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Hey Thomas! I would love to purchase your course, but I am an Unreal Engine User, I have not touched Unity. I see value in your course for all the other aspects, especially on Marketing and Securing funding/Investments, but for game dev, is there anything you offer for UE? Do you partner with any UE guys or just Unity folks? Thanks much in advance!!
That is why i left my dream to be a solo developer, seriously, i understood too early, that SINGLE person NEVER could be THE BEST MUSICIAN, THE BEST STORYTELLER, THE BEST DESIGNER, all at the same time, cause it will took several lives, seriously, if you have ANYTHING from this list (wife, kids, non scientific/programming/developing hobby - jsut hobby, i.e. fishing, hiking, climbing, biking, yes that's simple) - you will NEVER will GET enought TIME for COMPLETION of all of THIS LIVE TASKS and GOALS to ACHIEVE higher stakes. So, you can either do as I did: forget for 30 years about games, and did some highly monetized hateful job and burn yourself on a profession of software development, OR there is ANOTHER way, the way THOMAS SHOWS YOU who you ARE NOT, WHO YOU ARE NOT NEED TO BE OR DO SOME OF THIS STUFF CAUSE YOU WILL FALL ACCORDING TO THE STATISTICS 99.9999999% NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY. Thomas just have so CLEAR VISON of what WE SHOULD NOT BECAME that i am a little bit frustrated that i didn't managed the same obvious things before... I'm SO stupid to just EARN money and not to fall into the trap which falls like all stars on the universe into the greater attractor... You just keeping me with HOPE, that things CAN change. It is so INSPIRING!!! No one need to burn the paths and jump into the unknown void if there is a better path, to just learn from someone else how to improve your vision of yourself in the game development industry.
I had a dream to becoming a Game Dev when I was 16 years old (im 48 now) learning and went to college and got my c++ developper diploma and next 25 years ended up a IT manager and now getting close to retirement I feel the time is coming for me to now go back to my first love.. you have been inspiring me big time Indie Game Dev is were I want to be.. thank you for inspiring me so much
I had exactly the same brother. At 40 I decided to quit my well paying IT job and build my own game. I launched it last week on Steam. Super proud! And one thing off the bucket list.. just go for it!
A quick background about me, I have been teaching Game Development for about 16 years, college level at first and now at the high school level. When I was in college, a group of us tried to build a game studio but the support then was non-existent, 2003-04. Fast forward to the point where Unity switched to PC from being Apple only and Unreal became free, being an independent developer became much easier to get into. However, knowing the amount of work it takes to create a game, the idea of finding the time was scary in of itself. Being a teacher at any level is demanding, coming up with new lesson plans, grading, constant training, changing requirements, etc. your schedule is always filled, then having a family on top of that, its very easy for you to go, "later". Finally a couple of years ago, I figured I have led teams of students in making games for years so I decided it was my turn to do it. I shared the idea for a game with a friend and they thought it was a good idea. We got a team of about 8 at first, but as time progressed those, including my friend, fell off, leaving the team down to myself and 2 others. We have been through the doubt(imposter syndrome), the close points of throwing everything away, feature creeping, etc. We struggle with all of this but we also keep each other involved and focused, that helps a ton in keeping any momentum. We are still progressing, just very slowly, as we all work full time and have families we spend maybe a few hours a week. We meet every Saturday to discuss what we did or anything that needs to be tackled. Making it a constant meet helps keep that interest and determination going. We do hope to have a demo soon but we are WAY behind in marketing, which is deflating in itself but we continue to push through and we are determine to finish this game and create a strong marketing plan even if it is late. - PS sorry for the long post.
Don't be sorry, it's a good read. Have no coding experience, except a Unix class I took 20 years ago. Had game idea way back. Designer on cgtrader made a great character from a really crappy sketch I made. He's phenom Blender artist. Started thinking about a game for the character. So many setbacks, multiple Covids have tired me out. Still pushing, but get these periods of mind crushing burn out that just seem to last longer and longer now. Started Fusion 360 something like 12 months ago, to print some stuff for my wife's dolls. Then started Blender about 8 months ago, and Unity two. He says a lot in the tutorial that are so painful to think about. Doing so much is just maybe a pathway to failure.
I believe in you man. You're further along than a lot of people get and I'm sure that your project has plenty of potential to make the effort worth it.
Man, if you're looking for a short, effective and sweet marketing for indie video games training, try FGGS: Finishing Good Games that Sell. That was the course that made the Blasphemous video game explode 👍
As someone working on his first game, I'm absolutely thrilled that you mentioned the idea of getting assets, music, etc from outside sources. I'm not an artist or a musician, so it's super helpful being able to go online and find pre-made stuff that I can buy and use in my game. Even then, it's still difficult. Lots of trial and error. But it's super rewarding every time I get something to work. Every little victory gets me excited.
@@Grumbledookvid I think we all look for each other, human connections is made for that, trying to build something ? let's meet someone that'll go same way you do.
Started working on making my first game solo full time after I got laid off back in 2020. Trying to keep myself disciplined so I don't go down shiny rabbit holes is a never ending challenge.
Honestly, that email from IGF is incredibly positive, and the frustrating precision jump issue is good feedback, something that can be solved. They only had one complaint about an issue that can be corrected, and they described the rest as "just lovely" and "ideal platformer".
I've been a solo developer until recently and found someone that really wanted to learn game development, so we're now a small team of two. It makes a huge difference in keeping the motivation and morale up. As you know, it can be frustrating spending a substantial amount of your time and money in getting part way through a project and finding out it isn't what you thought it would be. But we are taking a more measured and structured approach to our current title; a story-rich 'walking simulator'. We are keeping ourselves structured and within scope using Codecks (Agile stories) and borrowing techniques that both you and David W. teach in your game development courses - such as tweaking assets from the store. Doing that has allowed me to spend time mentoring my teammate while not having to worry about building every single system. Thanks for continuing to share your journey and experiences! We are on the road to becoming indie developers and hope to also share our experiences along the way.
@@GameCreatorOfGod Man I'm a (for now) solo developer with a medium-scope project and I really can't get how people forget about something as imporant as advertise. I naturally prioritize it as I assume that for a work of art to have audience it must be promoted, to the extent you want or can, but I know other aspiring devs that just don't realise it lol
@@AlejandroRamirez-ep3wo They do not understand this. And now we see many tv commercial's for Candy crush that was nothing till they advertised, now there making millions. And they still advertise. And a lot of them do and there the only ones who are seceding. Pass the truth around.
Both. I've got one project where I'm working with a couple of volunteers and I've got another that I'm doing solo. I really like both scenarios. The team is great because you can get more done that way, but working alone, you don't have to try to explain your vision to anyone, you can just work.
// I had been working at a church on a creative team for 8 years. After two years of planning and prepping, this past year has been my first year of being fully freelance (illustration and motion graphics) thanks to my amazing wife and kids for letting me give it a shot. I have a dream to make an awesome top-down Zelda-esque game called Wakewood Forest, BUT...thanks to you, Thomas, I'm taking it slow and strategic. Trying to build an audience. Making small crappy games to build up to the big one. And although I'm doing this all "alone" for now, I'm not really alone. Thank you and your community for all you do!
im a kid who wants to make a game by myself, i feel confident in my (growing) art, coding and story skills but im still a little nervous this video made me feel a little bit better and i appreciate the pointers. thank you
Im also planning to make an indie game, but I'm not to good in coding planning on learning it tho! Practically i have the story line and designs already too :)
I am often stretching myself thin trying to balance a full time job, being a husband, father and spending every free moment working on my game. I'm very passionate about it but I sometimes really hate it. The burnout is real when you try to do things all on your own. I've been working on this game demo for over a year now (I got started around the time you released your online course). Thanks for sharing your journey. It has helped me a lot to stay on course and not let my dream die.
I’ve been wanting to do stuff like this since I was a kid. I’ve been very down and depressed due to it and then I happened to come across your video. I’m crying from knowing that I beat myself up about not trying to ask for help and you gave me the motivation to push forward. Thank you. ❤
This is inspiring to hear that you overcame the struggles of being a solo developer. I'm pretty sure you wish that the whole process wouldn't of been as much of a headache to go through, but still. Thank you for making this video.
I've always worked alone. I've been working on my current project since August after making crappy stuff for 2 years. I'm in my senior year and I already have plans to go full time after I graduate. I could not have done it without your help and inspiration Thomas. Thank you.
I'm also a solo indie game developer and looking to your work i can only admire you Thomas. I'm working on my first game while i have a family and my work...so it's very hard to keep going but i understand very well what you say. In the beginning i felt very stressed but i learned to take it easy and let it all the time is needed instead of running like a crazy one. Thank you for your support!
I've always known I've wanted to work within game design, though I was always intimidated by the thought of making a game all by myself without any pro knowledge of C# code. But after watching your videos I've finally pushed myself to overcome a big obstacle and actually find motivation to act, start learning. I don't know how far I'll be able to go, but I'm just proud that I'm at least trying. Thank you so much for sharing your story and your work, you are a huge inspiration.
I think the main thing is finding somewhere to start, for me I started learning some pixel art through some Udemy course, which was a lot of fun. But I still had to push myself so hard just to try something. For years I thought making games really wasn't what I wanted any more, or that it was too far out of reach, like a 50ft brick wall in between. But if you can find somewhere to start, just doing something that's fun like some game art you can chip away at that wall in no time.
I completely agree, Thomas you are a game dev treasure! Revealing all the emotions, stresses, unexpected obstacles you run into throughout game development... especially solo you have no one to bounce ideas off of (or better yet keep you on track ;P ) It's interesting because so many people talk about "writer's block" but I swear I have the opposite ("developer's flood" lol) so many new ideas/changes constantly bombarding me and you would think that's a good thing/problem to have but honestly it's distracting and often debilitating... I know this is a term for toddler lol but I call it the "terrible twos" I have a great game mechanic/idea/concept (and start working on it) then suddenly it will be in the same vein of that concept but a different theme or just different enough that I can't decide between the two and it truly drives you mad (I usually just really let the ideas fight it out in my mind, give it time and one of them emerges victorious) but seriously it never fails, I always know when I have something great, I think... ok when's the "evil twin" going to rear its head and ruin this idea lol. If you don't mind me saying I feel like you might've had a little bit of that in regards to the Happy Hotel/Father situation and I will add one last thing, you never know when your idea will work out but seriously like a lightbulb the moment it does, your like EUREKA that's it!
Thomas, thanks a lot! I got into gamedev in 2020 (in the Dominican Republic) and now I'm on my way to create my own Videogame Studio in a country where there's not a local videogame industry while i still studying software development at college. Thank you for all the inspiration, God bless you!!!
I’ve been working on a game since 2013 and have lost confidence in myself, my skills, and any faith in me getting it done. This video came at the right time and gave me my confidence back. Thank you so much for this.
I promise this is a normal valley to encounter on the way. Don't give up but also don't be afraid to take a step back and evaluate your current situation in the project and realign yourself with an achievable short-term goal that will take you one step closer. Small achievements on the way are key to keeping your motivation and belief in yourself alive. Also I believe in you.
Building a solid foundation of mechanics is a challenge. They need to be intuitive, interchangeable, and balanced. My recent development on a card game took until the third rewrite. Before, I was able to get a foundation that held all the concepts together. Once you get to that point. A bunch of ideas will flood into your mind. You have more then you need and can cut out what doesn't. The foundation in which all your mechanics work from permit it.
Been working on my game for around 5 years as a side project now. Went fulltime this year relying on savings. So far no luck finding a publisher, but might look into a kickstarter campaign. Pretty much agree with everything you mention in this video. Going to small events is great to meet new people.
As a solo developer that decide to start to do games without having any prior experience, this makes me feel much better about using the assets store building my game. Kind of helps to with the imposter syndrome weighing in. Glad I found this channel!
I just took a promotion at work and the anxiety and pressure of the position made me realize i don't want to be there anymore. I started developing again a few weeks afterwards. I can't believe I let the last year just go by without continuing to make video games. Thanks for being an inspiration and all the insight Thomas.
Thank you for this video! This one really hits home for me, I am a husband and father of 3 kids. I end up spending most of my free time when I'm not taking care of them thinking about making games and working on my own games. I started out trying to make games solo but after doing some game jams I decided to try and build a team and of course I started by asking my friends to work with me. It lasted about a year before slowly one by one they all would skip out on meet ups and it ended up just being me working on the games alone again. So I decided that a team wasn't the way to go for me yet and now I'm making the game I want to make in my own style and to be honest my passion has only burned brighter for it. Cheers!
Man, I really appreciate videos like this one. The honesty and reminder that I'm not alone doing this, and that others, like your Thomas have felt or are feeling the same things I do at times. very motivating and encouraging! Thanks!
I'm working alone mostly, but recently did a couple of Game Jams and found them to be an awesome way to get team experience.No better motivation than actually finishing a project with a group of motivated individuals. Now I feel that much more prepared to tackle my own projects.
You scared me for a moment. But then I realized, I planned two of these mistakes ahead, like building gameplay on to the story not the story around the gameplay. Also not building it solo, as mentioned at 5:00
I am a multi-passionate creative and love both drawing and writing, among a few other things. A friend of mine suggested I could make games, so toyed with the idea and now am in the process of making a Visual Novel Game (perfect type for me as a storyteller and artist). But I have drawing background artwork. So, I decided I'll delegate that and order some artwork to be made for me when the time rolls around to be at that stage of the process. I am now working on concept artwork for the characters, and I have the story written (but it needs a slight rework which I will get to soon). :) Thanks for the inspiring video!
This is good if you wanna go this route. I've learned a different though. I'm glad I've learned 3 important lessons from being a solo game designer for 20 years: 1) There are more important things that games. 2) If a project is too ambitious for your own good, walk away and consider not looking back. 3) Have fun, regardless if anyone sees your work or not. It's okay to be unsuccessful. Remember: "Success" isn't really always success if it's not worth the cost.
I have started couple years ago to learn and build my own game absolutely haven't any experience in game development and knowledge of coding. Now I so understand you. At least I have skills in drawing, animation and playing guitar :)
This has been incredibly helpful, my friend. I jad just recently decided to venture in this field because it has taken me years of procastination to realize that this combines all of my skills: Art, Writing and Music. Right now, I have a few music tracks with the idea of what the story will be. I have the basic storyline panned out. I know what style of game it will be, but I am still researching which game creator I will end up using.
Thanks for sharing this and letting us learn from your difficulties! I once spent a year working on a side project, it was a Mac app. Very similar story. I had a couple major pivots but eventually did get it accepted to the App Store. First bug report came in and I could not reproduce it. At that point I was so burnt out I gave up. That was 10 years ago now and it’s still affecting me to this day.
Dude, I have watched you for years and you should know that you are one of the biggest inspirational and motivational sources for me and many other developers
(I figured this is a relevant enough video for this question) I'm 14, almost 15, and about half a year ago me and two of my friends came up with an idea for a really cool game Idea. the group of us became so excited about the idea of the game we had "created" one day existing that we all simultaneously decided to learn game dev *specifically* to make Exodust a reality(although I've wanted to be a game dev my whole life). half a year later and nothing short of nonstop studying, me and the only other guy who stuck with it all the way think we're ready to make it. I've learned basic music skills, I'm confident in what I can do with unity, and We've had half a year of time to think and refine the game we want to make. obviously there are limitations on what we can do since we *are* still children, but I've been able to average 22 hours of unity alone a week with school and everything, and summer vacation is hopefully going to get as close to a full time job as possible, I'm going for 50ish hours a week. we have about two years to develop the game, and while it isn't BOTW or anything, it does have quite a few unique Ideas, some of which could take weeks to code(looking at you Bosses). Now with all that out of the way, can we/I do it? is it possible for two 14 year old's to make a high quality game? I'm worried that half a year wasn't quite enough time, and the development deadline just keeps getting closer. I just need to know what I should expect, and what i need to do in general, since game dev is sooo confusing. thank you for reading my text block. have a great day :>
You're talking about so much in such a short time. I'm impressed and amazed, this video was recommended to me and you blew my expectations out of the water!
I have been following your channel since 2020 pinstripe, once upon a coma and after that you have been making more and more games ik that and hell I admire this dedication a lot!! I was just discovering different development niches in 2020 when I discovered your channel and I even tried to learn blender and unity but eventually it ended up SWE being my niche. Moral of the story is I’m freaking happy seeing you succeed man!!
I love making art, and idea planning, but I think if I go any farther with game dev I would have to find help with programming. I struggle with the programming.
That's where templates might be useful for you. Unity assets has a lot of those like he listed. 2d styles, platformers and top down etc. They basically do most of the code, and you just learn/utilize what they created. It's what I'm using for my game and then over time you may even learn to edit the scripts yourself or start tweaking things more than you initially realized you even could.
I've been working solo for quite some time, even though the game I'm working on would be easier with a team and all. I believe the amount of time spend on this project helped me a lot. I started my first game with no knowledge about game design and I'm now able to create amazing 3D worlds and characters from scratch and personally I've learned to just work with what I have, regardless of how little it is.
I swear the UA-cam algorithm hit me with the right video at the right time. I've been working on a couple different solo projects (I'm a web developer and game enthusiast, so one project in each of those realms). Last month, I got so exhausted with my day job that I skipped the second half of a work day. Didn't acknowledge any on my colleagues. Set up a meeting with my boss the next day and just...vented my frustrations. I code 10-12 hours a day every day. Weekends are my light days, when I only code 3-6 hours. But that's when I get to work on my projects and only my projects. I told him that during my work day, all I can think about is the work that I want to be doing (my passion) and not the work I've been assigned. He didn't really like that. I got an earful. I don't know what reaction I was expecting. I've just always been taught to be honest. And I have ADHD, so I have a hard time not wearing my heart on my sleeve as it is. I just needed to feel seen I guess. So I shut up. Started working harder than ever on my passion projects. I'm taking three weeks off from work next week. I'm not going on holiday. I'm binging my personal projects. I'm doing all of the work I WANT to do. I gotta make this happen, even if it kills me.
Thank you Thomas, your videos are always very inspiring, after years of dreaming about making my own game and learning many things on unity, I finally decided to go for it. Learning about your experience and having some good advice is from a true indie dev is very inspiring. Keep it up! And also thank you for the free and great quality content you provide
Awesome video! Listening to you talk about how you kept changing the story, spending weeks changing the logo, and creating audio you never used sounds very familiar... ADHD. It's actually easier to steer away from this once you know you do it. I calling it "Loading". When I'm unsure about something, instead of taking a step back and assessing what the problem really is, I start fidgeting with things. I found creating a detailed map of ideas and picking 3 works best for me. Then doing a rough out-line for each and lastly pick my favourite. Then I can create a detailed plan from A to Z, goals, timeliness and so on so I can tell myself to stick with the plan. If I hit a bump along the way I assess the situation and look at my progress. If I feel I need to I step away for a bit, I'll come back and assess it again the next day. Sometimes the need to alter things is not related to the project itself. If I feel like I'm Loading I step back and ask myself why. 9/10 times it has nothing to do with the stuff I feel like changing! It's just your brain looking for a quick fix, that "aha" moment of dopamine. And the guilt that comes after month of wasted time is... well horrible. Done is better than Perfect.
Thanks for sharing, bro! To answer your mailing list question - I'm currently working on a game solo to practice UE5 skills and eventually shipping skills whilst making a larger game with a 5 member indie team. It's super difficult some days to keep myself motivated but I'll keep pushing bit by bit, step by step. Thanks for the motivation man. All the best with your career and fam.❤🔥
Relatable! Dropped quite a few projects in the past before ever really getting anywhere. Currently though I found a mentor, won a game jam, and have been consistently working on the project. I am a solo developer but am definitely not alone this time.
Hey Hey! Thanks for sharing your journey, I too am experiencing the very same thing. I work on my game during breaks, after hours, early at 5 am. Its tough with a full time job and a family, but I am pushing through and trying to push something out. Even if my game is simple, uninspiring or lacking, I need to finish it. I need to move onto the next thing and get over the first release jitters. I am way to hung up on the little details.
Hi Thomas, I want to thank you for inspiring me to start developing my solo dev game. I fully agree with you, my project is 70% made up of assets taken from the stores and the remaining 30% created by me with a lot of effort and time that I could have also spent elsewhere. Honestly the game reflects my idea despite the assets were not designed by me. But obviously I had to search a lot to find the ones that were true to my story, and at an good price for my wallet of course. So thank you. Anthony
Thank you for this video. Presently, I'm exploring working on my first game while trying to learn both Unity and how to script in C#. It gave me the needed motivation to push forward and continue with my pursuits in making my dream game.
I don’t think it was a wrong direction as you were doing your baby steps, actually you now have wide experience as you mentioned with pretty much everything, this helps you understand how everything is working and connected to each other, audio, code, animations, marketing, everything… so to be honest I think you eventually succeed because of that, I do agree that using assets or code can help and boost, and I also agree that starting a founding is the right way eventually, however the most important is patience and motivation to face all the difficulties and learn all the aspects of game making, thats why here you are managing your own team! Happy for you! 💪
The best thing you could do as a solo game dev is to work on one thing at a time. Work it until you burn out of it, then work on another aspect. For example, if you don’t feel like coding for a week, try making the music. The first part of the indie game process should be coming up with a story that you can cling to.
My path was a pain because I found all the wrong people that told me my ideas weren't possible, being a solo dev wasn't possible, every hurdle was a means to give up. Because of them, my childhood dream of making games turned into a life of depression and nightmares. It didn't help that I also had an antiquated view that to be a game dev you had to know C++ as well as SDL and do everything yourself. It wasn't till I found Jason Weimann's video about him changing from Unreal to Unity last week that I decided to try again, installing Unity just two days ago. It got to the point where I couldn't even describe my dream game because it pulled ideas from AAA RPGs to where all people saw was the AAA titles and thought I had the delusion I'd make a game of that quality and size. All they saw was Suikoden, Shining Force, and Final Fantasy and slammed me with "Just give up now." I'm married to a wife with Muscular Dystrophy so that I don't work, I'm a fulltime caregiver to her. We had a son who loved video games, but sadly back on July 1, 2020 he passed in his sleep due to his muscular dystrophy, he was fifteen years old. So I have a unique set of hurdles and challenges while also having unique freedoms that most don't have.
Brother, a similiar situation happened to me, a lot of people that appears in our lifes just to make us give up. But, I believe we can find a light at the end of the tunnel. If you still have interest in dev games we can try to be a partner and work together
I'm interested in starting a solo project myself, and I just wanted to thank you for this video! It really gave me a good perspective. I know that I'm going to have an incredibly difficult road ahead of me, but this video, and a few others of yours I've watched, have really inspired me. So thank you!
I just wanted to say thank you, you saved my indie game. Have fun, and never give up making these content. Half a year was wasted, but better than whole year.
I completely disagree with your approach. It's much more respectable to make everything yourself, or in a team. You are looking to make money or success. Fine, but clearly when you make everything to your own whim/spec it's the most artistically honest and valuable thing. I think you are spreading a very sad message where you're focusing on the outcome rather than the journey. Very sad.
I mean as a first game result is usually the ultimate motivation. After that you can kinda go with your own pace but I think having set goals to deliver result at least for your first project will help you both mentally and financially in the long run. That said I do agree that this is not the only way to solo dev, this is more of a "how to get out of a lump and be productive" video in my opinion.
My dude I feel that into so hard. I hate my job and the loop of the changing story and gameplay seems never ending. Taking on all these jobs is overwhelming. Everything you said hits my heart HARD
this is largely unrelated, but several years ago i saw the headline for an article about a game with procedurally generated dungeons or something like that. I was about to go to class so I put my laptop away with the intention of reading the article later, as it sounded fairly up my alley. basically, the page refreshed later and I never could remember the name of that game I was so curious about and it ate me alive for several months. turns out this random gamedev video summoned this memory with the game i was trying to remember the whole time: Songbringer. I still don't know literally anything about it yet, but thank you for solving this great mystery of mine.
I remember playing your game called Coma back in 2013. I was a teenager then. I loved the little piano tune and the graphics and I everything about it. I'd go to the dock and set after you talk to the bird and go to sleep with with guitar tune and the water. Its so awesome that you made another game and when i have the chance im going to play it. I decided to start learning to code and eventually make my own game, possibly with the help of my brother. Thank you so much for this video!
This is helpful to me. I've been stuck on my game for like 3 months now and I think I may have to either scrap everything and start from scratch or make the game significantly smaller or lower my standards for my own game.
Youre right thats why i started learning to play the guitar a few mounths ago so anything i can play with my own guitar isnt going to be copyrighted great video
I just found this video today. I graduated from a game design school in June of 2023. I graduated in 3D Art and Animation. It's only been over a year now since graduation and I'm so frustrated. The game creation community is super competitive, I work a 9-5 on weekdays an hour away from home, spend time with my girlfriend on Saturdays leaving me with Sundays and possibly after work during the week days. I've been highly unmotivated to do anything game creation wise. I finally started a sculpting project to try and fill up my portfolio but it's taking me 3 weeks to only do the sculpting part, I still have to Retopo, UV, Texture, Rig, and Pose the sculpt. The Holidays are coming up now leaving me with less time to work on my project. I've disassociated from most of my art friends from college. I needed this and will gladly take more advice on how to balance work and art life. Maybe some motivation, because it only looks bleaker on my end by the day. All in all, I wouldn't trade my education for the world 🙂
This video hit a nerve. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. All this burden that I've put on myself willingly, it hurts my soul. I've cried multiple times in this video with multiple emotions emerging at the same time and I honestly hadn't realized how much I've pressured myself. Thank you. Best wishes.
I just started to study Unity and never be a developer before. I'm a 42 dad fully employed in a job with no perspective, but fully motivated. I'm following online courses made very well and I'll have a look to your resources too. Thanks for this video. It is so valuable
Thanks for the video, I've been making shitty little mini games for years now on Unity, finally started to dedicate my time and effort into making a real game, I found a very passionate team to have as my foundation (they're working commission based I promised them a % of the game when it's released since their prices are really good I don't know what I'd do with out them) I've got the core mechanics all done placeholder assets to show my artists what the animations may look like or just give her some inspiration and my friend and I came up with a very bad story that my artists friend is helping with ive only read chapter 1 and the work hes got done is insane!!! I was struggling to keep learning JSON to make a save load system for my game and was getting ready to give up, I'm just glad to see that I'm not the only one struggling with a "solo" gamedev journey if my artist or story writer are reading this, I can't express how great ful I am to have you guys!
Hi Thomas, my best friend and I have been working on game ideas and prototypes for stories and adventures for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories of our friendship are him teaching my how to create stop motion features with my family's camera, and little animated cartoons with various software from Spiderman Cartoon Maker to Adobe Flash. Since around the time "Neversong" came out we have been watching your channel and cooking up a game idea of our own. We have struggled with all of the early pit falls such as knowing very little about code and building the game. Our strong points are storytelling, sound design and digital art. It's been a long few years nailing down the story, score and concept art. At the moment we have a sprite that can walk around in a top down 2D space, which I guess is more than many people can say... However, at this point it seems hopeless trying to proceed confidently even though we feel as if we have something special to share but don't know exactly how to complete it in "game form" Your videos are an inspiration to many, and I hope that you continue to push myself and others to pursue this type of storytelling.
I dunno if I’m going to ever do games or even coding as any sort of job. But I love games, I like all things about them, from tech to experience. I’m trying out Unreal and I’m gonna see where I go from there. I also have “make a half-decent video game” on my bucket list. If I ever wish to go beyond that, I hold these pieces of advice for my starting points.
I recently started getting into my passion of game development. Im in a bachelor's program right now for game design and developing a game solo seems so daunting. Especially because i am coming from basically no experience. Very little coding and UE usage. Its hard for me to motivate myself to take the leap and start the development process but this lightweight gave me hope. I have the conceot idea i just need to learn about all the intricacies of developing a game and that ontop of work and school is scary.
This video is really motivational, but not with empty phrases like "you can do it, just do it", but with actual FACTS that really do help to stay motivated and productive. Thanks!!
I’ve just started working on a game I’ve had an idea for ages now. It feels overwhelming because I am an artist and a storyteller first and have no clue how to code, produce music, design levels, anything. It feels overwhelming not knowing what to do in what order and all the things I need to take into consideration. This video was very helpful, honestly
I hope my journey is helping you! Tell me about your solo journey below!
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Hey Thomas! I would love to purchase your course, but I am an Unreal Engine User, I have not touched Unity. I see value in your course for all the other aspects, especially on Marketing and Securing funding/Investments, but for game dev, is there anything you offer for UE? Do you partner with any UE guys or just Unity folks? Thanks much in advance!!
That is why i left my dream to be a solo developer, seriously, i understood too early, that SINGLE person NEVER could be THE BEST MUSICIAN, THE BEST STORYTELLER, THE BEST DESIGNER, all at the same time, cause it will took several lives, seriously, if you have ANYTHING from this list (wife, kids, non scientific/programming/developing hobby - jsut hobby, i.e. fishing, hiking, climbing, biking, yes that's simple) - you will NEVER will GET enought TIME for COMPLETION of all of THIS LIVE TASKS and GOALS to ACHIEVE higher stakes. So, you can either do as I did: forget for 30 years about games, and did some highly monetized hateful job and burn yourself on a profession of software development, OR there is ANOTHER way, the way THOMAS SHOWS YOU who you ARE NOT, WHO YOU ARE NOT NEED TO BE OR DO SOME OF THIS STUFF CAUSE YOU WILL FALL ACCORDING TO THE STATISTICS 99.9999999% NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY. Thomas just have so CLEAR VISON of what WE SHOULD NOT BECAME that i am a little bit frustrated that i didn't managed the same obvious things before... I'm SO stupid to just EARN money and not to fall into the trap which falls like all stars on the universe into the greater attractor... You just keeping me with HOPE, that things CAN change. It is so INSPIRING!!! No one need to burn the paths and jump into the unknown void if there is a better path, to just learn from someone else how to improve your vision of yourself in the game development industry.
Hey thomas i am a indie game developer i have story for a 3d game for android
You don't need to be the best anything, though
That's just perfectionism talking. And who is the best at what is subjective anyways.
Thanks Tom
I had a dream to becoming a Game Dev when I was 16 years old (im 48 now) learning and went to college and got my c++ developper diploma and next 25 years ended up a IT manager and now getting close to retirement I feel the time is coming for me to now go back to my first love.. you have been inspiring me big time Indie Game Dev is were I want to be.. thank you for inspiring me so much
Go for it! You have lots of experience and soon you'll have all the time you'll ever need to develop it!
I had exactly the same brother. At 40 I decided to quit my well paying IT job and build my own game. I launched it last week on Steam. Super proud! And one thing off the bucket list.. just go for it!
@@rutgervd what's your game called?
@@bigredracecar27 Oakenfold - took me a little over 2 years with no Unity experience and 20+ years programming experience
@@rutgervd Just checked it out. It looks really nice
Been working on my game alone for the past two years. This video came at the perfect time.
Goodluck! Cant wait to play it :)
Same here, for about a year now. Good luck to you!
You should start making devlogs. It helps you to create an audience early on and the community might be able to help you with design decisions.
Make a Vlog or something if you want it helps alot
@@cocacai8833 Devlogs?
Listing out the suggested assets for future review:
1. Unity Store
2. Turbosquid
3. Epidemic Sound
4. Pond5
5. Noun Project
6. Craftpix
thanks :D
Try using a music generating Ai?
@@Just1Dev UnrealDev saying unreal is better.... Totally not biased at all
@@Just1Dev Downside, you'll probably need to code in C++ at some point while making your game, and you can't build to Web.
@@maxdashen get out
I'm working solo, working a full time 50 hour a week job, and raising my son it's crazy overwhelming at times but extremely fulfilling too
That's pretty inspiring
You can do it. Keep chipping away at it. I am in similar circumstances.
@@Mirror-of-Darkness thanks 🙏 you too man
@@Spacemarine658 it's a passion. The very embarking on this crazy tough journey is a testament. To those whom persist.
Updates? How is it goin'?
I just want to say that thanks for everything. You gave me the much needed motivation to finally open unity and restart on old projects
You bet! Thank you for your kind words!
A quick background about me, I have been teaching Game Development for about 16 years, college level at first and now at the high school level. When I was in college, a group of us tried to build a game studio but the support then was non-existent, 2003-04. Fast forward to the point where Unity switched to PC from being Apple only and Unreal became free, being an independent developer became much easier to get into. However, knowing the amount of work it takes to create a game, the idea of finding the time was scary in of itself. Being a teacher at any level is demanding, coming up with new lesson plans, grading, constant training, changing requirements, etc. your schedule is always filled, then having a family on top of that, its very easy for you to go, "later". Finally a couple of years ago, I figured I have led teams of students in making games for years so I decided it was my turn to do it. I shared the idea for a game with a friend and they thought it was a good idea. We got a team of about 8 at first, but as time progressed those, including my friend, fell off, leaving the team down to myself and 2 others. We have been through the doubt(imposter syndrome), the close points of throwing everything away, feature creeping, etc. We struggle with all of this but we also keep each other involved and focused, that helps a ton in keeping any momentum. We are still progressing, just very slowly, as we all work full time and have families we spend maybe a few hours a week. We meet every Saturday to discuss what we did or anything that needs to be tackled. Making it a constant meet helps keep that interest and determination going. We do hope to have a demo soon but we are WAY behind in marketing, which is deflating in itself but we continue to push through and we are determine to finish this game and create a strong marketing plan even if it is late. -
PS sorry for the long post.
Don't be sorry, it's a good read. Have no coding experience, except a Unix class I took 20 years ago. Had game idea way back. Designer on cgtrader made a great character from a really crappy sketch I made. He's phenom Blender artist. Started thinking about a game for the character. So many setbacks, multiple Covids have tired me out. Still pushing, but get these periods of mind crushing burn out that just seem to last longer and longer now. Started Fusion 360 something like 12 months ago, to print some stuff for my wife's dolls. Then started Blender about 8 months ago, and Unity two. He says a lot in the tutorial that are so painful to think about. Doing so much is just maybe a pathway to failure.
I believe in you man. You're further along than a lot of people get and I'm sure that your project has plenty of potential to make the effort worth it.
Man, if you're looking for a short, effective and sweet marketing for indie video games training, try FGGS: Finishing Good Games that Sell. That was the course that made the Blasphemous video game explode 👍
All the best bro!
Can't just post and ghost! What's the name of the game so we can keep an eye out for it!
As someone working on his first game, I'm absolutely thrilled that you mentioned the idea of getting assets, music, etc from outside sources. I'm not an artist or a musician, so it's super helpful being able to go online and find pre-made stuff that I can buy and use in my game. Even then, it's still difficult. Lots of trial and error. But it's super rewarding every time I get something to work. Every little victory gets me excited.
I'm the opposite... an artist who can create game assets but not code lol
@@Grumbledookvid Same! I can do the music and story but I cannot code at all lmao.
@@Grumbledookvidwhat kind of art style do you work with?
@@Grumbledookvid I think we all look for each other, human connections is made for that, trying to build something ? let's meet someone that'll go same way you do.
Started working on making my first game solo full time after I got laid off back in 2020. Trying to keep myself disciplined so I don't go down shiny rabbit holes is a never ending challenge.
hey man, hows it working out for you so far?
How’s it going?
Honestly, that email from IGF is incredibly positive, and the frustrating precision jump issue is good feedback, something that can be solved. They only had one complaint about an issue that can be corrected, and they described the rest as "just lovely" and "ideal platformer".
I've been a solo developer until recently and found someone that really wanted to learn game development, so we're now a small team of two. It makes a huge difference in keeping the motivation and morale up. As you know, it can be frustrating spending a substantial amount of your time and money in getting part way through a project and finding out it isn't what you thought it would be.
But we are taking a more measured and structured approach to our current title; a story-rich 'walking simulator'. We are keeping ourselves structured and within scope using Codecks (Agile stories) and borrowing techniques that both you and David W. teach in your game development courses - such as tweaking assets from the store. Doing that has allowed me to spend time mentoring my teammate while not having to worry about building every single system.
Thanks for continuing to share your journey and experiences! We are on the road to becoming indie developers and hope to also share our experiences along the way.
Just remember, no matter what you game is, it will never be popular unless you advertise, I can never stress this to to many people.
@@GameCreatorOfGod Man I'm a (for now) solo developer with a medium-scope project and I really can't get how people forget about something as imporant as advertise. I naturally prioritize it as I assume that for a work of art to have audience it must be promoted, to the extent you want or can, but I know other aspiring devs that just don't realise it lol
@@AlejandroRamirez-ep3wo They do not understand this. And now we see many tv commercial's for Candy crush that was nothing till they advertised, now there making millions. And they still advertise. And a lot of them do and there the only ones who are seceding. Pass the truth around.
Do you need someone to make music for your game? I'd like to make some for free
@@ff4810officialI need. 😂.
Both. I've got one project where I'm working with a couple of volunteers and I've got another that I'm doing solo. I really like both scenarios. The team is great because you can get more done that way, but working alone, you don't have to try to explain your vision to anyone, you can just work.
Dude, you've been here on yt since 2006? that's crazy
Hey, can I join with the team? I'll be very happy
@@faobi2006 was only 17 years ago??? I thought it was 18
// I had been working at a church on a creative team for 8 years. After two years of planning and prepping, this past year has been my first year of being fully freelance (illustration and motion graphics) thanks to my amazing wife and kids for letting me give it a shot. I have a dream to make an awesome top-down Zelda-esque game called Wakewood Forest, BUT...thanks to you, Thomas, I'm taking it slow and strategic. Trying to build an audience. Making small crappy games to build up to the big one. And although I'm doing this all "alone" for now, I'm not really alone. Thank you and your community for all you do!
im a kid who wants to make a game by myself, i feel confident in my (growing) art, coding and story skills but im still a little nervous
this video made me feel a little bit better and i appreciate the pointers. thank you
Your a kid so you have so much time, learn how to do game development because it could be fun
@@jenkathefridge3933better learn to pass exams until its not too late.
Im also planning to make an indie game, but I'm not to good in coding planning on learning it tho! Practically i have the story line and designs already too :)
I am often stretching myself thin trying to balance a full time job, being a husband, father and spending every free moment working on my game. I'm very passionate about it but I sometimes really hate it. The burnout is real when you try to do things all on your own. I've been working on this game demo for over a year now (I got started around the time you released your online course). Thanks for sharing your journey. It has helped me a lot to stay on course and not let my dream die.
I’ve been wanting to do stuff like this since I was a kid. I’ve been very down and depressed due to it and then I happened to come across your video. I’m crying from knowing that I beat myself up about not trying to ask for help and you gave me the motivation to push forward. Thank you. ❤
This is inspiring to hear that you overcame the struggles of being a solo developer. I'm pretty sure you wish that the whole process wouldn't of been as much of a headache to go through, but still. Thank you for making this video.
I've always worked alone. I've been working on my current project since August after making crappy stuff for 2 years. I'm in my senior year and I already have plans to go full time after I graduate. I could not have done it without your help and inspiration Thomas. Thank you.
I'm also a solo indie game developer and looking to your work i can only admire you Thomas. I'm working on my first game while i have a family and my work...so it's very hard to keep going but i understand very well what you say. In the beginning i felt very stressed but i learned to take it easy and let it all the time is needed instead of running like a crazy one. Thank you for your support!
I've always known I've wanted to work within game design, though I was always intimidated by the thought of making a game all by myself without any pro knowledge of C# code. But after watching your videos I've finally pushed myself to overcome a big obstacle and actually find motivation to act, start learning. I don't know how far I'll be able to go, but I'm just proud that I'm at least trying. Thank you so much for sharing your story and your work, you are a huge inspiration.
I think the main thing is finding somewhere to start, for me I started learning some pixel art through some Udemy course, which was a lot of fun.
But I still had to push myself so hard just to try something.
For years I thought making games really wasn't what I wanted any more, or that it was too far out of reach, like a 50ft brick wall in between.
But if you can find somewhere to start, just doing something that's fun like some game art you can chip away at that wall in no time.
Dude I played Pinstripe some years ago, and I gotta say it was amazing. You can feel the love you did put in it. It's amazing.
I completely agree, Thomas you are a game dev treasure! Revealing all the emotions, stresses, unexpected obstacles you run into throughout game development... especially solo you have no one to bounce ideas off of (or better yet keep you on track ;P ) It's interesting because so many people talk about "writer's block" but I swear I have the opposite ("developer's flood" lol) so many new ideas/changes constantly bombarding me and you would think that's a good thing/problem to have but honestly it's distracting and often debilitating... I know this is a term for toddler lol but I call it the "terrible twos" I have a great game mechanic/idea/concept (and start working on it) then suddenly it will be in the same vein of that concept but a different theme or just different enough that I can't decide between the two and it truly drives you mad (I usually just really let the ideas fight it out in my mind, give it time and one of them emerges victorious) but seriously it never fails, I always know when I have something great, I think... ok when's the "evil twin" going to rear its head and ruin this idea lol. If you don't mind me saying I feel like you might've had a little bit of that in regards to the Happy Hotel/Father situation and I will add one last thing, you never know when your idea will work out but seriously like a lightbulb the moment it does, your like EUREKA that's it!
Thomas, thanks a lot! I got into gamedev in 2020 (in the Dominican Republic) and now I'm on my way to create my own Videogame Studio in a country where there's not a local videogame industry while i still studying software development at college.
Thank you for all the inspiration, God bless you!!!
I’ve been working on a game since 2013 and have lost confidence in myself, my skills, and any faith in me getting it done. This video came at the right time and gave me my confidence back. Thank you so much for this.
keep chipping away, it seems impossible, no light at the end of the tunnel, but it does appear eventually. KEEP GOING MY FRIEND, im in the same boat.
I promise this is a normal valley to encounter on the way.
Don't give up but also don't be afraid to take a step back and evaluate your current situation in the project and realign yourself with an achievable short-term goal that will take you one step closer. Small achievements on the way are key to keeping your motivation and belief in yourself alive.
Also I believe in you.
Building a solid foundation of mechanics is a challenge. They need to be intuitive, interchangeable, and balanced. My recent development on a card game took until the third rewrite. Before, I was able to get a foundation that held all the concepts together.
Once you get to that point. A bunch of ideas will flood into your mind. You have more then you need and can cut out what doesn't. The foundation in which all your mechanics work from permit it.
I'll be a game tester if you need one. Id love to see what you've been working on from another dev. Im in a similar situation myself.
Been working on my game for around 5 years as a side project now. Went fulltime this year relying on savings. So far no luck finding a publisher, but might look into a kickstarter campaign. Pretty much agree with everything you mention in this video. Going to small events is great to meet new people.
As a solo developer that decide to start to do games without having any prior experience, this makes me feel much better about using the assets store building my game. Kind of helps to with the imposter syndrome weighing in. Glad I found this channel!
I just took a promotion at work and the anxiety and pressure of the position made me realize i don't want to be there anymore. I started developing again a few weeks afterwards. I can't believe I let the last year just go by without continuing to make video games. Thanks for being an inspiration and all the insight Thomas.
Thank you for this video! This one really hits home for me, I am a husband and father of 3 kids. I end up spending most of my free time when I'm not taking care of them thinking about making games and working on my own games. I started out trying to make games solo but after doing some game jams I decided to try and build a team and of course I started by asking my friends to work with me. It lasted about a year before slowly one by one they all would skip out on meet ups and it ended up just being me working on the games alone again. So I decided that a team wasn't the way to go for me yet and now I'm making the game I want to make in my own style and to be honest my passion has only burned brighter for it. Cheers!
Man, I really appreciate videos like this one. The honesty and reminder that I'm not alone doing this, and that others, like your Thomas have felt or are feeling the same things I do at times. very motivating and encouraging! Thanks!
I'm working alone mostly, but recently did a couple of Game Jams and found them to be an awesome way to get team experience.No better motivation than actually finishing a project with a group of motivated individuals. Now I feel that much more prepared to tackle my own projects.
You scared me for a moment. But then I realized, I planned two of these mistakes ahead, like building gameplay on to the story not the story around the gameplay. Also not building it solo, as mentioned at 5:00
Wow. It felt almost as inspiring as "Indie game: the movie". Give us more meat about your gamedev journey.
I am a multi-passionate creative and love both drawing and writing, among a few other things. A friend of mine suggested I could make games, so toyed with the idea and now am in the process of making a Visual Novel Game (perfect type for me as a storyteller and artist). But I have drawing background artwork. So, I decided I'll delegate that and order some artwork to be made for me when the time rolls around to be at that stage of the process. I am now working on concept artwork for the characters, and I have the story written (but it needs a slight rework which I will get to soon). :) Thanks for the inspiring video!
are you still working on it? I'd love to play it once it's out
This is good if you wanna go this route. I've learned a different though.
I'm glad I've learned 3 important lessons from being a solo game designer for 20 years:
1) There are more important things that games.
2) If a project is too ambitious for your own good, walk away and consider not looking back.
3) Have fun, regardless if anyone sees your work or not. It's okay to be unsuccessful.
Remember: "Success" isn't really always success if it's not worth the cost.
I have started couple years ago to learn and build my own game absolutely haven't any experience in game development and knowledge of coding. Now I so understand you.
At least I have skills in drawing, animation and playing guitar :)
This has been incredibly helpful, my friend. I jad just recently decided to venture in this field because it has taken me years of procastination to realize that this combines all of my skills: Art, Writing and Music. Right now, I have a few music tracks with the idea of what the story will be. I have the basic storyline panned out. I know what style of game it will be, but I am still researching which game creator I will end up using.
Needed this today. The last 2 weeks I have felt defeated and hopeless. Thanks for your time in making this video.
Thanks for sharing this and letting us learn from your difficulties! I once spent a year working on a side project, it was a Mac app. Very similar story. I had a couple major pivots but eventually did get it accepted to the App Store. First bug report came in and I could not reproduce it. At that point I was so burnt out I gave up. That was 10 years ago now and it’s still affecting me to this day.
Dude, I have watched you for years and you should know that you are one of the biggest inspirational and motivational sources for me and many other developers
(I figured this is a relevant enough video for this question) I'm 14, almost 15, and about half a year ago me and two of my friends came up with an idea for a really cool game Idea. the group of us became so excited about the idea of the game we had "created" one day existing that we all simultaneously decided to learn game dev *specifically* to make Exodust a reality(although I've wanted to be a game dev my whole life). half a year later and nothing short of nonstop studying, me and the only other guy who stuck with it all the way think we're ready to make it. I've learned basic music skills, I'm confident in what I can do with unity, and We've had half a year of time to think and refine the game we want to make. obviously there are limitations on what we can do since we *are* still children, but I've been able to average 22 hours of unity alone a week with school and everything, and summer vacation is hopefully going to get as close to a full time job as possible, I'm going for 50ish hours a week. we have about two years to develop the game, and while it isn't BOTW or anything, it does have quite a few unique Ideas, some of which could take weeks to code(looking at you Bosses).
Now with all that out of the way, can we/I do it? is it possible for two 14 year old's to make a high quality game? I'm worried that half a year wasn't quite enough time, and the development deadline just keeps getting closer. I just need to know what I should expect, and what i need to do in general, since game dev is sooo confusing.
thank you for reading my text block. have a great day :>
Ur videos motivates many indie developers ❤
You're talking about so much in such a short time. I'm impressed and amazed, this video was recommended to me and you blew my expectations out of the water!
I have been following your channel since 2020 pinstripe, once upon a coma and after that you have been making more and more games ik that and hell I admire this dedication a lot!! I was just discovering different development niches in 2020 when I discovered your channel and I even tried to learn blender and unity but eventually it ended up SWE being my niche. Moral of the story is I’m freaking happy seeing you succeed man!!
Been working on a game from past year while working at a desk job, this video felt so connected. Thank you for the much needed motivation you gave.
I love making art, and idea planning, but I think if I go any farther with game dev I would have to find help with programming. I struggle with the programming.
me too I'm awful at programming. I'm lucky to have people who will be willing to help me
That's where templates might be useful for you. Unity assets has a lot of those like he listed. 2d styles, platformers and top down etc. They basically do most of the code, and you just learn/utilize what they created. It's what I'm using for my game and then over time you may even learn to edit the scripts yourself or start tweaking things more than you initially realized you even could.
Wow! The resources in the "What SOLO really means" section are SO HELPFUL!
I've been working solo for quite some time, even though the game I'm working on would be easier with a team and all. I believe the amount of time spend on this project helped me a lot. I started my first game with no knowledge about game design and I'm now able to create amazing 3D worlds and characters from scratch and personally I've learned to just work with what I have, regardless of how little it is.
I swear the UA-cam algorithm hit me with the right video at the right time. I've been working on a couple different solo projects (I'm a web developer and game enthusiast, so one project in each of those realms). Last month, I got so exhausted with my day job that I skipped the second half of a work day. Didn't acknowledge any on my colleagues. Set up a meeting with my boss the next day and just...vented my frustrations.
I code 10-12 hours a day every day. Weekends are my light days, when I only code 3-6 hours. But that's when I get to work on my projects and only my projects. I told him that during my work day, all I can think about is the work that I want to be doing (my passion) and not the work I've been assigned.
He didn't really like that. I got an earful.
I don't know what reaction I was expecting. I've just always been taught to be honest. And I have ADHD, so I have a hard time not wearing my heart on my sleeve as it is. I just needed to feel seen I guess.
So I shut up. Started working harder than ever on my passion projects.
I'm taking three weeks off from work next week. I'm not going on holiday. I'm binging my personal projects. I'm doing all of the work I WANT to do.
I gotta make this happen, even if it kills me.
Thank you Thomas, your videos are always very inspiring, after years of dreaming about making my own game and learning many things on unity, I finally decided to go for it. Learning about your experience and having some good advice is from a true indie dev is very inspiring. Keep it up! And also thank you for the free and great quality content you provide
Awesome video! Listening to you talk about how you kept changing the story, spending weeks changing the logo, and creating audio you never used sounds very familiar... ADHD.
It's actually easier to steer away from this once you know you do it. I calling it "Loading".
When I'm unsure about something, instead of taking a step back and assessing what the problem really is, I start fidgeting with things. I found creating a detailed map of ideas and picking 3 works best for me. Then doing a rough out-line for each and lastly pick my favourite. Then I can create a detailed plan from A to Z, goals, timeliness and so on so I can tell myself to stick with the plan. If I hit a bump along the way I assess the situation and look at my progress. If I feel I need to I step away for a bit, I'll come back and assess it again the next day. Sometimes the need to alter things is not related to the project itself.
If I feel like I'm Loading I step back and ask myself why. 9/10 times it has nothing to do with the stuff I feel like changing! It's just your brain looking for a quick fix, that "aha" moment of dopamine.
And the guilt that comes after month of wasted time is... well horrible.
Done is better than Perfect.
Dude you are so inspirational, even the content is so helpful. Thank you for the effort you put in this bro. You rlly inspire me to keep doing this
Why is the production value of this video so good?
Thanks for sharing, bro! To answer your mailing list question - I'm currently working on a game solo to practice UE5 skills and eventually shipping skills whilst making a larger game with a 5 member indie team. It's super difficult some days to keep myself motivated but I'll keep pushing bit by bit, step by step. Thanks for the motivation man. All the best with your career and fam.❤🔥
Relatable! Dropped quite a few projects in the past before ever really getting anywhere. Currently though I found a mentor, won a game jam, and have been consistently working on the project. I am a solo developer but am definitely not alone this time.
Hey Hey! Thanks for sharing your journey, I too am experiencing the very same thing. I work on my game during breaks, after hours, early at 5 am. Its tough with a full time job and a family, but I am pushing through and trying to push something out. Even if my game is simple, uninspiring or lacking, I need to finish it. I need to move onto the next thing and get over the first release jitters. I am way to hung up on the little details.
You have been an artist, a level designer, a musician, a story writer, backend and more. Thats alot of juice
Hi Thomas, I want to thank you for inspiring me to start developing my solo dev game. I fully agree with you, my project is 70% made up of assets taken from the stores and the remaining 30% created by me with a lot of effort and time that I could have also spent elsewhere. Honestly the game reflects my idea despite the assets were not designed by me. But obviously I had to search a lot to find the ones that were true to my story, and at an good price for my wallet of course. So thank you. Anthony
Crazy how many people you’ve inspired Thomas I don’t know how you stay humble! 😉
Thanks for keeping me and many others motivated. You confirm a lot of what I'm thinking to do and how to build my game.
- A random stranger.
Thank you for this video. Presently, I'm exploring working on my first game while trying to learn both Unity and how to script in C#. It gave me the needed motivation to push forward and continue with my pursuits in making my dream game.
Great information bro
Whata fuck is a nursery rhyme channel doing here
Nice to see you here!
I don’t think it was a wrong direction as you were doing your baby steps, actually you now have wide experience as you mentioned with pretty much everything, this helps you understand how everything is working and connected to each other, audio, code, animations, marketing, everything… so to be honest I think you eventually succeed because of that, I do agree that using assets or code can help and boost, and I also agree that starting a founding is the right way eventually, however the most important is patience and motivation to face all the difficulties and learn all the aspects of game making, thats why here you are managing your own team!
Happy for you! 💪
"Nobody was there to stop me from sabotaging my own project."
The sentence at 5:52 is so heavy and true, that it should be in every book!
The best thing you could do as a solo game dev is to work on one thing at a time. Work it until you burn out of it, then work on another aspect. For example, if you don’t feel like coding for a week, try making the music. The first part of the indie game process should be coming up with a story that you can cling to.
Thank you, simply thank you! You really do inspire a lot of us, thanks a lot.
Amazing video bro
Indeed.
You spoke from my heart. I have given up so many ideas half-way through the pass few years...
My path was a pain because I found all the wrong people that told me my ideas weren't possible, being a solo dev wasn't possible, every hurdle was a means to give up. Because of them, my childhood dream of making games turned into a life of depression and nightmares. It didn't help that I also had an antiquated view that to be a game dev you had to know C++ as well as SDL and do everything yourself. It wasn't till I found Jason Weimann's video about him changing from Unreal to Unity last week that I decided to try again, installing Unity just two days ago. It got to the point where I couldn't even describe my dream game because it pulled ideas from AAA RPGs to where all people saw was the AAA titles and thought I had the delusion I'd make a game of that quality and size. All they saw was Suikoden, Shining Force, and Final Fantasy and slammed me with "Just give up now."
I'm married to a wife with Muscular Dystrophy so that I don't work, I'm a fulltime caregiver to her. We had a son who loved video games, but sadly back on July 1, 2020 he passed in his sleep due to his muscular dystrophy, he was fifteen years old. So I have a unique set of hurdles and challenges while also having unique freedoms that most don't have.
Brother, a similiar situation happened to me, a lot of people that appears in our lifes just to make us give up. But, I believe we can find a light at the end of the tunnel. If you still have interest in dev games we can try to be a partner and work together
I'm interested in starting a solo project myself, and I just wanted to thank you for this video! It really gave me a good perspective. I know that I'm going to have an incredibly difficult road ahead of me, but this video, and a few others of yours I've watched, have really inspired me. So thank you!
Your developer story makes no sense. Why didn't you just fix the jumping and resubmit like the rejection email said?
I just wanted to say thank you, you saved my indie game. Have fun, and never give up making these content. Half a year was wasted, but better than whole year.
I completely disagree with your approach. It's much more respectable to make everything yourself, or in a team. You are looking to make money or success. Fine, but clearly when you make everything to your own whim/spec it's the most artistically honest and valuable thing. I think you are spreading a very sad message where you're focusing on the outcome rather than the journey. Very sad.
doing it yourself also builds you as a game dev. unless your goal is quick cash marketing shiny dingy games.
Yes! @@peacefusion
I mean as a first game result is usually the ultimate motivation. After that you can kinda go with your own pace but I think having set goals to deliver result at least for your first project will help you both mentally and financially in the long run. That said I do agree that this is not the only way to solo dev, this is more of a "how to get out of a lump and be productive" video in my opinion.
@@peacefusion @rency1803 I'm glad we agree. Honestly I thought my comment would have a huge braindead backlash, but it hasn't
My dude I feel that into so hard. I hate my job and the loop of the changing story and gameplay seems never ending. Taking on all these jobs is overwhelming. Everything you said hits my heart HARD
this is largely unrelated, but several years ago i saw the headline for an article about a game with procedurally generated dungeons or something like that. I was about to go to class so I put my laptop away with the intention of reading the article later, as it sounded fairly up my alley. basically, the page refreshed later and I never could remember the name of that game I was so curious about and it ate me alive for several months. turns out this random gamedev video summoned this memory with the game i was trying to remember the whole time: Songbringer. I still don't know literally anything about it yet, but thank you for solving this great mystery of mine.
I remember playing your game called Coma back in 2013. I was a teenager then. I loved the little piano tune and the graphics and I everything about it. I'd go to the dock and set after you talk to the bird and go to sleep with with guitar tune and the water. Its so awesome that you made another game and when i have the chance im going to play it. I decided to start learning to code and eventually make my own game, possibly with the help of my brother. Thank you so much for this video!
ACTUALLY ONE OF THE BEST VIDEOS I HAVE SEEN, REALLY INSPIRING!! MUCH LOVE
I've always wanted to make my own pixel games but always felt a bit weary about it, all I gotta say is this helped a whole lot, thank you
I'm going to make sure i keep these tips in mind for any project i create.
Thank you.
This is the help and motivation i need to start my dream of becoming a solo game dev.
I just want to say, thank you so much.
This sort of advice resonates with a lot of other ambitions within our lives.
The thumbnail for this video is seriously one of the best on all of UA-cam - excellent!
This is helpful to me. I've been stuck on my game for like 3 months now and I think I may have to either scrap everything and start from scratch or make the game significantly smaller or lower my standards for my own game.
I subscribed the moment you mentioned your desk job 😅❤
Youre right thats why i started learning to play the guitar a few mounths ago so anything i can play with my own guitar isnt going to be copyrighted great video
I just found this video today. I graduated from a game design school in June of 2023. I graduated in 3D Art and Animation. It's only been over a year now since graduation and I'm so frustrated. The game creation community is super competitive, I work a 9-5 on weekdays an hour away from home, spend time with my girlfriend on Saturdays leaving me with Sundays and possibly after work during the week days. I've been highly unmotivated to do anything game creation wise. I finally started a sculpting project to try and fill up my portfolio but it's taking me 3 weeks to only do the sculpting part, I still have to Retopo, UV, Texture, Rig, and Pose the sculpt. The Holidays are coming up now leaving me with less time to work on my project. I've disassociated from most of my art friends from college. I needed this and will gladly take more advice on how to balance work and art life. Maybe some motivation, because it only looks bleaker on my end by the day. All in all, I wouldn't trade my education for the world 🙂
This video hit a nerve. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. All this burden that I've put on myself willingly, it hurts my soul. I've cried multiple times in this video with multiple emotions emerging at the same time and I honestly hadn't realized how much I've pressured myself. Thank you. Best wishes.
I just started to study Unity and never be a developer before. I'm a 42 dad fully employed in a job with no perspective, but fully motivated. I'm following online courses made very well and I'll have a look to your resources too. Thanks for this video. It is so valuable
Thanks for the video, I've been making shitty little mini games for years now on Unity, finally started to dedicate my time and effort into making a real game, I found a very passionate team to have as my foundation (they're working commission based I promised them a % of the game when it's released since their prices are really good I don't know what I'd do with out them) I've got the core mechanics all done placeholder assets to show my artists what the animations may look like or just give her some inspiration and my friend and I came up with a very bad story that my artists friend is helping with ive only read chapter 1 and the work hes got done is insane!!! I was struggling to keep learning JSON to make a save load system for my game and was getting ready to give up, I'm just glad to see that I'm not the only one struggling with a "solo" gamedev journey if my artist or story writer are reading this, I can't express how great ful I am to have you guys!
Hi Thomas, my best friend and I have been working on game ideas and prototypes for stories and adventures for as long as I can remember. My earliest memories of our friendship are him teaching my how to create stop motion features with my family's camera, and little animated cartoons with various software from Spiderman Cartoon Maker to Adobe Flash. Since around the time "Neversong" came out we have been watching your channel and cooking up a game idea of our own. We have struggled with all of the early pit falls such as knowing very little about code and building the game. Our strong points are storytelling, sound design and digital art. It's been a long few years nailing down the story, score and concept art. At the moment we have a sprite that can walk around in a top down 2D space, which I guess is more than many people can say... However, at this point it seems hopeless trying to proceed confidently even though we feel as if we have something special to share but don't know exactly how to complete it in "game form"
Your videos are an inspiration to many, and I hope that you continue to push myself and others to pursue this type of storytelling.
I dunno if I’m going to ever do games or even coding as any sort of job. But I love games, I like all things about them, from tech to experience. I’m trying out Unreal and I’m gonna see where I go from there. I also have “make a half-decent video game” on my bucket list. If I ever wish to go beyond that, I hold these pieces of advice for my starting points.
I recently started getting into my passion of game development. Im in a bachelor's program right now for game design and developing a game solo seems so daunting. Especially because i am coming from basically no experience. Very little coding and UE usage. Its hard for me to motivate myself to take the leap and start the development process but this lightweight gave me hope. I have the conceot idea i just need to learn about all the intricacies of developing a game and that ontop of work and school is scary.
This is the video I needed rigth now. Thank you for making this.
In one vide in your course i learnt more vs 2years with random tutorials
Omg thanks!
Mate, Kia ora from Aotearoa (New Zealand). TYSM for this coz I feel like I'm going down this rabbithole. Lifeline!
This video is really motivational, but not with empty phrases like "you can do it, just do it", but with actual FACTS that really do help to stay motivated and productive. Thanks!!
Thank you for this. Starting the Journey.
I love how everything you say also applies to other fields of software entrepreneurship as well, like building a saas company as a solo dev
I’ve just started working on a game I’ve had an idea for ages now. It feels overwhelming because I am an artist and a storyteller first and have no clue how to code, produce music, design levels, anything. It feels overwhelming not knowing what to do in what order and all the things I need to take into consideration. This video was very helpful, honestly
the message of this video also translates well into big art projects like comics or animations
and i appreciate that