7 Tips for Solo Game Developers
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- čas přidán 28. 05. 2024
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Hey everyone, it's Amit here, the solo game developer behind this channel.
In this video, I'll be sharing seven valuable tips based on my experiences over the past few months in the world of solo game development.
Either you're a beginner or experienced indie game developer. I think you will find these tips useful.
Let me know if you agree with the tips. And if you have any tips to share please feel free to comment below. It will definitely help us fellow solo game developers.
Btw, if you noticed the change in voice. Let me know, what you think about it?
Like & share if you found the video helpful.
Also, Subscribe for more videos like this!
Thanks & Stay tuned!
Rogue Resonance devlogs: • Rogue Resonance Devlogs
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Chapters
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00:00 Introduction
00:53 Tip #1
02:28 Tip #2
04:03 Tip #3
05:26 Tip #4
06:37 Tip #5
07:35 Tip #6
08:52 Tip #7?
🎶Music by: CreatorMix.com
#sologamedev #motivation #indiegame #gamedevelopment - Hry
Important distinction I just want to point out for anyone trying to match 3d art assets. You don't need a similar poly COUNT, but a similar poly DENSITY between assets.
I'm already disappointed before starting, there is no risk of bigger disappointment
lol, that's one way to approach it i guess😅
ALPHA Move
For most solo indie devs, I think it is important to sit down and actually play what you're making. I don't mean short 5-15 minute sessions as you're testing a new implementation, or playing through a little segment. I mean actually playing your own game. If you can't play your own game for hours as a biased player, then customers are not going to play your game for long either. I believe that will lead to refunds or no reviews, which will affect your Steam visibility
If it’s a puzzle game then it wouldn’t really be enjoyable since you know all the solutions and it will lead you to add a lot more fluff and complicate your game already.
@@Choco794 Very good point. If you can't even be bothered to play through, why should anyone else?
Been working on my game for 3+ years now. It was nice to hear another solo dev having some of the same struggles. Thank you!
Thanks! Good luck on your game, hope you can finish it soon!
The best tip for me is not to give up and to try take everything positively. Good Luck Boyz!
hey buddy I'm in the same ride as yours! last night I published my first devlog .. lets see how solo's succeed!☺💞
That's fantastic!
Congrats on publishing your first devlog! It's definitely a journey, but here's hoping for our success!
@@joytoclingGames 💖
You may be solo, but not alone. I’m on the same journey. Let’s keep moving forward. Good luck and may you reach your goals!
Thanks! Good luck to you as well!
Thank you for you advice! Definitely have some great tips!
As a solo dev (vids under my channel) I feel this in my soul. The work is daunting. Even with the skills necessary to complete the game (mostly) there is always something to do that I need to learn about.
Having people to help with anything, ANYTHING can make a world of difference.
I should write some code to automate making friends.
Feel ya
really grateful. thank you mate 😊. wish you and all of us luck)
Thanks for the tips, I managed to make a Pong Clone and a flappy bird clone! I think I have a new idea what I want to work on next! Thanks for this wonderful video! Been an animator first and foremost and decided a few years ago to start dabbling into game dev and now I want to take it seriously
A well thought out set of tips. Thank you.
Great video, wished listed your game and look forward to trying it out. Keep up the good work!
great info, not just for gamedev but for any project or product that one would like to produce, the Pareto principle is single handedly the most useful abstraction for development, it allows you to focus on the import aspects. The hardest part is finding the actual 20% it takes time and experience to understand what that actual entails. Good luck to you bud
Yep, finding that 20% is a skill on its own.
And, Thanks for the kind words, appreciate it!
damn this is crazy you summed up in 10 minutes all the knowledge ive seen in hours of gamedev and productivity training material. this is a brilliant summary, i'd recommend this video to anyone
Hi ❤️ glad I got to get to your channel.
Coming from my own experience as well as inexperience, make your game work for you. What I mean by that is lean into your personal strengths while covering for your weaknesses. Bad at programming? Use a graphical language. Bad at art? Throw on some shaders and dramatic lighting to hide that. Bad at gameplay? Make a narrative game. Bad at narrative? Make a shooter. Everyone will have differences in their aspirations, wants, skills, and vulnerabilities, but do not let that stop you.
Hey man! I've been 17 years in this industry and there is nothing more terrifying to me than going solo. I've tried many times and I faced the same problems you mention in this video, so your advices all are wise and legit. I started a solo project (Again!) after a few years since my last attempt and this time I'm trying to be as patient and methodic as possible.
Thanks for your tips! And good luck with your game! ❤
Really good tips. Thanks a lot. :)
Glad it was helpful!
Good video! Lots of good tips.
Your game looks great man. keep it up.
Just started my unreal journey. See you at the top bro 👾
Loved it!
As a solo dev there's many hurdles to face. I don't know if I'm extremely optimistic or just stupid, but the only thing that really has me bothered about the 'solo' aspect is what to do with the credits.
An explanation: if I'm making a game with 4 or more hours of gameplay, I need at least a few minutes of credits w/music for the player to unwind with after beating the game. But I really don't see "Art by: ZarHakkar, Programming by: ZarHakkar, Design by: ZarHakkar, etc." as very graceful.
Just do a highlight reel of memorable moments in the game, play some music behind it, fin.
you could write a thank you letter to your players instead and talk about how it was creating a game as a solo dev.
Would be interesting to know what skill level you had when you started developing (coding, design etc.).
Fingers crossed for your game!
great video
hell yeah. This game looks fun.
Great video, thanks!
As for your game, it looks interesting but I can’t help but feel the enemies are just bullet-(not really, but you get what I’m saying) sponges. You hit them for so little amount of damage and they kind of don’t do much so the fight really drags on, even if it’s dynamic enough.
At least that’s what I was able to see during the video. Wish you luck!
"If you're not a complete beginner and you have already made some projects"
Define: "some"... like how many specifically, and what kind of projects you must have done before?
I've just started the same thing, I quit the company after 5 years gaming industry for 2 months- I started making my own top down Hades like combat mechanism :) Keep it up!
Man. You can do it. 😢 Don't give up on life. Hope you find your happy place
I'm ready to play your top-down game.
This, will help
Yeah, the tip #6 can be turned into an IRL rhythm game by setting timer and stay in it. Todo list isn't a big deal, but timed session really is all you need. It's like a barrier that blocks off everything. I find win11 built-in focus mode (timer) is enough to kick your productivity up. It defaults at 30 active minutes with 5 relax minutes pattern, this works for me.
Yeah, makes sense. Got to try it! Thanks for sharing.
Wow! Incredible stuff. I'm not a game dev, I'm a filmmaker, but these tips are super helpful in my field too! Thanks!
What game is at 6:56? I am enthralled with the perspective switching in combat, incredible!
Its a game called Tunic
Your game looks pretty good already tbh. I'm not sure if I missed it or is the game only single player, but it would be so cool if you could play coop!
Hi, i really want to get into game development, ive always wanted to every since i played my first game on the original ds. However, i have no idea where to look, how to learn, what to learn in what order or anything. I also dont know what to use for making a game. I use a chromebook and cant afford a real computer at the moment. The game idea i have as my first game is a very simple layout. So, where do i start and what should i use?
Thanks a ton!
Wishlisted.
Do you have a community? I'm looking to learn and probably collaborate if possible. (I'm a newbie with weeks of experience.)
Keep it up Big Man, You've got the Magic
I am starting to build and learn Unity just days ago. But my motivation was very simple. I just want to make a game i want to play that other wouldn't do it for me. I am not plan for big hit or money success heck I don't even plan to sell it too. I just tried of mod on top of other game and gacha rolling that why the desire characters just don't come.
With 40 games a day coming out on Steam, the biggest challenge is getting people to even see your game once. The Steam algorithms are no help at all to either devs or players. They only show you clones of what you've already played. Your on your own if you want to find games that are new for you.
You should change up your voice tone. Loved the video and you seem competent by the gameplay you have shown.
If you want to get noticed by more viewers, you should put more of your passion and energy into your voice!
The discord link does not work on mobile :(
Which games do you show in your video, I only recognize hollow knight.
Sorry about the discord link. I have fixed it now.
For the games part - I referenced Tunic, HK, Islanders, brotato among a few others.
There should be a small annotation at the bottom at each segment.
@@joytoclingGamesthank you very much, I didn’t notice it on the phone.
I also joined your discord and introduced myself.
The best tip would be to stop looking for tips on CZcams. Just get to work and put the hours.
Amen
Any suggestions to get more views and followers on CZcams and itch?
what is the unique selling point of your game?
Hello, I would like to join but discord link is invalid
@ilkinqafarov87 idk why it keeps breaking.. I have fixed it for now though.
Can you make the game so you get OP?
Its def not easy 😅 especially as i do it while balancing a toddler son, full time work, and gaming
Yep, definitely not easy.
But, it's not gonna stop us now is it?😁
It sounds like you've got a lot on your plate too. Take it easy, man.
This is the first time I hear of your game, so I'm sorry if this is irrelevant, and I didn't watch your other promotional material (and cannot go watch at this moment), but from this video alone, I believe I can give you some feedback.
The combat seems too simple. You keep dodging the skeletons and bats, but they don't do much other than just walk forward and try to hit you. Try to implement better AI, have the enemies try to outmaneuver the player. Otherwise the game will just become a game of circling around the enemies and spamming range/mage attacks until they die, which isn't fun. Someone at some point (don't remember where) said that, given the chance, players will optimize the fun out of a game. If you want players to engage in melee combat, give them a reason to. Things like a smarter AI that keeps you on your toes, rewards for melee kills (such as doom's glory kills), etc.
bro you sound really sad lol are you okay
great video though:))
I'm doing well, thanks for the concern, lol
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Why is your voice different in this video? Are you using an AI voice?
hey dude whenever u get a chance wanna colab on a video?
I will give you my impression about your game as a player. Watching it is kinda boring because everything seems so slow and common, maybe a problem with the game’s pacing. It also lacks a differential between the games you mentioned like Hades. Players need a reason to choose your game instead of Hades and that’s why it’s hard to be a solo dev, it’s hard to make people choose your game over the ones that already exist. Having something unique helps because then it’s hard to make comparisons. Monsters and environments are super generic. If you check Rotwood (a new game), the monsters’ designs are very unique and you can’t compare them with enemies from other games. Skeletons and bats are overused. You can change the thematic or just change from where you take your enemies. Maybe you’re fighting robots with an aquarium as head while the fish inside it is controlling it as a mecha or a carrot that uses psychic powers to hurt you while it can’t move because it is stuck on the ground. I don’t know, but people like different concepts, just using a generic skeleton and bat again doesn't seem to be a good first impression. Good luck with your game!
Isn't this stressful if you have no income and just make indie game that won't probably succed? Aren't you scared of running out of money?
Is this even you talking in this vid? This voice is different to the other in the other videos
game in background looks incredibly underwhelming and dissatisfying to watch ,you do 1 damage to the enemies
I personally enjoy it, there are a nice amount of hits to kill and it makes it seem more like a fight (halo vs cod vibes)
@BoomSki-pn9lb Actually, the footage used here was of test levels, where i have set enemy health really high. Expect less health on enemies and more satisfying combat in full game.
Thanks for pointing it out, will use proper gameplay footage in future vids.
Yo 3 months and you're already made a tips video? Oh, just the tips eh? xDD
Asd
Marketing mostly helps mediocre games, it helps those to raise above other mediocre games... good or stellar games that do 95% of things in their context right, usually become popular, no matter what - word of mouth, recommended by friends, overly positive Steam comments. For example, I don't think Hollow Knight had huge marketing campaign, or did Vampire Survivors have (I don't know).
Good games market themselves if you put in the initial marketing effort.
Or else it’s easy for it to be lost in thousands of games being released every year. Steam doesn’t market your game from nothing. Until, first 10 reviews the visibility of the game is very limited, it's up to developers/ publishers to bring that initial set of players. And also not every player leaves a review. So, need quite a bit of players as well initially on your own marketing efforts.
Yes, word of mouth works wonders in marketing the game. But it works even better if you have a larger audience.
Even hollow knight had a successful kickstarter campaign (so they did market it for the kickstarter very well). And Vampire survivors had some luck factor involved with popular streamers picking it up and the intentional low price factor.
you couldn’t be more wrong.
@@denizdemir9255 I'm not claiming to be expert on marketing and i haven't released any game either. But i think it's true based on what i have read so far.
Of course, everyone has their own bias and opinions, so feel free to disagree with me.
@@joytoclingGamesNah you are absolutely correct here a good game no one sees has not opportunity to generate word of mouth like sure you probably shouldn't pump a bunch of money into advertising as a solo dev but even just simple self promo on CZcams is infinitely better than nothing
@322ss vampire survivors absolutely did marketing they did indie marketing with tweets and videos no money really
After I watched the video, I could feel that you're desperate. You know yourself best pal, so maybe stop making YT vid for a while and focus on the game or try to get a job which might be super hard since the market is so competitive. Well anyway, everything is about learning and your game seems to be in far better state than mine. Just focus on your survival, that's the advice I can give you.
@@joytoclingGames good luck. I just felt the energy in your voice and that's all. It's a bit too abstract. I merely gave you some generic advices that could help you. The YT is only a distraction imo. You need gamers to follow you, not game developers.
@@dreamingacacia Yes, I know I need to sell to gamers ultimately. YT might seem pointless, and I have seen other game dev YTbers with low sales despite high wishlists, which does prove your point.
But, the point of the channel is to document my journey rather than just asking for wishlists and maybe help other game devs along the way.
Anything beyond that is a plus for me.
I do get your concern, that I should be more focused on my game rather than YT growth at this point. I just wanted to experiment a bit with this video.
And I am making progress on my game and getting that playtest build ready.
Hi I am new indie dev too. I would like to build a connection with you. I tried to join your discord but link is expired. Would you like to share a new one to let me in?
Hey, sorry about the discord link. It should be fixed now!