5 Solo Game Dev Mistakes You MUST Avoid (My Experience!)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มิ.ย. 2024
- ► Source thumbnail art by: Titapa Khemakavat (Sa-Dui), www.artstation.com/artwork/YzAk6
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► What I believe: • What I Believe
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:34 Mistake 1: You Don't Have To Create Everything Yourself!
02:22 Full Time Game Dev Ad
03:09 Mistake 2: You Self Fund
04:11 Mistake 3: Story Comes Second
06:18 Mistake 4: You're In A Bubble
08:03 Mistake 5: Gameplay Length Shouldn't Be Your Goal
09:28 The Final Score - เกม
Guys, let's thank Levi for doing voice acting for this video, and writing a compelling critique of my game!
► Source thumbnail art by: Titapa Khemakavat (Sa-Dui), www.artstation.com/artwork/YzAk6
► Follow Levi: twitter.com/_pbnjer
► Learn how to become a full time game dev, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-how-to-make-six-figures
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► Make your game instantly beautiful with my free workbook: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-instant-beauty-color-workbook
► Get my 2D game kit, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-2D-game-kit
► Join my 2D character workshop, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-2d-character-art-workshop
► Wishlist Twisted Tower: store.steampowered.com/app/1575990/Twisted_Tower/
► Learn how to make money as a TH-camr: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-indie-game-income-workshop
Kinda scummy, dude. I noticed you doubled the price when you did your "50% off sale". I bought in September and paid $530 when it was not "on sale".
Stuff like that makes me question whether the course was truthful as well.
I am myself a lead unity game developer in a small gaming company and a passionate indie game developer who is working on his own game idea. Whenever I come to this channel and watch his insightful videos I always feel like my elder brother is teaching me about life from his own experiences. Love it so much!
Yes it's the same for me!
Honestly, a 5/10 for a first game and it was solo?! That's amazing. 😀
And it WON AWARDS. That's mad bragging rights.
i got 7/10 for simple casual game, pretty cool eh 😅
Totally disagree with mistake 3 and the story part. The 1# rule in game design, that there are drives during gameplay called primary and secondary drives. Primary drive is the game needs to play nicely, controlls need to be good and the gameplay loop needs to be captivating. Secondary drives can be anything, from music to story and so on. That is why the old games like Asteroids and Space Invaders worked so well and they feel good to play even today. Because of their primary drives.
That is why we prototype games. Bad game mechanics need to be revealed during prototyping.
This is also why it saddens me when some (admittedly skilled) artist-background devs say they need to sink hours into making their game look "right" before even prototyping
I would say that your points are like the legs to a table, and the story is like the actual tabletop.
The legs (function) are important and need to do their job or else the table is useless, and the tabletop(aesthetic) is what determines how valuable it is.
That is why, in my opinion, the Honda Civic is so popular. It does its job damn well and it looks pretty good too.
@@revimfadli4666The main reason most indie devs focus in the aesthetics first is to gather audience right off the bat
@@ramiru3264 good point, though that aesthetic showcase can go in parallel with placeholders gameplay testing
What an absolutely fantastic video - I don't know what it is but those first 4 minutes just hooked me right in! xD
hahaha thanks for editing bud!
Wonderful editing, bro!!! So proud of you
I am around one year into creating my own 2D sci-fi indie game. Your advice is invaluable in reducing the time and effort that goes into creating all the sprites myself and allows me to focus more on the story and gameplay. Thank you for the genuine advice coming from experience!
Just putting this here do NOT asset flip, that is an *entirely* different thing than using assets to your advantage:)
Please explain to me the difference
buying assets to help with game dev is okay, solo devs, small teams, hell even huge company's all buy assets to help make games. Scammers and some shity company's buy all of the assets or most in their "game" to quickly slap together a something playable just to make a quick buck. @@MetalsirenIXI
@@MetalsirenIXI
Using Assets: Use assets to massively speed up the development, but choosing them in a way that they match and look good together, they have a similar "style/feeling" to them. For example, don't use ultra realistic weapons in a game that's otherwise low quality, it will look "amateurish".
Asset Flipping: Take a bunch of assets, slap them in a project without thinking how they work together or if they have same style at all, and boom try to make some money quickly
Best video you have made so far, you’re skills as a video essayist are getting better with every upload! Keep up the awesome work!
As always Thomas! Great Advice and tips for us aspiring game devs.
Thanks for the video. Really helpful and deep in your explainations, thoughts and emotions.
i am starting my solo dev journey. i have been watching your video for month to know how to do it. i was working full time as 3d artist in game dev studio. but now i dont know where to start as 3d modeler i started working on my assets but still stuck with the idea on how to start it. btw i learned alot from ur video keep up the work Peace. 🥰
I countered mistake number 4 by experimenting with platforming elements as early as possible. As well as taking feedback from the first 3 games I"d ever made. And that helped me improve my level design. That and by playing and observing all the games I loved like Rayman Legends and Super Meat Boy.
Great video! And wonderful editing Andrzej Gieralt!
As someone who's not artisticly inclined, #1 was very helpful to hear.
Hey thomas, I just want to thank you, I'm a fan of the channel , I'm from Mexico.
You just helped me figure out a strategy for using Unity store assets for my VR indie game, which is going to save me months or maybe even years of work, , great job! , keep up the good work.
This was a great video! I'm about to embark on a solo game in unreal. I have a good idea of what i want its just how and what to incorporate 😊 I'm excited
Yeah, just by looking at your work and Father trailer I started to realize the mportance of atmosphere, and ou say story, yes, I can see that too. Great lesson, I'll make sure to apply it.
Hello. I randomly came upon your video. I like the way you present your experience, and the seriousness you put in the final result. I m on the edge of publishing my first videoGame, I got rejected by Apple for non consumable restore purchase problems. But the overall experience made me reconsider Game dev as an activity. I m doing this game for my kids, I ve been doing prototypes for them since 10 years, never released anything than jams or newsgrounds games, since money was never in the balance. I come from a very far away bkground in game dev, I started on amiga, assembly and stuff like that when I was a child. Worked both as a coder and as graphist my entire life. The only purpose of the indie game dev was, to me, just to have fun creating stuff. But when I promised the kids to release the game so their friends could be impressed, it all started to shift. All the details matter and everything starts to be a problem. Releasing an APP is way easier. Because it relies only on functionalites and ergonomics. Doing games is far more challenging, finished ones. You have so many ways during the process to loose the original soul of it. I ve also discovered that even if you know how to code, a final game requires, no matter the scale, a strong mindset in getting boring stuff organized. Anyways, I m starting to get old, in my 40s, I have decided to teach the kids how to code, and how to 3d (drawing is less necessary nowadays, and they suck at learning it). Because I feel that if I start to think about gameDev as a source of income, I might just loose the passion. While the passion is still here, better to give it to the next generation. Peace, and I m happy for your success.
No matter what I keep coming back to this video every now and then. It is really helpful and motivating
Man you inspire us to be game developers, and I love it!
I know well the struggle that comes from solo developing. I am developing a solo "masterpiece" that I know I am in WAAAAY over my head but I have spent the last 2 years making assets that I can't just throw away. I am currently stuck in a conundrum of sorts where I want to stick to the blockier style I began with and make that THE style but keep reiterating and upping the look just because of the perceived feel from a more proportional shaped character. Now I am working on 2 versions of my game because both routes are viable but its hard to choose just one and finish it... THAT is the downfall of solo devs because working in a bubble prevents you from seeing outside of yourself and having no one who even understands game dev to bounce things off of. Thats where communities come in but they can only get you so far and there is the risk they lead you on a whole 'nother path. End point: Game dev is HARD XD
Same here. I wouldn't call mine master piece but it's something I wanted to make for a long time and I'm not really interested in other games in the long term.
Also struggling with choosing between 2 directions, but i decided to prototype out both and then go with the one I think have more potential and the one I think is more fun/engaging to play. There is always the option to do some market research, seek out similar games to your specific gameplay and style, how they were doing. And also trying to get feedback from people that you think are in the target audience group. One problem is that by the time the game is finished, the landscape might have changed (genre being more saturated for example). And like you said, in my opinion, people might know what they want or don't wanna play when they see it, but most players are not good at game design, and make suggestions they think are fun or improve the product, but which might not work. Personally I will probably stay true to my vision, but when i get feedback I'll consider it and see if it fits the game direction and how I can integrate it (or not).
@@fmproductions913 I forgot all about this post lol
Nonetheless I appreciate your viewpoint on this matter. I am still working on my project but have chosen to go a blocky-ish style and consistently have to smack myself to keep from going beyond that like I'd like. The ease of iteration and the creation of new gear is much more important than making something that I think looks good. For now...
Anyway, having the viewpoint of others is always good but like you said, it is better to see how it aligns to YOUR vision versus changing direction at every drop of a hat, so to speak, by people who mean well but have no idea how a game is actually made. Thank you for your reply and I hope that your project bears much fruit as we devs plow away at our games hoping that the market will be ready when we are :)
Good fortune to you.
@@kazekageno7711 Thanks, I wish you all the best for your project as well!
Thanks for video, Thomas.
Very interesting subjects to talk 😁
I mean it's very useful tips for beginners like me
Great video Thomas!
Hey Thomas, I mostly struggle with audio effects and music in my game. Would it be an idea for you to make a dedicated video about this topic? I think audio isn’t often been looked at by many people, on how to make great sound effects and music. Would love to see a video from you about it!
I thought undertale had great gameplay too, a bullet hell light style with different play modes. However, for some reason, Deltarune felt like it took effort for me to complete the first chapter. It felt more linear, the characters were still charming though. I can't quite make out what has changed with the game or with me between playing the 2 though.
And I completely agree to the advice to purchase third party assets (or even outsource stuff) that is your weakness or you don't feel like spending the time learning. That can greatly reduce development time.
good to know im doing much things right story wise. this was just an abstract daydream but im srsly working on it now
hey man have you ever released a browser game on like armor games (the web that host browser games. not the publisher itself)? if so how was the experience?
Thank you so much !!
But opposite of "mistake" #3 - gameplay over story will easily resolve mistake #5, good feeling gameplay with some repelayability will be much more effective to make game longer without boring sections and hard work on longer story elements
I really love your videos, like they inspire me to become a solo indie game dev
I request you to like make a video on how highschool self taught kids jump into this area
Thanks!!
Thank you
It would be pretty cool if there was a service that could give you the honest brutal feedback during development time, before launching, so you can make those changes accordingly. It seems like anytime you ask for feedback, nobody wants to be brutal.
Currently a college student and I’m sick of it I can not focus on school the only think I think about is solo development if there wasn’t so much pressure from my parents I wouldn’t be in college I’d be making games. I’m driven to learn but just about computer science and graphic design. There is nothing I want more than this.
Thanks for sharing this story Thomas! Gives us some sort of insight about what to expect when Articles start appearing for your game.
To Mr. Brush or any current students of Full Time Game Dev: As someone who is considering becoming an indie game developer, I am thinking about getting said program, but I feel that I am not great at coming up with game ideas and thus that if that is the case, then everything I learn from the program will be fruitless. What are your thoughts on that? Thank you for your time and input.
Like everything, nothing comes easy at first. If you want to become a game designer. Maybe think of an idea each day. Just a simple one.
And a lot of games are a combination of popular games. For example, Elden Ring = Dark Souls + Skyrim, Apex Legends = Titan fall + PUBG.
You will struggle at first, but it will get easier if you do it more. If you don't mind struggling in the beginning then GO FOR IT!
Remember, you just need one good idea to make a game.
@@TheRealCzechmark Thanks for the input. After reading your response, I decided to become a student of the Full Time Game Dev course!
@@seankim8908 sounds great ^^
The ideas come when you give them space to land. Put your phone in another room and just hang out with a pen & paper, a minute or two into boredom you'll start getting ideas for your games.
@@CubesAndPortals that's actually a good idea
Better then day dreaming on the bed
Huh. Thanks for the information!
What's game with shordy who was roller blading and blickin'?
5/10 is a mediocre game. It doesn't mean it's not worth playing it just means it doesn't do anything particularly good or bad.
I liked Pinstripe. But if I were to put a number on it, I would probably have reviewed it at a 6/10 because of the basic gameplay.
Bonus tip - Always use a spell checker, we all make mistakes. I put out a free game recently with shocking spelling that was the center of the first patch.
And also "Mistake #5" Title card has a typo.
how do I avoid letting a game look like obvious assets flips when I do use asset flip?
Nice video as always man! I have an Idea..not actually but what if you just give a lucky subscriber your fulltimegamedev course? I mean you deserve more than this but there are many developers who can't afford buying this course(like me) so yeah...what do you say?
Hey Thomas, I'd love to hear more about your experience with Undertale!
Hey all, I’m looking to becoming a full-time game dev student, but I am not able to start right away due to current circumstances. If I were to purchase now, would I be able to start at any time I am able to?
I have a 3d dream game I wanna make but I don't know how without a team, all I do is fantasize, what should I do?
Thank you, sir Thomas Brush,
I'm really hoping to get a bunch of press, but also really hoping that Super Space Club doesn't get any 5s or lower haha. I'm fine with 3/5 and up 😅
Yes! "Story" by Robert McKee absolutely nuts!
thomas hey !! i need your help buddy, i cant draw 2d big rocks... the circle small rocks dont scale well...and all of mine look like dinosaur eggs :(
While a lot of my favorite video games were appealling to me thanks to their narrative quality, I highly disagree with your third point. For me, pushing the gameplay to a second plan and considering it to be less important than the inbetween cutscenes makes me question the point of developing a game in the first place. The most important thing that movies, animations or comics books don't have is the interactive experience that a video game can offer, and it revolves around the idea of the gameplay (the game The Path for exemple focuses on a "non-gameplay", such any walking simulator which are interesting to question what is a gameplay or not). If you only focus on the narrative becomes a "brand" you want to expend and I think we're missing what makes video games unique in the first place.
Where can i find free c# codes. I just started programming myself and with my first game but there are some difficulties?
How do we find this list of 100 game publishers?
Thanks for your videos!
I've got a question and I'm probably being paranoid here... but how do you know that publishers wouldn't just steal your idea?
the idea doesn't matter. a game is 95% execution, because it's usually an iterative process (it changes during development). if somebody steals your whole design document with story, planned assets, art direction and unique mechanics then you might be able to do something about it, legally.
Hey Thomas, there's another video of yours that has exact same name with this one. Is it ok?
I am currently developing a endless runnner game so should I publish it by myself or seek a publisher to publisher please help me I can't decide because I am not confident if the publisher would like it or not. Tell me opinion guys.
hey bro i have a doubt in my code i want to freeze my gameobjects position in y direction by script and as much i know i had written correct code but it is not running can u help me with what i have done wrong
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
public class groundCheckCollider : MonoBehaviour
{
public Rigidbody2D rb;
void Update()
{
}
private void onTriggerExit2D(Collider2D col)
{
if (col.tag == "GroundTiles")
{
rb.constraints = RigidbodyConstraints2D.FreezePositionY;
}
}
I love your content..I wanna do what your doing but with unreal..I have a few game ideas I need to bring to life...
are there any good free game making apps for android because i want to make mobile games?
7:37 wait is this true for dark souls and sekiro?
100% agreed, hated the gameplay of undertale but the story kept me going!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Two days ago I hit a brick wall since I realised I had made a mechanic that I was very used but now I realise it is too clumsy since I had a friend test it.
It is quite hard to fix it completely but what I can do is probably minimize the amount that mechanic is needed in the game and really focus double as much in the working mechanics... and especially story!
❤🔥🔥🔥
Also. Punishment should be associated and counterbalanced with a reward that player gets when he avoid the punishment? e.g. Powerful pickup on the other end of this difficlut deadly jump. Punishment: death. Reward: the pickup.
And then the best punishment is when player knows about the reward on the other end of it. Then instead of frustration "ah.. wtf is this?" it is: "darn, now one more time!"
Actually good "5 mistakes" video for once (youtube is full of clickbaity uninformative ones). Really good one.
My heroes are only heroes through chance(example Iris is a morally heroic character whos actions border on evil(unlike a lot of games her killing people is actually acknowledged as a bad thing even if the people she kills are horrible people) for the greater good as her primary villain isnt some faceless entity or even a company but a cult filed with unique characters who's evil primarily stems from there human greed (ironically the god they worship is actually good and tells them that being evil the way they are will inevitably lead to there destruction
Undertales game play is crazy good
@Thomas Brush what about mobile games
I know I personally buy games that have low scores because I've found that games journalists usually have the opposite taste as me lol.
I highly question some 5 dollar assets could replace years of personal grind if you are at least a somewhat competent artist.
How much revenue did your game make? Steam has only 17 reviews to date.
The advice here is valuable; however, proofread your captions dude 💀there were missing spaces or letters in multiple of the quotes that appeared throughout the video
"All press is good press" said Carlos Saúl Menem once.
Great video yet again but seriously, ya gotta check the spelling and grammar on the copy… a little distracting considering how well the video is edited and shot.
I have a problem, i don't have friends who would give feedback on what i create.
Ok I saw Polygon there... Why?
Tell Mistake 5 to every open world game out there
To the point you made about story over gameplay I think it can go both ways there’s games with no story but have great gameplay take the finals for example amazing gameplay 0 story
Soo… I must practice making good games before making the five games I want to make? Huh.
I enjoy your content but I heavily disagree with the majority of this but you've released far bigger games than me so I suppose I'll keep it in mind
I don't agree with your goals for game dev as a way of making money but I do agree with the dislike of undertales game play. It was dull
I wonder if it might be a good buisiness model to produce buggy and glitchy games on purpose (with some crazy physics or something) just because it might be entertaining on a stream...
goat simulator has already been done. as well as countless clones in that same direction.
@@PaulSpades yeah, but there are countless types of bugs and mechanics with weird behaviour you can come up with... I think you do not see the vein of gold here :)
yeah, I do disagree with that one point about the story, you are right about it but being ok with mediocre gameplay sounds like the wrong mentality, don't get me wrong, I think is fair to forgive a game with mediocre gameplay when everything else is that good, but if the focus of your game is the story it would better to make the game flow smoothly trough the story without poor gameplay in between as obstacle.
It is a good advice nevertheless, is just that part of settle for mediocrity and calling mistake to give the story a secondary role what felt a little missguided, if you are making a game the game itself should be the main focus, nothing wrong with trying to make a living out of it, but just as your next advice points out, replayability makes for good value, and good gameplay makes for replayability. At the end of the day having realistic expectatives of your games is healty, but lowering them to the point of being pesimistic can harm your creativity, which is very needed in these days.
Anyways, thanks for the video, it was very helpful, your experiences are giving me a lot of valuable feedback and I'll come back for more, keep it up man
Did you get someone on fiverr to read that article?
Might have to disagree with that third point. If you as a developer are going to duct tape a story (using the most overdone and limiting narrative structure) over a game to justify bad gameplay, you probably shouldn’t be developing. You should be writing.
Good, fun gameplay isn’t hard to achieve. Look at Super Mario Bros. Look at Minecraft. Look at chess, even.
A good story, however, is.
I just feel like that bit of advice is backwards.
Oh look, a year and a half late. Still responding because of the algorithm. Very much disagree with #3, and as expected your Undertale example, but maybe not for the reason you expected. How story and gameplay combine depends completely on the game itself. Yes, I've played a handful of games that have kept me on board when the gameplay didn't provide enough encouragement by itself, but I've poured hundreds and hundreds of hours into factory-building games that have little to no story, or racing games that simply want you to "go fast," or fighting games that...well, you get the idea. Saying "Story" or "Gameplay" is key as a catch-all undermines the versatility of video games as a medium.
In regards to Undertale, I agree that the writing is fantastic, but the "story" only really comes into focus at the end, and is a means for an ending. What made Undertale so influential were the Characters. You might call it semantics, throwing them under Story, but I think the distinction is important since you're already making a pretty big generalization (that Story makes up for lackluster gameplay). Characters that seem very flat at first glance, but in each case make you want to keep getting to know them. Characters that keep giving amazing lines one after another, but never give you all the answers you want. Really, Undertale's a game that's pretty mediocre on most fronts. The graphics are bad, the story is simple most of the way through, the interesting gameplay premise "Bullet-Hell RPG" is...adequately done by making each character unique in battle, but doesn't really come into its own until Deltarune. Even its Game Maker programming is horrendous. But the interesting characters (backed by a world-class soundtrack) do the heavy lifting, so much so making Undertale one of the most influential indie games of all time.
Watching in school gang👇
Dropped out, alone, trying to prove to nagging parents it's possible gang??😓
@@Sheriff_Ahmed_ why drop out lol you just shot your job opportunities to fund your game in the foot.
@@zaidlacksalastname4905 actually got kicked out for poor performance. I was too focused on learning how to code myself, since the uni I went didn't teach the practical aspects.
I choose computer science because I thought they would teach me how to code....not a single class covered code 😭......for 4 yrs
Watching inside school, or watching before graduation?
@@Sheriff_Ahmed_ Bruh how did they not teach coding in cs and not even a single year? where do u live man that's problematic, I heard they don't do it properly but never touched damn
and now Levi does NOT have a job
because he's a so-called "games journalist" LOL
No one listens to "games journalists" anymore.
First, ig
undertale's gameplay isn't for everyone. that's why you found it boring.
The second example for Mistake 3 doesn't fit IMHO. Because Undertale has a nonsensical story reliant on contrivances, AND lackluster gameplay.
Game feel is the holy grail
Needa play more games your self to understand what actually feels good 🎉
Keeps you in touch