Paths of Indie Game dev ?

[SirPaul]

Hi Friends,

 

Today i wanted to ask you, What is the possible ways of Indie game dev to Work full time on his project or to just make enough money from games so it doesnt seem that he is on computer all the time, and nothing is happening ?  And maybe this will help few people to know how to operate when you have ideas, Knowledge, but no time , money.

 

My question is.  I'm currently developing few android games. The problem is, Always when developing something, there is not time for it since i Need to go to work.

 

Problem 1# - IF work { Time - - } ;

 

With Work I just simply dont have time to work on some game because the process would take too long. Need $$$ to home Code own games.

 

Problem 2# - IF Game.isPaid = false { Money = 0 };

 

Think about this. You spent few months developing game with which you are really satisfied as your project is fully working and funny. But you dont get any money, therefore you cant go fulltime on your baby, and therefore the project is abandoned because of lack of time. //

 

Problem++

 

So what i am trying to say, What were/are you doing in those cases,  Should i make a game and make it Paid for like 0.50 cents so i have just enough money to continue working on other projects ? Or What are ways one can go So he can work on his project and dont worry about similar projet ?

 

Also  NO KICKSTARTER , first of all, in my country isnt Kickstarter avaliable, second of all, Still i dont think it is Kickstarter worthy project.

 

I Thought about releasing a DEMO version the game while its not completed for 50 cents and then when it will be ready i shall release it for 1 euro for those who dont buy the demo, and the Demo folks would have upgrade to full version for free.

 

Also , my question is.. When you release a game on Android as free, Are you getting any money from Google for ads ?

 

So many question , so few ways to ask :{

 

Thank you all.

[sonarctica]

Do it for fun and as a hobby first. Work on it in the weekends and then release it for free, then sell coins for real money to unlock stuff faster.

[SirPaul]

Do it for fun and as a hobby first. Work on it in the weekends and then release it for free, then sell coins for real money to unlock stuff faster.

 

Well on weekend I'm spending programming for my second job as clients.. basically when i'm developing in free time, it will need 2 years to finnish it.. Therefore i need it to make it full time at least

[Flojer0]

I'm in a similar situation where I would like to become an indie game dev. My view with time has become "if I wouldn't do it for free why should I do it?". Or I would love if my hobby could be my living. So from that angle I am working on building up a website for myself and preparing to blog and post games on said website, eventually working it up and possibly making ad revenue. If it doesn't make me money then oh well, it's just a hobby. If I do make money then I can be excited that things are working out.

 

I personally am keeping in mind that figures I see all over show that typically I will  be looking at at least 2 years and/or 6 games released before I have any real weight as an indie developer. This is a lifelong career choice not a one off money maker.

 

Lastly, and i have seen this in myself. You need to love developing games more than you like playing games. Otherwise you spend all of you time playing instead of spending your precious time working on your next release.

[SirPaul]

I'm in a similar situation where I would like to become an indie game dev. My view with time has become "if I wouldn't do it for free why should I do it?". Or I would love if my hobby could be my living. So from that angle I am working on building up a website for myself and preparing to blog and post games on said website, eventually working it up and possibly making ad revenue. If it doesn't make me money then oh well, it's just a hobby. If I do make money then I can be excited that things are working out.

 

I personally am keeping in mind that figures I see all over show that typically I will  be looking at at least 2 years and/or 6 games released before I have any real weight as an indie developer. This is a lifelong career choice not a one off money maker.

 

Lastly, and i have seen this in myself. You need to love developing games more than you like playing games. Otherwise you spend all of you time playing instead of spending your precious time working on your next release.

Thanks for very good response, well the thing is, i lastly played any game maybe half-year ago since all time spent on PC i am programming :{ so thats the problem++ because iam starting to loose track whats popular game mechanic or so ,As for your saying that i should love programming games, trust me, i love it as much as i can, but the last games i was playing in a while was my own while debuging It really needs something that changes the whole setup, best if i could make it my living, problem also is that and this happens just tooo often , that as soon as i start developing game, i check play store and similar game is released , just they are more in team and therefore were quicker.. you know and then when i check my game Iam like .. why would they want to play it, if similar thing are on store..  i dont know, iam getting too pesimistic over all the thing that happened to me,  For example iam working on game, i get a little idea for a mini money maker as to have in game shopping .e.t.c .. after few hours of brainstorming the idea of game is so wild that it would take 4 years to finnish it myself,.. NOT mentioning graphics.. i can models 3d but dont have any textures so i dont want to download some, because i wnat this cartoonish textures not realistic, and all those problem. But i cannot afford a graphic designer.. So here i am doing this pixel artish rpg side scroller

 

Because when i check a 3d  game which i am developing i say to myself when looking on the graphics side.. " Well, this aint game i would play.."  

[faszinierend]

Look at how Tom Francis did it, i think he is the perfect example (http://www.pentadact.com/). I think the only safe and sound way of becoming an indie dev is to work on the first project as a side project and see how much traction it gets. If you're currently too busy to make any real progress try changing your job or see if maybe one job will keep you alive for a while (but i think it is definitely important to keep a foot or two in the door... the only exception would probably be if you already work in the game industry).

 

Apart from that i think the most important thing is to create a game that does not require much content and is based on simple but fun game mechanics, maybe something that can make use of procedural content generation because content creation is what will take the longest time.

[Flojer0]

Apart from that i think the most important thing is to create a game that does not require much content and is based on simple but fun game mechanics, maybe something that can make use of procedural content generation because content creation is what will take the longest time.

This is where I have been focusing my efforts, I just didn't mention it for the sake of brevity. I personally want to get good at creating games that can be released in a matter of months if not weeks. That way I can build up a portfolio that demonstrates a reasonable slice of my skills within a year or two. I haven't finished anything meaningful so feel free to use all the grains of salt you feel necessary, But I would recommend looking back on older games around the atari and early arcade era. Many of those games were made from idea to production ready in a matter of one or two weeks. For example you could probably make a missile command style game with a couple of reasonable twists toward your own style in a lot less time than a full rpg or platformer. I personally really liked breakout as a kid an plan on making at least one breakout clone to hone my game development skills. Many mobile games can be a good inspiration too, Angry birds as a whole has a lot of content with high production values. But I wouldn't be surprised if I could have a basic prototype and level builder in a month. As I said don't take me at face value, I am not where I want to be yet. But that is where I am aiming my own time.

 

Also, I would recommend taking a gander at this extra credits. Heck, check out the whole series if you want to learn a lot about game development. But this one is great at giving a good view into starting as an indie.

 

http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/so-you-want-to-be-an-indie

[SirPaul]

This is where I have been focusing my efforts, I just didn't mention it for the sake of brevity. I personally want to get good at creating games that can be released in a matter of months if not weeks. That way I can build up a portfolio that demonstrates a reasonable slice of my skills within a year or two. I haven't finished anything meaningful so feel free to use all the grains of salt you feel necessary, But I would recommend looking back on older games around the atari and early arcade era. Many of those games were made from idea to production ready in a matter of one or two weeks. For example you could probably make a missile command style game with a couple of reasonable twists toward your own style in a lot less time than a full rpg or platformer. I personally really liked breakout as a kid an plan on making at least one breakout clone to hone my game development skills. Many mobile games can be a good inspiration too, Angry birds as a whole has a lot of content with high production values. But I wouldn't be surprised if I could have a basic prototype and level builder in a month. As I said don't take me at face value, I am not where I want to be yet. But that is where I am aiming my own time.

 

Also, I would recommend taking a gander at this extra credits. Heck, check out the whole series if you want to learn a lot about game development. But this one is great at giving a good view into starting as an indie.

 

http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/so-you-want-to-be-an-indie

Guys, Okey, and what when you are developing game, and suddenly you see that someone else just did it before you ? like maybe few months ago?

[faszinierend]

I don't see this as a problem, if your game is good and polished people who liked the other game might even be looking for something similar.

In the end the games won't be exactly the same... minecraft isn't the only block building game out there and while it's by far the most popular other games in that genre still get some traction... You always have to be able to compete somehow and as a single person you can only do that when you keep the scope small.

 

Even when you are the first to release something "new" and awesome there is no guarantee that you will get any visibility with all the indie games released each day.