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[hydroxy]

By day I am a lowly part time lab assistant. I'm studying to become a lab scientist in my spare time. By night part time game developer but recently I've been too busy to develop much at all. I've dreamt of quitting and going full time indie for a long time.

Thursday 4th December 2014. 3 days ago. I received an email informing me that my game has been selected from a large selection of others to be funded for development by a UK government-backed technology start-up assisting company. I will get £5000, dependent on meeting deadlines and deliverables.

I'm quitting my job when I get everything finalised. I'm still studying to become a lab scientist in my spare time as a backup plan.

My deadline is 16 weeks away (31 March 2015). I am aiming to create a puzzle platformer called Reboot Robot (http://www.blurrygames.com/category/reboot_robot). Its an unfinished project from a few years back but this time I am going to create it and polish it like a gem because it represents the most real chance at full time indie game development that I will undoubtedly have.

The game was originally made in Game Maker. I am starting now with a blank slate. The game needs to be remade in Game Maker: Studio to utilise its export capabilities and its the only engine I am familar with right now.

If I could press the "Save Game" button now I would, but it doesn't exist and I can't reload.

So much depends on me not f*cking this up. This could change my life.

What advice can you give me before starting out? How should I approach this behemoth of an opportunity before me?

[ViktorTheBoar]

How hard/expensive would be for you to pause your education for the next 6 months?

[hydroxy]

It wouldn't cost me anything at all.

Most of the reason I consider keeping it up is to avoid disappointing people who have spent time in helping me so far. I can stop and restart it whenever I want pretty much as long as I finish it within 3 years.

EDIT: I know what you are getting at though. It would benefit me hugely to put it on hold for the mean time as I will not need the extra stress on my time. I will definitely consider this seriously as it may be the best advice I could receive right now.

Any other advice folks?

[ViktorTheBoar]

It wouldn't cost me anything at all.

Let me go through this once again. You came to a forum full of people obsessed with making games to ask if it's a good idea to pause something with no real drawbacks, so you could make an already funded game? Go make a bloody game. Feel free to blame me personally if it all goes wrong

[hydroxy]

I get where you are coming from 100%. I've been waiting and dreaming of something like this to happen for over 4 years now. I believed it never would to be honest.

I will have to put the study on hold to pursue game development full time. I will have to muster the courage to do this. I won't hold you responsible ViktorTheBoar, this is my own choice. You showed me the path, I'm walking down it.

So any other advice guys? Whatever knowledge you want to impart, I'll hear it.

[Derek]

How much does the game have to make in order for you to be able to continue game-making full time?

I would suggest not branding it a "puzzle platformer", as your game looks enough like an action game that you could avoid it. People were sick and tired of 2d indie puzzle platformers a long time ago. I almost feel like the genre doesn't have many fans. There are fans of specific puzzle platformer games, but not very many fans of the genre itself, if that makes sense.

I'd also suggest finding a good sprite artist, for a variety of reasons: making the game look as good as possible, save you time, motivate you, etc. Don't let the search hold up your development, though.

Other than that, just try to be smart about the work and not get hung up on something. The 16 weeks will fly by - you don't want to devote a month to, say, making some little effect look just right. Save that stuff for once the game is nearer to completion.

[hydroxy]

Hi Derek :D I would be dedicated to keep making games as long as I can make enough money for rent, food, etc... to live comfortably after I complete my game. I estimate that making at least £7,500 would give me adequate finance to keep developing full-time.

I understand what you mean about the genre choice.

I have a good friend who is an excellent artist, I have been thinkin about using his talent for art assets later in the game.

I know about your last point from prior experience, perfectionism in game development is kryptonite for development speed.

[Moth]

The game was originally made in Game Maker. I am starting now with a blank slate. The game needs to be remade in Game Maker: Studio to utilise its export capabilities and its the only engine I am familar with right now.

You can actually load your legacy GM project right over into GM:S. There's a few differences but not hard to work through if you just fix the compile errors one by one

[Derek]

Hi Derek :D I would be dedicated to keep making games as long as I can make enough money for rent, food, etc... to live comfortably after I complete my game. I estimate that making at least £7,500 would give me adequate finance to keep developing full-time.

That seems quite reasonable. I think you can do it!

As for artists, you may also want to check out surt and Arachne on the forums. They're both extremely good at doing small tiles. I don't know what their availability is, though. At the very least, that's a good benchmark for quality, since I don't know how good your friend actually is. It's worth paying for good artwork (and music).

Also, start a devlog. That would probably help.

[Fallsburg]

If you are slightly open, surt has a lot of amazing stuff on OpenGameArt.

[rj]

this is gonna be a lil' rambly since it's late and i need to get back to work but:

basically everything everyone said; good advice. you want a good musician and sfx guy ahem hint hint cough as well as good art; all that polish means a -lot- in the long run, especially when it comes to selling your game.

also on that note: have a good logo

weirdly important.

oh, also, also: if you can't edit a good trailer together, hire someone who can! that's also important.

this is all marketing junk and polish, of course, because i'm assuming you're actually making the game (and that it's mostly made already). you need to playtest this fucker. you need to devlog (as derek said) and get people to tell you every single tiny thing wrong with every area of the game.

oh, also: make everything in your game cohere. this is the single biggest thing. every single part of your game needs to feel like it makes sense together. if the reboot robot falls  and the sound of him hitting the ground is just a little bit not right, it throws everything else off. everything needs to feel right for the game to work, in the end, if that makes sense. i wish i could be more specific but you haven't shown super much of the game on your site or anything (again: devlog! devlog!)

oh and uh get a prettier website. and a twitter. and and and and and

you get the idea

devlog devlog devlog

[Udderdude]

Hookers and blow.

This Bad Advice(tm) brought to you by me.

[ViktorTheBoar]

Maybe modify the trailer to trick people into thinking they wouldn't die so often in the game?

[hydroxy]

Sorry for the delay in replying, sleep and work have kept me too busy to get back sooner.

The game was originally made in Game Maker. I am starting now with a blank slate. The game needs to be remade in Game Maker: Studio to utilise its export capabilities and its the only engine I am familar with right now.

You can actually load your legacy GM project right over into GM:S. There's a few differences but not hard to work through if you just fix the compile errors one by one

I have tried that. I even hired someone to help me do it. We worked on it for two weeks and eventually got a version that ran without crashing. The game was buggy beyond belief and totally unplayable. To work out the bugs would take weeks more than recreating the game from scratch and it would be very difficult. It is also likely some game design aspects will change in the coming weeks as I get a more solid plan together with my funding providers.

Hi Derek :D I would be dedicated to keep making games as long as I can make enough money for rent, food, etc... to live comfortably after I complete my game. I estimate that making at least £7,500 would give me adequate finance to keep developing full-time.

That seems quite reasonable. I think you can do it!

As for artists, you may also want to check out surt and Arachne on the forums. They're both extremely good at doing small tiles. I don't know what their availability is, though. At the very least, that's a good benchmark for quality, since I don't know how good your friend actually is. It's worth paying for good artwork (and music).

Also, start a devlog. That would probably help.

If you are slightly open, surt has a lot of amazing stuff on OpenGameArt.

Here is a link to the potential artist I mentioned earlier (https://twitter.com/LightUpWarrior). He's pretty good and I've met him in person at a convention once. Although he's got his own game development work to do so he may not be available to help at the time I need him.

I will check out surt and Arachne, I have no quibs about paying for art and music, that is partially what my provided budget is for and I know the huge effects they can have on the finished product.

Do you mean a devlog on here? I already have a blog on my website btw (http://www.blurrygames.com/). I suppose I could crosspost to cover all bases.

this is gonna be a lil' rambly since it's late and i need to get back to work but:

basically everything everyone said; good advice. you want a good musician and sfx guy ahem hint hint cough as well as good art; all that polish means a -lot- in the long run, especially when it comes to selling your game.

also on that note: have a good logo

weirdly important.

oh, also, also: if you can't edit a good trailer together, hire someone who can! that's also important.

this is all marketing junk and polish, of course, because i'm assuming you're actually making the game (and that it's mostly made already). you need to playtest this fucker. you need to devlog (as derek said) and get people to tell you every single tiny thing wrong with every area of the game.

oh, also: make everything in your game cohere. this is the single biggest thing. every single part of your game needs to feel like it makes sense together. if the reboot robot falls  and the sound of him hitting the ground is just a little bit not right, it throws everything else off. everything needs to feel right for the game to work, in the end, if that makes sense. i wish i could be more specific but you haven't shown super much of the game on your site or anything (again: devlog! devlog!)

oh and uh get a prettier website. and a twitter. and and and and and

you get the idea

devlog devlog devlog

At what point do you think I should bring the artist and music production people on board. In my prior projects I always imagined they could help out when I'm nearly finished but maybe that is not such good thinking.

I will try to get a good logo when I complete everything.

I am decent at editting trailers but I could maybe see if I could hire someone to do it for me if I have enough cash towards the end. I'm decent but yeah hiring someone who is better than decent is a good idea. No need to wear all of the hats myself.

I'll maybe get a web designer in as well at some stage as the site look could definitely be improved.

I have a Twitter already (https://twitter.com/blurry_games)

Maybe modify the trailer to trick people into thinking they wouldn't die so often in the game?

Good advice.

Hookers and blow.

This Bad Advice(tm) brought to you by me.

Not so good advice. Thanks anyway though

[Derek]

Here is a link to the potential artist I mentioned earlier (https://twitter.com/LightUpWarrior). He's pretty good and I've met him in person at a convention once. Although he's got his own game development work to do so he may not be available to help at the time I need him.

I will check out surt and Arachne, I have no quibs about paying for art and music, that is partially what my provided budget is for and I know the huge effects they can have on the finished product.

Yeah, check them out. I'll be honest, your friend's work is only okay. It's not professional quality.

Do you mean a devlog on here? I already have a blog on my website btw (http://www.blurrygames.com/). I suppose I could crosspost to cover all bases.

Trust me, you will get a LOT less feedback on your blog than here, where indie developers are already signed in, reading other logs, and posting.

At what point do you think I should bring the artist and music production people on board. In my prior projects I always imagined they could help out when I'm nearly finished but maybe that is not such good thinking.

My advice is to start looking early but don't let it hold up your development. Basically, ask around casually as you work. Even if you get turned down, as least you will learn something about what artists are like and what they're looking for.

When I've done art for other people's games, it's when I liked the game and there were already a lot of placeholder graphics that I could just replace. It looks like your game is already in that condition, but if it's not, that's the only thing I'd wait for. Much better to ask someone if they want to do art when you have something concrete for them to work off of.

[hydroxy]

Yeah, I'll post a devlog on here as well, it makes great sense when you put it like that.

I'll look for an artist later on in development. I can afford the expense of hiring someone really good, as long as they can justify the cost.

Once I meet my funders and we finalise our plans I will be starting from scratch. My GameMaker project did not transfer gracefully to GameMaker: Studio despite weeks of work on it. I never start over projects but this time it is necessary.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. It has been appreciated.

[hydroxy]

Update:

I went into work a few days ago to give my notice. I talked to my manager but he informed me that if I left now I'd not be allowed back in the future to finish my portfolio. The company only allows current employees to do work on their placement portfolios within the lab. The portfolio is necessary to any work I want to do in this field in the future so I cannot jeopardise it right now (I want some sort of backup plan). Leaving my job is no longer an option.

I had to email my funders and decline their offer before I sign any contract. Feels so bad. Strived to get here for years and now I got to turn it away.

Now my plan is this, keep my job, work on my portfolio like a man possessed for the next 6 months and get my it finished super fast. Save up money during this time. Continue developing my game in my spare time. Once June/July comes I will have a more complete game, I will have a backup plan and I will have some decent money saved up. I'll keep my part time job and develop my game in the rest of the time. I can apply to more funders at this stage and cross my fingers.

This has been maybe in the top 3 hardest decisions of my life so far. I've had to put off my dream in the short term in exchange for a safer shot at the dream in the long term. I know this is the right choice but it still hurts to make it.

[Dibur]

Damn, that's rough.  I'm sorry to hear that, it sounded like you were on a pretty good path.  I can definitely relate to the terrifying feeling of "needing a backup"...
But if you think it's the right thing to do and it will enable you to have a better shot at developing your game in the long run, then more power to you, man. 

[hydroxy]

Damn, that's rough.  I'm sorry to hear that, it sounded like you were on a pretty good path.  I can definitely relate to the terrifying feeling of "needing a backup"...
But if you think it's the right thing to do and it will enable you to have a better shot at developing your game in the long run, then more power to you, man.  

This is me right now.



I've worked for about 3 years to get my portfolio to this stage, so I cannot give it up now. It'll take 6 more months to finish. Its like this is a test of my resolve to finish it, because this would be as close to my ultimate temptation as I could imagine right now.

It will be worth it when I finish tho, because my portfolio gives me a huge boost in my career opportunities and thus better stability in the long run.

I'm not sure funding will come again tho, I called my funders up to decline and asked them about future opportunties and they told me this is the last round of funding and afterwards the programme is shutting down.

I'm sure I will complete this game eventually though thats what is keeping me going. In a way its not really about the money at all.

[s0]

hang in there!