So this is a little post-mortem/self-promo for my first published game.
After learning game development and programming on my own I released my first game on the Play Store:
Super Puzzle RPG:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riskofTayne.PuzzleRPG How I Got Started I had always been interested in making games, but it wasn't until the Unreal Engine became free for everyone that I actually thought about giving it a try. After some time experimenting with 3D games, I quickly realised I was in over my head. 3D takes a lot more effort than I expected. Then gamemaker got released on Humble Bundle. I knew nothing about the engine but for $15 bucks I decided it was worth a shot. I instantly knew it was perfect for small scale games made by beginners and spent all my free time making little mini-games. I made the decision to pursue it more seriously, having completed a gamejam (GM48) a year ago, followed by publishing my first game!
What I Learned Motivation VS. Work Ethic: Motivation is a double-edged sword. If you rely completely on being motivated you won't get much done. But if you just go through the motions from start-to-end, that will breathe into the piece of work. There is a point though, when designing something where motivation wanes and work ethic has to take over and finish those ideas you were so motivated to create. The final product feels like a huge difference to its creator from what we originally planned. But really I think its not. Most of the core of our original design is alive in the end result, and so just going through the motions when creating something is something I avoid.
Ideas: I used to think my ideas were all completely original. I had a notebook and wrote out long-winded design plans that I had NO idea how to actually make. One of my favourite ideas was a twist on Dhalism from Street Fighter's long-limb mechanic. Where all characters had stretchy arms in a boxing game. Then
Arms https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_(video_game) happened.. As it turns out, almost all of my ideas had been either done or would be after they sat in my notebook for ages.
Scale: This is one of those things everyone has been told to death and usually we say "yeah, yeah, I know"; however, when our Science-Based MMO RPG turns out to take longer than 2 weeks we start to understand the importance of scale. A number of factors go into scale, including team size, free time (no you can't just work twice as hard on that long weekend), and experience. That last one is huge. Everything you don't know, you have to learn, practice, and get to a competent level. Does your game have a map? Are you making the art for your game or buying assets? Do the assets match everything else? Sound effects, music, background art, character art, animations, design: it all adds up. Also bugs.
Game engines: Deciding on what game engine to use is not really black and white. Every engine has its own community. Some more vocal than others. The most important thing is to just make a choice and start working with the tools asap. There are pros and cons to every engine and the weighting of whats most important is up for you to figure out. Gamemaker is a great engine for beginners as you can jump in and make something after a few tutorials. Knowing another similar language to GML is huge help though and read the documentation.
Game value: Knowing whether or not a project is worth continuing I think comes down to experience. You need to calculate how much you stand to gain and be realistic with how long finishing the game will take. Your first game will suck. So keep the scale small and try not to dwell on the quality, but rather how much you're learning and how you can incorporate that into your next project.
Ads: The necessary evil of games on mobile. I don't have too much to say as I'm new to advertisements. Video rewards are the new big thing: give the user control over how much ads they watch and reward them. Banner ads seem to be a thing of the past. Nobody likes them, very invasive, and they don't generate much revenue. Interstitial ads are the happy medium.
IAPs: I have not ended up using IAPs, as google play requires a business address. For indies, this means giving out their personal address or renting out a PO box.
Release: Game development follows the process alpha (still adding game-changing features)->beta (the core game is mostly finished, but its not polished yet)->production (polished and feature finished). Without experience, the lines between these stages are blurred. Add onto that the over-zealous plans of making a AAA quality, feature-rich game and you will never reach production. Sacrificing features is the most important part of finishing a game. I cut more than I can remember. Navigable map, a town to find missions, dialogue trees, procedural generated tilesets, etc. At some point you have to stop protecting your ego and just put your content out there for the world to judge. Yes people will be honest and yes they will notice **everything** you notice ten times over.
What's Next Right now I'm finishing up on learning the basics of C# and working with monogame. This is my first strongly typed language. I'm not planning on releasing games on monogame, but rather using it as a stepping stone towards Unity. I would like to release a game on PC. My favourite genre is horror. Just like movies its a genre that takes skill to get right and I want to be in the right place experience wise before I make an attempt. If you're interested in following my progress follow me on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/riskofTayne 
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