Just Make Games
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
- In this video I talk about the beauty of a game jam and my experience participating in Ludum Dare 55. Wishlist Lumina Rush on Steam store.steampowered.com/app/28...
Checkout Summon Traffic Controller here - leeroysbro.itch.io/summon-tra...
here are links to all the other awesome games shown-
Grave Dogger- rvagamejams.itch.io/
Demonware Incorporated - skunkteeth.itch.io/demonware
Etsa Djavul - foolmoron.itch.io/etsa-djavul
Voiceborne - imposterblues.itch.io/voiceborne
You Are Gnome-Caller! - uvwar.itch.io/you-are-gnome-c...
Summoner: The Greatest Wizar - eschmiel.itch.io/summoner-the...
Throes of the Javelin- garbanzo-goon.itch.io/throes-...
Jury Summons When Duty Calls -
warrenfisher.itch.io/jury-sum...
Duck Spawner - mmyse.itch.io/duck-spawner
0:00 Intro
0:21 The Reality of Game Dev
1:00 What is Ludum Dare?
2:29 My Ludum Dare Experience
4:23 Playing other Peoples Games
5:45 The Importance of Just Making a Game
6:56 Outro
I love the message you're conveying here it's hits home "Just making games" is what keeps me going when I've been programming for 2 years trying to find a job as a software engineer the one thing that has kept me from giving up is simply "Just Make Games!!". Also, thanks for featuring my LD game, Demonware Inc!
Hell yea man!! Of course, it's a great game!!
I've found this to be true. If you are learning- learn and practice learning. Don't create 'end products'.
Yea I’ve found you learn the most when working on something your simply excited about instead of attempting to immediately make a finished product
Practice is learning but you gotta learn to practice big love fellow game lovers 😜
@@strick9red big love
Game jams are GREAT for experienced programmers. UNFORTUNATELY, not that great for newbies. They just CRUSH you!
Ha it can definitely be a bit overwhelming at first but its a great place to put practice into work
CZcams has been pushing this video on me really hard, like, it's been in my recommendeds 10 times already I think.
Good video!
Ha sneaky little CZcams algorithm. Thanks!!
“When a measurement becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measurement.”
- charles goodhart
You raised a good question. I'll tell you why I'd been struggle for the past 10 years. TLDR; skill issue. Seriously. Started from learning random tutorials, made half-baked platformers. What happening here in this stage? I didn't have the game design skill. Though I had rich gaming experiences, but when it comes to making a game I got tunnelled vision and couldn't bring up proper words for how would the game be like and only got "what kind of game do I want to make" and yeah, MMORPG my bro. Then the tutorials hell happened. I learnt so much from tutorials but I couldn't make a single game, why? It's because I didn't study properly and only followed the tutorials, so when I need to utilize the knowledges the most I could recalled was some keywords and had to open official documents while developing the game which kinda frustrating. Afterward I struggle to the point that I lost the sight of where I wanted to go, so here another classic gamejam hell. I joined many game jams too, but didn't participate much in the social. It's because I didn't proud of the game I made during game jam, though I learnt a lot from making it. Then another struggle with personal project. It's been a total struggle and it's ended up bugging me to the point that I stuck in the loop of watching motivational videos and newbie how-to videos that's popping up everyday with repeating patterns from new game developers that want to have followers on youtube. Now what happened? As I said, skill issue. I lacked technical skills so that the inertia on working on something was so high that sometimes it's like a month before I move me lazy arse to work. Well you could call it "mental barrier" which could be say that it's too abstract to explain in proper words. I know many people also had or having mental barrier which ended up causing inertia from your daily routines into making something related to making games. For me, it was assets creation part. Partly it's traumatic experiences from my ruined uni life, another was the collapsed of self-confidence which enacted the self-defense mechanicsm, hence "mental barrier". Though I'd say assets creation is the most fun part for me. I just struggled because of the PTSD and had to make immense efforts to unfucked myself. After I won the mental barrier, what happened next? This one is the last and I only managed to make it work on paper thanks to ChatGPT since a last week, it's the game scope. At first I thought the game was rather small...apparently the story alone allowed me to split into trilogy. Well after I splitted into trilogy, it's still too big. Afterward I use ChatGPT to help in both making suggestions and estimate time which normally not accurate, but I have my own way to make a good calculation for myself. I made the plan of 2 weeks, though I gradually reduced from 6 months, 3 months, 1 months, into 2 weeks. The planned 2 weeks would be enough to only finish my first prototype with nearly finished game system and using placeholder assets. Now what happened here? It's actually the SKILL ISSUE on planning the game scope! That's right, the true reason I struggled for the past 10 years is that I didn't have a proper skills set for working solo. It'd be different if you're working as a team since people can split their expertise and some people may have the right skills to manage the project scope. But as a solo, you need to be an all-rounder. The one man army, or gamedev god. Just pick ones that you like. Not to mention the false understanding under the illusions which other people talked or given advices. Something like "you must have a prototype in a week or a month at most", can't be use in context of "you're a total noob without any experience not to mention you can't even make a proper system by yourself yet". So here is the advice if you skipped everything to read here or read until her, considered it as a bonus. Study the game development workflow -> study tools workflow -> only study the part which you need right now -> go make your dream game -> if it's too big make it smaller by either splitting or directly reduced the scope. The planning skill is fundamental for every parts of game development or even in life. So if you don't know how to cut the big chunk down, then maybe get some help and learn from it.
It's a really tough journey and I've had ALOT of experiences with abandoning prototypes of games because of a lack of experience in making games and feeling overwhelmed. It seems like you've learned a lot from your experiences and that's awesome! I look forward to seeing what you make
@@BatteredLuteStudios Sure you'll see under the name DRAKOSEA though. I'm still considering if I want to separate the channel between more personal and purely biz. Maybe I should just use one and don't worry much about having multiple accounts since I'm a solo.
Thank you for this great video!
Your video randomly popped on my homepage, i didnt even know it was about game jams but when you mentioned ludum dare i was like hey i participated in that one too! and then you said the theme was summoning and then i said wait, i participated in that exact same jam! lol we made a silly little horror game with my friend, it's called "the summoning of Dagan". It was one of our first jams and i couldn't agree more with everything you said, it was really fun and i learned a lot! I'm really proud how our little game turned out.
I'm gonna play and rate yours if i can find it!!
That’s awesome!!! I’ll definitely have to check yours out as well!!
I love the LD compo, probably my favorite of any recurring game jam.
...Game jams ARE awesome for "the power of try to murder yourself"!
Ha yea it’s an incredible way to push yourself and see what you can do! Lol I love that
This video was bonkers! Keep it up
Darksiders devs were asked why. They said cuz they thought it was a cool idea. That simple
Absolute legends!
This video really hit me - in a good way. I literally have no words, just thank you.
I'm glad!! Thanks for watching :)
Great message, and really well articulated. This is helping me get back on track and filter out the noise. I forgot somewhere that CZcams, and marketing, and likes, and followers is not what I started out looking for. I just wanted to make games.
There's definitely a lot of noise out there but you got this!! I appreciate the kind words!
I needed this video, thank you. ♥
I myself was about to create a video about this feeling, but you have captured it perfectly! Also as others said, you have been recommended to me hard!
Thank you so much! Ha that sneaky youtube algorithm
This video has re-ignited my passion for gamedev. As soon as i can, i'll come back to it with new eyes. Great video, really underrated channel ( you got a sub yayy!!!)
Great video. Recently I've been struggling to get myself to make games because I'm always thinking about the end product. But this video reminded me why i started it in the first place, for enjoyment. Just subscribed :)
As someone who used to mess around alot on RPG maker, I felt the heart in this vid. I think more devs; big and small, should embrace this philosophy.
This is really good. Two thumbs up!
Thanks I really appreciate it!
This video is incredible, thank you for making something beautiful
Hey thank you for watching, I really appreciate it! :)
It may not be today or someday but hopefully I'll be able to create a game that I will be proud of. Thank you for making this video!
Heck even Loop Hero was originally from a game jam, via Ludum Dare no less, called Loop Path Hero.
Loop hero’s so good!! Thats awesome
I want to make games, but I have zero coding knowledge :(
There's a big channel on CZcams called Brackeys, in the past they did Unity tutorials, the team burnt out and stopped making content, until last week when the original founder of the channel came back and now he is making Godot comtent. The tutorials are easy to follow and assume that you have limited coding experience. It's pretty great for beginners.
Same two man but Wht I learned and read is to just try to get on ur engine and try to put something on there like a ball and a floor and try to make it roll and if u have to look at CZcams who cares point is at least ur brain is working and it’s learning something
Brackeys is dope! Lots of his tutorials have helped me through alot of learning. It's a great place to start and feel less intimidated to coding!
@@BearShot I am in Game Design major and honestly have not learn a lot on the main questions that would make a game. So best thing I started doing was making physical games (card and boards).
Then I had my academic project and for some reason I wanted something ambitious and went with Unreal Engine 5. I can say I learned a lot and a lot of my main questiond are unanswered, but I made a shott horror game experience as a concept.
Now I bought a course on making 2D pixel games for Unreal Engine and its a breeze. I mainly understand and make just cause of visual code helps a lot, yes there is always a learning curve, but UE5 Blueprints have been worth it since I will learn a lot more and Blueprints allow me to expand with the engine of choice.
Yapping comment, but hope it helps
Love this. Love the insight. Love the message. I might go make a game now.
Thanks so much!! Do it!!
thank you so much for this video man! I'm a game dev too and my first game jam ever was Ludum 55th, in last month. We went in three friends and made a lot of fun. I really like the message you send in this video. Inspire me a make a video about my ludum jam too. Congrats, and thank you!!
That's awesome!!! Do it!!!! Glad you liked the video :)
Every game jam I've participated in, I've learned far more in the few days I've worked on that than in months of practicing
Thank you, needed it) ♥️
I really needed this, thanks!
I got you!! Glad you liked it!
Thank you for this video
:) Glad you liked it
Thank you. I've been contemplating whether if my game concept is attainable and thinking of giving up midway the production but you gave me courage again to continue.
Hell yea! Glad to hear it! You got this!!
Lovely vid and def subscribing! might be trying to learn programming soon and this def makes it look more appealing o/
Thanks! Do it! There’s some incredible and free resources out there and also ways to make games with little to no programming!
I don't know, I still kinda enjoy my unfinished but good looking and inspired prototypes more than I think I would enjoy doing this under time pressure with extreme restrictions on what is even a viable learning topic to dive into. There are things you learn from finishing the game, I'm sure, but there are also things a you learn from tackling big complex problems or trying to realize larger visions in some way that is doable for an indie. I think there's both kinds of devs and also different personal goals you can have in this which may or may not be achievable without one or two way huge projects that teach you about scale and long term motivation, too.
I definitely agree with you, I think both are good and you learn a lot from making prototypes especially without the time pressure and restrictions. It definitely leaves more room for creative freedom and flexibility. Just depends on what your goal is and having reasonable expectations for yourself
thats the fear talking man. i was the same until i did my first game jam and it was such a great experience just to see what i was able to achieve with a small team of randos in 2 days. its really rewarding even if you're not super happy with the final product - plus you can always carry on with it after ofc!
I'd say there is a risk in doing mainly gamejam tier projects because they are typically prototypes for mechanics. This is great for experimenting and expanding out your skills into areas you're less experienced with like vector math, data sorting, proc gen, ect.. but eventually there will be diminishing returns and the only way to improve further is to get experience on projects that require lots of these mechanics to begin interacting - that is where things start to get messy.
That said, I do agree with the "just make games" message because I do see many, many talented programmers chasing the latest fads to get the easiest cash return on their development time but none of these cookie cutter clones are really making best use of their skills. It's like having DaVinci building with lego when you know they're capable of so much more - very tragic.
This is just it! Don't try to make some AAA quality game. Just something new and different than you have before. Make it a single level even. I think most people have over the top ideas when they first start. I know I did.
100% true! Starting small helps drastically and avoids you getting overwhelmed and then you can continuing growing!
Your game jam game looks fun
I want to make games but I haven't due to my exhuastion of coding in my programming class. this is making feel more relaxed. like I can fail without worrying. I'm idiot and like less people will be mad. I mean today I was thinking about it I'm currently setting up windows for me to get back into game dev crap over the summer. but it's something I wanna do. just to create the game for my characters. I wanna see them exist.
thank you. I'll look into a random dumb name generator after getting some decent pratice with some basic concepts or literally learning how others do things cause. I feel like I learn best for mimicry. it's simplier easy to understand and as you mimic you get to slowly learn the steps within what I would say feels like a safer enviorment.... I say that from praticing drawing on occasion and how my art has generally improved over years.
I'd probably be better suited as an ideas guy but that isn't what I want to be. I should be the doing stuff guy.. I doubt anyone cares but I'm relaxing and trying to help myself not stress about things. this video it did make me feel better about things. So once again thanks.
Glad the video is helping you relax. I know that stress that we put ourselves through. You got this!
love it
Very enjoyable video and great message! I think that a lot of developers need to hear this from time to time, to keep them from spiraling lol
Keep it up!
im trying my hardest to learn coding so i can spend the whole day making games after games. its hard as heck but i wont give up yet
yes master
epic video cool message!
Thanks so much!
fire vid
Thanks :)
Cool video!
Thanks!!!
good video keep it up👍
Will do! I appreciate it!
ok, here ya go
Ludum Dare started Hollow Knight. You don't even have to sell it to me. ^_^
Hollow Knight is sooo good :)
Cool vid pal, fellow solo dev here!
I gotta really start doing this, like 48h to make a game as a weekly challenge or just once a week make a game, even if plain stupid.
Discipline is more important than motivation.
Motivation will run out. Passion will due down.
You must be disciplined to finish.
That's very true. Both are good but building the habits and pushing yourself to do the not fun stuff day in and day out is what makes a finished product
I keep worrying if I would be able to make what i imagine,do i have enough skill set or experience,even though i keep learning the fear stays, because I am not making them with the fear that it will 'Suck' and this fear is putting me down or holdin me back really. Your advise really is good and effective, i have started make small little games and it really made me more confident to attempt stuff. First plan, then figure out how to do, not other way round!!🎉❤
That’s awesome!! Glad to hear it and you got this!!!
Hey, I've recently made a big switch from Unity to Godot, and I've still yet to make a single finished game, no matter how small the scope... I like the idea of "Just make a game" but for me its not art or sound design that hold me back, but its always the coding aspect I can never truly find out how to code and it makes me demotivated and I quit only to come back just to quit again...
If you have any thoughts just please share them with me...
Props on the switch! I think lowering your expectation on what a “finished game” is might be helpful. if your able to share it with someone and they are able to play it, boom you’ve made a game. As for coding maybe lean into making a game that isn’t as coding dependent or try out visual scripting and see if that makes more sense for you. Even then if you keep finding yourself feeling lost with programming try doing a game jam with a programmer and see how that feels. It’s ok to have weak points in game development, lean into your strengths and you’ll find ways to fill in the gaps
@@BatteredLuteStudios Ok, Ill take that In mind and see hoe it goes, I think ur right, my problem is I think of a good idea, but never make it and the absence of actually making it leads me to think of the game when finished and not actually how to make it if yk what I mean, like I'm always thinking about the game and not making it, I'll try to work on that and give some game jams a try and see how it goes, thanks 4 the suggestion again, Many times ppl never respond to my comments so it means alot :)
@@GoldenEdits656 I think in most cases, when people struggle with programming, it's because they have not yet learned to break things down and go step by step.
Be it business software, a game, or a physical machine. Almost everything is made incrementally. Try not to think big, but build up from small pieces.
If you want to create some sort of code that realizes some feature for you, approaching it in the same way is generally the most straightforward option.
A simple example:
Let's say i have a game with many features, and one of them is turn based combat. Instead of working on all of them at the same time,
i single out one feature, in this case the turn based combat. Then i would ask myself "what actually makes up turn based combat? can i break it down? can i turn it into steps?"
I might at first come up with something like:
1. I perform my turn
2. The enemy performs their turn
3. Repeat
Cool, i have now broken something fairly complex into simpler steps that are much easier to code. But i can probably break this down further. Lets say i start with my turn.
Again, i would ask myself the same question "how can i break it down"?
Maybe i get something like:
1. select an option regarding what i want to do
2. deal damage to an enemy's health based on some damage value. so basically, do a little math
3. have some sort of animation play, or if im just prototyping/testing, maybe just print some text like "enemy got hit!"
And i can keep simplifying these further if i need to, until im at a point where the steps i need to take are very small.
I take my small steps, and combine them to get the result i want. Then combine even more and more, and so on, until i have my turn based combat.
The concept as a whole may be somewhat complex, but the tiny steps i need to take to make them often aren't, if i analyze and break them down well.
i wish it was that easy
great video. i just need to learn how to make a game first haha (zero experience) So on the game jams, say me, someone who has like, maybe a a couple months of blender experience and has made a few silly character models, would I be able to be helpful to someones team? How do you even get put into teams?
You definitely would be helpful! Programmers would absolutely take literally anything that you can give them for a game jam. As for finding a team I would recommend looking to see if there's anything local in your area. If you cant find anything local I would suggest picking a game jam like Global Game Jam and going to their community forum/discord where there are people looking to work with others
very inspirational. I love games games and have passion of becoming a game dev but I dont know where to start. I have good level of understanding for programming and would love some tips or guidance on game development
Hey thanks! I would say pick an engine and follow some tutorials to start get comfortable in it. Brackeys is a great channel and super beginner friendly (you can learn both Unity or Godot from that channel). After getting comfortable with the engine a bit, start making really small stuff and share it with friends and family. Seriously share it.. it’s super vulnerable but vital in my opinion. Try copying basic games (and I mean basic like snake or pong). Once you feel slightly comfortable with doing that try doing a game jam and see how you feel (you will most likely feel overwhelmed and that’s ok). Keep doing that until you have some confidence to work on something bigger or take your game jam game one more step further. Hope this helps!!
@@BatteredLuteStudios thank you for the advice 🙏
great video mate. one day maybe can i make a cool game like you to thank you
Do it you got this!
Your platformer looks nice. At 0:29, I believe you are toggling a trail renderer to help visualise the player's dash or sprint and it seems to disappear when the move is complete.
Consider toggling the 'emitting' of the trail renderer instead of enabling / disabling it :)
I'm not proud of this but I've been using a line renderer this whole time lol. I completely forgot a trail renderer existed. Thank you my friend!
thx yt algori
"90% done, 90% to go."
I feel that deeply lol
tagabjs yiy sunpried me!
Could I even make Unreal Engine 5 fot the space jam? Or are like only some programs supported?
Game Jams usually allow games in all engines to be created and submitted including Unreal Engine 5, its usually just a matter for what works best for the group/you
The first part of the video is exactly where I'm at right now and marketing is my least favorite part of this process so far. I never thought I'd be one of those guys parroting "like, comment and subscribe!" but here I am 😅
It has forever changed the way I watch CZcams and scroll through Instagram or consume any media for that matter. That stuff matters, so if you are like me and never subscribed to anyone, the next time you're watching your favorite content creators, click on those buttons. It will probably make their day :]
Ha I feel that a lot. It’s weird being on the other side of making content rather than just watching it. Marketing is tough and I’ve definitely learned to go a little out of my way to support the people I enjoy. It really does make their day, it definitely makes mine :)
This video is sponsored by: The narrator from The Beginner's Guider
Man, your Lumina Rush game gives me such a Teeworlds vibe. I have more hours in that game that I'd care to admit, an absurd amount..
I'd be very surprised if you weren't inspired by it. If not, check it out, specially the race mode (vanilla mode is PVP but game has evolved a lot throughout the years thx to its community and open source codebase)
Anyway, ima gonna whishlist that.
I've actually never played Teeworlds, Ill have to check it out!!
just make games, waste your time to do a dev journal, showcase your unique concept at a game jams to other rivals and post your game on steam list. ez gg.
I've been in the ludumdare irc channel almost since it's inception, but I haven't really participated in any (like 1, and a couple I started, but didn't finish). Maybe one of these days.
Dang that's impressive you've been around it for so long! You should definitely give it another go one of these days!
@@BatteredLuteStudios - possibly, i'm thinking I might the next time just to work on a game for the heck of it :-) I didn't really participate because since there are no prizes or anything, I didn't have a real motivation to do it. People can get all worked up about it, when it's really just you and your computer. Everyone just participating remotely, doesn't seem that exciting. Everyone in a room together like at a demoscene party or something, I can understand that, because you got instant feedback. You got noise of computers, people talking, showing each other work, and walking around. But in a game jam even if you have discord or irc, it's not instant feedback. However the only thing different right now, is I'm not really working on anything (exactly, actually working on an adventure game, but it takes a lot of planning). I want to make some games or prototypes here soon, so maybe the next LD
@@Uhfgood for sure, I get that. I would definitely recommend doing a game jam in person if you can (if you have the setup and are close to the area). It's really motivating just being around people working on stuff. But at the end of the day work on stuff that your excited about! Good luck on your adventure game!!! :)
@@BatteredLuteStudios - Thank you!
I'm currently planning a new game, the gameplay can be either 2D or 3D however I don't have artistic skills to make assets of my own...
I know that 3D development can be more challenging as there's a whole new dimension compared to 2D and can get more complicated, however creating simple 3D assets and animations looks much less challenging than 2D pixelart..... just wanted to throw my struggles on here
Art is hard :/ It definitely depends on what type of game your making but I’ve heard pixel art is it’s own beast. I wish you the best my friend!
I like the thumbnail, but try to have a thumbnail that adds on to the title. So the title doesn't have the same exact text as the thumbnail. Just a tip. Still cool, and got me to click.
Hey I appreciate it! I’ll keep that in mind for the next one!
Hold on, can I please get an answer to this? You don't need to be a games programmer to do a game jam? All this time I could have been doing game jams and getting to know people and providing assets for them? I've been trying to learn how to program a lot just so I can attend a game jam and bring something of value. I had no idea artists and musicians could join. Is this true?
It is! Often (if not always, that would be the exception) in the jams you can team up with some crew and make something nice together. If you're an artist, you can help that programmer guy who cannot draw a single pixel, and that guy will turn your art into scenarios and characters for the game. Just like a company would do, but on a smaller scale
@@Macro1Gamer I had no idea, I thought us artists just wouldn't be useful and we atleast have to learn programming to bring something to the table. I'm a sculptor, 3d modeller and texture artist primarily. I write shaders for unreal engine and do vfx with particle systems but I always thought game jams were just the bare mechanics that programmers create and art isn't necessary. I feel like I've really missed out
@@MonsterJuiced Game development is a multidisciplinary work, so yeah you'll always need artists, musicians, programmers, designers...
Now, if we're talking about solo game dev, then you really need to know a bit about everything
You can participate in game development as well, bro! Wish you luck!
@@Macro1Gamer Thank you, I'll go get myself involved now :)
Do it!! There’s some amazing and welcoming communities out there and as a programmer I can say working with an artist is like magic, anything you give me I want to put it into the game in any shape or fashion because it brings a game to a whole new level in comparison of what I can do by myself
Is this now the new meta for indie games marketing? :D
Ha no idea, just doing my best out here :)
okay I'm unmotivated... I'm unemployed, I need money, I don't want to come back to the Web Development world, please someone fall from the sky like a miracle and tell me how can I make a bit of money from my kinda simple games
Adsense
You gotta pull yourself up brother. You’re in the way of yourself, it’s you against you my friend
JMM
No...
I don't buy that you made that game in 48 hours. You definitely have had previous experience which allowed you to make the game which you didn't account for. It's fucking hard to learn and understand programming, 3D modeling, rigging, animation, etc. "Just Make Games" is waaaaaay oversimplifying it. Nice try buddy, I'm onto you.
Programming is annoying as hell tho
Why are you making games then?
@@bam_bino__ I'm not:)
There are plenty of visual scripting options out there.
@@nicholasjackson8709 witch all have the same problem of never doing what its supposed too
@@A_Surpluss_of_Stupidity I would say the 3 that are the most solid would be construct 3, gdevelop, and unreal. I haven't done a ton with it so I can't speak for full limitations