How To Make A Game Alone
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- Опубліковано 9 тра 2024
- I chatted with the creator of Cultic about how he made his indie game completely solo.
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check out a youtuber named Ricky06 of the Celeste community. he has these 2 videos that talk about level design and omg , best videos i've ever heard. It goes for all games, not just Celeste. He's made a few custom levels for the game and really they could be Celeste 2 the sequel, he's really good. I always wonder if he's secretly making an indy game rn.
"I'm just going to go home and work on my game". That statement sent shivers down my spine and immediately caused me to close the game I was playing which is 100% a distraction.
but watching videos too...
To be fair, if you're soneone who enjoys game design then that create process is far more enjoyable than any game you could ever play. I'm just a game dev hobbyist and I've been living that Day Job to Evening Dev cycle for the last two years now. And while I can't consistantly pull that 5pm-1am binge due to having a wife and kids you can bet I'll take the opportunity to do ttat when circumstances permit.
@@VioFax The trouble there is that its important to play games with mechanics similar to your own during development so you can identify issues or insights. The trick is to only play them long enough to get what you need from it.
@@KryyssTV Possibly. Everyone is different. Prince didn't like to listen to other artists because he didn't want his work to be influenced, to maintain it's uniqueness.
@@brahtrumpwonbigly7309 Nelson did listen to music as he was a fan of Hendrx and grew up with his dad being a jazz musician. You don't see people with talent having littke to no interest or awareness of whatever is happening in their respectve fields. He did say that didn't typically listen to other artists but did stay aware of what was happening in the music industry. What I'm saying is to do the same - study the games, but don't make playing them a hobby.
I think many people lose steam on their projects because one of the things that is not very well covered in the Game Dev tutorial community is: "How do I design and map out big projects?"
People can map out a spawner, or a unit, or a health system but when they get past the tutorial version of a system they don't know where to go and move on to something they can progress with.
@@poleve5409 I learned with some Udemy course. Half of it was copying, but when it was almost over I fully understood how to use Godot, with the exception of advanced tools and advanced math.
Seems like a lack of emphasis on making a game design doc first. That is THE most important thing about making games, according to people I've heard that had successful games. But it's never mentioned in typical youtube game development videos.
I found that the solution to burn out is the same way you'd program gameplay mechanics - break the task down into fundamental steps. If you have a long term goal for a specific game then figure out what systems it'd need and make smaller games around just those systems. This has many benefits such as being able to get feedback on individual mechanics and you'll also be able to improve those systems as you itterate on them with each subsequent game released.
So for example, lets say you want to make an open world survival as the end goal. What are you going to need? Inventory. Movement and interactions. Progression system. NPCs. Each of those can be small games. Start with a walking simulator, then a tycoon, then a survival horror and finally the open world survival. Give each game 3 months at most so you're not tempted into feature creep.
The thing is that nobody should actually start out with a big project. Thats like the worst thing you can do.
@@mcslothalot Agreed. But eventually people take that step and it isn't a well documented area for people to make that transition is all.
This guy makes me think of the saying “slow and steady wins the race”. Didn’t make any rash decisions and just kept focused and determined.
I always think the man who makes Cultic is an old id engineer or from 3DRealms. Never expected this genius to be so young.
As a 31 year old thank you
yeah, Blood and Duke Nukem 3D vibes :)
For those who want to game dev. You shouldn't care if a genius like the guy here started learning since he was a kid 4:51. You can still do just as well even if you start in your 30ties. So don't ever think it's too late to try.
Actually first thought I had when he mentioned that...I was just like awwwww if he has been doing it since then we'll it doesn't count and the odds of achieving even slightly similar results are gone
Are you working on a game?
@ecoist9057 learning unreal slowly and I'm mostly in the writing the blueprint of my game down I have a pretty solid foundation but I'm just excruciatingly intimidated by how complex the game engine is
@@lukeairborne5552 I see, good luck brother 😊😊
im 15 im glad I caught my passion early
Absolutely loved the podcast! As a solo game dev myself working on an open-world game, this, along with the recent one featuring Jay, is a treasure trove of knowledge. Thanks for making these Thomas as they are super insightful and inspiring! ❣
Good luck on your game! Open-world sounds tough solo but you can totally do this!
Let's work together. I don't need money. Maybe after it succeeds
@@Flamsleburger thanks, means a lot 💖💖
@@user-jy2it8oz7x tysm but I won't be able to sleep at night knowing that you aren't getting paid for your job haha. So it is better for me to work solo. 🤗🤗
Hey Thomas im pro game dev here , i am the first game dev from South Africa to break into the indie horror market. Thanks to all your guidance i been watching you since my college days 2016-2018 and everything that worked for me to improve on all factors of game development.
As someone who is currently doing the "9-5 day job, 5-11 game design" routine, this video is hughely inspirational. Thanks for making this type of content, Thomas, and thanks to the guests as well.
2:31 that bad guilty feeling is called humility, and it humbles you when you see them doing the work you were able to escape. Keep that tinge of pain, and no matter how far you go you'll always have a good head on your shoulders. You show a lot of gratuity for your situation and it's really refreshing to see. God Bless your development journey.
This was excellent and I appreciate how you asked questions relating to the audience, provided a nice chronological process and also discussed the tools involved. Great breakdown, and I thoroughly enjoyed the video.
Cultic FEELS so good when you shoot the enemies. The headshots are always so clean.
I'm looking into making my own game after I conquered publishing my own comic series. This helped a lot.
That’s sick!!!
Thanks Thomas and Jason, really enjoyed this 🙂🙂
Absolutely love creativity, design, atmosphere, story, characters and world building.
Really looking forward to Cultic ch 2 and Twisted Tower.
Best of luck on both of your projects 🙂
Keeping me motivated as always 👍
I'm a mad project hopper, and your videos have helped me focus on picking and creating a single good project.
Massive thanks :)
I'm the same age and pull three nights of bartending with four consecutive days off. Have my degree in game design and still striving to create and work indie. This is very inspiring! Keep up the great interviews Thomas
Bartending is a better occupation. Game development takes a massive amount of work and the likelihood of any amount of success is nil. The only person the game will matter to is yourself, and you will actually hate it by the time you are finished because of all the toiling it took to create it.
@@undeadpresident I'm not so sure of that statement "I will hate it", I've developed games that I enjoyed because I'm experienced as well as educated on properly designing games. The process is so much more enjoyable than bartending, being able to create the aesthetics is so fun and deciphering the best ways to utilize my code to create mechanics scratches my brain in the best way. The game won't only matter to myself as I know marketing strategies as well. The hard part is staying motivated and on top of my scope. meeting milestones in a timely fashion while getting playtesters to quality test before the final product. I wouldn't want any other career.
@@BeAltyrnative I enjoyed the process too but only because I felt that some people might actually play what I created, so I had hope. I may as well have been making sand castles on an uninhabited beach though. Despair replaced hope, and pride in what I created was replaced with shame in the time I wasted and embarrassment at lack of success.
But you know marketing, so maybe you'll actually get somewhere.
I actually am developing a game with my brother, we've been interested in the idea since we were children too. We made games in game maker back then. I'm going to buy Cultic now to support him.
As an indie game dev making my game alone, this hits home.
Game under my channel and it's bigger than I originally planned but thats just how it is and I love how it's coming along.
Keep the videos coming, anybody that’s a game dev or solo game dev, these are the video you want to watch and learn from.
I'm working on a game, but my coding skills are dog dookie, looking for a coder, you good at coding?
@@ecoist9057 I suck at coding at the moment lol. I’m working on character art and 3D modeling for my game and I’m trying to find help with coding as well. Getting game studio legal before I start asking tho.
@@ecoist9057 im not good at coding at the moment. Im working 3D character models right now and I’m looking for help with my project as well. Im getting my game studio legal before I ask first.
I enjoyed Cultic immensely. this was a great interview!
Great interview, brings up a lot of new and interesting points. My only critique is when you said even being on the podcast at 5:00pm was exhausting, I think that made him think that you didn't want to be there talking to him.
Great stuff. I am in similar situation but I already work as a senior dev in a game company while working on my own stuff after work. What I can recommend is going to the gym at least 2-3x a week to get some physical exercise as well. Sitting all day is a huge health concern. It also clears your head a bit to get new ideas for your project.
Cultic is GREAT
Looking forward to chapter 2
I just played the demo a few days ago, never heard of it before but its crazy to see this on my youtube feed!
Awesome video! Great interview. Cultic is such great fun, something more akin to a 90's classic than anything modern.
Cultic is one of the most GOATed releases currently. Masterfully crafted on all fronts.
Appetite for learning is 100%! I've had to learn so many things as I work on my card-based solo RPG. Learning to draw in watercolor and doing all of the art myself. Great video.
I needed to see this. Its really uplifting. I am a full time para-ed trying to make my own game but have absolutely no idea where to start.
Interesting video, thanks! First time I heard of Cultist and wishlisted it straight away. Going to buy it as soon as my backlog has narrowed a bit.
Thanks! Thats exactly what i wanted!
I think that as a beginner game developer, it can be good to project hop in the beginning to get the hang of solving different problems and learning new tools. People who hop into Unity Day 1 and think they are going to make their dream game immediately after going to get frustrated when they realize they don't have the skills needed yet to make significant progress. Working on a lot of small demo protects first can be really helpful for making things that help people learn how to make things without there needing to be any big pressure on those projects being anything special or even original. Copying other people's ideas by carefully studying them to learn how to do something is a great way to learn without running into a creative block or getting into an endless loop of trial and error forever. I learned a lot by remaking basic versions of popular mobile games as they have simple, focused game play so I could focus on learning how to animate, create level layouts, or do custom camera scripting.
Thanks for this new video!
Cultic is probably the most fun I've ever had with a single player FPS, I'm very happy to see the creator succeeding with it, I'm eager to see new chapters added and anything else he does in the future.
Would be friendly to put his name in the title, or in the description. He seems like an awesome and humble dude. Thank you for the interview as well!
Thanks guys. 26 Y/O father of 4. Struggling with the day job and paying bills. Huge nerd, tech enthusiast and gamer. I have all the tools, I just needed the motivation. I want to have more time and accesability to enjoy my family. i;m going to do something.
Listening to this was so inspiring. I hadn't heard of Cultic before, but It's definitely going in my wishlist and library soon!
As someone who just stated learning 3D 2 years ago and now moving to programming with basically 0 knowledge, I'm fairly certain I still have a long long road ahead of me, but seeing how other people have done this makes me hold on tight to the shimmer of hope I have.
I can relate to Jason just coming back to what you normally do daily to working straight on your project.
Living the dream! Congratz I'm glad it's working out for you.
Glad he mentioned the Gamemaker days - That software has come a long ways I made over 200k with it last year. Love these video, I can relate to the shopping at 11am on a Tuesday thing, it's a blessing to make games and take care of your family doing so, but it also can be scary at times wondering how you can keep it going.
Awesome interview, specifically where you got his schedule and programs
Great interview. I'm working on a game while working full time as well. This is encouraging!
being encouraged isn't a good thing if it's toward a fruitless endeavor
@@undeadpresident why? And why is my game unfruitful?
@@BatCorkill game dev is a winner-take-all industry that is highly saturated. The chances of making a successful game are tiny unless you have a big marketing budget or something and even then it's a gamble. What is a given however is that you will put a massive amount of effort into it. So chances are it will just waste your time and cause a lot of pain.
@@undeadpresident Once it's done you end up with an amazing game regardless if it sells or not. How would that be disappointing?
@@BatCorkill Should be self-explanatory why working for many months or years on something only to get nothing back for it is disappointing.
Dude already has the Todd Howard style bomber jacket! lol for real this is rad. I just stumbled upon your video and it’s a great video, great interview, great story. 👍👍
The one area that i've always struggled to find information/education is sound and music design for games. it's such a foreign world.
This highly interesting video gives me a strong kick of motivation to get back on my own game and to finish it.
That looks like an amazing game, it looks like he is using some old "Blood (1997)" sprites, that was a great experience and looks like this is bringing it to life again!
Great interview, thanks for sharing!
I'm playing Cultic now and it is fantastic.
Man thomas is such a great youtuber. He reaches out and finds these amazing stories from developers that are inspiring and entertaining to hear about. Dont know what we would do without thomas
Love the mogger at 4:06
Great interview and Art conversation about 3D modelling to now Voxel 2D.
3D Realms were always some of my favs growing up crazy how you only heard of Duke Nukem when so many great ones came from there obviously, Shadow Warrior being one!
Monolith made Blood and used a similar zippo dynamite 🧨 for there game which kicked ass all the way! Yours is slightly different and obviously 3D modelled but close to it.
I will have to check your game but if you have yet to play Blood give'er a play you'll see what I mean if you haven't or didn't know about the dynamite from it.
Cheers!
I played the demo!! Good stuff!
Holy shit his games have been on my wishlist for a while now. This is interesting
this really helps me because I'm a 13 year old trying to learn Unreal Engine and I cant stop project hopping.
You are ahead of the game. I'm starting game dev at 31. You have a bright future ahead if you keep at it.
im still at the point where i have no idea what im doing.
@@MonoDEV537 Same here. Regarding Ideas. I have a Google doc on my phone that I continually add any game concept ideas to. So that way I have a bank of ideas to pull on.
But regarding coding, and game engines I'm very new to it all. I'm a motion designer (basically a graphic designer who animates) But i'm trying to transition out of that career path over time. So I have animation/design experience and that helps.
The biggest thing that I need to overcome is finishing a simple game. Even if only one level. That is my goal this year. Just a really simple game that I can have friends download and try out. Then... Move forward by applying the knowledge gained toward incrementally more complex ideas.
@@MonoDEV537 You're learning Unreal Engine. Having no idea on what to do is good since you are more open to try something out.
I suggest looking at things you are lacking in or interested in trying out.
Discipline and focus is needed in making breakthroughs for yourself.
Set a goal and simplify everything you can. Whether it'd be to make something work or have a prototype available.
If you have nothing to work towards then you'll remain aimless. Having something to focus on will help and just take your time doing it.
thanks for the advise.
Challenge accepted! This video makes me wanna dive headfirst into solo dev. But what if I documented the entire journey, mistakes and all? Think anyone would be interested in watching that train wreck-turned-game?
Bro, you have such awesome vids! Sincerely, your new sub. Can't wait to see this journey from you!
This gonna be wild 🔥 Much support ✊
I think you should because it gives you feedback on the comments of what people think about your progress. Plus you'd be gathering a lot more people into your game if you manage to finish and release it.
Do it! Subbing to check if you actually do
Omg yes I am a project Hopper up until the last video I watched when your other friend explained how he made a game alone. This is cool that I am not the only one.
I love Cultic...
Woah this talk was extremely relatable for me
Note about blueprints/visual scripting from someone who works in the industry. We do use it, a lot too. Don't rely too heavily on it, a good developer can tell if it makes sense to do something in code or if it's just better to add it in blueprint. If you aren't sure most of the time you should ask yourself. If what you are making will require design to constantly keep an eye on and make adjustments then visual scripting is a good place for that. For everything else, just do it in code. Most of the time however, you should be doing things in code and just exposing the parts design might want to work on from blueprint, there are just some things that are faster to develop if you are working from blueprints than from code because everything ends up as some sort of blueprint at the end.
What a beautifully styled game. Personally i just use LMMS for music and recommend that for new people because its linux based and most importantly FREE. Pretty easy to learn too with few youtube tutorials.
Argh, this hits me so hard! I went from making tiny projects on RPG Maker MV with stock assets to downloading assets online to trying to make my own assets to Unity and writing my own code and making my own 3D assets! Decided to move to GODOT and I've pretty much been stuck making my own models for the past year because I want it to be my own work, with my own effort put in. Thanks for this video! Hearing someone else go through the same thing definitely motivates me a lot!
This sounds so much like what I’m doing, working a day job and then working every hour I have after and weekends and before work on my projects. It takes dedication but the the end result is would be freedom , eyes on the prize
"Project Hopper", now I know what to call myself.
Hey @thomasbrush , I really enjoy the podcast themed videos! I have a question regarding the course you are selling: Will I have access to anytime once I‘ve paid? Because I currently have to finish up University and I don‘t think I have the time currently until after my exams. But I would be very interested!!
nice workflow
Imagine this: not having a game, at all, but a publisher is willing to fund raise the development of whatever it is you are doing if you keep going in that direction. Talk to me about dreams!!!
Nice video. Damn, that's crazy editors see just 2 tweets of barely a prototype with a few assets and are like "omg, that's the new game of the year"
Moneys tight right now but im very interested in this. How often do you open it for sign ups?
AMAZING VIDEO. I just love to see gamedevs actually make their dreams come to reality. I hope one day i can do the same Y_Y
What I want to say about the guilty feeling to the cultic guy, when I come home from all of that work and get to play cool games and watch cool tv shows and listen to music, it makes things a lot better and I'm glad there's people who devote their time to things like this and I'm all for supporting that
i want that mans leon styled jacket
I’m currently learning blender, my work is 9pm-6am I can only do 3-4 hours to each and full 12 hours on my days off learning something is hard for me but I’m pushing myself to do it ❤
Know the struggle too well, trying to find time slots to do some actual development between daily 8-10hr regular job, raising my 1yo daughter, family time and renovate a house.
But still in the first Player Controller / Main gamepley refinement stage, so guess this will go on for some time until I find more than 2-5hrs/week to work on it and learn the skills.
Cultic looks like Blood, which I'm a huge fan of. Glad i know about it now I'm gonna check it out
8:45 to 9:20 I watch this part of the video every single day so I have the motivation to keep on working on the course.
Video Editing Suggestion: Gameplay cutaway edits are cool, but the constant rapid fire cutaways get in the way of the interview.
JASON IS THE BEST. A dev that cares about his game so so much and is involved with the community of players. So refreshing having passionate devs like you guys. All love. ❤
Cultic's incredible, one of the best indie games I've played tbh.
Ive been trying to learn to be a game dev, starting by learning blender , but working 8-5 as a welder makes it hard to stay motivated to go home and hop on blender till 1 am, but im getting better at it haha
Great video!
the pistol is the same one eva used in MGS 3 🤩
Im currently working on my first game. Working a job from 5:30am to 3pm and having about 4 hours to work on my game is very tiresome. But so rewarding when i get the work done. One step at a time. 👍
how rewarded will you feel when you finally finish it and no one even tries it
@@undeadpresident wont matter. At least i will have had finished it. 👍
@@OperationTexas been there done that and all the hope and motivation turned into pain and despair after finishing it
@@undeadpresident well i’m sorry to hear that. But you can’t just stop there. If you made one game, then keep going! It takes time, but one day you’ll make a game that could go viral. I mean look at lethal company, one guy made it and it wasn’t his first game.
But it is a tough market too. There are so many games releasing on steam every week. It’s very competitive to just get people to see that your game even exists. But yeah, for myself i am doing my best to keep expectations low and what not. It’s not easy
Oh and also look at the game “cultic” on steam. Same thing, one person made it and has sold about 50,000 copies of it. He said he could now work on games full time. And it’s a pretty simple game too. It plays like doom.
But yeah, if you still have that dream of making games, let nothing stop you bro! 👍
Just found this guy, reminds me of a game dev version of Anthony Padilla lol. So calming to watch.
Feeling guilty after personal success is a real thing, but much of that can be attributed to your level of self-confidence.
You are doing a good thing. You have taken full control of your own life. Enjoy your success... just... stay humble going forward. haha
the word at @ 2:30 is "survivor's guilt" haha
5:45 I think this is likely the #1 reason most people fail at achieving their goals, when expectation doesn't meet reality, when you realize the absolute gap between you and your destination
Man I would be over the moon for like low to moderate success on game, but this guy is really living the dream dream. I won't even dare to dream for that lol, congratulations man!
This guy is living my dream...
Seeing the humans behind the game is great
Am I the only one who laughed at "big butt" and then laughed when Thomas also laughed?
Bro has the Leon jacket, that's how you can tell he's a true Gamer.
Hey Thomas! Excellent video! I'd like to share your video on my LinkedIn profile. Is that ok? I have a few contacts that are level designers/recent graduates that could benefit from this.
Took me so long to realise he's wearing the jacket from in game
i always wanted to make rpg games, ik this is a shooter but it really motivates me!
In no universe would I have guessed he was 31. I was thinking like 23 lmao
2:30 "it's a bad guilty feeling HAHAHahha" so bad he laughs about it, poor guy has it so rough ):
does anyone know what the software for blender 3d that the developer used to convert 3d meshs to sprites, any info on it would be lovely and much appreciated
Cultic is amazing
Thankyou Thomas ill get into your course tommrow
What bike was that you were riding at the start?
Don't feel bad about having success when you generated value that other people want. Everyone is on their own path seeking what they think is valuable. Your success is not someone else's failure.