Become indie dev : How many games should i play? Thread

Hi guys,
Just a quick thought. As i'm teaching myself to become an indie developer how many games should i really be playing, I have a library on steam of about ten and watch a lot more on youtube. Thanks

Hugo

I think that doesn't really matter. If you really want to develop games you will be sitting there and work on it and not end up playing any other game. And playing games is good to get an overall look over some other games and collect a little bit experience, tips and tricks for your game.

Being a game developer will be constituted by what you make and learn not by the amount of games you play and while you take inspiration from other games you don't become a developer by just playing them

I rarely get the time to enjoy a game myself

Edited by: ENP

That was basically my thoughts and i'm a fair way down the dev route now learnt c# and js teaching myself blender and unity as well, just wanted to get some other views, thanks for replies , so quick! I actually work off a mac so getting games for mac that i like to play is slightly more difficult, when do you guys reckon this opening up with unity and unreal becoming a bit more mainstream?

What do you mean with opening up? Unity and UE are already the most used engines for indie devs, aren't they?

hugo1005 wrote: That was basically my thoughts and i'm a fair way down the dev route now learnt c# and js teaching myself blender and unity as well, just wanted to get some other views, thanks for replies , so quick! I actually work off a mac so getting games for mac that i like to play is slightly more difficult, when do you guys reckon this opening up with unity and unreal becoming a bit more mainstream?

Ive seen a general increase in devs publishing games for mac, however until macs become cheaper, easier and generally more aimed at the general consumer, the industry will not be able to make a big move to the platform. Basically, they need to do with the mac, what they did with the iphone.

TKAzA wrote:

hugo1005 wrote: That was basically my thoughts and i'm a fair way down the dev route now learnt c# and js teaching myself blender and unity as well, just wanted to get some other views, thanks for replies , so quick! I actually work off a mac so getting games for mac that i like to play is slightly more difficult, when do you guys reckon this opening up with unity and unreal becoming a bit more mainstream?

Ive seen a general increase in devs publishing games for mac, however until macs become cheaper, easier and generally more aimed at the general consumer, the industry will not be able to make a big move to the platform. Basically, they need to do with the mac, what they did with the iphone.

Can't agree more. The problem with Macs is that their OS is not as popular as Windows.
Even AAA compagnies don't release a lot of games on this platform. As far as I know, Electronic Arts did release a Mac version of the Mass Effect trilogy because of its success. No offense against Macs here, I own a MacBook for professional reasons, and a computer running on Windows for my games.

Anyway, it's really great to see the impressive amount of our members porting their games to Mac.

Edited by: Thib

That's true.
It's hard to tell when this will change, if at all. I wouldn't wait for it and, to be honest, think Linux has better chances. IIRC OSX and OpenGL don't get along as good as they should (considering Apple is part of the Khronos group). On the flip-side, Linux has seen much, MUCH more love since Valve started pushing it. As of writing this, 33 out of 57 games I own run on Linux according to Steam. That's crazy.

I am always happy to see platform independent titles, because Microsoft can go f**k itself with its monopoly on the desktop market. Freedom of choice.

IMO the most important part of an indie dev is to play your OWN game. I see so many games and mods where its blatantly clear the creators have never really played it from start to finish. They checked out features, bug tested some things (or not), and just hoped it all came together as they had planned.

Yet you find very bad balance decisions, values that look just made up on the spot and never tuned, exploits, mechanics that don't work the way the manual/tutorial/etc says they should, mechanics that don't make any sense, mechanics that make beginning items more powerful then endgame items making upgrading pointless or counterproductive, etc.

If your not having fun playing your own game over and over, other people are not going to have fun playing it once. You will find an amazing number of bugs and things to balance by playing the game properly like a player would, without any dev cheats, even if it means grinding for hours and hours.

Edited by: BlackMoons

Totally agree with BlackMoons. Too many devs just release their games without looking at it once and every player finds a massive number of bugs.

I began playing video games when I was 12. I have played over 200 games in my life. PC, SEGA, Nintendo, PS, arcade, wrist watch games, flash, and game apps. I am now 38. In all of those years I didn't learn nearly anything about how games work internally compared to my first year making own video games.

You can't expect to learn automotive mechanics by driving an automobile. Just to be an amateur: you have to get under the hood and take it apart and then put it back together. But, even then you wouldn't be qualified to make a new car from scratch.
To be a professional: takes years of guided learning with several school books and professors, tinkering with different automotive designs, playing with fundamentals of automotive mechanics, and practicing the process or phases of automotive assembly.

All of this boils down to years of a) trial and error and b) studying what works from 'under the hood'.

And the same is true with video games.

When it comes to learning what works and gaining perspective on what looks good or what looks realistic, the value of playing games made by other people does not come anywhere near to the value of time spent doing trial and error and studying.
You have to play with the fundamentals of video game mechanics, tinker with different game play designs, views, options, and finally practice the process or phases of video game development.

Thinking that 'because you have played 200 games and know so much about them' is why there are so many wannabe video game devs that never make one decent game. So many young hopefuls (in every walk of life), settle for the cheap rewards of instant gratification. And when that shallow philosophy fails to bring the rewards they desired, they quit after one failure.

Why?

Because, after the fact, they realized that proper learning was required and that investment (years spent learning) wasn't worth their time.

Now, I am sure you weren't looking for a philosophy lecture and is probably very hard to hear (or read) these are the facts of life.

Most often it's not a lack of skill (that can be learned with time), but a lack of focus, determination, and commitment to a goal that dictates why so many fail at their dreams and goals.

Edited by: retro_epiphany

Yeah I see your point silicon, thanks for all the great feedback everyone !
Hugo1005

2 thoughts:

1. Play games related to what sort of game you're making. See how other people do it, and what you think works/doesn't work. always helps.

2. Play as many different genres as possible. It's a great way (I think) to get unique ideas for adding to your game (ie: taking ideas from one genre and transplanting them into another, but it obviously has to work, you can't force it )

Another good bit of advice I read - Raph Koster said that he only ever plays about the first 20 mins of a game, because once you get this far in you get a good idea of what the game's about, how it's been designed, etc. I think he's right. Although you don't experience everything the game has to offer, I think it holds true for most games - you'll get a good taste of the gameplay/design they're going for.

Playing more games (if that is what you are implying) will not make you better game developer. And game develop can take on various roles. Maybe you should be more specific what areas of game development are interested.

But in general, you just need to understand how video games are being developed, and what you should be doing.
Its sum of ingredients, and you do not get those ingredients by playing more games. You can just use them for inspiration and reference.

Its enough just to keep up with video games in general. So, like, be aware of what games there are, maybe try few here and there. Mostly those that you want to take as inspiration, etc.

Once more, being game developer requires at least one of several skills that are required to make video games, such as programming, modeling, animating, texturing, level design, audio, VFX, gameplay design, story writting...

Also keep in mind that video game is an activity, in which you DO stuff. Meaning that game needs gameplay mechanics, and game(play) designer role is responsible for that (not story writter as many might start their realization).

Edited by: tigerija

Q: How many games should i play?
A: Playing games from the perspective of a gamer isn't enough. You should select a game similar to that which you're trying to build and write some case studies about them from the perspective of a game developer.

Phoenix1747 wrote: I think that doesn't really matter. If you really want to develop games you will be sitting there and work on it and not end up playing any other game. And playing games is good to get an overall look over some other games and collect a little bit experience, tips and tricks for your game.

I have to agree with you on that. If he wants to became an indie dev he/she has to know what kind does that user want to create? FPS? RTS? RPGS?

Oh and some experience in art related stuff wouldn't hurt.

Edited by: GamerWolfOps

Thanks again guys, I see your point about playing the type of games you want to create, some interesting suggestions as well, i reckon i'll be working on a turn based strategy game for a while now, developing some procedural tile generation system to help with map generation. Working quite well actually. Some images of it at work here: