This thread is mainly to find out if there are any other dev's out there gunning it all alone. Are there any setbacks and pitfalls you currently face, is your current project Ouya bound, and what are you hoping for, as far as expectation goes. Like I always say, no pressure, no game :)
I'm a fellow solo-dev. This is my third attempt at a game, the first was the original attempt at my current project. I've gotten into a work habit for my current game, working anywhere from 6 to 10 hours every day, 7 days a week. The hardest part was forming that habit. My past two games were worked on when I had the time and eventually I had an excuse for everything. But now that it is habitual, development has been SOOO much easier. This time I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. Trying to find time for my family, the game, school, and free time was difficult, but I think I've finally found that balance. I've started by waking up at at least 4am every morning and working to about 8-9 when my 18 month old wakes up, then I work for 2-4 more hours when he takes a nap and log more time whenever I can.
Something that has definitely helped is keeping a work log of what I've accomplished and how long I've worked. I found this program that I just start whenever I start working and then stop and it gives me a thing to fill out with the tasks I accomplished. It helps solidify my work and allow me to look back at how much time I've invested in this project. It keeps track of daily duration as well as month to month duration. I think this has been the secret to not only creating a habit, but also making me get this urge to log more hours... like grinding for levels sorta-feeling. I highly recommend people take a look at it: http://portfolio.jumpnslide.net/project/workcounter
For the rest of your questions... yes my project is OUYA bound. I think the OUYA is a great chance for new devs to get some exposure. A smaller market with less competition and a chance to catch the console's "honeymoon" phase. I'm excited to hopefully be part of launch or at least close to it.
What I'm hoping for my game is that it creates a sort of appreciation for the type of players it caters towards. My goal is more to create a solid base of fans rather than making a game that is meant to be widespread. Fan loyalty is a powerful thing. I've always been part of smaller gamer communities that were dedicated to the games they played. These loyal hardcore players are what I want... that kind of devotion to a concept is a beautiful thing. So while my game isn't shooting to be popular, I hope that it earns the loyalty of those who like games like Chess, MTG, table tops, tactical RPGs, and the concept of maximizing damage output with proper threat management in MMO raids. I want to touch the hearts of those who love to outwit and outplay their opponents with strategy.
Aggro Tactics - A tactical strategy virtual board game built with Unity3D 4.0, designed around the concept of Threat/Aggro inspired by the mechanics of chess and a customizable party like in table top games.
Yup, solo from the beginning. Off and on for 3 years, but full-time the past 6 months or so. Ouya was something of a motivator for me, so I appreciate the challenge of the release date. Looking good for now, but I'm worrying the timeline is creeping too close for Art to be finished in time. We'll see :)
Solo here - I only really started this project on October when I left my old game-dev job to do it full time, so the biggest pitfall for me is the deadline...well, that and figuring out a way to pay my bills :). As a programmer, I originally thought my biggest lack as a solo dev would be for an artist, but now that I'm well into it, I've realized that a good level designer would be life saving. Sure, it'd be nice to have better art tuned for my game, but that's just window dressing - gameplay is king, and it's quite difficult and takes a lot of time, iteration, and testing to lay out enemies in a level so as to be fun, challenging, and not overwhelming, as well as designing those enemy AI's.
Mainly working to create games that are for teaching the Cherokee Language and Syllabary as part of indigenous language preservation.
I have two games on Android market under my name for that already, this is my first attempt at a "gamepad" oriented teaching game.
Still at the planning stages for the game.
Work a day job programming GWT/RPC, PHP, MySQL, Sphinx, Foxpro, etc, this night-time gig doesn't exactly make me lots of money, very small target audience.
Ex System Administrator as of about two years ago...
I am flying solo as well. I am also trying to rely only on what I can write. I am not against engines but for this project I am trying to learn as much as possible, while keeping it simple (Simple 2D graphics, using the bare minimum OpenGL ES 2.0 required setup). I dont have any game industry experience yet. I have more of a system engineering/support/web industry experience. I have done some programming mostly on my own free time. Anyway, it's been great reading the post of every developers!
Same here, I am in almost the same situation as GodlyPerfection, my son is is just 16 months old.
The differece being that I am still a student, I finished 2 games(2D platformer, 2D race game) and alot of experimental games.
The thing I am struggling with at the moment is time, I am going to do an internship in a month at a local gamecompany, I also have to watch my health and sport 3 times a week or so.
How I keep it togethe is by project management, I document alot of things and when I feel it is written down nicely I start creating.
I'm currently developing Politico on my own, the only thing i've contracted out is the music. I think the biggest issue for me is probably getting things done, there are some days where i'm extremely productive, yet other days I get nothing done. Money of course is an issue, I can't afford to hire anyone else to do the graphics or cover art so that's all on me.
I am also a solo dev. using AIR and some cloud services. First thing going to try to setup the ANE for the controller so dont have to use keyboard bindings.
"I'm a fellow solo-dev. This is my third attempt at a game, "
This sounds very familiar :P
I was very fortunate that my parents provided financial security for me in the form of my own house, so that after university, I've had the freedom to go backpacking, and after that, the freedom to pursue a career as an indie games developer.
That didn't work out so well. Working solo, I don't have an artist to work with, I don't have anyone to check my code or help me out when I'm stuck going round in circles. Without working in the games industry for an established studio, I don't have the connections and friends within the industry (especially when I was first starting out), that I really need to find people to work/collaborate with
I made some classic noobie mistake. Failure to design properly, and picking my dream game (which it turns out was far too large in scope).
I'm actually really excited by Ouya, because it gives me a fresh start to apply the lessons learned from the previous failed project. Deadlines that aren't set by me and that I can't just change as they start looming too large. The chance to get in on the ground floor and not just be a drop in the android ocean also represents a real opportunity for me
Solo dev here, I have people I consult for art and design but I do all the work myself. Worst thing about being a solo dev is if you don't have any friends or colleagues who know how to program or develop you have to rely on forums, and tutorials or books. I've just started getting into Android development, I've been an iOS guy for years, and starting to learn a new language and an sdk is a big pain in the butt. There have been times where I have spent literally the whole day trying to figure out an error that was simply being thrown at me because my Java sdk wasn't up to date, but of course it won't ever tell you that's why. I find with iOS I've been spoiled, it's an all in one package with almost no setting up/terminal involved, where as android (I find, but correct me if I am wrong) there is no straight out of the box, all in one sdk like Xcode. Not like it really matters because I've been using Unity for my latest projects, but even still, I find Android a little more difficult. I gotta give a shout out to all the guys on this forum, they are making my latest game possible. I wouldn't be able to get around some of those errors without you!
Well if you look at cliffski who made democracy, gratitious space/tank battles he did all of it by himself and he just hired the artist to do all the art/sound. Now with places like the unity asset store you can pick up art on the cheap and maybe hire an artist to make it look better -rather then doing it all from scratch - just look at wasteland 2
@aiursrage2k ; Actually, I had mixed feelings. On one hand it would be cool to get your artwork in the game, but on the other hand. People pledged over 2 million dollars on Kickstarter to have that project created. And they are asking for artwork from the users of unity asset store? Um.. where did the 2+ million dollars go? On any account, I trust them, they are good guys. Brian Fargo and his team are awesome! But I just thought it was kinda a funny way to hire artists, especially why they raised so much money for the project.
Marco Williams
Hashbang Games
Gravi is available on the OUYA look for it in the store!
Solo here too. I found myself competent enough for doing the programming, art, sound effects, so why not? I'm still struggling with music, tho, I can make up some videogame-y tunes but find myself yet unable to composing them properly.
I'm a soloist, however on my Ouya project I'm having a friend create the sound. That's the one aspect I can't really do on my own...then again I could do with some 3D artists too.
@aiursrage2k ; Actually, I had mixed feelings. On one hand it would be cool to get your artwork in the game, but on the other hand. People pledged over 2 million dollars on Kickstarter to have that project created. And they are asking for artwork from the users of unity asset store? Um.. where did the 2+ million dollars go? On any account, I trust them, they are good guys. Brian Fargo and his team are awesome! But I just thought it was kinda a funny way to hire artists, especially why they raised so much money for the project.
Well if you actually look at the asset store thread it doesnt even look that many people are participating in it (although maybe I am wrong).
I've just convinced my brother to do some level/puzzle design for one of my projects. Hopefully it'll go well and he will become a permanent fixture in my development team.
My biggest problem as a developer is staying focused; I'm a jack-of-all-trades, been a musician for about 12 years, programmer on and off for several, but most of all I love coming up with ideas. I get working on one project, then I come up with a better idea and start working on that. I have several demos, but have just recently been able to sit down, lay out a plan and stick to it. All too quickly though, the master plan has been put on hold; this developer contest has peaked my interest.
I'm not familiar with developing for Android and with only two weeks away (and a 3 month old baby ;P), it seems like a pipe dream to actually complete a playable demo. But I've never backed away from a challenge...well, I'm not backing away from this one. I'm going to give it everything I've got, and if nothing else, I'll learn android and be able to publish a game by early this summer. If anyone out there is crazy enough to join me in this endeavor, feel free to write, I'll take any help I can get!
I work solo. I'm a programmer by profession. I'm amateur composer so I make music for my games myself. I recently started drawing too - before I only did vector graphics (because of few web design works I had to do while freelancing). I'll probably hire some graphic professional for future games because graphics is the hardest for me to do and it takes a lot of my time. I love how my music finally can be used for sth - I compose both orchestral and electronic tunes (I learned composing by myself first by analising Jarre music). You can listen to my music here: http://www.jamendo.com/pl/artist/magorya (if by some chance sth from there works for you game - let me know, I'll probably allow you to use it, Different Worlds is the most advanced with some orchestra thrown in - still, I composed it 10 years ago or sth like that, right now I'm better :) ).
Solo is it? Well let me add my voice to the crowd. I've been dreaming of being a game dev since I was knee-high to a grass hopper. I'm an IT Tech by day, and a programmer, graphics artist, sound engineer, and forehead-to-keyboarder every night. My biggest trouble is trying to understand programming and scripting to its fullest. I've been working with Unity for about 2 years now, and I'm very excited of being about to use it to create the games I dream of, and so happy that OUYA is giving us all a chance to shine. I just hope I can understand everything well enough to get something worth doing done.
Well, solo-ish; I've yet to truly don the shiny crown of Indie Game Dev'dom, as I'm fairly sure I need to finish and ship a title to earn that accolade.
I'm a programmer / software engineer, but primarily spend my time in C (and C++). As such, this project is going to be an adventure in learning new things, and the most worthwhile adventures always are!
I got my dev kit today and just this minute got the thing to respond to the controller. Should have Chopper playing before bed... So excited I can't explain it... my game is ON THE TV!! :D
After working in teams, solo is ace! Think it, do it! And you get to make the music!! :D :D
Also flying solo-ish here, coming from a web design/coding background and looking to make Ouya my Home. Havent got any game building experience but always find myself coming up with game ideas that look cool (in my head).. Just have to keep my head down for the next 3 months.
Trist
Posts: 71Member
Comments
Founder of ReachingPerfection.com
Mainly working to create games that are for teaching the Cherokee Language and Syllabary as part of indigenous language preservation.
I have two games on Android market under my name for that already, this is my first attempt at a "gamepad" oriented teaching game.
Still at the planning stages for the game.
Work a day job programming GWT/RPC, PHP, MySQL, Sphinx, Foxpro, etc, this night-time gig doesn't exactly make me lots of money, very small target audience.
Ex System Administrator as of about two years ago...
> Anti piracy measures are needed and it doesn't haves to interfer with the concept of open console
This sounds very familiar :P
I was very fortunate that my parents provided financial security for me in the form of my own house, so that after university, I've had the freedom to go backpacking, and after that, the freedom to pursue a career as an indie games developer.
Website
Gravi is available on the OUYA look for it in the store!
Purchase our Gravi on Desura
Also, when all else fails, you can grab a lot of stuff at http://opengameart.org/
I got my dev kit today and just this minute got the thing to respond to the controller. Should have Chopper playing before bed... So excited I can't explain it... my game is ON THE TV!! :D
After working in teams, solo is ace! Think it, do it! And you get to make the music!! :D :D
You can follow my progress on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jamielowesdev
Just have to keep my head down for the next 3 months.