Where I write words and that, instead of working
* Narrow-slice view of the industry incoming. I do not claim to speak for all (or most/many/any other/whatever) indie developers. Before Minecraft invented/popularised alpha-funding as a viable way to make videogames, here is how you’d make an ambitious large-in-scope indie game: Make a small indie game in your spare time Repeat 1 until the pittance…
It seems that with every day which passes, we read more and more “horror” stories – Kickstarter projects which fail, abandoned Early Access games – and it’s becoming increasingly common to read user comment reactions along the lines of, “this is why I no longer support Alpha-Funded / Early Access / Kickstarters / etc. games”….
Okay, so I’ve just watched an excellent YouTube video from Simon Roth, the chap behind Maia, about how to build a sustainable microstudio (a re-creation of his Develop talk). I’ll include it below because I really recommend giving it a watch: But one thing stood out to me, very very early on, in the video…
I must admit, I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Patreon – is it okay for me as a developer to fund a games writer who potentially in the future could write something about my game? I don’t know – you’re certainly not, in that simple act of Patronage, entering into a binding contract…
It’s not infrequently that I stumble upon forum posts on hobbiest game dev sites where someone proclaims in response to a question, “no – you can’t make normal / bump maps from textures”. The logic being that there is absolutely nothing in a texture map that would in any way yield useful depth information. This…
Definitions of “very clear” seem to vary. I have therefore produced this handy guide. Extremely Unclear … Very Unclear Explanation requires clicking “read more” in the description. Somewhat Unclear Explanation (“in association with…” etc) does not require clicking “read more” in the description. Murky Explanation (“sponsored by…” etc) does not require clicking “read more” in…
Question 1: How much is your game worth RIGHT THIS SECOND? Take that number and subtract a bit. Easy.
Up there on the list of, “statements which annoy me” nestling amongst, “game development – it’s just a job” (bullshit) and, “free to play is good for games design” (LOL) is this old chestnut: My game’s, like, $10 – that’s less than the price of a couple of beers! What on Earth are you whinging about?…
Congratulations, you’re now in The Games Industry! Sort of. For a bit, at any rate. If you’re lucky the studio which has employed you may have multiple projects on the go so that when the game you’re working on is complete you won’t instantly be laid off. It is important to use this time to…
When it comes to graphics, everybody has an opinion – it doesn’t matter if you’re a coder, tester, designer, producer, or tea boy. It requires absolutely no qualifications to look at something and decide whether or not you like it. It requires slightly more skill to determine why you like or dislike something but we…