Indie Development: A Day In The Life (Part 3)
One of the two panels that I went to at PAX (the other being OCRemix’s panel) was a session on indie development, featuring Richard Perrin, Designer/Developer from Locked Door Puzzle, Matt Gilgenbach, Cofounder of 24 Caret Games, Eitan Glinert, Founder and Creative Director of Fire Hose Games, and Erik Johnson, PR/Marketing and Development at Arcen Games. Erik was the one who asked questions (in addition to answering them), and the audience was allowed to submit questions. The ‘Part 3’ in the title does not mean that this built upon the past panels. Each part had different devs answering questions. Finally, the session itself was on how it was like for an indie dev making a living on game making, for both hobbyists and aspiring professional developers.
How and where to begin developing games? Richard said these days, it is easy enough for anyone to make them – all the tools are out there. The thing to remember, though: keep it simple. Matt said game development is still a more complicated field than one would originally think. Even for experienced developers, it’s difficult to judge the scale of a game. One should focus on small games, and expand later. Aitan said that if you’ve never made a game before, “the best place to start is with markers and cardboard.” Get the concepts down, make something that’s fun, and get feedback from other people.
What is the best platform to make games for? Aitan jokes that it’s the Commodore 64. Richard remarks that the trend today is to release on PC and digital distribution options like Steam. Matt says he’s worked with just about every major platform (consoles, phones, PC…), and he agrees with Richard that PC is the best. The process of getting approved for Steam is not easy, but if you do get through, it is rewarding. Should you fail that, you can always sell it yourself on your website. Here, Aitan answers the question seriously, stating that there are two types of game developers, and it’s important to draw a distinction between them: The first type is the hobbyist, the people who do not need to earn a living through development. If that’s the case, they should develop for whatever they want, using whatever they want. The second type of game developer is the income-seeker, the ones who need the money. For those people, Aitan recommends skipping consoles entirely – he asserts you will not see a dime from them. Erik says there’s more red tape to go through for consoles.
What keeps them going when the job gets rough? Richard likes to take the weekend off (when possible) to just experiment. Matt admits his current project has lasted for 4 years, and it’s difficult to answer the question. He proposes the solution is to interact with people, including your fans. Most people are motivated by the support of their fans. Also… don’t spend four years on one game. Aitan says he’s motivated because he just plain loves his job. There’s a new challenge nearly every day. Erik says he also loves his job, and he keeps working towards the promise of a great end product. As he put it to great applause, “there’s a reason we don’t work at Zynga.”
How do you get money? Aitan says contract work can help on the side – he’s helped with other games for some money to support him while making his own. If you’re willing to sell your soul, you can work with a publisher. Also, live cheaply, but not miserably. If you can’t afford to eat, something’s wrong. Take up some other job. Matt says that depending on where you live, a dollar can go a lot further. Tom says that Matt’s statement shouldn’t be taken at face value. There’s a lot of importance in living near other game developers too, and having a network of support is important – “more important than living in the middle of Nebraska.” Also, it just helps to be lucky. Richard works on contract work for the first few hours of the day, and for his games the rest of the day. Kickstarters can also help, but Matt says for all of them that succeed, there are a ton that fail. Having fans helps, as it did in the case of Double Fine. Erik says that Double Fine now has a huge amount of pressure to create their game. Aitan says that they also have more motivation to see it through because of this – their fans truly believe in them. A lot. Aitan stresses that selling out to a publisher or another company does not make you un-indie.
How do you start a game? Richard imagines the world first, and then mechanics that would work well afterward. Aitan jokes that the best strategy is to down a box of pixy sticks, and then says that he relies on game jams to create ideas in Fire Hose Games. The best ideas are expanded upon, and scrapped at any point should they become un-fun. Matt tries to create something new, nothing that has been done before in any large part.
Is game cloning a concern? Matt says their game Retrograde (the one that’s been going on for four years) has over 5,000,000 lines of code. Matt’s not too worried about it. He also says that cloning is a somewhat dangerous line to lay down – is Sonic a clone of Mario? Both have jumping… Aitan says to be original, and listen to any accusations of copying. If you do that, you’ll be fine. Nobody really gets rich from being an indie dev. Erik says that being truly successful and famous is an anomaly. Richard says that it’s a huge gamble to get into indie development.
Does timing have an impact when releasing something? Matt says yes. (That’s kinda it, everyone else agreed.)
When in development when you first show off a game? Aitan says they show off games super early – as soon as possible after they do have something to show. He says not to worry about cloning. As he puts it, “nobody wants to steal your stupid idea.” Pay attention to the reactions you get when sharing your games. Richard agrees completely with Aitan. Erik says they put up a blog post on Day 1. The Internet will help – they don’t pull any punches. Aitan adds that you should share it as soon as you can do it and not end up looking like a jerk.
At what point do you delegate work to others? Aitan says to do it the day BEFORE you start making your game. Matt says the trick is finding people you can delegate things to. Find someone who is better than you in at least one respect – if they aren’t this way, you’ll be spending a lot of time explaining things.
Where do you find other people? Richard admits it’s tough – he doesn’t know. Try internships. Aitan says to go to indie meetups. Universities are also good places to look – most of them have game clubs. Connections can come from crazy places sometimes.
Finally, what is the single most important trait for an indie dev?
Aitan: Being beautiful
Matt, Erik, Richard: Perseverance.
Aitan: Introspection – knowing when to quit (a project that is simply unfun or not worth it).