Mode7 on what it takes to be an indie game dev

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by BravadoWaffle, Jun 12, 2012.

  1. BravadoWaffle

    BravadoWaffle Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    Awesome article on what it takes to be an indie game developer. My favorite part is this:

    There is something about game design which makes people believe that they can do it, even if they have never done it before. I’m not precisely sure what quality it has which makes it appear so easy: it is incredibly difficult.​

    http://www.mode7games.com/blog/2012/06/12/how-to-be-an-indie-game-developer/
     
  2. PixelEnvision

    PixelEnvision Well-Known Member

    Jun 8, 2011
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    Indie Developer
    Brighton, UK
    Nice one, thanks for sharing...
     
  3. makaGeorge

    makaGeorge Well-Known Member

    Apr 27, 2012
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    Good article! That's an interesting quote... I agree: designing a game is not easy but I don't think the fact you've done it before or not matters that much, especially given the fact that many games from big companies play pretty bad too...

    I think understanding what makes a game fun on a deeper level is what's important...but it's not easy. I think having played many different games does help, though... especially if you stop and think about what makes each game fun/not fun... but ultimately it's such a subjective issue, it's hard to know in advance if a given idea will be successful...
     
  4. yellowmonkeystudios

    yellowmonkeystudios Well-Known Member

    Jun 17, 2010
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    Making games!
    Mumbai
    Good article, and thank you for sharing Mr. Waffle !

    Obligatory "Frozen Synapse is fantastic."

    Edit: And I completely agree with makaGeorge~
     
  5. Moonjump

    Moonjump Well-Known Member

    May 17, 2010
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    Lincoln, UK
    As someone who has been a game designer in big companies, I know there are a lot of managers who think design is easy, and that their ideas will benefit the game. They often get their way because they are higher ranked.

    Letting the design team do the work is at least as important as having a good design team. Not all companies realise this, to the detriment of their games.
     
  6. makaGeorge

    makaGeorge Well-Known Member

    Apr 27, 2012
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    wow... thanks for the insight... it must be so frustrating when that happens...
     
  7. Ndemic Creations

    Ndemic Creations Well-Known Member

    That is a really good article.

    However, I disagree completely with that quote, it is unduly negative and will put people off.

    I never made a game before or was involved in any game making team and yet my app went to #1 paid iphone/ipad app in the US in 5 days and has stayed there ever since...
     
  8. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    Just like anything, it IS difficult to most but comes naturally to others. Congrats on being the exception to the rule!

    For me, I'm still learning after 2 and a half years in the industry. Though I'm getting better, there are days where I feel like I'm taking a step backwards in order to take 2 more forward.

    The article is a fantastic read, and agree with a good chunk of it!
     
  9. BravadoWaffle

    BravadoWaffle Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    I agree with Blackharon (who is very successful in his own right), congrats on being the exception! It is seriously impressive what you've achieved! Especially for your first game! Now I'm even more jealous... :p

    Speaking from personal experience I would say that I learned far more about the designing, making, and marketing games than I could ever have imagined by seeing RoboHero through. I am taking all those lessons and experience and transferring them into projects right now that have vastly more potential.

    Ultimately the best way to learn about what it takes to make games is to make games. And some people have a knack for it.

    However, now that you are in the scene, you will probably have people pitching ideas to you left and right about their "genius" game ideas that you should "totally" make, most of which aren't worth the air it took to speak them.
     
  10. David Phan

    David Phan Well-Known Member

    Feb 27, 2012
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    President & Producer
    Vancouver
    #10 David Phan, Jun 14, 2012
    Last edited: Jun 14, 2012
    With all due respect, your game Plague is "inspired" by Pandemic. Some folks would use harsher terms than "inspired", but my intent isn't to generate hate. Just saying that if you heavily borrow from another game's design then keep it real .

    DP
     
  11. Ndemic Creations

    Ndemic Creations Well-Known Member

    I don't have a problem with the bit about game design being hard - it is!

    This is the part I'm not keen on. Believing you can do something, even if you haven't done it before is a 'good thing' and the reason that people try new things and get them done. I would not want people to be discouraged by this.
    With Plague Inc., so many people told me it wouldn't work etc. However, I got lucky and it did. This can happen to anyone!
     
  12. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    The number of ideas sent to us just after we release is astounding. Some are ok, some are bad, all are completely raw and not really thought through.

    Game design is harder than it looks.
     
  13. SibaStyle

    SibaStyle Active Member

    Oct 19, 2011
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    Don't Hate David

    David,

    I feel that this comment's sole purpose is to generate hate. You're new, like myself, to this very competitive market of mobile games. I would suggest that you NOT knock one of the most successful indie developers on TA forums. This is a community of supportive colleagues and not a collection of jealous individuals.

    One could make the argument that every game is "inspired" by another game.
     
  14. Blackharon

    Blackharon Well-Known Member

    Mar 15, 2010
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    Game Designer for Ludia
    Canada
    This is true, how closely inspired is what matters most. I'll be honest, I didn't download Plague inc. because I felt a little 'been there, done that' when I played the flash version of Pandemic.

    However, after reading the forum thread about Plague, it seems I might have been mistaken. Enjoy my .99 Ndemic :)
     
  15. David Phan

    David Phan Well-Known Member

    Feb 27, 2012
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    President & Producer
    Vancouver
    Hi Siba,

    Thank you for your feedback on my response. I apologize if I came off as a douchebag to the TA community, but I will not apologize for my comments as it pertains to Ndemic's following quote:

    Ndemics game, Plague, heavily borrows from another game called Pandemic. I've played both games and Plague is definitely the better game in terms of polish and features. But a quote like this bothers me because Ndemic's success is greatly (imo) built on another game's unique design and mechanics. It's great Ndemic is enjoying success, but to act blasé about how your success came about through that quote bothers me a bit.

    I get that all games are derivative and inspired by something else. But in the mobile space there have been too many "close calls" where one has to question the design overlaps we've seen where one unique game comes out and within 4-6 months, there's a very similar game(s) that would have not possibly existed without the original successful game. The potentially negative fallout from this is that the original game's developers lose out on money because of the very similar products in the market cutting into their sales.

    Regardless, you're right in that I am new just like you in the mobile market. I've been in game development for 10 years on the console & handhelds side, but none of that really matters until our team achieves some level of success in this competitive mobile market.

    Regards,
    DP
     
  16. mr.Ugly

    mr.Ugly Well-Known Member

    Dec 1, 2009
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    Berlin, Germany
    well game design is an art form like many and not an easy task, thats true.

    examples like plague wont really work, because imho david is right there..

    of course one does not need lots of experience to create something good of the

    basic foundation of that poduct is based on someone elses work.


    and yes thats normal to takes ideas, expand them, change them etc. simple evolution.. but its neither unique nor would i suggest to brag about the gd aspect of it..

    would not be the first popular flash game that got an ios treatment and sold successfull..

    in the end it does not matter anyway.. creating a game is hard work.. and not the idea counts but its execution.. there are tons of clones out there and even aome of the most successfull games out there are not genuine new ideas but borrowed concepts who have been polished to a high standard.

    designing something really new and unique is an extreemly hard task most game designer will never be able to... and that is not meant to be judging.. not everyone can be a genius designer (iam not for sure)

    chill out guys

    and congrats on the success of plague inc..

    cheers
     
  17. Chelmar

    Chelmar Member

    Apr 28, 2012
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    Pretty much this, not just for game design but for software engineering in general (not to exclude art and design, I'm sure this applies to those too). The truth is that ideas are a dime a dozen, and great ideas aren't really few and far between either. So how successful you are is mostly a function of your talent, skill, experience, hard work, timing, and some luck.
     
  18. BravadoWaffle

    BravadoWaffle Well-Known Member

    Sep 25, 2010
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    Game Designer
  19. Hercule

    Hercule Well-Known Member

    Dec 16, 2010
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