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[PenguinHat]

Nobody can be a master of everything. Some people are fairly good at most things, and some of them are indie game making wonder people. But what about the rest of us?

How do you cover up the cracks in what you produce? Is there something you just cannot do? What do you do about it?

Personally, I can't do anything involving sound or music. I can't compose anything. At all. What's a developer to do?

For retro/prototype sound effects I use sfxr by DrPetter. It's an automatic sound effect generator basically. It's really cool. I highly recommend it.

I also can't draw. Or do pixel art. I've been doing bits and pieces, practising, but if you want a quick fix for space ships then I can recommend this Shmup Pixel Craft Generator. Sorry I can't find a proper website, but you can download it. Which is the important thing.

So, how do you deal with the things you can't do? Do you just practice at it, or is there a secret thing you use to make everything better?

[AdamAtomic]

Kinda neat way of covering music cracks:

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=2084.0

If you need stuff that is...higher fidelity than midi, I believe you can import midi loops in Garage Band and convert the instruments to better patches?

Also, good way of covering cracks, especially if you've got something almost finished, is to COLLABORATE!  This is useful AND fun

http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=1002.0

[Don Andy]

Graphics are my big weak point. I'm currently trying to compensate it with using really, really minimalistic pixel graphics and I'm also looking into roguelike development, which doesn't require real graphics at all.

[Gainsworthy]

No Fecking way! Those sound effect majigs are outstanding! Procedurally generated genius.

[GP Lackey]

Graphics are my big weak point. I'm currently trying to compensate it with using really, really minimalistic pixel graphics and I'm also looking into roguelike development, which doesn't require real graphics at all.

On a very similar note to Adam's music generation thingy:

http://www.retroremakes.com/forum2/showthread.php?t=10804

I think you could make some pretty swell roguelike graphics with this!

[Aaron G.]

I'm a competent artist but a horrible animator.  I have to come up with all sorts of clever tricks to reduce the number of animations characters require.

I'll always ask myself if there's some way I can program the animation instead, like simple, simulated dresses instead of pants, or enemies that roll instead of walk.  I think every problem has some sort of a creative solution; indie designers just need to be ready to let their personal limitations inform their vision.