[gameprogrammer] Re: Interesting commentary for independent game developers
- From: Bob Pendleton <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Gameprogrammer Mailing List <gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 13:43:44 -0600
On Wed, 2005-03-30 at 13:52 +0100, Etali wrote:
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: gameprogrammer-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > [mailto:gameprogrammer-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Kevin Jenkins
> > > Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 8:08 PM
> > > To: gameprogrammer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > > Subject: [gameprogrammer] Re: Interesting commentary for independent
> game
> > > developers
> > >
> > > Nice link. I'm not very satisfied with working for a huge company on
> > > AAA games. It's something I always wanted until I got it and realized
> > > how little difference I make.
> > >
> > > I think sometime in the future I will start my own company making very
> > > small games and market them myself through downloads. I won't make much
> > > money but I'll be happy doing what I got into the industry for.
> > >
> > > Bob Pendleton wrote:
> > >
>
> I joined this group a few days ago and I've been reading the threads with
> interest.
>
> I'm a first year games programming student - I did the boring 'business'
> programming route for a while, but I've always wanted to make games.
>
> Hearing people like yourself makes me think twice about my ambition to work
> for one of the biggies.
>
> I have friends who have went indie - one of them even managed to get some
> funding to ease the pressure while they make their game, but they've been
> working on it for years and haven't even got a pre-alpha out yet. That
> scares me - there's four people in their team and they've gotten nowhere.
> Maybe they're just trying to make something too complicated.
>
> For those who have succeeded in here - what's it like? I'm guessing you
> need to be very self motivated and a lot more a jack of all trades than you
> would working for a game company, but other than that, any tips?
Make a plan, and stick to it. The one thing that kills most indie game
projects is the temptation to go back and redo what has already been
done. You will learn a *lot* writing each game. You will be very tempted
to use what you have learned to make your current game "better" at the
expense of making it take longer to finish. Don't do it. Write up the
new idea so you can use it later but finish the game you are working on.
I teach a class in game programming. So far all the people who have
taken the class have an idea for a game when they start the class and
most of them have even been working on it, some times for years. But,
not one of them has ever finished a game. I give them 'til the end of
the class to finish a game. They finish it, they pass. They don't finish
it, they fail. 80% finish a game 7 weeks and pass.
At the end of the class most of the students tell me that all they
really needed was a little help on the structure of a game and someone
to stand over them and make them finish it.
So, make a plan, execute the plan. Then do it again using what you
learned.
Bob Pendleton
>
> --
> Etali
> http://www.myth-games.com
> http://www.myth-games.com/forum
>
>
>
>
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