I totally agree with you. Just keep trying to make your dream game and learn along the way. You will probably delete the entire project 1000 times and restart because you learned so much but who cares! Goodluck and I cant wait to see you upload more.
Haha, yup! I'm sure there will be plenty of deleting and restarting throughout this journey, but as long as I keep pushing forward I'll be happy. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
deleting and restarting your project 1000 times can easily be mitigated if you learn how to program and learn good program strategies before you make a game (learn OOP principles!). Personally, deleting where my current game is at the moment would be a loss of 3 months of progress. Not great if I want to finish my game in a timely manner, granted I would be able to build things a bit faster with what I learned. Right now, with the way I've structured my project, it should be easy to expand and change things down the road if necessary. Time is money ~ especially when you're getting older and have more responsibilities to take care of - especially if this is just a side project while you work a full time job. I'm currently working on my first larger project, but it has taken me a few years of doing smaller projects and acquiring a degree in CS to get to the point where I'm confident that I won't need to delete my project in its entirety somewhere down the line. I definitely think learning things and putting the time in upfront was worth it. I suppose if you're young and have a lot of time on your hands with a great attitude and no experience, you can see restarting your game as part of the learning process, but it's not really a great use of time imo. I hate the generic advice of "make smaller projects", especially since most people who are giving this advice aren't really passionate about a specific idea, but, if we were to be totally realistic, it's probably going to give you the most chances to succeed once you tackle larger projects.
@@mpmedia6735 Wow! Thank you for sharing this thoughtful comment. I think a lot of the arguments you present make sense and are definitely pieces of advice that I'll keep in mind as I move forward through this project. One system that I am definitely going to implement early on in my journey is version control, which will hopefully mean that I don't need to start from scratch if things go super wrong when working on new features. To your larger point though, I'm treating this coding project and UA-cam channel as more of a creative outlet as opposed to a results-driven project at this point. I believe this level of focus might result in more restarting than would be advised in an efficient project, but will hopefully maintain my motivation for the work. As the journey progresses and my knowledge increases I might transition more towards sustainable implementation strategies that avoid redoing work more. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
@@mpmedia6735Not everyone has the same idea on what “wasted” time is. Nor does everyone care about “wasting” time in the first place. Life isn’t a race. Have fun with what you’re doing or there is little to no point in doing it in the first place.
From one solo dev working on my dream game to another, I wish you all the best. I've spent the better part of 5 years now working out all kinds of kinks and details for my game, and with a closed beta test about to begin, the reality is slowly setting in. You got this
Thanks for the encouraging comment! It's really fun to think of where this project will be in 5 years. I hope your closed beta test goes well! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
I feel the same. If I start in a small or practice project, I just don’t feel any motivation. I am also attempting to start on my dream game. It can be very overwhelming for sure. Good luck and don’t give up!
Yes, I'm hoping that with a project this large I always have some tasks that I'm excited to jump into and push forward, but not becoming overwhelmed will definitely be a challenge. Good luck with your own dream game :) Thanks for watching!
Ive been spinning my wheels on my dream game for half a decade now, mainly because of my efforts to find a graphics style that seems attainable and that i enjoy doing. I never found anything... I always had to coerce myself into opening Blender or Aseprite. That is, until I got a Huion Kamvas 13 and started doodling. Then i started drawing. Then i found myself picking up the tablet to draw when im sad or bored, when I would've otherwise fired up Skyrim or Cyberpunk. And now I'm starting anew, just throwing my drawings at Godot and building up my game while practicing drawing at the same time. I started sobbing when I realized how free and open my future with this whole thing is, and the fact that I love the whole process from top to bottom for the first time.
Wow! This is such an inspirational comment. It's amazing how much comfort and freedom you can feel when you find a way to express yourself through art. It must be so exciting to see your assets coming to life in Godot. Thanks for commenting and watching :)
I started my solo dev journey this year too! It's exciting learning everything from scratch and the process is going to be rly long but don't give up! Work on one thing at a time and learn as you go.
I'm glad to hear that you've been enjoying you own solo dev journey! Yes, I can already feel that this is going to be a really long journey, but I'm trying to focus much more on the fun of each step as opposed to being overly focused on the end result. Thanks for the encouraging words and for watching :)
Hey Chris, just wanted to say thanks for making this video! Im currently finishing up my first "small commercial project" because i told myself i would release something small before my dream game to appease the game dev gods 😂 "Lead with passion" is something I think I've been waiting to hear for a long time, but never really knew what words I needed to hear. So thanks for articulating that so well in this video! Wish you the best on your game dev journey!! Look forward to the updates - you got a subscriber out of me!
Hey Frank! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video and will be following along for the journey. Good luck finishing up your "small commercial project", I hope everything goes well with it in the final stretch! Thanks for commenting :)
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind words Moose. I've been having fun working on the next episode and I'm excited to release it once it is ready. Thanks for watching :)
Creating small games doesn't work if you can't get invested in them. Feeling apathetic during the learning process will typically just make you quit. Not everybody enjoys making just any game. Passion matters! For me there is a great trick to this. Personally there isn't some exact single dream game I wanna make, I have a dream world I endlessly work on, and want to create games simply to bring to life various stories of my surreal characters from that dream universe... meaning I can technically create many small games as long it includes my characters!
Oh, interesting! So you are working on separate smaller games that are all a part of connected universe? That's a very smart way to approach game development and world building at the same time. Thanks for sharing you approach, and for watching :)
Same. Best of luck to you! If you know what you want to do, and believe in your vision, then don't let even people's well-intentioned advice stop you. You have to find your own way, and what works for one or even many, may be exactly the wrong thing for you to do. Even if everything falls apart, and it turns out that your idea didn't develop how you expected it to, you will still learn a lot in the process and you would have worked on something you believed in, and seen it through to some end. You may also be surprised at how achievable your dream was, despite everyone saying the opposite. The one thing I do know is that sustained, focused effort over a long period of time can produce amazing results that even you did not believe to be capable of achieving.
Wow! This is such an inspiring comment. A lot of what you shared embodies the mentality that I am trying to approach this project with. I'm trying to leave my fear of failure at the door and pursue this journey with passion with the hopes of seeing it through, but more than anything a focus on all of the learnings that will be gathered along the way. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
@@couldicode I believe that's the right kind of attitude to have when you want to do something ambitious and you're in it to make art. Most of the advice I hear is oriented towards game development as a business, assuming the product is many small games with a short development cycle with a limited scope and investment. I wouldn't say either approach is bad, but I don't think there is any kind of advice that anyone can give that will fit everyone and their unique circumstances. Navigating the space of possibilities about what's the right way to go about things and what isn't is a skill on its own, and It's best to develop your own intuition and learn from your own experience. If later down the line your experience just so happens to align with what somebody was saying all along, its still more valuable to go through and learn that for yourself, than to just blindly follow the advice to begin with. Making your own mistakes will allow you to explore the boundary of those pitfalls. Having gone through them yourself, you will know exactly why and how something is a mistake, and in what circumstances it actually isn't, and how sometimes what everyone says is a mistake can actually be the right thing to do.
I’ve honestly never understood the “don’t start with your dream game” idea because in my experience it honestly doesn’t really matter. It seems for me atleast that as you get better at game dev, your dream game either becomes obviously too hard to do without a massive team or just not very fun. I think working on what you’re passionate about is a great thing because you’ll be excited about what you’re doing. Having done gamedev for years now, I can honestly say I don’t even remember my dream game or what it was about, and the projects I was excited for don’t really matter to me anymore, and I think that’s just a part of the process. You get better and what you want changes. The only downside I see is I suck at finishing games. I’m not sure if this is because of this idea, or if it’s just normal but it’s just how it is.
Hey! Thanks for sharing this very insightful comment. I think you are right, starting by perusing a "dream game" isn't necessary good or bad, it is being able to adapt during the journey that truly makes a difference in the end. Thanks for sharing about your own experience with gamedev, and for watching :)
Yo dude, I am here all for it! The game idea and passion fueling the development journey is better than perfect - because consistency is what matters the most. If you can code an hour a day & bash your head against errors, while working on passion project, its way better than trying to cram 30hrs over a weekend with a tutorial holding your hand.
That's definitely my goal, to focus more on the journey than just rushing towards the destination. And I'm definitely sure there will be more than enough head bashing bugs during the journey haha! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Thanks for your well wishes! I'm actively working on Episode 1 of the actual devlog now. I'm excited to share the video once it is ready. Thanks for watching :)
That's exactly my hope! I've stopped and started trying to learn gamedev serval times now going the tutorial route and I'm hoping my passion for this project keeps me going for the long haul. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Thanks for your kind words! We will definitely be exploring more of my Obsidian notes as I work to bring different aspects of this game to life in future videos. Thanks for joining me on this journey :)
A few things that you'll most likely encounter if you do things well: 0. Ideation - go wild, write all you can 1. cut about 80% of what you've written, maybe even 90% (although as you develop - it'll all cut and morph more) 2. about half of your code will end up either overkill or useless due to on-going gameplay testing/change of plans A few things that you will definitely want to do from the beginning is: DO PROPER CORE ARCHITECTURE, or you'll just end up with a ton of roadblocks that will completely lock you out of progressing any further. Things for you to must learn in Unity C#: Coroutine/IEnumerator, event delegates/func/action, what a C# interface is - if you want performance and proper architecture, it'll all be around these guys. There is only a few places where you'll be using Update loop, otherwise it's all events and timers.
Thanks for sharing this awesome list of advice! There are definitely some items, specifically the more code-related items, that are going over my head at the moment but I will try and keep all of this in mind as I move forward. I am also definitely not afraid to return and adjust things as needed throughout my journey, but I appreciate your point about some of them causing major roadblocks if they aren't addressed early on. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
3:17 does this (drawing map of first zone) have anything to do with coding? 110% it does. Nothing will motivate you more to code than having something to code towards. The first step for coding an application or a website or a game: mock up what you're going to develop. Game development involves about 8 roles, of which developer is only one. As a solo dev, you're going to do all 8. One of those is "concept artist". I think the message is mangled: don't attempt to build all of your "dream game". Just develop one tiny slice of it. eg: the controller. Get to the point where you can move your character (a simple shape) around a blank screen, reliably and predictably, with nothing else on the screen. Now you have a controller. Next up draw your character. Just static, but moving. Next have it face the direction of movement. Next have it animated. etc, etc. All steps in your dream game. But steps, in a progression that is doable and gives you that endorphin kick of having completed something. Have the concept art process going on as well, to give you something to do when you get stuck or oops did too many late nights developing and are now programmatically fatigued / burnt out. 2c
Wow! Thanks for sharing such a thoughtful comment. I appreciate you breaking down how many roles actually need to go into gamedev, that's a lot of hats to wear as a solo dev. I also never thought of the map I drew as concept art before, but you are completely right, it is helping me express a direction for how I want the game to eventually look and feel. Lastly, you notes about breaking down the game into smaller steps is exactly how I tackled the first episode of my devlog. You are so right, it makes large tasks seem much more manageable when you approach them one step at a time. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
I wish you the best of luck, and I can tell you that I get where you are coming from... I will likely take the same approach at some point after finishing my game design degree. I know it won't be easy, but it might be even harder to work on a game (for no money!) that you aren't really that passionate about it. I'll check back in with you in a few years to see how it's going. I've been watching some devlogs from time to time since I started on my degree and it's awesome to see how far they have come! Stay passionate, and take care.
Hey! I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts in this comment. I particularly appreciate you mentioning that you will check back in a few years. I hope to share updates all a long this journey but I'm sure it will be over the span years that true breakthroughs happen, especially as I learn more of the fundamentals of gamedev and coding. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
I also think motivation is extremely important and doing tutorials usually drained all the motivation from me. You have the courage to start working on a big project, whether it will be a commercial success or not, is impossible to say. Please focus on making the mechanics fun, as this is something that I failed to do with my first few games and they failed miserably on Steam. I focused on making the gameplay challenging and adding tons of features, but ignored the fact that I never got enjoyment from playing them. Word of mouth is what sells most games so the fun factor is all important.
Hey! Thanks for sharing this great advice. I will definitely try and prioritize the "fun" of the gameplay as much as possible as I work through implementing mechanics. And more than anything focus more on the journey than being hyper focused on the destination and the financial success of the game. I'm definitely framing this as more of a passion project that I use as a creative outlet than anything else. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Fair! This video was definitely much more philosophical than tangible. The first devlog episode that I'm working on has a bit more "gameplay" though it will be very basic stuff until we get much further along in my journey. Thanks for watching :)
I hate the "don't start with your dream game" mentality. I started game development back around 2020. Since then, I've started and abandoned like 5 'dream games.' Even though none of them ever got released, I learned a lot from each project about programming, because I wanted to push the project further.
Wow, it's really cool to hear about your own experience perusing your "dream games"! And you are exactly right, it's the learnings from wanting to push the project further that I'm after with this approach. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Step four: repeat! You are so right. This is the process, just keep doing it and you will see improvement in almost anything in life! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
I'm more or less in the same boat myself, but one suggestion you can try if needed is to make small test projects to learn specific mechanics and systems you will need for your dream game. Then the goal is more focused and feeds directly into your dream game, and could probably be done at the same time, whenever a new confusing system or mechanic rears it's ugly head.
Hi Charles! This is a great piece of advice. I will definitely consider working on developing new mechanics in a separate smaller project first, to sort through all of the confusion, before adding them into my dream game. I think this will be particularly relevant when I tackle some of the more daunting, ugly head rearing (as you put it) mechanics. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Right? I feel like it is so easy to just get caught up in an endless cycle of tutorials. I have no doubt that I'll consume many tutorials during this project but hopefully they are all pushing me forward. Thanks for watching :)
Just my cents on this: solo gamedev is hard. You could be making your dream version of your dream game, it would be hard to stay motivated anyway. There's a ton of reasons for this that I will not go into now. And to top this, there's the financial struggle. It's hard to make games profitable without funding. Games are a media that have a relatively low barrier of entry, and have a load of passionate developers that will work for very little pay, provided they work in doing games. This combined creates a market that's saturated and hard to succeed on. Creating games on a team is much better, even if it has it's own struggles. The simple fact that you can focus on programming, or graphics, or audio, or design, without the necessity of wearing all the hats, is much less overwhelming. It's because of this that solo developer games are rare, and even on those, it's not uncommon to outsource bits of it, like sounds and assets. You need to be prepared for working a whole year on the game, sacrificing your free time, just to see that in the end of that year you accomplished a small fraction of what you thought you would accomplish. And that's when the weight of the game starts crushing you. People generally advises to do small games first because that's generally the same as saying "do games that you will finish". Few people have the resilience to keep pushing, and most of them have the money to allow them to make gamedev their full time job and to spend on buying assets. I'm a quite experienced programmer, and have done my fair bit of audio and graphics, and I never really got a big solo project going for long. You'll have the additional struggle of learning on top of this. I don't want do discourage you, but I would advise you to be very restrictive on your scope. It's better to have a simplified version of you game finished than to have the full scoped one unfinished and unplayable. You can always iterate on the former, but the latter will likely never be done. I would also advise that you start prototyping and experimenting. Nothing wrong with documenting every feature and progress paths of your game, but you should avoid the trap of defining what the game will be before you actually get a chance to play it and test it. Despite what might sound like discouraging words, I wish you the best and much success going forward!
Thank you for leaving such a thoughtful comment! You've perfectly balanced real world advice with words of encouragement, and I will try and take all of it into consideration as I continue down this path. In particular, I hope to still start small despite pushing the overall goal of this dream game a long. As you mentioned in your comment, I believe working on putting together a minimalistic prototype of the game will be the focus of the first few steps in this journey. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
dont listen to others advice when they tell you to leave your passion behind. starting your dream game was the right thing to do and i cant wait for new updates :D
@@couldicode if not for yourself, just know I will be waiting for the next update. Often the mountain ahead is always daunting to think about but just focus on the next rock and step and one day you look back and say damn I was all the way down there once. Step by step and you may need to retrace some occasionally but you’ll make it to the top one day but even better than that you will have grown in ways you may not have thought of yet. I’ll be waiting friend :)
@@aamindehkordi Wow, what an inspirational reply! Thanks for sharing this. This was my whole hope in creating this UA-cam channel, having a community that is holding me responsible for continuing this project in a positive atmosphere. I will definitely be taking the step-by-step approach in the first few devlogs, focusing on implementing one small piece of gameplay at a time as we work our way to a working prototype.
I don't think It's a bad idea to make a concept of the vibe of the game. At all. I will do the same because after all, both for marketing and for starting the production you need the concept, and if you make it right away, gameplay even may follow later, you can already start marketing your game to your target since they can see the vibe and if they are interested or not in it. Very good strategy i think. Peace
Hey! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, I really want to focus on the vibe and elements of the game that I'm inspired to dive into first and then once I have a foundation I hope I have further motivation to learn how to implement the gameplay features I envision. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
You learn far more trying to realize your own ideas in (game engine of choice) than tutorials! Only use tutorials to help turn your ideas into life! Don't discount determination and time allocation for your development though. Some days you won't want to do it, but you gotta'
Yeah, that's exactly my plan! I'm still hoping to learn from lots of tutorials but direct all of my learns into a singular vision. Thank you for sharing your advice about determination and time allocation as well. I appreciate your thoughtful comment :)
This is wild! I woke up to so many additional views and comments... I'm honestly so moved by the amount of support this community has been showing. Thanks for watching :)
No they are wrong, break your dream game parts that can be made into mini games, then work on those mini games, that way you are working on your dream game while you are learning.
Hey! That's a really smart way to look at it. Thanks for the suggestion. I was already going to focus on implementing specific mechanics separately, but perhaps there are full sections of the game that would work as standalone mini-games while I'm learning. I'll definitely keep this approach in my mind as I push forward. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Is it really scope creep if the project hasn't started yet? It's more likely just an unrealistic scope to begin with haha. You are completely right though, I'll have to assess the scope as I work my way through the project. Thanks for watching!
Thanks! I really have to give the credit to the Obsidian platform for my organization though, you should have seen the chaos that was all of my random notes before I brought them into one place haha. Thanks for watching :)
Great video and good luck! I'm in the same situation as you. I got tired of following tutorials and started working on my "dream game". The problem is, while you have a lot of stuff figured out, i have NOTHING. I just want to make something that makes players feel what i felt playing some masterpiece indie games like Celeste and Undertale. What i have for now is: The game is 2D It is an unpure platformer (platformer + other genres) It revolves around a flame that is both the only source of light in the entire game, and the player's health For now the movement is pretty similar to Celeste, and the art and setting i have in mind are very similar to hollow knight (though i haven't played it yet) How did you figure out how you want your game to be? I know you are also a begginer, but do you have any tips? (I accept tips from anyone)
This is an amazing comment! I really like the idea of having your game revolve around this torch that acts as the light source and health. I think the art style will end up being very unique with that being the only light source. As for how I've been figuring things out, it's mostly been time. Like I say a lot of these notes have been jotted down over the years, it's only recently that I brought them together and saw how they formed a singular vision. I suggest having a note taking app on your phone to capture any idea quickly while out and about, you never know when inspiration will strike. Thanks for watching and good luck on your journey :)
It's not impossible, but seems unlikely. I think it really depends on a idealistic intersection of time-management and "the grind" when you know exactly what to do for each asset and all it takes is a matter of time instead of deep-learning-on-the-go. Whether it's enemy AI, artwork, coding & scripting, physics, mechanics, network engineering, marketing and branding, etc. I wish I was at that stage; that stage being where you (the game dev) feels likened to a novelist. This artist ALREADY KNOWS how to write very well. The author does not need an English teacher lurking over the shoulder, no spelling bees are necessary, nor experience to get into that head space of how certain people speak to one another, and the research on their subject matter has already birthed a fresh set of notes and insights. All the end product needs is the unfurling of time before the last bit of ink is dry and the stack of chapters shall be delivered to the publisher. Have I ever dreamed of a game I wish I really wanted to play? Sure... but I've had so many ideas come and go in my hectic life, but never the know-how or time to make them happen. I wish you success, because it really is the dream.
Wow, what a thoughtful comment Brian! I definitely don't think I'm prepared for all of the challenges this journey will place on me but I'm also approaching it with patience. I'm hoping the passion I have for this idea and the resources that are available online will be enough to see me through these challenges... but we shall see! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
@@couldicode Best of luck on your journey! I'll be following along. I do have a not-so-quick question though: is your game something you eventually want to sell? I'm in a similar spot myself, and I think a lot of tutorials and devlogs suggest not starting with your dream game if money is a factor. I believe that advice comes from people who assume you’ll be marketing your game. That said, if this project is purely about passion and not income, then I think you’re on the right track. Everyone finds their own way, and no approach is better than another. Getting stuck and banging your head against the wall for days is just part of the process, and I’ll vouch for it till the end of my days. it's okay to fail. One piece of advice from an IT student (though I’m no expert): don’t just focus on learning how to code, focus on thinking like a programmer. Coding isn’t just about writing those magic lines of text that do stuff (spoiler: we all suck at it); it's about developing the mindset to solve problems, crafting solutions, and bringing your ideas to life. It’s like learning a language: it’s not about what you can write, it’s about what you do with it. Rooting for ya!
Hi Boxy! Thanks for this insightful comment. In response to your first question, no selling the game or profiting from it directly is not my primary motivation for starting down this path. I won't say I would never consider selling it and I'm sure I'll explore what monetization structure would make sense for it during planning/development but it is not my primary goal. I'd say my primary goal for starting with this approach is to work on something I'm passionate enough about that I am inspired to continue even when I start banging my head on problems. The next goal is making content and building a community to help keep me accountable for continuing to provide updates on the project. Then I'd say the final motivation is exploring the value this project could earn once complete, so it's on my radar but at the low end of my reasons for starting this journey. Lastly, thanks for your notes about programming and treating it like a language. That is a very interesting perspective and something I'll try to do as I learn about new ways to tackle problems in my project. Thanks for watching :)
major middle finger, lol. well freely do what you want, not what others tell you do. well, you will do it if you actually want to do it. no forcing, for any reason. people's advice will make you things you dont want to do. or need to do. or make you think that you need to do. copying is hella boring. some squacking tutorial person is the most horrible. if not want, dont do it. the map looks like a super mario 3 over-all map, top level map. if you only do what you want, then you also do what you want to play. no-one plays (huh) what they dont want to play, or do they play because external reasons, to fit in, or being forced by some reason. you are going in game first, not the boring stuff first. you want to do, instead of being forced to do. dont get bored.
Haha, well I'm sure there will still be a significant number of tutorials consumed during this journey but I am excited to focus on the gameplay features I'm passionate about. Thanks for watching :)
Good luck! Just note - the exact same "this is not exciting" will happen when chipping away at 'dream game'. If you already have trouble finishing very small projects, consider that every single system you want for your mmo-inspired dream game is more complex than all of these small projects, usually a lot more complex. It is usually the most exciting (easy) project to do the "groundwork" like overall layout and feeling of what you want, but the ACTUAL groundwork is making the systems and then levels/rooms. And that usually is where people fall off when making small projects/dream games because this takes forever. It's suggested to try small things first mostly so you get better so you are actually faster at implementing complex solutions so you don't burn out. So you absolutely can do big project first, but you will need way more discipline than the small projects did. Way, way, way more.
Thanks for sharing this advice! You make some really great points, and I hope to capture some of the spirit of this comment by really focusing on completing small goals one at a time within this large project instead of always looking at the completion of the entire project as the primary goal. At the end of the day this project will be a marathon, especially as a beginner to gamedev, and you are correct that I will need a lot of discipline to see it through. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
I totally agree with you. Just keep trying to make your dream game and learn along the way. You will probably delete the entire project 1000 times and restart because you learned so much but who cares! Goodluck and I cant wait to see you upload more.
Haha, yup! I'm sure there will be plenty of deleting and restarting throughout this journey, but as long as I keep pushing forward I'll be happy. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
deleting and restarting your project 1000 times can easily be mitigated if you learn how to program and learn good program strategies before you make a game (learn OOP principles!). Personally, deleting where my current game is at the moment would be a loss of 3 months of progress. Not great if I want to finish my game in a timely manner, granted I would be able to build things a bit faster with what I learned. Right now, with the way I've structured my project, it should be easy to expand and change things down the road if necessary. Time is money ~ especially when you're getting older and have more responsibilities to take care of - especially if this is just a side project while you work a full time job.
I'm currently working on my first larger project, but it has taken me a few years of doing smaller projects and acquiring a degree in CS to get to the point where I'm confident that I won't need to delete my project in its entirety somewhere down the line. I definitely think learning things and putting the time in upfront was worth it. I suppose if you're young and have a lot of time on your hands with a great attitude and no experience, you can see restarting your game as part of the learning process, but it's not really a great use of time imo.
I hate the generic advice of "make smaller projects", especially since most people who are giving this advice aren't really passionate about a specific idea, but, if we were to be totally realistic, it's probably going to give you the most chances to succeed once you tackle larger projects.
@@mpmedia6735 Wow! Thank you for sharing this thoughtful comment. I think a lot of the arguments you present make sense and are definitely pieces of advice that I'll keep in mind as I move forward through this project. One system that I am definitely going to implement early on in my journey is version control, which will hopefully mean that I don't need to start from scratch if things go super wrong when working on new features.
To your larger point though, I'm treating this coding project and UA-cam channel as more of a creative outlet as opposed to a results-driven project at this point. I believe this level of focus might result in more restarting than would be advised in an efficient project, but will hopefully maintain my motivation for the work. As the journey progresses and my knowledge increases I might transition more towards sustainable implementation strategies that avoid redoing work more.
Thanks for watching and commenting :)
@@mpmedia6735Not everyone has the same idea on what “wasted” time is. Nor does everyone care about “wasting” time in the first place. Life isn’t a race. Have fun with what you’re doing or there is little to no point in doing it in the first place.
@@neetfreek9921Great comment sir. You win the internet for the day. This is what I needed to hear.
From one solo dev working on my dream game to another, I wish you all the best. I've spent the better part of 5 years now working out all kinds of kinks and details for my game, and with a closed beta test about to begin, the reality is slowly setting in. You got this
Thanks for the encouraging comment! It's really fun to think of where this project will be in 5 years. I hope your closed beta test goes well! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
I feel the same. If I start in a small or practice project, I just don’t feel any motivation. I am also attempting to start on my dream game. It can be very overwhelming for sure. Good luck and don’t give up!
Yes, I'm hoping that with a project this large I always have some tasks that I'm excited to jump into and push forward, but not becoming overwhelmed will definitely be a challenge. Good luck with your own dream game :) Thanks for watching!
@ thank you !
Ive been spinning my wheels on my dream game for half a decade now, mainly because of my efforts to find a graphics style that seems attainable and that i enjoy doing. I never found anything... I always had to coerce myself into opening Blender or Aseprite. That is, until I got a Huion Kamvas 13 and started doodling. Then i started drawing. Then i found myself picking up the tablet to draw when im sad or bored, when I would've otherwise fired up Skyrim or Cyberpunk. And now I'm starting anew, just throwing my drawings at Godot and building up my game while practicing drawing at the same time. I started sobbing when I realized how free and open my future with this whole thing is, and the fact that I love the whole process from top to bottom for the first time.
Wow! This is such an inspirational comment. It's amazing how much comfort and freedom you can feel when you find a way to express yourself through art. It must be so exciting to see your assets coming to life in Godot. Thanks for commenting and watching :)
I started my solo dev journey this year too! It's exciting learning everything from scratch and the process is going to be rly long but don't give up! Work on one thing at a time and learn as you go.
I'm glad to hear that you've been enjoying you own solo dev journey! Yes, I can already feel that this is going to be a really long journey, but I'm trying to focus much more on the fun of each step as opposed to being overly focused on the end result. Thanks for the encouraging words and for watching :)
Hey Chris, just wanted to say thanks for making this video!
Im currently finishing up my first "small commercial project" because i told myself i would release something small before my dream game to appease the game dev gods 😂
"Lead with passion" is something I think I've been waiting to hear for a long time, but never really knew what words I needed to hear.
So thanks for articulating that so well in this video!
Wish you the best on your game dev journey!! Look forward to the updates - you got a subscriber out of me!
Hey Frank! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the video and will be following along for the journey. Good luck finishing up your "small commercial project", I hope everything goes well with it in the final stretch! Thanks for commenting :)
This is a really cool idea and cant wait to see it come along in time. Keep at it and have fun with it. Love the video!
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the kind words Moose. I've been having fun working on the next episode and I'm excited to release it once it is ready. Thanks for watching :)
From one solo dev to another best of luck! You can do it!
Thanks for the words of encouragement! I wish you well on your projects as well. Thanks for watching :)
Creating small games doesn't work if you can't get invested in them. Feeling apathetic during the learning process will typically just make you quit. Not everybody enjoys making just any game. Passion matters! For me there is a great trick to this. Personally there isn't some exact single dream game I wanna make, I have a dream world I endlessly work on, and want to create games simply to bring to life various stories of my surreal characters from that dream universe... meaning I can technically create many small games as long it includes my characters!
Oh, interesting! So you are working on separate smaller games that are all a part of connected universe? That's a very smart way to approach game development and world building at the same time. Thanks for sharing you approach, and for watching :)
The intro animations are super slick and good luck on your journey
Hey! I'm glad you liked the intro animations. Thanks for the kind words and for watching :)
Best of luck! Excited to see your progress!
Thanks for the kind words! I'm happy to have you along for the journey. Thanks for watching :)
Same. Best of luck to you!
If you know what you want to do, and believe in your vision, then don't let even people's well-intentioned advice stop you.
You have to find your own way, and what works for one or even many, may be exactly the wrong thing for you to do. Even if everything falls apart, and it turns out that your idea didn't develop how you expected it to, you will still learn a lot in the process and you would have worked on something you believed in, and seen it through to some end.
You may also be surprised at how achievable your dream was, despite everyone saying the opposite. The one thing I do know is that sustained, focused effort over a long period of time can produce amazing results that even you did not believe to be capable of achieving.
Wow! This is such an inspiring comment. A lot of what you shared embodies the mentality that I am trying to approach this project with. I'm trying to leave my fear of failure at the door and pursue this journey with passion with the hopes of seeing it through, but more than anything a focus on all of the learnings that will be gathered along the way. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
@@couldicode I believe that's the right kind of attitude to have when you want to do something ambitious and you're in it to make art.
Most of the advice I hear is oriented towards game development as a business, assuming the product is many small games with a short development cycle with a limited scope and investment. I wouldn't say either approach is bad, but I don't think there is any kind of advice that anyone can give that will fit everyone and their unique circumstances.
Navigating the space of possibilities about what's the right way to go about things and what isn't is a skill on its own, and It's best to develop your own intuition and learn from your own experience. If later down the line your experience just so happens to align with what somebody was saying all along, its still more valuable to go through and learn that for yourself, than to just blindly follow the advice to begin with.
Making your own mistakes will allow you to explore the boundary of those pitfalls. Having gone through them yourself, you will know exactly why and how something is a mistake, and in what circumstances it actually isn't, and how sometimes what everyone says is a mistake can actually be the right thing to do.
I’ve honestly never understood the “don’t start with your dream game” idea because in my experience it honestly doesn’t really matter. It seems for me atleast that as you get better at game dev, your dream game either becomes obviously too hard to do without a massive team or just not very fun. I think working on what you’re passionate about is a great thing because you’ll be excited about what you’re doing. Having done gamedev for years now, I can honestly say I don’t even remember my dream game or what it was about, and the projects I was excited for don’t really matter to me anymore, and I think that’s just a part of the process. You get better and what you want changes.
The only downside I see is I suck at finishing games. I’m not sure if this is because of this idea, or if it’s just normal but it’s just how it is.
Hey! Thanks for sharing this very insightful comment. I think you are right, starting by perusing a "dream game" isn't necessary good or bad, it is being able to adapt during the journey that truly makes a difference in the end. Thanks for sharing about your own experience with gamedev, and for watching :)
Keep going, can't wait to be part of this journey. :)
Thanks, Notez! I'm excited to have you join me for it. Thanks for watching :)
Great video! I'm excited to see more about the game and wish you luck on your journey!
Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching :)
this seems like the start of something big all the best for your journey ahead
Thanks for the kind words, Crucifix! Thanks for watching :)
Yo dude, I am here all for it!
The game idea and passion fueling the development journey is better than perfect - because consistency is what matters the most. If you can code an hour a day & bash your head against errors, while working on passion project, its way better than trying to cram 30hrs over a weekend with a tutorial holding your hand.
That's definitely my goal, to focus more on the journey than just rushing towards the destination. And I'm definitely sure there will be more than enough head bashing bugs during the journey haha! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
I wish you the best! Looking forward to see updates! :D
Thanks for your well wishes! I'm actively working on Episode 1 of the actual devlog now. I'm excited to share the video once it is ready. Thanks for watching :)
Maybe working like tutorials say is more efficient, but passion is what keeps you going in the long term. Good luck man!
That's exactly my hope! I've stopped and started trying to learn gamedev serval times now going the tutorial route and I'm hoping my passion for this project keeps me going for the long haul. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
your obsidian is so in-depth! i could explore for days on end :3 anyways, looking forward to the journey and you earned a new suub! :D
Thanks for your kind words! We will definitely be exploring more of my Obsidian notes as I work to bring different aspects of this game to life in future videos. Thanks for joining me on this journey :)
A few things that you'll most likely encounter if you do things well:
0. Ideation - go wild, write all you can
1. cut about 80% of what you've written, maybe even 90% (although as you develop - it'll all cut and morph more)
2. about half of your code will end up either overkill or useless due to on-going gameplay testing/change of plans
A few things that you will definitely want to do from the beginning is: DO PROPER CORE ARCHITECTURE, or you'll just end up with a ton of roadblocks that will completely lock you out of progressing any further.
Things for you to must learn in Unity C#:
Coroutine/IEnumerator, event delegates/func/action, what a C# interface is - if you want performance and proper architecture, it'll all be around these guys. There is only a few places where you'll be using Update loop, otherwise it's all events and timers.
Thanks for sharing this awesome list of advice! There are definitely some items, specifically the more code-related items, that are going over my head at the moment but I will try and keep all of this in mind as I move forward. I am also definitely not afraid to return and adjust things as needed throughout my journey, but I appreciate your point about some of them causing major roadblocks if they aren't addressed early on. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
3:17 does this (drawing map of first zone) have anything to do with coding?
110% it does.
Nothing will motivate you more to code than having something to code towards. The first step for coding an application or a website or a game: mock up what you're going to develop.
Game development involves about 8 roles, of which developer is only one. As a solo dev, you're going to do all 8. One of those is "concept artist".
I think the message is mangled: don't attempt to build all of your "dream game". Just develop one tiny slice of it. eg: the controller. Get to the point where you can move your character (a simple shape) around a blank screen, reliably and predictably, with nothing else on the screen. Now you have a controller. Next up draw your character. Just static, but moving. Next have it face the direction of movement. Next have it animated. etc, etc.
All steps in your dream game. But steps, in a progression that is doable and gives you that endorphin kick of having completed something.
Have the concept art process going on as well, to give you something to do when you get stuck or oops did too many late nights developing and are now programmatically fatigued / burnt out.
2c
Wow! Thanks for sharing such a thoughtful comment. I appreciate you breaking down how many roles actually need to go into gamedev, that's a lot of hats to wear as a solo dev. I also never thought of the map I drew as concept art before, but you are completely right, it is helping me express a direction for how I want the game to eventually look and feel. Lastly, you notes about breaking down the game into smaller steps is exactly how I tackled the first episode of my devlog. You are so right, it makes large tasks seem much more manageable when you approach them one step at a time. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
@@couldicode Check out The Cherno for a good example of the sort of thing I am talking about here - Vulkan from 2D to 3D video series.
I wish you the best of luck, and I can tell you that I get where you are coming from... I will likely take the same approach at some point after finishing my game design degree. I know it won't be easy, but it might be even harder to work on a game (for no money!) that you aren't really that passionate about it. I'll check back in with you in a few years to see how it's going. I've been watching some devlogs from time to time since I started on my degree and it's awesome to see how far they have come! Stay passionate, and take care.
Hey! I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts in this comment. I particularly appreciate you mentioning that you will check back in a few years. I hope to share updates all a long this journey but I'm sure it will be over the span years that true breakthroughs happen, especially as I learn more of the fundamentals of gamedev and coding. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
I also think motivation is extremely important and doing tutorials usually drained all the motivation from me. You have the courage to start working on a big project, whether it will be a commercial success or not, is impossible to say. Please focus on making the mechanics fun, as this is something that I failed to do with my first few games and they failed miserably on Steam. I focused on making the gameplay challenging and adding tons of features, but ignored the fact that I never got enjoyment from playing them. Word of mouth is what sells most games so the fun factor is all important.
Hey! Thanks for sharing this great advice. I will definitely try and prioritize the "fun" of the gameplay as much as possible as I work through implementing mechanics. And more than anything focus more on the journey than being hyper focused on the destination and the financial success of the game. I'm definitely framing this as more of a passion project that I use as a creative outlet than anything else. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
where the gameplay at bro.
Fair! This video was definitely much more philosophical than tangible. The first devlog episode that I'm working on has a bit more "gameplay" though it will be very basic stuff until we get much further along in my journey. Thanks for watching :)
@@couldicodethanks i will be looking forward to it because im a fan of runescape, anyways good inspirational video though.
I'm a fan of RuneScape too! Though it will be a while before I have anything that approaches RuneScape level of gameplay haha.
I hate the "don't start with your dream game" mentality. I started game development back around 2020. Since then, I've started and abandoned like 5 'dream games.' Even though none of them ever got released, I learned a lot from each project about programming, because I wanted to push the project further.
Wow, it's really cool to hear about your own experience perusing your "dream games"! And you are exactly right, it's the learnings from wanting to push the project further that I'm after with this approach. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Step one : watch
Step two : do
Step three : practice
Step four: repeat!
You are so right. This is the process, just keep doing it and you will see improvement in almost anything in life! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
You may be a dreamer, but you're not the only one! :-) Wish you to achieve your dreams / dream game!
What a wonderfully lyrical comment! I appreciate your kinds words. Thanks for watching :)
I'm more or less in the same boat myself, but one suggestion you can try if needed is to make small test projects to learn specific mechanics and systems you will need for your dream game. Then the goal is more focused and feeds directly into your dream game, and could probably be done at the same time, whenever a new confusing system or mechanic rears it's ugly head.
Hi Charles! This is a great piece of advice. I will definitely consider working on developing new mechanics in a separate smaller project first, to sort through all of the confusion, before adding them into my dream game. I think this will be particularly relevant when I tackle some of the more daunting, ugly head rearing (as you put it) mechanics. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Looking good im here for the journey new sub!
Thanks for joining me for this journey, Harry! Thanks for watching :)
following this route for the last 10 years
Hopefully you have enjoyed your journey over those 10 years. I'm excited to see what mine has turned into 10 years from now. Thanks for watching :)
I hope youll be able to make it! Best of luck! (Also had to point out the zone1 map looks like a cuphead map)
I wish you the best!
I appreciate the kind words! Thanks for watching :)
ive been through the phase of trying to make a game but not liking tutorials since i was 8. Itll happen some day.
Right? I feel like it is so easy to just get caught up in an endless cycle of tutorials. I have no doubt that I'll consume many tutorials during this project but hopefully they are all pushing me forward. Thanks for watching :)
You'll get there! ❤🎉
I hope so! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
Just my cents on this: solo gamedev is hard. You could be making your dream version of your dream game, it would be hard to stay motivated anyway. There's a ton of reasons for this that I will not go into now. And to top this, there's the financial struggle. It's hard to make games profitable without funding. Games are a media that have a relatively low barrier of entry, and have a load of passionate developers that will work for very little pay, provided they work in doing games. This combined creates a market that's saturated and hard to succeed on.
Creating games on a team is much better, even if it has it's own struggles. The simple fact that you can focus on programming, or graphics, or audio, or design, without the necessity of wearing all the hats, is much less overwhelming. It's because of this that solo developer games are rare, and even on those, it's not uncommon to outsource bits of it, like sounds and assets.
You need to be prepared for working a whole year on the game, sacrificing your free time, just to see that in the end of that year you accomplished a small fraction of what you thought you would accomplish. And that's when the weight of the game starts crushing you. People generally advises to do small games first because that's generally the same as saying "do games that you will finish". Few people have the resilience to keep pushing, and most of them have the money to allow them to make gamedev their full time job and to spend on buying assets.
I'm a quite experienced programmer, and have done my fair bit of audio and graphics, and I never really got a big solo project going for long. You'll have the additional struggle of learning on top of this.
I don't want do discourage you, but I would advise you to be very restrictive on your scope. It's better to have a simplified version of you game finished than to have the full scoped one unfinished and unplayable. You can always iterate on the former, but the latter will likely never be done.
I would also advise that you start prototyping and experimenting. Nothing wrong with documenting every feature and progress paths of your game, but you should avoid the trap of defining what the game will be before you actually get a chance to play it and test it.
Despite what might sound like discouraging words, I wish you the best and much success going forward!
Thank you for leaving such a thoughtful comment! You've perfectly balanced real world advice with words of encouragement, and I will try and take all of it into consideration as I continue down this path. In particular, I hope to still start small despite pushing the overall goal of this dream game a long. As you mentioned in your comment, I believe working on putting together a minimalistic prototype of the game will be the focus of the first few steps in this journey. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
I believe in you brother ❤
Thanks for the kind words! Thanks for watching :)
Good luck !!
Thanks! Thanks for watching :)
Wish you the best
Thanks for the kind comment! I wish you the best as well. Thanks for watching :)
dont listen to others advice when they tell you to leave your passion behind. starting your dream game was the right thing to do and i cant wait for new updates :D
Thanks for your words of encouragement! I'm working on my first update video and am excited to share it once it is ready. Thanks for watching :)
i believe in you lil bro
Haha, thanks! Thanks for watching :)
@@couldicode if not for yourself, just know I will be waiting for the next update. Often the mountain ahead is always daunting to think about but just focus on the next rock and step and one day you look back and say damn I was all the way down there once. Step by step and you may need to retrace some occasionally but you’ll make it to the top one day but even better than that you will have grown in ways you may not have thought of yet. I’ll be waiting friend :)
@@aamindehkordi Wow, what an inspirational reply! Thanks for sharing this. This was my whole hope in creating this UA-cam channel, having a community that is holding me responsible for continuing this project in a positive atmosphere. I will definitely be taking the step-by-step approach in the first few devlogs, focusing on implementing one small piece of gameplay at a time as we work our way to a working prototype.
Good luck!
Thanks for the kind words, and for watching :)
I don't think It's a bad idea to make a concept of the vibe of the game.
At all.
I will do the same because after all, both for marketing and for starting the production you need the concept, and if you make it right away, gameplay even may follow later, you can already start marketing your game to your target since they can see the vibe and if they are interested or not in it.
Very good strategy i think.
Peace
Hey! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Yes, I really want to focus on the vibe and elements of the game that I'm inspired to dive into first and then once I have a foundation I hope I have further motivation to learn how to implement the gameplay features I envision. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
You learn far more trying to realize your own ideas in (game engine of choice) than tutorials! Only use tutorials to help turn your ideas into life! Don't discount determination and time allocation for your development though. Some days you won't want to do it, but you gotta'
Yeah, that's exactly my plan! I'm still hoping to learn from lots of tutorials but direct all of my learns into a singular vision. Thank you for sharing your advice about determination and time allocation as well. I appreciate your thoughtful comment :)
Nice, i got this on Main Page.
This is wild! I woke up to so many additional views and comments... I'm honestly so moved by the amount of support this community has been showing. Thanks for watching :)
Just do it.
I'm going to do it! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
No they are wrong, break your dream game parts that can be made into mini games, then work on those mini games, that way you are working on your dream game while you are learning.
Hey! That's a really smart way to look at it. Thanks for the suggestion. I was already going to focus on implementing specific mechanics separately, but perhaps there are full sections of the game that would work as standalone mini-games while I'm learning. I'll definitely keep this approach in my mind as I push forward. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
It truly does sound as if your passion was scope creep... good luck.
Is it really scope creep if the project hasn't started yet? It's more likely just an unrealistic scope to begin with haha. You are completely right though, I'll have to assess the scope as I work my way through the project. Thanks for watching!
woww u are so organised , i like it :))
Thanks! I really have to give the credit to the Obsidian platform for my organization though, you should have seen the chaos that was all of my random notes before I brought them into one place haha. Thanks for watching :)
Keep going
Will do! Thanks for watching :)
Great video and good luck! I'm in the same situation as you. I got tired of following tutorials and started working on my "dream game". The problem is, while you have a lot of stuff figured out, i have NOTHING. I just want to make something that makes players feel what i felt playing some masterpiece indie games like Celeste and Undertale.
What i have for now is:
The game is 2D
It is an unpure platformer (platformer + other genres)
It revolves around a flame that is both the only source of light in the entire game, and the player's health
For now the movement is pretty similar to Celeste, and the art and setting i have in mind are very similar to hollow knight (though i haven't played it yet)
How did you figure out how you want your game to be? I know you are also a begginer, but do you have any tips? (I accept tips from anyone)
This is an amazing comment! I really like the idea of having your game revolve around this torch that acts as the light source and health. I think the art style will end up being very unique with that being the only light source.
As for how I've been figuring things out, it's mostly been time. Like I say a lot of these notes have been jotted down over the years, it's only recently that I brought them together and saw how they formed a singular vision. I suggest having a note taking app on your phone to capture any idea quickly while out and about, you never know when inspiration will strike.
Thanks for watching and good luck on your journey :)
It's not impossible, but seems unlikely. I think it really depends on a idealistic intersection of time-management and "the grind" when you know exactly what to do for each asset and all it takes is a matter of time instead of deep-learning-on-the-go. Whether it's enemy AI, artwork, coding & scripting, physics, mechanics, network engineering, marketing and branding, etc. I wish I was at that stage; that stage being where you (the game dev) feels likened to a novelist. This artist ALREADY KNOWS how to write very well. The author does not need an English teacher lurking over the shoulder, no spelling bees are necessary, nor experience to get into that head space of how certain people speak to one another, and the research on their subject matter has already birthed a fresh set of notes and insights. All the end product needs is the unfurling of time before the last bit of ink is dry and the stack of chapters shall be delivered to the publisher.
Have I ever dreamed of a game I wish I really wanted to play? Sure... but I've had so many ideas come and go in my hectic life, but never the know-how or time to make them happen. I wish you success, because it really is the dream.
Wow, what a thoughtful comment Brian! I definitely don't think I'm prepared for all of the challenges this journey will place on me but I'm also approaching it with patience. I'm hoping the passion I have for this idea and the resources that are available online will be enough to see me through these challenges... but we shall see! Thanks for watching and commenting :)
@@couldicode Best of luck on your journey! I'll be following along. I do have a not-so-quick question though: is your game something you eventually want to sell? I'm in a similar spot myself, and I think a lot of tutorials and devlogs suggest not starting with your dream game if money is a factor. I believe that advice comes from people who assume you’ll be marketing your game.
That said, if this project is purely about passion and not income, then I think you’re on the right track. Everyone finds their own way, and no approach is better than another. Getting stuck and banging your head against the wall for days is just part of the process, and I’ll vouch for it till the end of my days. it's okay to fail.
One piece of advice from an IT student (though I’m no expert): don’t just focus on learning how to code, focus on thinking like a programmer. Coding isn’t just about writing those magic lines of text that do stuff (spoiler: we all suck at it); it's about developing the mindset to solve problems, crafting solutions, and bringing your ideas to life. It’s like learning a language: it’s not about what you can write, it’s about what you do with it.
Rooting for ya!
Hi Boxy! Thanks for this insightful comment. In response to your first question, no selling the game or profiting from it directly is not my primary motivation for starting down this path. I won't say I would never consider selling it and I'm sure I'll explore what monetization structure would make sense for it during planning/development but it is not my primary goal.
I'd say my primary goal for starting with this approach is to work on something I'm passionate enough about that I am inspired to continue even when I start banging my head on problems. The next goal is making content and building a community to help keep me accountable for continuing to provide updates on the project. Then I'd say the final motivation is exploring the value this project could earn once complete, so it's on my radar but at the low end of my reasons for starting this journey.
Lastly, thanks for your notes about programming and treating it like a language. That is a very interesting perspective and something I'll try to do as I learn about new ways to tackle problems in my project.
Thanks for watching :)
Like for using Obsidian ❤
Obsidian is such an amazing platform! I would be so lost in this project without it. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
major middle finger, lol. well freely do what you want, not what others tell you do. well, you will do it if you actually want to do it. no forcing, for any reason. people's advice will make you things you dont want to do. or need to do. or make you think that you need to do. copying is hella boring. some squacking tutorial person is the most horrible. if not want, dont do it. the map looks like a super mario 3 over-all map, top level map. if you only do what you want, then you also do what you want to play. no-one plays (huh) what they dont want to play, or do they play because external reasons, to fit in, or being forced by some reason. you are going in game first, not the boring stuff first. you want to do, instead of being forced to do. dont get bored.
Haha, well I'm sure there will still be a significant number of tutorials consumed during this journey but I am excited to focus on the gameplay features I'm passionate about. Thanks for watching :)
Just keep plugging away
Will do! Thanks for watching :)
Good luck! Just note - the exact same "this is not exciting" will happen when chipping away at 'dream game'. If you already have trouble finishing very small projects, consider that every single system you want for your mmo-inspired dream game is more complex than all of these small projects, usually a lot more complex. It is usually the most exciting (easy) project to do the "groundwork" like overall layout and feeling of what you want, but the ACTUAL groundwork is making the systems and then levels/rooms. And that usually is where people fall off when making small projects/dream games because this takes forever.
It's suggested to try small things first mostly so you get better so you are actually faster at implementing complex solutions so you don't burn out. So you absolutely can do big project first, but you will need way more discipline than the small projects did. Way, way, way more.
Thanks for sharing this advice! You make some really great points, and I hope to capture some of the spirit of this comment by really focusing on completing small goals one at a time within this large project instead of always looking at the completion of the entire project as the primary goal. At the end of the day this project will be a marathon, especially as a beginner to gamedev, and you are correct that I will need a lot of discipline to see it through. Thanks for watching and commenting :)
@@couldicode Just make sure to motivate yourself and *keep at it*, even when some system is a pain. You can do it. :)
Just Do It. 🫡
Doing it! Thanks for watching :)