Timeline of an indie game developer

[@graydwarf22]

me:

[@kristianwells8830]

As someone who has mostly bounced prototype to prototype, ive been in phases 1-4 at different points. Stage 4 was awesome because i developed a workflow finally. I lost that whole project when i changed computers and have never been that close to an official release again.

[@5ld734]

REAL, I think source control is more important than it seems. I had such a fantastic project with an entire world, a gameplay loop, and detailed fire and weather system, and it all had to just go to waste

[@partyhardwithme]

Damn that is rough, but don't give up. Now it may seem like you will never reach that again because the loss is so recent but take a break from gamedev and have another go when you are refreshed. If you got there once you can get there again, because you only get better at gamedev every attempt so it's impossible not to repeat that feat!

[@anonimowelwiatko4455]

Source control lore is always crazy

[@SirMaksimRuban]

I am sorry for you, man. Don't give up, most precious is your ideas, all other stuff you can make again, and make it better.

[@mrxcs]

I made my first prototype and found out you need a loot of animations to make a fun action game, I now working in a JRPG mix with card game prototype. Looks promising, way easier to make it fun.

[@SenkaZver]

IMO art and animation seems to be the one trap that most aspiring devs underestimate

[@mandolorian9893]

Have you seen Unreal Engine 5.4 updates to making animations?

[@dreamingacacia]

My success for the first game is to finish the entire process of publishing the game to debut as a game developer. Money is just a bonus on this. I think I'm stuck in the despair valley for nearly a month now(for the current project), though I'd been here for years. I learnt a lot, but the more I worked on my project, the more I realized that there are so much things I have to do to finish the game. Everyone else may think that the polishing of the game is 90% of development. For me the prototype is at least 50% of development, I'm serious here. I started from unreal with third person template and some free assets to use as placeholder assets. Now what? There is freaking nothing for me. I even have to develop my own navigation menu which should be something that is ready for customizing. The worst would be key rebinding which I'll have to develop sometime in the future once I've got everything in place. Then the game systerm...a lot of people think that unreal provided you with starting game system. While it's maybe true, but is it something you'd want to use in your game? Nope. I even saw someone so proud about having WASD movement system from start...like dude, that's the very first thing you have to learn in other engines but you should be grateful for having them ready there to save a 5 minutes time for implementing this system. I just want to make a simple combat for my game, but there are so many systems I have to develop just to have this stupid combat system functional. What do they call again? Micro-systems right? Yeah, that's something you'd develop as tech demo and shown to people thinking that they're the game prototype. Don't look at me like that, I'd been there too. After I gained so much experiences struggling in this early development hell, I realized something. The reason I'm stuck here is because I don't have any portable systems to use to develop the game prototype. That's why I can't match the speed of those people that said to make prototype quickly. Some even said about making several prototypes to find the right one...like dude, if I have that much time and energy, I'd try to find the perfect gameplay like you did. For indies like us, espectially fellow solo indies, we must look past these bullshits from the people in the industry. They have all the experiences, tools, and assets ready to use. They accumulated over 10 years, some even have 20 or 30 years. If you're just starting...that's a long and rough path to take. As a lot of kind souls said "stay in your job and use those money to fund your project", that is if you even have a job in the first place! For fellow NEETs like me, what you need to do is to start on your dream game project and ONLY study on DEMAND. Right now you want to know how to install unreal engine? Go ahead and study that then install unreal engine. Next you want to know how to setup you character movements? Just use the templates, there are many styles which should be enough for you to start. Then what? Start learning blueprints and how the blueprints communicate with each others. Make sure to study blueprint interface properly, so you can do various things in the engine. Afterward it's on you, This is just a stupid long arse comment that I wrote because I want to vent my frustration. I'm glad that it's already weekend and it's time to take a proper rest. My brain hurts, I couldn't sleep because my brain just kept formulating new systems over and over again. I worked too much despite only work around 2 - 6 hours a day. Fellow NEETs, once you're understood my perspective you'll understand why I started game development. If not, then continued to enjoy your stuffs, nobody force you to work....I just couldn't enjoy those things anymore. Sadge.

[@rmt3589]

Offers a virtual hug

[@Dailyfiver]

I am still in the valley of despair right now, but I’m approaching the light at the end of the tunnel. My first game has been a massive struggle. Between learning everything I need to know, and taking literal years off of development. I’m happy to say that my “check list” only has two more necessary things that I need to get done before I can release my first game. I have to rig up one last enemy and add the last of the sounds we recorded to the game. I’m looking forward to getting a finished creation under my belt.

[@blackcitadelstudios]

Guess I will be living in the Valley of Despair. 😅

[@flamart9703]

Not sure about you, but the NPCs from your current project definitely live in Valley of Despair because of permanent skeleton menace. :)

[@blackcitadelstudios]

@@flamart9703 😅 💀 guess they'll live with me in despair then. 😅

[@erickalfaro8389]

"David Coggins is watching and we should stay hard and keep going" 😂😂😂 yeah, I'm using that from now on.

[@kpr2]

Embrace the suck. Fail often & do your best to fail upwards. Have faith & just keep swimming ;)

[@polerpanda]

The first 5 minutes of this video legit made me cry because every single word was so perfectly accurate to me, I feel so supported. Genuinely thank you guys for making this content, to some (like me) it can be literally life changing

[@WyrmyrGames]

I must be at the edge of the valley because I’ve been in full development mode for a few months but still feeling optimistic. I scoped my game carefully and most of the systems are set up. Just need content mostly. Maybe I’m climbing out of the valley already?

[@juneru2]

It's easy to forget just how many skills are required to be an indie dev. It's not just learning game development, for most people they'll be learning computer science, a programming language, an engine, and possibly even art, music, and animation if they're going solo. I went from Unity > LOVE2D > p5js for my first game, 'cause I was confused and figuring things out along the way. I now realize that I mistakenly tried to make a game that I wasn't at all ready to make. I wanna make much simpler and crappier games to actually have fun learning game dev, instead of struggling through making something I simply can't yet make.

[@flamart9703]

Don't make simple, crappier games, make simple nice games!

[@erickalfaro8389]

Everyone wants a Stardew Valley game. But no one wants to do Stardew Valley sacrifice. The dude worked like 12 hours on it every day for like 4 years. Lost relationships worked on improving ALL of his gamedev skills. He prolonged his game even after it was finished just so he could make it "perfect" for his standards. And restructured, and redid all of his code and art many times. And then worked om it after for years. And then it still might not work out great.

[@GohanScholar]

“Everybody wants to be a game dev but don’t nobody wanna write no heavy-ass code” - Ronnie Coleman the Indie Game Dev

[@chancecampbell2447]

After watching this video I've changed my game concept from 3rd person rpg to a horror game called "David Goggins is Watching".

[@bitemegames]

WHO'S GONNA CARRY THE BOATSSSSS! -M

[@flamart9703]

Enjoy the uninformed optimism still you can, before the eternal Valley of Despair comes. :) Actually, I don't remember I ever was in the Valley of Despair. After my initial start with gamedev, I just moved to Valley of art skills grinding for several years and about one year ago I refreshed my game engine knowledge and planned my first big game. At the beginning of this year I realized that it will take too much time and decided to make another of my smallest ideas instead. The smallest idea was infected by feature creep and then decided to finish one of my even smaller old projects, that I've abandoned when moved to Valley of skills. Already 1 month into it and going well and should take only around 2 more months 12+/7 hard work. Gamedev isn't a hobby/job, it's many hobbies/jobs all in one if you are solo dev, it sucks and is amazing at same time.

[@user-rx3xl7zn1u]

I'm pessimistically optimistic -- right now everything I make is garbage, but I know, if I persevere, I can eventually make something that is worthwhile... and maybe even make something great. I just have so much to learn and so many skills that must be developed between now and then that it feels like a whole range of mountains ahead of me that I must climb.

[@Ryanowning]

I've been working on a single project for the past 6 months. I have been through this timeline 3 times now. *thousand yard stare* Everyone wants to make a gigantic open world game until they learn how hard it is to make item inventories (that don't have MASSIVE glitch issues), terrain generators, and an ability system that is supposed to reduce your work flow. I even have to go back and redo my weapon holster system because of how ungodly broken it is. Each time I complete a component system I regain my optimism because "I've already done the hardest part, the rest of it can't be THAT hard." It is that hard. Every. Single. Time. Fuck it, I'm making my dream game that I've wanted to play since I was in elementary school. The disappointment of nobody else making something like it, and how meticulous I am for mechanics to actually jive together, is what drives me forward at this point. I'm simply thankful that UE5 has automated systems for significantly reducing work; their animation system is incredible. I thought I was going to have to hire an animator, but it looks like I'll be able to do everything myself... Aside from art. I can't 3d model to save my life. Which again makes me really thankful for UE5 because I've been getting the "Free For The Month" asset packs every month during development and have the bulk of the game's art ready to go. For anyone whose logic orientated like I am, Sketchfab is an astoundingly great website for getting Creative Commons assets or, if you have a few extra $10 bills laying around, for purchase. That said, my game looks like it's going to be a mix of realistic and stylized assets. I'll see about getting a filter to make the realistic assets at least somewhat look like they belong; most of those are actually kind of cheap. Now I just need a terrain system that isn't horrifically bad... (Because FUCK trying to make my own, I've been through enough hell as it is, yes I have tried to make one already, my computer can't run it) At this point I'm just going to do everything in my power to acquire assets and subsystems while primarily marrying them together. Making these things from scratch, such as my ability system that was supposed to make things easier but has only done the opposite, is simply not the best idea I've ever had. But, yeah, I'm taking the advice on Valley of Despair to heart. Being a solo dev making a massive open world game is soul crushing, but I can't hire anyone.

[@saiyedbeckham]

feels like your just reading my gamelife script, TBH we all going from this stages.

[@ProdPluieDeSang]

Kinda in the valley of despair with one of my project i'm working on since over 3years now. Most likely at the edge of breaking through though. I released 2 commercial project and 1 mod so far, next release is in couple months. It definitely is worth it at the end i can tell that!

[@LimitedPerfection]

I have found that building tools for gameplay systems lends itself an iterative workflow. You don't ever have to commit to any particular style or mechenic when the whole project is basically plug and play components.

[@skippyzk]

I made a game that's "complete" it's a jrpg. The story is entirely implemented. Every dialogue is there but a lot are placeholders. Every battle is there but some enemy mechanics haven't been implemented yet and player abilities need to be visually upgraded. Doing 2-3 battles and 2-3 character dialogues take me a month (maybe 10 hours a week) There's 45 battles in the game. I've been polishing for two years and I'm like halfway done I'm almost at informed optimism lol

[@Quadinian]

1st from Brazil here, thanks for the good content BiteMe Games

[@mrxcs]

Second from Brazil too.

[@gameboardgames]

17th! from Canada

[@markguyton2868]

Yeah, currently trying to force myself to make a game solo and have informed pessimism and am aware coding and communication are my weaknesses. So not looking good for me in the valley.

[@holacabeza]

What's the phase wen a jav grill turns into a fountain tho? 🇯🇵⛲️🧖🏻‍♀️

[@Drakuba]

i wonder why it must be valley of despair. Sure, it might not show immediate results, but each new mechanics you make, each improvement to code, bug squashed it all works toward you being closer to the finish line. It should be applauded, not depressed. And if it really gets unbearable and you need to take a chill pill, just take a break and play some other game or replay your old favorite ;)

[@bitemegames]

I didn't make the rules, that's what some physchologists called it, I just adapted it to gamedev (but I do think it's funny) www.mindtools.com/apjsz96/kelley-and-conners-emotional-cycle-of-change -M

[@KuittheGeek]

I think I'm in informed pessimism right now. I want to make games, I have some good ideas (I think), and I have motivation to push through. However, I don't feel like my skills are anywhere near where they need to be to even make a simple game, and I have no one to work with currently, but my immediate goal is to get to the point where I can do a game jam and successfully get a submission in. After that, I'm going to start working on my easiest ideas first, then progress to my larger ideas. Right now, my definition of success is launching a real game on Steam and being able to make some supplemental income from it. If I can make more games and sell them and eventually get to the point where I can take it full-time, I will be happy too. But for now, I'm starting with smaller goals and growing my definition of success with each little win.

[@lawrence9713]

Where do you have your thumbnail from? looks awesome

[@AndyGneiss]

Agreed, and I'd also like to know.

[@skippyzk]

14:50 I already have demos for two more games i already made! Lol

[@n1um3n]

How about the guy like me, who understands, that making his game will make him broke and starving due to extreme competition and probably 0 revenue, so he just watches tutorials and yt channel like this. How he should start his journey?

[@bitemegames]

How many kidneys do you own? How many do you need? -M

[@whilefree]

David Goggins is watching xD That was perfect. xD Great tips. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

[@GohanScholar]

They don’t know me son!

[@Dashmaster305]

Wow, the new title is a lot better for me. Now I'm confused because I thought negative stuff got better traction. 🤔

[@dust1315]

How I can create the BG3-like game being solo indie developer?

[@bruceburnett5372]

You are funny Marnix..lol. I'm in the valley. I'm pounding at the walls. It's hard.There's a lot of cogs and levers and it's really hard for me and it feels like a fight. I expect this, it's my first. But #*^&$ me it's a struggle. Got offered a good job that I'm gunna take because bills need payed... but I do want to make games.And it sucks to have to take the long road.

[@JOZUWE]

I didnt work on my game since a month, after working for a year. I hope my motivation returns soon

[@ultimaxkom8728]

Waiting for that ephemeral motivation now are we? That might simply be procrastination, burnout, inner laziness, artists' block, lack of discipline, or a combination of them.

[@OnyDeus]

I feel you. I always equate my motivation like a train. It needs to push into and keep the momentum, else I'm in trouble.

[@terry-]

Great!

[@celsladroma8048]

its true you should enjoy making game you know stardew valley creator it start from small and then it become bigger and bigger until he become one of his game

[@viniciusantonio2253]

I'm stuck in an infinite analysis paralysis of "does this game will sell?" because of the whole "your game MUST be unique. No unique hook? No sales." cult, I hate social media, really thinking about quitting social media (may use it just for networking and posting on KZbin)

[@sinkingdutchman7227]

Need Either a great (and easy to explain in video form) hook, or a unique and awesome look. Even better both.

[@NoVIcE_Source]

Make things you find fun, things that have soul put in them

[@flamart9703]

Hey! Do you have channel, site or social media where you show your game? I want to see it and estimate whether it will be successful and whether it can be improved to be successful.

[@OnyDeus]

Yeah and the thing with unique ideas is it's harder to implement!

[@sandy00]

I feel seen

[@nerdmassa9086]

Man gamedev is so hard, i can see you sweat af!

[@bitemegames]

It was awkward seeing that in the edit (but couldn't bother rerecording), it's actually lip balm, can't afford to put on the heater as a gamedev, so no sweat. -M

[@nerdmassa9086]

@@bitemegames awkward? you should see me, i look like a caveman! Been following your content lately, as a seasoned indie dev I must say you got GREAT insights, I really hope more people will discover your channel.