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[Evan Balster]

If your goal is to develop commercial independent games, get basic legal support from somewhere (if it's from a family member that works fantastically) and make sure you have enough money to keep yourself fed.  A little accounting can apparently do wonders, too.

I'm also friends with the Intuition guys and see them frequently, and as I understand the way Mikengreg have recently gone full-time indie was by doing a mix of their own projects and contract work for a long time until they had a game successful enough to support them for a period of several months.  (Solipskier)

If your goal is to get into the industry, develop your portfolio more and go for the low-hanging fruit.  I'll admit I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about this route but there are a lot of resources (gamecareerguide?) available.

If your goal is simply to make the best games possible on your own, it might be best to find other employment and continue to work on your projects in your own free time.  Making a living from your games will inevitably impose large restrictions on your design--lots of game ideas which show potential will be commercially inviable or highly risky.


20 here.  (We've met, at the Des Moines jam if you don't recall.)  Trying to decide whether I should finish out my college degree or get with the game-makin'.   The success of an upcoming commercial project will be a big factor for me.

[Derek]

Feeling rushed is totally natural, but as others have said, the fact that you know what you want to do at age 19 is great and you should feel really fortunate about that. I have friends who are my age (late 20's) who are still unsure of what they even enjoy doing.

At 19 I was not expecting to turn games into a career! I just kept making them for fun and eventually the opportunity came to try and go for it (Aquaria).

[dantheman363]

Feeling rushed is totally natural, but as others have said, the fact that you know what you want to do at age 19 is great and you should feel really fortunate about that. I have friends who are my age (late 20's) who are still unsure of what they even enjoy doing.

At 19 I was not expecting to turn games into a career! I just kept making them for fun and eventually the opportunity came to try and go for it (Aquaria).

Ya, I feel like most people don't know what they want to do with their life until later. I however, decided what I wanted to be once I was in high school (software developer).

[Alberto]

Ya, I feel like most people don't know what they want to do with their life until later.

I think times have changed from when someone would pick a career and do it for the rest of their lives. Nowadays we switch careers regularly and what makes us happy may depend on where we are in life. So while I think a healthy urgency is helpful, feeling rushed isn't necessary if you're doing what you love at the moment.

[OneMoreGo]

Life : I'm 30, I have a crap shop-based job, and I make no money from my game making..
Heart : In the morning, I'm uploading my 200th game to my archive.  I'm super hyped, and I feel fantastic about it.

Parents, friends, family :  
Me : 

I like. 

People shouldn't feel rushed if they are doing something for fun as it can easily kill the fun aspect.

Feeling rushed is for the day job  , programming games is for fun.

[eclectocrat]

I'm going to part ways with most people on this one.

Don't feel rushed, but it's good to feel a sense of urgency.

Your life is in your hands and if you want something then you must work hard, smart and persevere through the strongest storms imaginable. What do you gain from a lukewarm attitude to your tasks? Find what is important to you, caution and foresight in planning, boldness in action (to paraphrase a Chinese [er.. international] proverb). There will NEVER be a "right time" to take a risk with your life. Many people are just risk averse, and if you don't submerge yourself in the trial of fire, you may just end up with a bag of half finished prototypes and regrets.

So, what do you want to accomplish? Be SPECIFIC, have a dream, feel intense emotion about your dream. From your post you sound like you have a good head on your shoulders and can figure out a logical course of action in order to implement your dream. Work out your plan and go over it hundreds of times. Sleep it, eat it, think about it while walking around, waiting for the bus, whatever. Make it concrete, look at it from different angles and tweak it until you are 95% satisfied (never go for 100% or you'll waste time). Then comes the hard part.

WORK REALLY REALLY HARD. Harder than you thought possible. And never, ever, ever, ever ever give up. Succeed through force of will. Use your dream as nitro fuel to get you through the difficult nights. Emotion is a far better catalyst for action than just thought. Get nostalgic, feel intense desire. Succeed with perseverance, diligence, and a undying hope.

These core ingredients should be spiced up with intelligent market research, a profound awareness of the customers you are targeting, some PR and QA knowledge and many things I haven't thought of yet.

RANT SUMMARY: Feel a sense of urgency, throw yourself into your work with all your faculties and talents. Why go halfway?