Love the emphasis on focusing on your own identity rather than an end goal. It's so important to keep yourself physically and mentally healthy to eventually reach those goals. Amazing video, keep up the great work!
You made working on games as a hobby look "not too difficult", but it is really difficult. It is a testament to your discipline. Great video and keep inspiring. Health is a major factor with developers.
@@stickguy9109 Actually, it made me stop wasting time on gaming/social media etc, and actually love working on a skillset which is fun and USEFUL. I have a hard time gaming longer than an hour now, cuz it feels like im wasting time
@@stickguy9109 My point is you can play games and watch Netflix. Its internet thats addicting and destroying people's motivation and attention spans The fact I am here commenting wasting my time saddens me but I am well aware of it and working on it.
I assume it's quite tricky, which makes it even more amazing how you've kept this up for so many years! I'm guessing there are plenty of days when work is just too tiring to do something afterwards, definitely challenging but doable. Nice home gym, impressive L-sit!
Yes, this is challenging if you're trying to make games after work. I found the only way to make it real. The simple rule is - to do it every day without any excuses, even 15 minutes is better than nothing.
I work in a call center and there is usually some down time between calls. Not only can you make games after work as a hobby, but during! I have gotten a lot of my game done in 3-4 minute intervals between calls at work. The dev cycle has been much longer than traditional development but I finally have been steam approved and look to have a demo out by the end of November. You may not have as much time when you are making a game as a hobby, but there also isn't any pressure to get things done by a set time frame unless you put it there. My game is nearly feature complete so I am finally starting to get my steam page up and a demo ready, but that is after 6-7 months of work where I have just been silently plucking away at the core features. My game likely wont be a huge success but I know I will get it out there and if you are doing it as a hobby after work that is a pretty good place to start
Don't go saying this everywhere my guy, your contract with your employer might say that anything you produce at work, during work hours, or on work hardware is owned by your employer.
Your work ethic is incredible. I have always had a hard time balancing work and my love for indie game dev, mostly because work drains me so much that I lack the motivation to even start doing game dev
I appreciate videos like this. As someone who bought C++ for dummies in 2010 to begin the trek toward the "game creator goal", I know it's not an overnight endeavor. To me the REAL gem here is your workflow! The computer setup and monitor layout as well as non cluttered and ergonomic work environment is on point! I'm always scouring the internet for tips and tricks to getting better at game creation, music recording, and CGI in general, and just seeing the layout of working devs is a real treat. On any given day, I'm in danger of getting bonked in the head with an overhead recording mic, and tripped by a pile of cords on the floor that make the snake pit in an Indiana Jones movie look safe. LOL. Cheers
Awesome video. I work a full-time software engineer job from home and married with 3 kids (6, 4 and 1) and a dog. I do many of the things you suggest in the video and I really do think these are the pillars of this lifestyle. My usual routine is: I wake up every day at 4am sharp and work on my game from 4 to 5:30. 5:30 I run to take a morning shower and get dressed for the day. My 1 year old wakes up at 5:30-ish but my wife takes care of him at this time. My 4 year old daughter wakes up at 6am and by that time I must be dressed and ready for her as she strives on routine. By 6:30 we are downstairs making breakfast and I am making myself a second cup of coffee (decaf, if I can help it). By 7 my oldest daughter wakes up and my wife helps her and they all come downstairs for breakfast. 7 to 7:30 I take the dog out (sometimes until 7:45 if my youngest daughter asks to join). 7:45 to 8:15 I make myself food (finally) and go up to my office again to start my full-time job. I then have many meetings and work until around 4pm. Then I log out and take my girls to their extracurricular activities (Gymnastics, music school, swimschool) and that lasts until 6:30ish. While they are in their class I work with my laptop on my freelance business. Then I come back home and my wife and I make dinner for them and they eat until 7:15. I then take them upstairs for their night routine and give them a bath and, depends on how long it takes them, either play a short family video game with them or read them a few books. by 8-8:15 they are ready to sleep and I am back in business. I then work out every other day from 8:15 until 9:00 and then eat a small snack. Then, if I am focused enough, I work another 30 minutes on my game and go to sleep. If I can't work but not too tired I play a chill video game or watch something nice on TV with my wife. Thats my normal day as a software engineer + dad + small business owner + game dev :)
DevDuck, this is my first time viewing your channel but this video has helped me in more ways than one can imagine. I'm a 26, work-from-home Senior Software Engineer and I love game-dev or exploring new avenues of code (such as AI), but over the course of 2 years I've been feeling burned out and not wanting to code outside of the 9 to 5. That passion of code going into this field during my entry level era was burned out when adding on more responsibilities. Sleep stared to get neglected and more. But the slight changes in routine you mentioned in this video has re-lit a fire that has been long been extinguished. I didn't think it would be possible because the *main* criteria is the work-from-home cycle. The constant cabin fever. This has been extremely insightful. You probably won't see this but man. Thank you. Subbed.
Echoing some other folks in this thread -- the notion of aligning one's work to one's desired identity over their immediate goals for that work is profound and inspirational. I really appreciate you broadcasting this.
Scrolled all the way back on your channel just because I wanted an idea of how long you'd been developing games as a hobby. 4 years! The dedication you have really inspires me and I'm sure a whole lot of others. Edit: Just finished watching, the point about thinking of your ideal identity which will inform your decisions is really good! I feel as if I treated a lot of things I wanted to learn after work as a second job and that never really worked out for me. This may be a little slower or less time efficient, but making a game FAST is probably not always the goal of a hobbyist. Making a game you enjoy making, making a game that helps you learn, making your dream game just because-- those seem to resonate more with me. Thank you for that!
Very interesting video Ben! 😊I am very impressed by people who manage to make a game after work. During my time at Ubisoft, I was so tired at the end of the day that I would never find the motivation to work again. Kudos!
I definitely struggle with that sometimes - thankfully most of the time working on Dauphin feels quite different than the dev I do at work, so I can push through!
Love the life-“work” balance.. I find it hard to switch between them. I have 2 young sons, so I only have about 2 hours a day next to my 40h/w sw engineering job, and find it very hard to get into the zone and balance my hobbies out. You seem to have it worked out pretty well, works as inspiration for me! 💪🏻
I love the peace and contentment you exhibit during the long journey. A day job takes up a lot of time, but it gives you the financial security to not worry about rushing things. It seems like you've struck a fantastic balance in life between family, physical health, mental health, job and game dev / entrepreneurship
My upmost respect for being able to keep up such a hard path. I'm in a similar path, and it's been tough for sure, took me months to realize that going to sleep early and waking up early was more productive for me. Little routine changes that can takes months to learn make the process better and an optimized routine is essential.
Man, I remember when you were still in the budding stages of being a youtuber with only 2.5k subscribers! Look at you now! Your videos have taught me a lot about my mental health as a programmer and you've been a huge inspiration to me! Thanks a ton for all these years of awesome content
I personally think that you are doing an outstanding job of balancing work life, personal life and hobbies. There are many people that lack at even just balancing work and personal life but you manage to do so while striving towards what you desire. It can be extremely hard to release your game in this living state but others have managed so why not you? Keep up the good work and hyped to see the finished game someday!
It’s definitely about fitting it to work for your lifestyle. Sometimes healthy changes (no matter how small) can make a world of difference. Great video as always mate!
Umar Ibn Al Khattab, One of the Greatest Leader the world has every seen, said, you can call people towards knowledge in 2 ways, by using words or through your actions. I must say that you answered the question by really showing how it should be done. Overall video is of topnotch quality and I loved every bit of it. All the best for your game Dauphin. Really looking forward to playing it as soon as it releases. !!
That is really inspiring :) ! FYI love the esthetic of your office and the aquariums! A beautifully planted aquarium is always such a highlight in a room
I too work remote, 3 kids and a wife that works from home as well. My life is entirely different than yours and I always feel I have no control over anything, don't actually train or balance health or time to walk the dog or anything like that, I feel I'm always rushing to the end of the day, just to start another day rushing all day. Your video is kind of making me analyze my life and how I would like to be more productive but also take care of myself. Thank you. Please continue to share your routines, balance and in general your game development. I feel like I should use my calendar to kind of program all of those activities.
The difference is that you have kids. Which makes life 100x more harder. So don’t beat yourself up. The first few years with kids are mostly chaotic and unpredictable. Just go with the flow. See it as a learning exercise. Meaning try to learn to make the best choices in the spare time and energy you have. You will then realize how much time you have spent on bs before having kids.
Nice tea kettle. I have the same one. But I think you're right in saying that you should focus on your identity rather than focusing on that end goal. I used to get insane destination fever. I would come up with an idea for a programming project and then absolutely blitz it in a stress filled haze for as much as possible until I was so burnt out that not only would I never touch that project again, but I wouldn't even program for a lil while. I eventually came to realize that those large scope goals are so distant, that in the day to day activity towards that goal, it's not gonna work out as a healthy drive, and may not even be enough motivation to continue. One of my favorite quotes is one of Robert Louis Stevenson, "Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant", and the greatest investment you can make is in yourself.
Thanks for the tips bro! as someone who has a family, a pet and a daughter. it's really difficult to manage dev time. Also staying healthy is another aim. Unfortunately, i am really affected by noises and sounds and sadly live in a noisy environment with doors opening and closing, dogs barking etc. to solve this i use 30 mins at midnight when everyone is asleep so i can focus. i do work sometimes during the day by just wearing a headset to mute the noise (no music or music but with low volume, so i don't damage my ears)
I always find your emphasis on the the process entertaining to watch. It was a big inspiration for me to start putting myself on camera to try a similar thing. And as someone who is also a software engineer, also has a dog to look after, and makes games as a hobby, this is great inspiration. Great content as always, keep going!
Very enjoyable watch, and I think you gave your insight into the topic perfectly, it's different for every person. I'm aiming to change my work schedule to be an 8-4 (or around that) wake up for 6, chill time in the morning, after work it'll either be gym, bit of piano practice or game dev, depending on the day, and I'll see how that works for me and change it where necessary. I'd love to see more routine like videos from you, 1) for inspiration and 2) just to see how you manage it!
It's great that you've found methods that work for you. My comment isn't for you. To any aspiring game devs reading this, you don't need to have devduck's lifestyle to build games as a hobby. You don't even need to do that first. Work with what you have. You can live in a world of utter chaos, without a home gym, without a partner, two cars, a house with an office etc. You can live in circumstances where your days are largely out of your control and STILL MAKE GAMES as a hobby... for years. Don't be put off! I disagree with building an identity around gamedev and your habits - that makes for a very thin identity. Instead I would frame it around what needs you are fulfilling by your habits and games. You have needs, you're fulfilling them, that's not an identity. Perhaps it was an odd choice of word.
Appreciate your comment Rob! I certainly hope I didn't come across as implying that you need everything you saw in the video to make hobbyist game dev work. The routine was just meant to be an example of how I make it work with what I have. I probably could have communicated that better. Interesting thoughts on framing around needs vs identity! Definitely worth looking through both lenses to see what makes the most sense for you.
The most key thing is being able to manage your time well. Plan out every hour of your day. It really helps. Once you also plan every hour, you realise how much time you actually have at your disposal. So many people waste so much time on their phone scrolling through TikTok, etc. Nobody realises that it adds up to a lot of time being wasted. Once you deny yourself these things, you start having so much time at your disposal.
I hope you had a good spirits though and your motives in making games. Been watching you for years with your game but I hadn't seen it published yet. I don't tend to work that much I chose to relax and make games when I've got motives. Motive is a real treasure to me nowadays. I have a freelance work and it doesn't put too much pressure on me and that's great. I value my health a lot and also to my family and the oldest so I can get to keep them to support me. I love living a long life honestly to see what life's like in 2100s.
Thank you for sharing your daily life. I had a hard time with myself and my wife because of it. These days, I'm on fire again to learn game development. It happened occasionally, and most of the time it only lasted a few days. Thanks to your advice, I now know the specifics of my problem, and I can let go of my obsession and engage in game development for a long time. I completely agree that physical and mental health and healthy relationships are paramount to getting through it.
Very interesting outlook, and very helpful! Something I've always struggled with is finding a balance between family, friends, recovering from work and obligations, and find it difficult to consistently put in hours into gamedev. But your focus on identity and finding a healthy balance first, and game dev will follow, makes a lot of sense and is quite eye opening. Without it you'll struggle to sustain yourself, which is the exact boat I'm in now xD So definitely going to try focus more on having a healthier identity first.
Really relate to this one, working full time currently try to build a channel and do game dev also, working well so far even if progress is slow. I have a child on top of this, so the moring routine is still a work in progress haha. Nice to see more lifestyle videos frm you again though.
Watching this I can’t help but think I’d find it easier to do all this stuff if I didn’t live in a tiny apartment and instead had a home gym and a gorgeous computer setup. I’m working from a fold-out desk on a dining table chair.
To look at this rationally - this approach won't work for majority of people. This guy either works part time and has side hustles (i.e. youtube itself that generates enough money for not that big of an effort - hence the video with all this editing), or he has some sort of investments that generate money otherwise, so he is able to pick up job that pays less with far less effort. I worked in 2 coporations for past 12 years - one is within top 100, another is within top 20 and although work was interesting - there was no such thing as working from 9 to 5, even though its in your contract. You cannot plan days like this. You can plan mornings, but not evenings for sure, therefore this won't work. Also, I doubt this would work if you are starting the career either - especially if you are serious about it. My point is, if game dev is not your career, but more like a hobby, and you cannot allow yourself to work less for less paying job in IT - you won't be able to do that in majority of cases
I'm bouncing between playing games, gamedev and minipainting in my spare time after work. I always spend some time with my SO. It's going really slowly especially due to project growing in scope (I really need to sit down and limit it to core features). Your daily routine seems nice.
That puppy is too cute! As another game dev that works in my free time while having a full time job, your videos are a great inspiration. I also work from home, have a home gym, and garden! I keep being tempted to reach out to work with you on a project but that's probably just the 'ol parasocial relationship acting up again.
Absolutely love this! Trying to live my life with this philosophy in mind (especially as someone who is beginning his Game Dev journey). Thanks a lot for the inspo
I love that youre able to do this. I have tried for years to get a system like this or myself. but unfortunately i just keep falling back to old habits. But you have encouraged me to give it another go!
I have NO IDEA how you have the energy. I honestly would love to focus more on gamedev but I get extremely exausted after a couple of days working hard after a 8/9h job...
I made my game Nienix: Cosmic Warfare entirely in my spare the time while juggling two kids and a full-time job. It was definitely not easy, but extremely rewarding! The key for me was to focus on my strengths and the process rather than the end goal and make small daily progress. Having a helpful and positive community around the game made a big difference as well! :)
243 comments on steam. 100 people probably bought your game. there is no point in spending 2 years of your life making games. in any case, it’s better to do nothing, it’s much better than working like a slave and getting nothing in the end, having wasted 2 years of your life.
Hey Ben, always loved your devlogs and been impressed at how you split your time wisely on developing Dauphin between your day to day responsibilities, seemingly without breaking a sweat - which comes through on how chilled each video you do is. This episode was very informative and inspiring, and made me remember not to beat myself up if I don't spend hours every day on my personal project either. Keep it up!
"This may seem like it was a hectic morning" Man... with 3 kids, I would LOVE your version of hectic. Watching this reminded me of how different life was before kids. Love your vibe man. Very chill, but also structured and disciplined.
Really impressed how well you take care of yourself. At first I thought it was going to be an insane schedule devoid of social interaction, but you spend a lot of time on mental en fysical health and making sure to have a lot of time to wind down, relaxe and spend time with those you value.
The key is really setting yourself up for future success. Do things now that will help future you. Set your clothes out for the next day, get your dev environment set up the night before, make sure everything is as frictionless as possible.
Great video, I think the key is long term sustainability. Factoring down time and fun activities helps a lot rather than trying to squeeze every minute of productivity out - something I have learnt the hard way. Good luck with it, you are such an inspiration for all of us who are working the side hustle in whatever spare time we have.
Thanks for sharing DevDuck! This was really helpful. I have literally been trying to get to a weekly routine like this! I want to be able to do game dev as a hobby but have had trouble staying motivated and consistent with how often I work on learning and practicing my skill. So thank you for a very concise and informative video of a day in your life of your routine. I also appreciate the that you make sure to focus on mental and physical health and make time with your family! Just subscribed to you because of this video! Excited to see more
Something I have attempted a few times over the past 15 years with varying levels of success. The best advice I can give is keep your project small and avoid feature creep. Many times I have abandoned a project because it just got too big and overwhelming for one person to handle. It's much better to actually complete a project than have a bunch of unfinished grand ideas.
Your video popped up in my suggestion feed and I decided I've give it a watch. Always had an interest in game development but no time. However I also have found myself in a slump for making and editing youtube videos anymore these days. balancing life, work, and hobbies isn't easy. But after watching your video i now feel like it's possible. so thank you. I do have one question.. an odd one.. I love that fall leaves ... uhh.. screensaver? Where can I get that at. Fall and Halloween is my favorite time of the year.
I'm a mom of two and also absolutely not a morning person, so my life looks completely different from this, but I love living vicariously through you in these videos. Keep up the amazing dedication and work!
Thanks for this nice and wholesome devlog! You're an inspiration to me with your balanced take on life (indie game dev - yes, but not at the cost of the mental, social and physical health). Wish you best luck developing Dauphin! 😉
I needed to hear this. I am a Student with a job and 2 Startup companies, one of them being a Game Studio focused on Videogames that teach you scientific concepts without you realizing. Working on a game feels awfully slow when I can only dedicate about 1 hour a day to it and sometimes its really frustrating, specially as I feel the finishing line move away from me as I get closer to it due to "Scope Reveal", realizing some stuff needs to be better to fit my standards for selling the game... It's just really hard and I think it would be healthy approach to focus on my identity instead. Thanks for leading by example, you are one of those admirable Hashira out there inspiring a lot of people!
Love your focus on health. You can’t work at your most effective level of your health is lacking. You’ve got a new subscriber out of me and I would love to see more videos like this. I also wouldn’t mind seeing how you go about creating videos for your channel!
I make data science content and this type of lifestyle/habbit video is really helpful and inspiring! Would love to see more videos of this type. Thanks DevDuck! ☺
I am not developing a game but a web software for filling taxes online. Your videos are motivation online about how to start simple and keep growing along the way. Greetings from Dominican Republic.
Just found the channel: love the content! I'm a fledgling game sound designer and found a lot of this super helpful and inspiring. Thanks for your great insights!
1:44 woah, this is going to sound dumb, but for some freaking reason I never thought of also treating the project and its tasks the same as the clothes: leave them ready to go, to have to think less about tackling them the next day. I do this for everything, I program the coffee machine, bathroom is ready with the clothes, towels half untucked, running clothes and running shoes as ready as possible for the morning runs, you name it… but not the computer and associated gadgets barring keeping them charged 🤦♂️
Excellent video! It's great to see a peak at how you keep it up and what else you've got going on in life. I have similar routines but I can feel them slipping so it's good motivation to course correct.
Really good stuff. I tried doing game dev as a hobby for a few years, and I was ultimately unhappy with the amount of progress I was making. I recently quit my day job to do game dev full-time, and I've made a tremendous amount of progress. I don't know if it will work out financially for me, but I'm enjoying every minute of it so far, and I'll definitely be coming back to watch this video again if I return to a 9-5 job.
Your routine is very well-drilled, albeit hard to relate to. I think if you gave more raw screen time to where things didn't go as planned e.g. trying to record your dog walk in poor weather, I would find it more comparable. Instead these moments felt glossed over, and so the entire video footage is 100% planned, executed and perfect. Personally, I prefer a bit more light and shade. I'm not a negative person haha
nicely done. I remember when you first did the crab pixel art. Try this mind experiment: are you too organized? Do you spend a large chunk of time keeping your house clean? Saying that, it's good to have moose inject a bit of random() in the day.
Wow. We live an extremely similar lifestyle. Down to job, hobbies, state of residence, having young dog and even name of significant other. But I am definitely not a morning person and I don't get up until like 9am most weekdays. Your DIY game looks pretty sweet!
One of the things I've discovered is that keeping up the motivation and morale to keep working on the game week after week is difficult and not automatic. The effort you put into keeping up your physical and mental health, by taking breaks and not pushing too hard on the coding every day, probably actually improves your productivity rather than hinder it. Finding that balance is so critical to game dev, especially when you have a full time job besides. The point about identity and having some motivation other than just earning money from your game is also super important. Game dev is really difficult to make money from, but not impossible. Having a secondary motivation means that even if you don't succeed financially, you never really lose anything because you enjoyed the process and you learned along the way. I view every game as a stepping stone towards the next. I make games because I want to create meaningful experiences. I think it's similar to why people create art of any kind. It's deeply meaningful.
I'm left speechless after each DevDuck dev log. What I see play out in each video looks impossible from my personal experience, but, video after video, the game keeps looking better, and the mental health keeps getting stronger. I'd be shocked to see this level of quality in a series of dev logs if they were produced by a documentary team, but the fact that on top of everything else these are shot by the individual who is also the one person accomplishing everything else shown in the video is mind blowing. Focusing on personal identity strikes me as a really great explanation of how I can take one step closer to the DevDuck life style. I still don't understand how one person created Stardew Valley, and I though we'd never see something like it happen again, but DevDuck is on course to make a Stardew class game, and the best dev log series at the same time; all while maintaining a workout routine, and a full-time job, which are two things I struggle to do everyday just by themselves!
1:43 - In Notion, how do you display checkboxes in the board view like that. I can only display the title of the card and you have to open the card to see the checkboxes.
Great video! I am currently in the mode where I have multiple priorities (game dev being only one of them), and it's nice to see how you manage yours. I (thankfully) don't have a full-time job at the moment, so I can devote the time, but I find myself not using my time as wisely as I should. I watched your Notion and workstation videos, and am definitely more interested in seeing more content about your daily routines. One thing that impressed me is how much you focus on *balance* - that can be very difficult for me (and many others) - you have a lot of discipline in that area! I know that may be something that's just inherent to *you*, but it would be interesting to see if you've always been this way, or something that you've developed over time. Anyway, thanks for the great content, and will be watching more of your videos in the future!
How do you keep yourself from getting distracted into the wormholes of TH-cam and social media? When you take breaks, how do you get yourself back on task?
The first thing I noticed in your video was all the plants in your workspace. How do you grow and keep them indoors like that? I've considered growing plants but I'm intimidated and convinced myself plants couldn't grow indoors like that.
It seems like my life, I never checked other devs, nor watched many videos but when he said he tries to squeeze in a little dev every day, even if its just one task when he has some free time, I know exactly how that is.
Your routine is very interesting. I work all day as a developer, but games are my passion. But not every day I manage to stay and produce many hours of gamedev. I notice that in the past, when I was younger, I produced better after 10 pm. Today I sleep at this time! Greetings from Brazil!
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Love the emphasis on focusing on your own identity rather than an end goal. It's so important to keep yourself physically and mentally healthy to eventually reach those goals. Amazing video, keep up the great work!
Its great (and healthy) motivation, I do agree :)
Thanks George!
This is the first thing in the book Atomic Habits
It's certainly a nice change of pace from the "hustle culture" crap that I see all the time.
Yes! I can get a little obsessed and negate so many other things and crash.
You made working on games as a hobby look "not too difficult", but it is really difficult. It is a testament to your discipline. Great video and keep inspiring. Health is a major factor with developers.
Basically spend all your time outside of work not to gaming/netflix/social media but gamedev only. That's a hard thing to do
@@stickguy9109 Actually, it made me stop wasting time on gaming/social media etc, and actually love working on a skillset which is fun and USEFUL.
I have a hard time gaming longer than an hour now, cuz it feels like im wasting time
@@stickguy9109 Not really. Its TH-cam/internet thats the issue and we all know it. Its so addictive here.
@@outlander234 I know that's what I meant
@@stickguy9109 My point is you can play games and watch Netflix. Its internet thats addicting and destroying people's motivation and attention spans The fact I am here commenting wasting my time saddens me but I am well aware of it and working on it.
I assume it's quite tricky, which makes it even more amazing how you've kept this up for so many years!
I'm guessing there are plenty of days when work is just too tiring to do something afterwards, definitely challenging but doable.
Nice home gym, impressive L-sit!
Yes, this is challenging if you're trying to make games after work. I found the only way to make it real. The simple rule is - to do it every day without any excuses, even 15 minutes is better than nothing.
I work in a call center and there is usually some down time between calls. Not only can you make games after work as a hobby, but during! I have gotten a lot of my game done in 3-4 minute intervals between calls at work. The dev cycle has been much longer than traditional development but I finally have been steam approved and look to have a demo out by the end of November.
You may not have as much time when you are making a game as a hobby, but there also isn't any pressure to get things done by a set time frame unless you put it there. My game is nearly feature complete so I am finally starting to get my steam page up and a demo ready, but that is after 6-7 months of work where I have just been silently plucking away at the core features.
My game likely wont be a huge success but I know I will get it out there and if you are doing it as a hobby after work that is a pretty good place to start
Don't go saying this everywhere my guy, your contract with your employer might say that anything you produce at work, during work hours, or on work hardware is owned by your employer.
Man you're such an inspiration, I get motivated to work on my projects every time I watch one of your videos 😄
Watching others' devlogs does the exact same thing for me - glad I'm able to pay it forward!
Same here. It's so motivating me to finish the last bits of my game.
Your work ethic is incredible. I have always had a hard time balancing work and my love for indie game dev, mostly because work drains me so much that I lack the motivation to even start doing game dev
I appreciate videos like this. As someone who bought C++ for dummies in 2010 to begin the trek toward the "game creator goal", I know it's not an overnight endeavor. To me the REAL gem here is your workflow! The computer setup and monitor layout as well as non cluttered and ergonomic work environment is on point! I'm always scouring the internet for tips and tricks to getting better at game creation, music recording, and CGI in general, and just seeing the layout of working devs is a real treat. On any given day, I'm in danger of getting bonked in the head with an overhead recording mic, and tripped by a pile of cords on the floor that make the snake pit in an Indiana Jones movie look safe. LOL. Cheers
Awesome video. I work a full-time software engineer job from home and married with 3 kids (6, 4 and 1) and a dog. I do many of the things you suggest in the video and I really do think these are the pillars of this lifestyle. My usual routine is: I wake up every day at 4am sharp and work on my game from 4 to 5:30. 5:30 I run to take a morning shower and get dressed for the day. My 1 year old wakes up at 5:30-ish but my wife takes care of him at this time. My 4 year old daughter wakes up at 6am and by that time I must be dressed and ready for her as she strives on routine. By 6:30 we are downstairs making breakfast and I am making myself a second cup of coffee (decaf, if I can help it). By 7 my oldest daughter wakes up and my wife helps her and they all come downstairs for breakfast. 7 to 7:30 I take the dog out (sometimes until 7:45 if my youngest daughter asks to join). 7:45 to 8:15 I make myself food (finally) and go up to my office again to start my full-time job. I then have many meetings and work until around 4pm. Then I log out and take my girls to their extracurricular activities (Gymnastics, music school, swimschool) and that lasts until 6:30ish. While they are in their class I work with my laptop on my freelance business. Then I come back home and my wife and I make dinner for them and they eat until 7:15. I then take them upstairs for their night routine and give them a bath and, depends on how long it takes them, either play a short family video game with them or read them a few books. by 8-8:15 they are ready to sleep and I am back in business. I then work out every other day from 8:15 until 9:00 and then eat a small snack. Then, if I am focused enough, I work another 30 minutes on my game and go to sleep. If I can't work but not too tired I play a chill video game or watch something nice on TV with my wife.
Thats my normal day as a software engineer + dad + small business owner + game dev :)
DevDuck, this is my first time viewing your channel but this video has helped me in more ways than one can imagine.
I'm a 26, work-from-home Senior Software Engineer and I love game-dev or exploring new avenues of code (such as AI), but over the course of 2 years I've been feeling burned out and not wanting to code outside of the 9 to 5. That passion of code going into this field during my entry level era was burned out when adding on more responsibilities. Sleep stared to get neglected and more.
But the slight changes in routine you mentioned in this video has re-lit a fire that has been long been extinguished. I didn't think it would be possible because the *main* criteria is the work-from-home cycle. The constant cabin fever.
This has been extremely insightful. You probably won't see this but man. Thank you. Subbed.
Echoing some other folks in this thread -- the notion of aligning one's work to one's desired identity over their immediate goals for that work is profound and inspirational. I really appreciate you broadcasting this.
Hi. The concept of desired identity comes from a book called "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. I highly recommend it. :)
Scrolled all the way back on your channel just because I wanted an idea of how long you'd been developing games as a hobby. 4 years! The dedication you have really inspires me and I'm sure a whole lot of others.
Edit: Just finished watching, the point about thinking of your ideal identity which will inform your decisions is really good! I feel as if I treated a lot of things I wanted to learn after work as a second job and that never really worked out for me. This may be a little slower or less time efficient, but making a game FAST is probably not always the goal of a hobbyist. Making a game you enjoy making, making a game that helps you learn, making your dream game just because-- those seem to resonate more with me. Thank you for that!
Very interesting video Ben! 😊I am very impressed by people who manage to make a game after work. During my time at Ubisoft, I was so tired at the end of the day that I would never find the motivation to work again. Kudos!
I definitely struggle with that sometimes - thankfully most of the time working on Dauphin feels quite different than the dev I do at work, so I can push through!
Love the life-“work” balance.. I find it hard to switch between them. I have 2 young sons, so I only have about 2 hours a day next to my 40h/w sw engineering job, and find it very hard to get into the zone and balance my hobbies out. You seem to have it worked out pretty well, works as inspiration for me! 💪🏻
I love the peace and contentment you exhibit during the long journey. A day job takes up a lot of time, but it gives you the financial security to not worry about rushing things. It seems like you've struck a fantastic balance in life between family, physical health, mental health, job and game dev / entrepreneurship
My upmost respect for being able to keep up such a hard path. I'm in a similar path, and it's been tough for sure, took me months to realize that going to sleep early and waking up early was more productive for me. Little routine changes that can takes months to learn make the process better and an optimized routine is essential.
So, like the answer to most things in life, have enough money to live comfortably first. Gotcha.
Man, I remember when you were still in the budding stages of being a youtuber with only 2.5k subscribers! Look at you now!
Your videos have taught me a lot about my mental health as a programmer and you've been a huge inspiration to me! Thanks a ton for all these years of awesome content
So relatable! I appreciate how you always keep things down to Earth. This is so similar to my process & routine right now
I've been working in IT for 10 years and remotely for 5 years. It takes a lot of discipline to do what you are doing, I'm really impressed !
If you don’t have kids, then the answer is, yes, you can do anything after work. Really well done video
I personally think that you are doing an outstanding job of balancing work life, personal life and hobbies.
There are many people that lack at even just balancing work and personal life but you manage to do so while striving towards what you desire.
It can be extremely hard to release your game in this living state but others have managed so why not you?
Keep up the good work and hyped to see the finished game someday!
It’s definitely about fitting it to work for your lifestyle. Sometimes healthy changes (no matter how small) can make a world of difference.
Great video as always mate!
Umar Ibn Al Khattab, One of the Greatest Leader the world has every seen, said, you can call people towards knowledge in 2 ways, by using words or through your actions.
I must say that you answered the question by really showing how it should be done.
Overall video is of topnotch quality and I loved every bit of it.
All the best for your game Dauphin. Really looking forward to playing it as soon as it releases. !!
An odd question to ask. There are lots of games that were created and released that way.
It's ridiculously hard to do, but it's definitely possible.
I tend to agree - I think the important question is how to actually do it and sustain it, rather than whether it's possible.
@@DevDuck Totally fair.
Question? What was the question lol
@@AbuBaker-p8v the title of the video lol
@@AbuBaker-p8v "Can You Develop Games as a Hobby After Work?"
That is really inspiring :) ! FYI love the esthetic of your office and the aquariums! A beautifully planted aquarium is always such a highlight in a room
I too work remote, 3 kids and a wife that works from home as well. My life is entirely different than yours and I always feel I have no control over anything, don't actually train or balance health or time to walk the dog or anything like that, I feel I'm always rushing to the end of the day, just to start another day rushing all day. Your video is kind of making me analyze my life and how I would like to be more productive but also take care of myself. Thank you. Please continue to share your routines, balance and in general your game development. I feel like I should use my calendar to kind of program all of those activities.
The difference is that you have kids. Which makes life 100x more harder. So don’t beat yourself up. The first few years with kids are mostly chaotic and unpredictable. Just go with the flow. See it as a learning exercise. Meaning try to learn to make the best choices in the spare time and energy you have. You will then realize how much time you have spent on bs before having kids.
Nice tea kettle. I have the same one. But I think you're right in saying that you should focus on your identity rather than focusing on that end goal. I used to get insane destination fever. I would come up with an idea for a programming project and then absolutely blitz it in a stress filled haze for as much as possible until I was so burnt out that not only would I never touch that project again, but I wouldn't even program for a lil while. I eventually came to realize that those large scope goals are so distant, that in the day to day activity towards that goal, it's not gonna work out as a healthy drive, and may not even be enough motivation to continue. One of my favorite quotes is one of Robert Louis Stevenson, "Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant", and the greatest investment you can make is in yourself.
so awesome to see you pursue your passion constently and in a healthy way great vid as always :)
Watching other developers dev logs always gets me inspired to get back to it ❤ thank you sir !
Thanks for the tips bro! as someone who has a family, a pet and a daughter. it's really difficult to manage dev time. Also staying healthy is another aim. Unfortunately, i am really affected by noises and sounds and sadly live in a noisy environment with doors opening and closing, dogs barking etc. to solve this i use 30 mins at midnight when everyone is asleep so i can focus. i do work sometimes during the day by just wearing a headset to mute the noise (no music or music but with low volume, so i don't damage my ears)
I always find your emphasis on the the process entertaining to watch. It was a big inspiration for me to start putting myself on camera to try a similar thing. And as someone who is also a software engineer, also has a dog to look after, and makes games as a hobby, this is great inspiration. Great content as always, keep going!
Very enjoyable watch, and I think you gave your insight into the topic perfectly, it's different for every person. I'm aiming to change my work schedule to be an 8-4 (or around that) wake up for 6, chill time in the morning, after work it'll either be gym, bit of piano practice or game dev, depending on the day, and I'll see how that works for me and change it where necessary.
I'd love to see more routine like videos from you, 1) for inspiration and 2) just to see how you manage it!
It's great that you've found methods that work for you. My comment isn't for you.
To any aspiring game devs reading this, you don't need to have devduck's lifestyle to build games as a hobby. You don't even need to do that first. Work with what you have.
You can live in a world of utter chaos, without a home gym, without a partner, two cars, a house with an office etc. You can live in circumstances where your days are largely out of your control and STILL MAKE GAMES as a hobby... for years. Don't be put off!
I disagree with building an identity around gamedev and your habits - that makes for a very thin identity. Instead I would frame it around what needs you are fulfilling by your habits and games. You have needs, you're fulfilling them, that's not an identity. Perhaps it was an odd choice of word.
Appreciate your comment Rob! I certainly hope I didn't come across as implying that you need everything you saw in the video to make hobbyist game dev work. The routine was just meant to be an example of how I make it work with what I have. I probably could have communicated that better.
Interesting thoughts on framing around needs vs identity! Definitely worth looking through both lenses to see what makes the most sense for you.
The most key thing is being able to manage your time well. Plan out every hour of your day. It really helps. Once you also plan every hour, you realise how much time you actually have at your disposal.
So many people waste so much time on their phone scrolling through TikTok, etc. Nobody realises that it adds up to a lot of time being wasted. Once you deny yourself these things, you start having so much time at your disposal.
I hope you had a good spirits though and your motives in making games. Been watching you for years with your game but I hadn't seen it published yet. I don't tend to work that much I chose to relax and make games when I've got motives. Motive is a real treasure to me nowadays. I have a freelance work and it doesn't put too much pressure on me and that's great. I value my health a lot and also to my family and the oldest so I can get to keep them to support me. I love living a long life honestly to see what life's like in 2100s.
Dude, that desk is my Kitchen Table. I cant image how much space that must provide for your work routine.
Thank you for sharing your daily life. I had a hard time with myself and my wife because of it. These days, I'm on fire again to learn game development. It happened occasionally, and most of the time it only lasted a few days. Thanks to your advice, I now know the specifics of my problem, and I can let go of my obsession and engage in game development for a long time. I completely agree that physical and mental health and healthy relationships are paramount to getting through it.
Very interesting outlook, and very helpful! Something I've always struggled with is finding a balance between family, friends, recovering from work and obligations, and find it difficult to consistently put in hours into gamedev. But your focus on identity and finding a healthy balance first, and game dev will follow, makes a lot of sense and is quite eye opening. Without it you'll struggle to sustain yourself, which is the exact boat I'm in now xD So definitely going to try focus more on having a healthier identity first.
Really relate to this one, working full time currently try to build a channel and do game dev also, working well so far even if progress is slow. I have a child on top of this, so the moring routine is still a work in progress haha. Nice to see more lifestyle videos frm you again though.
Watching this I can’t help but think I’d find it easier to do all this stuff if I didn’t live in a tiny apartment and instead had a home gym and a gorgeous computer setup. I’m working from a fold-out desk on a dining table chair.
To look at this rationally - this approach won't work for majority of people. This guy either works part time and has side hustles (i.e. youtube itself that generates enough money for not that big of an effort - hence the video with all this editing), or he has some sort of investments that generate money otherwise, so he is able to pick up job that pays less with far less effort.
I worked in 2 coporations for past 12 years - one is within top 100, another is within top 20 and although work was interesting - there was no such thing as working from 9 to 5, even though its in your contract. You cannot plan days like this. You can plan mornings, but not evenings for sure, therefore this won't work. Also, I doubt this would work if you are starting the career either - especially if you are serious about it. My point is, if game dev is not your career, but more like a hobby, and you cannot allow yourself to work less for less paying job in IT - you won't be able to do that in majority of cases
Spot on. Unless you’ve had a perfect life and are already reaping the benefits of that, this advice is useless and pretentious.
@theobserver_ yeah he said in the vid he works 9-5 but FROM HOME. No commute makes this possible I suppose, but not the common set up.
I'm bouncing between playing games, gamedev and minipainting in my spare time after work. I always spend some time with my SO.
It's going really slowly especially due to project growing in scope (I really need to sit down and limit it to core features).
Your daily routine seems nice.
That puppy is too cute! As another game dev that works in my free time while having a full time job, your videos are a great inspiration. I also work from home, have a home gym, and garden! I keep being tempted to reach out to work with you on a project but that's probably just the 'ol parasocial relationship acting up again.
Absolutely love this! Trying to live my life with this philosophy in mind (especially as someone who is beginning his Game Dev journey). Thanks a lot for the inspo
I love that youre able to do this. I have tried for years to get a system like this or myself. but unfortunately i just keep falling back to old habits. But you have encouraged me to give it another go!
I have NO IDEA how you have the energy. I honestly would love to focus more on gamedev but I get extremely exausted after a couple of days working hard after a 8/9h job...
I made my game Nienix: Cosmic Warfare entirely in my spare the time while juggling two kids and a full-time job. It was definitely not easy, but extremely rewarding! The key for me was to focus on my strengths and the process rather than the end goal and make small daily progress. Having a helpful and positive community around the game made a big difference as well! :)
243 comments on steam. 100 people probably bought your game. there is no point in spending 2 years of your life making games. in any case, it’s better to do nothing, it’s much better than working like a slave and getting nothing in the end, having wasted 2 years of your life.
This video brought me back to watching your content. Thank you!
every person needs a hobby that helps them to think, act and develop
Hey Ben, always loved your devlogs and been impressed at how you split your time wisely on developing Dauphin between your day to day responsibilities, seemingly without breaking a sweat - which comes through on how chilled each video you do is.
This episode was very informative and inspiring, and made me remember not to beat myself up if I don't spend hours every day on my personal project either.
Keep it up!
First time viewer, immediately subscribed. Awesome video. You motivate me to make changes in my own life, thank you!
Love this video. Thanks for your thoughts, and best of luck on your game dev journey!
Incredible video! Something a lot of people really need to hear, so thanks for putting this out there!
This video made me realize how cool of a guy you are. Super inspiring, relaxed, balanced, and motivated.
The cozy feeling of your videos is so cool
I love this video. It also help me understand what I need to improve or change in my routine. Keep doing videos like that.
"This may seem like it was a hectic morning" Man... with 3 kids, I would LOVE your version of hectic. Watching this reminded me of how different life was before kids. Love your vibe man. Very chill, but also structured and disciplined.
Really impressed how well you take care of yourself. At first I thought it was going to be an insane schedule devoid of social interaction, but you spend a lot of time on mental en fysical health and making sure to have a lot of time to wind down, relaxe and spend time with those you value.
The key is really setting yourself up for future success. Do things now that will help future you. Set your clothes out for the next day, get your dev environment set up the night before, make sure everything is as frictionless as possible.
Great video, I think the key is long term sustainability.
Factoring down time and fun activities helps a lot rather than trying to squeeze every minute of productivity out - something I have learnt the hard way.
Good luck with it, you are such an inspiration for all of us who are working the side hustle in whatever spare time we have.
Thanks for sharing DevDuck! This was really helpful. I have literally been trying to get to a weekly routine like this! I want to be able to do game dev as a hobby but have had trouble staying motivated and consistent with how often I work on learning and practicing my skill. So thank you for a very concise and informative video of a day in your life of your routine. I also appreciate the that you make sure to focus on mental and physical health and make time with your family! Just subscribed to you because of this video! Excited to see more
Thanks for this video. I think it's a really helpful example of how to organize your time and live healthily.
Something I have attempted a few times over the past 15 years with varying levels of success. The best advice I can give is keep your project small and avoid feature creep. Many times I have abandoned a project because it just got too big and overwhelming for one person to handle. It's much better to actually complete a project than have a bunch of unfinished grand ideas.
Your video popped up in my suggestion feed and I decided I've give it a watch. Always had an interest in game development but no time. However I also have found myself in a slump for making and editing youtube videos anymore these days. balancing life, work, and hobbies isn't easy. But after watching your video i now feel like it's possible. so thank you. I do have one question.. an odd one.. I love that fall leaves ... uhh.. screensaver? Where can I get that at. Fall and Halloween is my favorite time of the year.
Great video, I have released my first game a few months will working fulltime in retail, is definitely possible consistency is key
I'm a mom of two and also absolutely not a morning person, so my life looks completely different from this, but I love living vicariously through you in these videos. Keep up the amazing dedication and work!
Thanks for this nice and wholesome devlog! You're an inspiration to me with your balanced take on life (indie game dev - yes, but not at the cost of the mental, social and physical health).
Wish you best luck developing Dauphin! 😉
This was a really awesome video, keep up the good work!
Thank you, will do!
I needed to hear this. I am a Student with a job and 2 Startup companies, one of them being a Game Studio focused on Videogames that teach you scientific concepts without you realizing. Working on a game feels awfully slow when I can only dedicate about 1 hour a day to it and sometimes its really frustrating, specially as I feel the finishing line move away from me as I get closer to it due to "Scope Reveal", realizing some stuff needs to be better to fit my standards for selling the game... It's just really hard and I think it would be healthy approach to focus on my identity instead. Thanks for leading by example, you are one of those admirable Hashira out there inspiring a lot of people!
Im doing it for my lively hood, Im trying to maximize productivity. Its not easy.
Love your focus on health. You can’t work at your most effective level of your health is lacking.
You’ve got a new subscriber out of me and I would love to see more videos like this. I also wouldn’t mind seeing how you go about creating videos for your channel!
I make data science content and this type of lifestyle/habbit video is really helpful and inspiring! Would love to see more videos of this type. Thanks DevDuck! ☺
The discipline is off the roof! Definitely mental health is most important to create a game
I am not developing a game but a web software for filling taxes online. Your videos are motivation online about how to start simple and keep growing along the way. Greetings from Dominican Republic.
i have been doing so for the past two months and it riddles me with anxiety
Just found the channel: love the content! I'm a fledgling game sound designer and found a lot of this super helpful and inspiring. Thanks for your great insights!
I like the way you phrased the identity bit. Gives me some stuff to think about
1:44 woah, this is going to sound dumb, but for some freaking reason I never thought of also treating the project and its tasks the same as the clothes: leave them ready to go, to have to think less about tackling them the next day.
I do this for everything, I program the coffee machine, bathroom is ready with the clothes, towels half untucked, running clothes and running shoes as ready as possible for the morning runs, you name it… but not the computer and associated gadgets barring keeping them charged 🤦♂️
Excellent video! It's great to see a peak at how you keep it up and what else you've got going on in life.
I have similar routines but I can feel them slipping so it's good motivation to course correct.
Really good stuff. I tried doing game dev as a hobby for a few years, and I was ultimately unhappy with the amount of progress I was making.
I recently quit my day job to do game dev full-time, and I've made a tremendous amount of progress. I don't know if it will work out financially for me, but I'm enjoying every minute of it so far, and I'll definitely be coming back to watch this video again if I return to a 9-5 job.
I'm currently doing it before work.. and after.. and sometimes too early into the mornings.
Being a line cook who works 2nd shift helps.
really liked the style of this devlog
Being a developer who work 8-5 pm, I can't imagine my self working on a dream game of my own. But, thanks to your vid. You inspire me!
Your routine is very well-drilled, albeit hard to relate to. I think if you gave more raw screen time to where things didn't go as planned e.g. trying to record your dog walk in poor weather, I would find it more comparable. Instead these moments felt glossed over, and so the entire video footage is 100% planned, executed and perfect. Personally, I prefer a bit more light and shade. I'm not a negative person haha
nicely done. I remember when you first did the crab pixel art. Try this mind experiment: are you too organized? Do you spend a large chunk of time keeping your house clean? Saying that, it's good to have moose inject a bit of random() in the day.
Wow. We live an extremely similar lifestyle. Down to job, hobbies, state of residence, having young dog and even name of significant other. But I am definitely not a morning person and I don't get up until like 9am most weekdays. Your DIY game looks pretty sweet!
I enjoy your videos dude, keep on keeping on
Great grounded approach. Thanks for sharing
bro i love your routine, it is NICE!
One of the things I've discovered is that keeping up the motivation and morale to keep working on the game week after week is difficult and not automatic. The effort you put into keeping up your physical and mental health, by taking breaks and not pushing too hard on the coding every day, probably actually improves your productivity rather than hinder it. Finding that balance is so critical to game dev, especially when you have a full time job besides. The point about identity and having some motivation other than just earning money from your game is also super important. Game dev is really difficult to make money from, but not impossible. Having a secondary motivation means that even if you don't succeed financially, you never really lose anything because you enjoyed the process and you learned along the way. I view every game as a stepping stone towards the next. I make games because I want to create meaningful experiences. I think it's similar to why people create art of any kind. It's deeply meaningful.
When your hobby and work is same thing its best combination, great video
Huge inspiration, looking good, feeling food and working good!
I'm left speechless after each DevDuck dev log. What I see play out in each video looks impossible from my personal experience, but, video after video, the game keeps looking better, and the mental health keeps getting stronger. I'd be shocked to see this level of quality in a series of dev logs if they were produced by a documentary team, but the fact that on top of everything else these are shot by the individual who is also the one person accomplishing everything else shown in the video is mind blowing. Focusing on personal identity strikes me as a really great explanation of how I can take one step closer to the DevDuck life style. I still don't understand how one person created Stardew Valley, and I though we'd never see something like it happen again, but DevDuck is on course to make a Stardew class game, and the best dev log series at the same time; all while maintaining a workout routine, and a full-time job, which are two things I struggle to do everyday just by themselves!
1:43 - In Notion, how do you display checkboxes in the board view like that. I can only display the title of the card and you have to open the card to see the checkboxes.
Great video! I am currently in the mode where I have multiple priorities (game dev being only one of them), and it's nice to see how you manage yours. I (thankfully) don't have a full-time job at the moment, so I can devote the time, but I find myself not using my time as wisely as I should. I watched your Notion and workstation videos, and am definitely more interested in seeing more content about your daily routines. One thing that impressed me is how much you focus on *balance* - that can be very difficult for me (and many others) - you have a lot of discipline in that area! I know that may be something that's just inherent to *you*, but it would be interesting to see if you've always been this way, or something that you've developed over time. Anyway, thanks for the great content, and will be watching more of your videos in the future!
How do you keep yourself from getting distracted into the wormholes of TH-cam and social media? When you take breaks, how do you get yourself back on task?
The first thing I noticed in your video was all the plants in your workspace. How do you grow and keep them indoors like that? I've considered growing plants but I'm intimidated and convinced myself plants couldn't grow indoors like that.
This was very encouraging, thanks.
Oh man what a sweet and cozzy video! :D
It seems like my life, I never checked other devs, nor watched many videos but when he said he tries to squeeze in a little dev every day, even if its just one task when he has some free time, I know exactly how that is.
Your routine is very interesting. I work all day as a developer, but games are my passion. But not every day I manage to stay and produce many hours of gamedev. I notice that in the past, when I was younger, I produced better after 10 pm. Today I sleep at this time! Greetings from Brazil!