, as well as establishing a source of "power" on the planet that would be built on later (open world follow up with the same planet map).

[@stayathomedev]

That sounds very interesting! It's tough when you hit a wall...because it's so easy to just wipe it all and start over.

[@nestorpiedraquesada2954]

Well now I'm NOT making my dream game anymore hahaha but definitely agree with you on this one, as an engineer myself, the execution is way more important than 1000 ideas floating around

[@diegoarthur]

Before heading for my dream game what I noticed that helped me the most was the following: try to remake the game that is the basis for your dream game. For example: Try to remake Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past. Not the complete game, but the basics. With that I got to notice many details I havent noticed before and that really make a difference gameplay wise.

[@stayathomedev]

Remaking stuff is a great idea. You can work through the process of creating something without having to materialize every single aspect of it. It's a good exercise for sure.

[@jademonass2954]

my dream game is a rythm game it would have steam workshop support so people can make new charts im kinda terrified to make it though, but it honestly does not seem that big/hard to make

[@relvean5626]

While playing Quake a while back, I had a relatively easy idea for my first full game in Godot (I already made and published a game with Unity) i'd call it 'Nails' (guess what it's about). You wake up in some industrial site where there are people with nails jutting out of their bodies who have gone insane and attack you on sight. You only have a Nail to defend yourself with and can either use "stealth" or go blow for blow once attacked. Think Dark Souls combat in first person with a crouch button minus magic and all that. Now that might sound like a lot, but it isn't once you break it down. It's first person, so full body animation is optional. Needs 4 attack (3 hit light combo & heavy) animations, a block and the same animations for the enemies (I can animate myself and also have Mixamo to speed things along). Models? MakeHuman! The setting? industrial things are fairly easy to find for free (polyhaven, Turbosquid) and I can also model a bit. Soundeffects? Gotta go with Freesound. Soundtrack? Nine Inch Nails, baby! Ghosts I-IV and The Slip are creative commons after all, just can't sell the game then (not that I care). Coding is gonna be a bad (mostly because I'm not very good at it), but thankfully the AI doesn't really need to be all that smart. Basically: If spotted -> Walk in straight line to player and do an attack pattern (chosen at random from a list of preset ones). How do they spot? You walk upright to close to them or you walk into their line of sight (both not that terribly difficult). Heavy attack on an enemy that hasn't spotted you = death. Maybe 3 enemy types (low health, fast attack; high health, slow attack and medium) and 1 boss (has a Nailgun). Playtime? 20 minutes to 1h. Sadly, I'm currently a little busy with an animation project, a term paper and a project report all due at the end of this month. I'll also be 3 months since I last played a videogame by that point, so I'm gonna take some time off. But then, we're in business! After that, I'll do the next most unrealistic idea (for which I can reuse quite a bit from Nails), then the next and then I might be ready for the closest thing I have to a dream game (I never really had a 'dream game' other than a vague idea of something).

[@stayathomedev]

Sounds like a plan. You already are further than a lot of people might be without thinking through those kinds of things.

[@LaloMartins]

I have started my dream game, and I keep the project there. Every now and then if I'm burned out with my actual, realistic, limited scope project, I spend a couple of days adding something small to the dream game project. Then I go back. The dream game is never dead, I keep telling myself that if one day something I publish is really successful and I build a studio around it, I can then shift gears to make the dream game. Maybe even as a second or third project for the studio, not first. I don't think I would recommend this strategy to most people, but if your personality is like mine, definitely do try it.

[@evilferber2704]

I am working on a "Dream Game"! Well, exacly it is about dream (in sleep). If anyone read my comment: the best way to plan your game IMO is to write it down as a GameLoop. I literally draw on a piece of paper 3 states of my game, arrows showing the direction of GameLoop goes, then above arrows I wrote simple code (with a pen!), and then I choose a pawn out of my little "toys" and I make a board game out of making a 3D game in Godot. When I was coding little things I allways knew where I was and why I was doing it. @StayAtHomeDev Very nice video

[@Niknokinater]

Snap, minus the direct planning, I feel like I'm working on my dream game. I started it as a contingency plan in case the acquisition of one of my childhood games didn't go through (spoiler, it didn't), so I tripled down- and while incomplete at the moment, it's already more featureful than the original for a fraction of a fraction of the cost, even though it'd be cool to have the inspirations. I already have a about a decade of experience via Call of Duty modding though, to be fair- actually jumped to Godot because I felt like I peaked with what I could & wanted to do there.

[@stayathomedev]

Sometimes it ends up being a prototype dump...which I feel is different...It's more of a brainstorming test project then, which you can pull from when working a start to finish game.

[@jankxyard]

While it's true that it's impossible for a solo beginner gamedev to make an AAA game, but the whole thing of "forget it" is harsh imo. I would rather say "don't work on it yet". I would rather say "remember it and in next 20 years, you may end up working on the more refined version of it, if you put in effort".

[@lethn2929]

Yes but what if you're a lunatic that spent almost 5 years on R&D so you could make your dream game regardless as well as any other genre that took your fancy?

[@kertellfloat]

As someone who struggled with 3D modelling for 2 years, I can confirm that writing down steps, analyzing processes, and making small prototypes works wonders with the human brain. I learned so much more in tackling small isolated problems than charging into goliath sized ones.

[@JanbluTheDerg]

I don't really have a "dream game", just a bunch of thoughts of "Oh that could be a cool game". I have most of my game ideas written down somewhere. Creating design documents really helps with all that was talked about. As boring as they can be to write, it's still really good to have everything about the games design, how mechanics work on a step by step basis, all that written down in a clear document that you can reference and update in the future. Also I've found that game jams tend to be a better way of generating cool ideas than just having them randomly pop up. Plus you typically get a prototype out of it to expand upon in the future.

[@gmaster2647]

This is good advice. I have a couple of dream games in mind but I know that they're just way too big for me to work on them as a beginner. Thankfully, I've got a well of ideas that I've been writing down and I'm taking the smallest ones and fleshing them out into individual games. But I need to learn coding, Blender modeling, texturing, etc...

[@JC-jz6rx]

Hey thank you for the video, Anyone ever tell you that you look strangely like the actor James Mcavoy

[@stayathomedev]

Thanks! Ya know, I remember someone else commenting that before.

[@Nylnezz]

at least not as your first, as any other artist will confirm you will only end up hating it and loosing motivation make other things when you're ready go for it make the things you want and more

[@wulfrickwille3871]

I am already working on a dream game idea and spent the last 1,5 years just on creating a Godot plugin which helps me create levels faster.. (which in the end will not be faster at all, considering the plugin developement time). I learned a lot though about how Godot works. It's too late now to turn around, but I will heed your advice about reducing the scope! My dream game is a medroivania and will not be really unique except maybe the graphics, but that's OK i think

[@b_b_g_m]

I plan to work on a game of my own in bite-sized pieces, to prevent myself from being too frustrated. I already have some experiences with dev stuff, but no big projects though, so I'm really hoping I'm not biting more than I can chew. Guess I won't know until I try the approach, and if I never even make an attempt at it, it'll haunt me forever lol

[@ReleeSquirrel]

I think a useful thing to tell folks is that everything takes longer than you think, including thinking. Even if you're already a coder or have some other skill, carrying out the plan you came up with in your head is going to take way longer than you expect, even knowing that it's going to take way longer than you expect.

[@Chaotic_Insight_Media]

I just started the process of putting a game together. I’m building assets now, but what you said about code makes a lot of sense and looks like that’s my next step lol

[@beneditooliveira3942]

I have to be honest. The first time I touched a game engine I tried to make my dream game right away, obviously it didn't work out, but now with better knowledge and equipment, I'm able to progress faster than before in production, of course i reduced the project to a simple first-person slasher. But with time I will make my dream game.

[@nephew_tom]

I am working not on "my dream game" but on "our real game". "Our" in the sense that even if the team will craft it, the game belongs to the community. The community is the one who decide if the game succeed or not. And who makes it grow or die.

[@sosasees]

i have just one simple reason to not make my dream game: what my dream game is changes often - sometimes even twice per month

[@queenofsquiggles]

I really like this advice! I developed a different strategy for myself since I spent the first seven years of my game dev "career" trying and failing to make my dream game. Some of the oldest videos on my channel are even dev logs of my attempts. What I like to do is make smaller games that encapsulate one or several key components of my dream game(s). So my game "The Ascension Of The Lamb" was a game where I was really trying to nail down art style and mood. My next game was for hashing out how to control narrative sequences and using an event bus. My most recent game was figuring out how to make semi photo realism while integrating my lessons from the previous games. And I'm still working on smaller almost game jam sized games to explore and experience different key elements that I could put into larger games. A great benefit to this strategy is that it produces a ton of smaller games that can be publicly visible and out in the world getting feedback. It's probably not the best technique for everyone's workflow, but I hope it can help someone to see my style as well. As always, excellent video!

[@XSNForte]

Working on my near dream game :). I used to play Tyrian a lot, so it's inspired by that among other games.

[@yall_girl_eve]

I actually want to do a lot of smaller games with some building up to my big game project idea, so i guess not much changes

[@johanngambolputty5351]

I mean planning can't hurt, but treating code like some crazy thing that you always need a running start to get through is probably not healthy, you should be able to experiment on the fly and see what happens, its how you get an intuition for it and its how you figure out if an idea works or not without going too far into thinking about other things that might rely on it. But I suppose you could equally get so bogged down on trying to find a way for one thing to work that you might exhaust yourself, have some alternative things to switch to while things don't quite seem to be clicking yet.

[@hawshimagical]

a lot of games i really enjoy, but have a lot of missed opportunities in them, are those ones that feel like they tried to be many types of games in one. you guys know what im talking about, right? those are "dream games" basically. if established game companies already struggle with this…yeah. trying it solo or as a small team is just asking for trouble.

[@a98k]

i didnt see anything.... WOW THIS IS SUCH A GREAT VIDEO hahaha

[@stayathomedev]

🤐

[@ClockworkGearhead]

"Dream" inside the acronym D.R.E.A.M? It's dreaming all the way down!

[@Skeffles]

Nice video! Dream games are tough but they can happen.

[@kiwifrogg]

I do watch a lot of dev blogs and wonder why so many people dream in 8bit, It seems 70% of dream games are 8bit side scrollers. Just a simple switch to vector graphics would make the game 100 times better.

[@stayathomedev]

Would be curious the age data on that too...I'm barely in the 8bit generation...and I feel old.

[@EntityMikeYT]

I have a dream game in mind, but I'm putting it on the back burner for now. I want to get more experience making small games in Godot and learn the engine before I get started on my dream game.

[@nocultist7050]

just try and stop me! I work 8h/5days a week and have to jump engines mid-development but there is nothing else I'd rather do than stay up all night to work towards my dream game.

[@DrW1ne]

Dream Games will get you exhausted. So you should planning everything if you want to do one.

[@sebastiansokalski5996]

Thank You Bro!

[@brianbergmusic5288]

I daydream quite a bit during my hours of quiet manual labor. I'm not a game-dev but if I was I would actually have a lot of different dreamy game ideas (everything from 16-bit shmups to atmospheric 3D-action RPGs). Here's a humble pill to swallow: look at old-school 16-bit games-- specifically the credits roll (early 90s, etc.) MOST of the best ones have an *entire team of people in order to bring them into reality!!* Granted that was long before game engines were mainstream (we no longer have be neck deep in assembler and C to get pixels to happen). IF you are starting out as a team with handpicked skillsets maybe... just maybe... the teamwork can make the dream work. Solo dev? Ha!!! Get your head out of the clouds and follow this video's advice. Unless you are rich and can afford to outsource/commission a bunch of assets...

[@smdgroup2044]

I was wants to make a game in one day, but after 08:00 PM :- Fail

[@theTeslaFalcon]

My dream game is a mix of a Match3 & a Merge game into 1 Turn-based RPG. I just started with Godot and have been STRUGGLING figuring this engine out and how to get the least little thing done in it. I'm not trying to take some Xbox or PS5 game to the next level. I'm trying to make a more engaging bathroom game.

[@MOtherMetroid]

Is it considered as working if I haven't started yet? :P If so, count me in.

[@ragnarrandom7367]

i would say, don't make your dream game NOW. join game jams, make pong clones, have fun, build skills. in 5 years, you may find that you are making your dream game after all.

[@owenlloyd2528]

Nice, thank you

[@fantiball]

Love your videos.

[@stayathomedev]

Thanks for watching!

[@giantarcsfora9279]

I like games were I control many leaders: strategy games

[@flow1194]

that's why i have over 100 dream games

[@makeitsogames]

I'm working one my dream game but I don't call it my dream game.

[@KozelPraiseGOELRO]

I enjoy more coding than making games. I have no dream game, but dream about coding a game.

[@Angimit]

Nice

[@stayathomedev]

Working then? Thank the KZbin gods!

[@Angimit]

@@stayathomedev Yes the audio is fine now

[@AIAdev]

😅

[@stayathomedev]

Haha...not you though. You're killing it!

[@jerrychandler7094]

I want to use a game engine but write a piece of software that’s for a particular business trade, not gaming. 💡

[@ContinueTheBloodline]

Good video

[@Uhfgood]

You didn't really need to make this video, did you? Everyone tells you to start small. That's fine for some people, for others maybe not.

[@idoblenderstuffs]

skill issue

[@reguret2976]

I think the better approach would be to make little games with features that you'll use in your future dream game :)

[@daniridao]

What assets? What idea? Man, stop discouraging me from my Dream job. Professional Senior Game Developer Abandoner. I assure 100% abandonment in the first week. At least 3 projects left half way started. Best money saver here.

[@rahmanlinux9602]

Thank you very much