You should know this before starting gamedev

[@gameboardgames]

2023-2024, its really different these days than its typically been, for game devs. It's never been easier to make a good game, with all the great tools available out there, most of them free; but its never been harder to get noticed now, because so many games are getting released, and the minimum bar of quality is higher than its ever been because of that. I love being a solo game dev, making my games (like RoadHouse Manager these days). But if I had to rely on making money from game dev, that'd be a stressful nightmare.

[@mandisaw]

It's not so different, honestly. Games are an entertainment medium, and are now mainstream enough that they're competing with every other form of entertainment & leisure, not just among themselves. It is harder to advertise to ppl now, because magazines and shops have gone away, most don't read news sites & blogs, and folks skip or block ads. But indies generally never paid for ads anyway - they relied on either word-of-mouth or the exclusiveness of their platform to reduce competition. If folks genuinely put the effort in to leverage that now, they can still do okay, with a good game that suits the market tastes.

[@thanatos454]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="68">1:08</a> - You don't need to be "skilled enough" to run into road blocks. It doesn't take skill to write bad code or use things improperly - more like the opposite. It is the law of entropy in action. It is easier to destroy than create. It is easier to do things poorly than to do things well. With that said I agree with the sentiment that you should pick something and run with it. You should just expect to run into a mess that doesn't work well and to find your way through it. It is where the most growth happens. It is just sometimes getting through it could mean cutting losses and reengineering a different solution with different tooling now that you are a bit wiser with hindsight. You cannot win the race if you are constantly third and fourth-guessing each step you take. Commit and only pivot when things truly become unworkable.

[@Zechariah.omearch]

Godot is probably the best for a solo. The Node structure is just so intuitive, it is pretty easy to focus on just code or design, etc; like actual implementation instead of organizing files all day. I've never touched Unity but I've been using Unreal for yrs and one of the big three(ue5, unity, game maker) should definitely be the goal! Saying it's objectively the worse option though is a bit much. To clarify, I understand this is your opinion at the end of the day, but do you genuinely think it's that bad? like I said in my opinion the unique systems in place just mean you have to learn less to make something fun, which is excellent for sustaining motivation(handling burnout) then when you need to go beyond fun to commercial success, you can potential do that, like every other engine. So although the other engines are better, most people can still create their "dream game" while having a much easier time to at least just get over the initial friction of starting, which is objectively the most important thing, when doing anything creative.

[@AdeelTariq0]

Its engagement bait.

[@ZahrDalsk]

Using godot is an idiotic decision. Its followers use it because it's FOSS, not because it's good (it isn't good).

[@bitemegames]

It's not that deep. -M

[@mandisaw]

It's a running joke here, don't sweat it

[@vycdev]

Really nice advice, most of these things are easily overlooked

[@mandisaw]

Good advice, but I think the comparison to "how things were" is a bit off. Feels like ppl mostly anchor their expectations against the days of Steam Greenlight and maybe XBox Live Arcade. But that was a weird anomaly - you always had to market your games 😅 Getting funded off a nice idea or pitch deck was only for ppl who had an established industry track record, with personal connections. Or publishers who just accepted everything, did nothing, and let the market sort it out. I think what we're seeing here is games maturing as a media industry. The real barrier to compete is still money & connections, but anyone can make low-budget games just like any other non-commercial artist. Only difference is that so many ppl in games don't quite understand where they fall on the tier list.

[@skippyzk]

I love unreal But I hate unreal lmao

[@RealCoachMustafa]

But when do I get rich quick? I want my first game to be Hollow Knight.

[@mattc9598]

Regarding publishers - maybe i'm just clueless but why do they exist/why are they needed? I understand why they USED to be needed, they controlled industry that made the physical game discs, but in 2024 why would anybody need a publisher? Every Steam game ever just has the developer also listed as their own publisher anyway. Edit: talking for the indie space, obviously major publishers like Sony would handle all the marketing needs for the games their studios develop

[@TESkyrimizer]

apparently they have industry connections they can use to give your game more visibility. or they are better at marketing than you are. or they have a great brand recognition. but sometimes they arent that good and you pay them a hefty percentage for almost nothing. the business side of gamedev is very predatory-like.

[@Flazrew]

Publishers only really provide three things for Indie devs: 1. Marketing for the game before/at release (beware of publishers who don't do this, or block the game's release). 2. Funding towards dev/marketing costs. 3. Porting to consoles, and general game play testing.

[@mandisaw]

Publishers in games are similar to books, music (record labels), and TV & movie studios. Main benefit is money - they choose projects that could be profitable, and invest money upfront, in exchange for equity (partial ownership) and revenue (money that's made). Game devs are like authors or musicians - they may have skills, but not enough money to keep going while making their art. Add'l benefits include expertise and connections. This is really important, since you can be good at singing, but still need recording studios, backing musicians, concert venues, and marketing to make money from singing. Doesn't matter if your album is physical or digital, it still needs those things. Same with games - we need access to platform & porting support, access to streamers & games press, localization support plus gov't certification, etc. You or I can't just pick up the phone and get Sony or Geoff Keighley on the phone, and big streamers don't cover random indie games for free generally. Self-publishing is definitely more feasible now than it used to be. You can do okay with games below a certain size & budget on your own, if you have enough cash from job or savings. But decent publishers can massively expand what you're capable of doing, and how far a good game can reach. That is absolutely still the case.