Why is Game Dev SO HARD?

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In this video we answer the age old question: WHY IS GAME DEV SO HARD??!
We discuss the emotional toll making a game can take on you, the endless information you need to learn, feeling like you're not enough or like you're doing something wrong, the struggles of being a self taught developer, the huge scope of making a game, and subconscious battles you may face.
All with a lot of humbleness, authenticity, vulnerability, and a TON of compassion for our fellow devs. You are all capable of making a game, don't doubt yourself. Just get started!
If you're new to our channel, we're Brandon & Nikki from Sasquatch B Studios. We sold our house to start our game studio, and work full time on building our business and making our game, Veil of Maia.
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Links Mentioned:
CodeMonkey's Channel - / codemonkeyunity
Jason Weimann's Channel - / unity3dcollege
#motivation #indiegame #gamedevelopment

[@GigaAshley]

Just a reminder for anyone that needs it- if you feel negatively impacted in any of the ways discussed in this, try taking a step back and looking at why you are doing game dev and what you are hoping to get out of it. At a point, I realized I had let it become too loaded with pressures such as identity, financial, and compensation. When I felt I was able to, I reevaluated and started on a smaller game with a focus on enjoying the process and it was loads better. It led to more dev-life balance, satisfaction with progress, and feeling less tied to the game.

[@madmanga64]

1) keep your code as simply as possible 2) learn to say good enough 3) there is no perfect solution 4) the internet is bad for your self esteem 😂

[@sasquatchbgames]

I REALLY resonate with 2 and 3. Thanks for your tips!!

[@KozelPraiseGOELRO]

What is Self Esteem? Is it an add-on or plug-in? A lot of people lately have been saying me that I should have it, but I don't want to install a virus from a fake website so I am not searching it yet. But is strange that people who don't program is the people who recomend it. Maybe is too good that makes even random people get a good opinion about it.

[@bananapeelonhead]

You are not crazy, that same thing happens to me every time. Lot of self-doubt involved there :P 9:30 this is spot on. I've read so many steam reviews for other games that, on this day, haunt me still. That's why I find it so easy to participate in game jams, I know those enviroments are really friendly and many devs lift each other up with positive feedback.

[@sasquatchbgames]

game jams are fantastic, I wish I had the time to participate in every single one of them lol. Thanks so much for your input!

[@andrejpesliak543]

I think your content deserves a lot more subscribers. Great job, keep going!

[@sasquatchbgames]

Thank you so much! Oh we have LOTS planned, don't you worry ;) We'll be around a while. Your encouragement means more than you know this morning. Hope you have an awesome one!

[@PlayWithFurcifer]

Just because you have a tutorial does not mean you have it ready in your head. We sometimes need to look back in our own videos ..... x) Great video!

[@sasquatchbgames]

Yep, totally. In fact I have tutorials lined up in my future scheduled content, and I did a dry run on all of them first before recording, to ensure I actually knew what I was talking about and didn't run into weird issues. And I had to problem solve on all of them at least a little. Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoyed

[@blackcitadelstudios]

3 months in as a new solo indie game dev, gotta say that all you've said is 100% relatable... 😅

[@lazydude5681]

Well, programming IS hard, I didn't know it because I've always been the type of person that do whatever is necessary to achieve a goal so I probably never paid enough attention to my own struggles, but it IS hard, now, add to that you probably have to make art, but not whatever, I mean GOOD art, or pay for it... each option has its caveats for sure, but nothing will work if the game is not FUN or at least make the player feel something you want them to feel (may be tension, may be sadness or happiness due to an emotional story, etc.)... The advantage is that one person can do everything on their own given enough time and dedication, but the problem with that is that one person handling everything on their own is a heavy workload that no one is supposed to carry as you say, the thing is that it's can be an advantage tho because indie film makers will need actors for the characters if they want to make more complex stuff, and those tasks are released from that person, delegated to actors and probably a director, less stuff to do, but more dependency on external people, while a game dev can choose if those elements are important or not for their story... It's a trade off, the reason why game dev is so heavy is because one person can do everything (if decides so) but each task is too complex on its own even if they're shared among a team

[@sasquatchbgames]

Really good points. Really boils down to whether or not you're really wanting to handle everything yourself (and be okay with the heavy workload) or be willing to deligate but trust that those people can handle their tasks autonymously and competently.

[@JustWes]

I’m so glad I found your channel! Thank you for your honesty and will to share. It’s very much appreciated!

[@NielGodX]

This video is spot on. Holy shit. Well done

[@Watzefuk1192]

Amazing video man!! Definitely one I’ll come back to watch for those days when i feel overwhelmed. As i’m making a metroidvania just like you and those can really hammer down on your dopamine for extended periods of time.

[@sasquatchbgames]

Thanks so much, that's really great to hear!! Metroidvanias are DIFFICULT lol, I'm loving my game but man it's super overwhelming sometimes. All the best and good luck on your project!

[@iiropeltonen]

I feel really seen by this video. I'm an advanced beginner gamedev and I feel often like I should have started learning a decade ago and I often feel like I must Be doing something wrong because theres so much I propably don't know.

[@sasquatchbgames]

Me too. 100%. (about feeling like there's so much I don't know.) So great that you got started in the first place though! A lot of people 'want' to make games and never learn how. Good on you for getting started! I wish you all the luck and success on all your projects my friend!

[@iiropeltonen]

@@sasquatchbgames Thank you!

[@KozelPraiseGOELRO]

Is hard to me because I feel stuck without making progress the more progress I already done, when working on it. I know is not real, as I can see progress after several days, but in the while is like "I worked for 3 days and I see no much change, should I keep doing this?". Then are the graphycs and other stuff I can't do good enough. I have no idea of which style, how good, should I do it all by myself or call for someone to do it for/with me. Then is the feeling of loosing time in something I like but gives no money therefore makes me feel a bit useless. This last one is easier to fight back tinking "This is practice, and eventually it won't only give me enough money to be able to do it for good part of my life, but it will make me feel better than other jobs" but is still not gone.

[@sasquatchbgames]

I can relate to all those points. Thanks for sharing!

[@orsaz924]

As far as I'm concerned, this is a pinpoint answer to why I struggle with game dev, especially since I'm not even sure where to start from when starting a new game project

[@apoorvpandey3D]

this is so accurate. i feel good now thanks ! subscribed

[@danielobrien5216]

Great vid!

[@sasquatchbgames]

Glad you liked it, thanks!

[@castavaanvarlessa]

I love this content, it's relatable to a T! Thanks💙!

[@sasquatchbgames]

Thanks so much!

[@paulshelkov7956]

I would like to believe there's a way to learn that's genuinely enjoyable. If I could somehow discover it, maybe it's a mindset, I'd be all-in and build my dream game. Without that I'm just not doing it, that's not how I live.

[@ProgramSam]

What I find really hard is that when I do solo projects, you have to be able to do or manage e-ve-ry part of the process. coding, creating game art, sound design, creating atmosphere, color theory, marketing, building community... I can create neat ideas and develop prototypes, but struggle with developing it further because I lack experience and know-how of the aspects that make a prototype a fun and engaging game 🙃. What helps me partly with that is joining game jams as mentioned in some other comments as well. They force you to at least spend some time on each topic that makes a game a game. And it might not be good, but it forces you to take small steps with that little dopamine hit you mention 😄. I am not there yet, but for me that builds courage to invest time in larger projects I am passionate about. Another option would be to look for free assets, but I find that it is indeed possible to make a game based on existing assets. But when I have an idea, and try to find matching assets is it a lot harder to match the idea in my head, and to match different sources. Does that sound relatable in any way? 😃

[@sasquatchbgames]

it's a LOT to do on your own. I have help from the wife but I can still relate to what you're saying in a big way. And yes, game jams are HUGE especially for building confidence, regardless of the ranking. It also helps get used to critical feedback cause that's not a natural thing to take well. I had to bite the urge to "defend" my jam games when people criticized it, but in honesty they were all good points.

[@ProgramSam]

@@sasquatchbgames Oh yes definitely! Learning how to handle critical feedback is crucial. It feels really personal, but when you take a step back, often they are right. And because it is feedback on a project that often only cost you a few days of your time you learn a lot without having your life's work critiqued 👍

[@Elesnouman]

This is a very good video, I feel like I'm watching a mirror

[@Meepalasheep]

Thank you so much for making this video. I feel that the "resistance" we all feel is the ego kicking and screaming. Creating something is humbling. It's easier to do nothing and think you're hot stuff. Consumer/critic culture sets people off on the wrong foot. Actually going through the process of making something humanizes art, media, all that.

[@sasquatchbgames]

It's REALLY humbling lol. I'm being stretched in all sorts of ways making the game and these videos and going through all the feedback. I agree with you 100% Thanks for your comment and the encouragement!!

[@iamagenius2646]

Guys, make your own framework. Unity and Godot lets you do your own game framework. You'll learn to use it over time and improvements will come. Fail and learn. As an example, I implemented a reflection system for steam sockets on my game. The first time it was laggy. I rewrote it and it worked flawlessly. Why? IDK, it was the first time I did that and I made it more robust than needed. I definitely needed to see the use cases to make it work good, but I being a first time and little no resources it ended up pretty bad. My tip is prototype some scrapy code and refactor it once you understand why, how and when you need it. All companies to this and you don't even know it because in large companies there is usually a guy that ends up refactoring the feature to a great working feature after he received a bug task.

[@mohamedmusthafa1057]

Thats actyally me thinking about EveryWhere😂

[@lewessays]

Where I am originally from don't even consider game dev as a career so, I cheat by saying I am a programmer which fares better. But, then people are like you don't have a degree...and I am like whatever....

[@skully3242]

Honestly I tried learning Godot because I heard it was “the easiest engine for beginners” Well damn. If that’s the easiest engine, I have no chance in hell learning how to make a game. It’s so confusing. Honestly discouraging.

[@axlecode8598]

👍

[@rbartig]

Gospel.

[@perfectionbox]

It's simple: making a movie is hard, except you're also making it interactive.

[@georgedowell7747]

My game is turning me to a mad-man. Honestly I feel like dieing 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@sasquatchbgames]

Lmao it's a LOT of work. I do love it though 😀

[@ear4745]

Support comment

[@arunachalpradesh399]

and that pain when you have good game idea you worked for a year, than suddently some person with same idea launches the game.

[@novlek]

This man makes money from making KZbin videos about game development, not from game development proper. Please stay away from emotional KZbin content but rather look up specific solutions to specific problems.

[@Coco-gg5vp]

First

[@sasquatchbgames]

you are very consistent :D

[@eduardollerandez9936]

Super greatful your channel popped up on my feed!!I 100 percent agree with absolutely everything you just said!! extremely accurate!!I'm a fairly new Indy Dev working on my first game now and boy has it been a journey 😅.I've learned quite a bit since i started a couple of years back but im still learning so much every day.your video has helped to give me more confidence that my game isnt going to be a complete piece of garbage although alot of people have already told me that its looking good there is still that self doubt especially because im still learning and only making a game completely with visual scripting and no actual written code.but i appreciate you and your video this video really hit home for me and was somthing i really needed to hear from another indi dev! appreciate it very much and you got a new subscriber here!😁🙌🏼😌❤️🙂🎮⏯️✅