Indie in the free time

[josericardo.jr]

Hi people,

Well, I'm try to work as an indie game developer in my free time because I have a job that takes me 9 hours a day. Does someone here have the same "problem"? And what about managing the time? I find it very difficult to have an simple 3d adventure game ready shorter than 1 year in this case.:confused:

Thanks.

[elias4444]

Well, my experience was that the game simply wasn't going to get done while working my day job. It took years. So, I left my day job, and amazingly enough the game got done! Now it's out for sale! ....

Would someone please buy my game before I go broke? ;)

Hope that helps.

[wazoo]

Same story over here. :)

I've shelved all my larger projects, and have re-focused my game designs around small ideas that I can accomplish as a lone part-time developer.

[cliffski]

Hi people,

Well, I'm try to work as an indie game developer in my free time because I have a job that takes me 9 hours a day. Does someone here have the same "problem"? And what about managing the time? I find it very difficult to have an simple 3d adventure game ready shorter than 1 year in this case.:confused:

Thanks.

I did this:

www.democracygame.com
(http://www.democracygame.com)
in my spare time. I have no kids and don't go out drinking a lot, nor watch any TV soaps. It took a bit over a year, and made enough money to convince me to go fulltime.
So yes, it can be done. Pull out the internet cable now and get on with it :D

[RyanB]

I work full-time in the games industry in addition to working on my own start-up. My advice:

- don't try and do everything yourself ("E-myth" is a good book on this subject)
- buy pre-built assets (and modify to fit your game) whenever possible
- keep the scope reasonable
- write a business plan and design doc (even if you are a one-man band)
- use the tools that give the most bang for the buck
- don't be afraid to spend a bit of money to save yourself large amounts of time or reap future rewards (invest!)
- turn off the TV
- keep it simple!

Adventure and RPG games tend to be big and require a lot of resources. Feature-creep is rampant in these games so keep an eye on it. A really tight, focused adventure game is totally possible but for a first project will probably be tough to finish.

Managing time - the key is to get it out of your head into an external system. Use a computer, notebook, lists, etc. to reduce your worries and focus on what needs to be done. There's lots of books written on this subject.

[xelanoimis]

An indie 3D adventure game! Great!
I'm also interested in this, and I'm somehow in the same situation as you.

Will it be a classic point'n click?
You could have a look at Tale Tales' games (Sam&Max, Bone).
They are quality 3D adventures, released as small episodes.
I guess that would be a good approach for a indie developer.
Still, even when they started, they had a few members in their team.
And not to mention, a few very experienced members...

Still I think it's doable.
Depending on your experience and what you use or already have,
I would think of 1 or 2 years, maybe even 3.
That is if you manage to finish it.

As for the technical part, what engine do you intend to use?
Since you want a 3D adventure, I don't know of a dedicated engine for making such games.
The closest I know is Wintermute, that can make 2.5D games (3D characters on prerendered backgrounds).
In your case, a good engine with a good production flow, is the key to success.
If you just take a general 3d engine like Ogre (or other) and expect to build an adventure game with it, you're in deep trouble.
You must use something that lets you work on the game specific features the easiest way possible (easy scripting and scenes settings, etc)

Anyway, I wish you good luck with the project!
Alex

[Reactor]

Would someone please buy my game before I go broke?

:D

My brother and I have a three year development underway, because we're working in our spare time. But, we've chosen to create a blockbuster instead of a really small game quickly. That's just us. If you're looking to get something out the door quickly with spare-time hours, I'd think about changing the type of game it is you're developing to something simpler. Also, consider using packages like Multimedia Fusion, which can aid in getting certain games built quickly. Build a few, sell a few, and then (if things sell) quit your job and work towards the game you really want to make.

If you really want to develop an adventure game right out of the gates, cliffski and RyanB's advice is good, although I'm not sold on the design doc part, myself. Sometimes that can be a huge waste of time.

[wazoo]

I did this:

www.democracygame.com
(http://www.democracygame.com)
in my spare time. I have no kids and don't go out drinking a lot, nor watch any TV soaps. It took a bit over a year, and made enough money to convince me to go fulltime.
So yes, it can be done. Pull out the internet cable now and get on with it :D

You bet, and thanks for the tips!

[GolfHacker]

I'm not sold on the design doc part, myself. Sometimes that can be a huge waste of time.

On the other hand, I've often wasted months coding something that I ended up rewriting at least once or throwing away because I didn't spend a little time up front planning it out. Definitely something to be said for putting some thought into it ahead of time and doing a good design.

[Reactor]

Planning, yes. A full design doc? That's debatable. A basic outline and a prototype is, for myself at least, a better route than a design doc.

[josericardo.jr]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. This ideias will help me a lot!

[Nikos Beck]

I expected to finish my first game in six months, I'm at month 13 right now. If it's in your spare time, it's a matter of constantly making progress, no matter how small. I find that if I'm up a half hour earlier than my wife, I have that time to myself to work. On weekends I might have a few solitary hours. I'm not worried about a timeline because I'm focusing on quality rather than time.

[Grey Alien]

I did the same as Elias4444 when I released my game was taking way too long i.e. I gave up my day job. I also concur that the E-myth is a great book, and to give up TV, pubs and lame time wasting stuff, but don't forget to exercise as a healthy body=healthy mind.

[electronicStar]

I work in my "free time" which happens to be when I am at home, but also some times when I am in my normal job.
I happen to work on a 24/24 shift, working sometimes during nights and week-ends, things can be very quiet and the boss isn't there, so I can work in my office.
I have noticed that my productivity is multiplied by 4 when I am at the office compared to when I am at home.
It's just because of the ambiance, when I am home I have too much comfort and I don't feel any pressure to work.

So my advice would be : create for yourself an environment compatible with work. If you don't have any productivity at home consider another place like a webcafe or sthg.
Put aside hours for the work, don't try to mix work and everyday life because work will not be done.


About the time : Dont' expect anything to be done in less than one year. Especially if you have not any previous experience in doing the type of game you want to do.

If you haven't done these things already, here are the things you'll have to do:
-get familiar with the language you're using
-build a framework for games
-sharpen the framework when you realize it is too general
-create a real framework with which you can actually get things done (i.e. production pipeline)
-art assets creation process (or buy them)
-start working on actual game content (levels)
-realize that it will take you much more time tan you expected
-fix bugs
-polishing
-fix bugs
-polishing

[Qitsune]

I'm not an indie per say but I freelanced for years in addition to my real job and it does take hard work and organisation to get work done.

Some tips:
-Streamline chores (meals, cleaning, paying bills, reading and answering e-mails)
-Make a schedule and stick to it (working nights from monday to wednesday from 18h to 21h)
-Log your time, even if you work for yourself, it will help you evaluate what tasks require more time and where you lose time. If you realise that you make no headway despite putting in lots of hours, analyse the situation, you might discover that the chat software is killing your productivity or that you get hypnotised by the tv in the background.
-Try to have small objectives and get stuff early in the week and reward yourself with fun or social situations if you meet your mini-milestones.
-Cut on forums time.

[wazoo]

again, thanks for posting your "golden tips".

I realize they're mostly common sense, but it helps to itemize things that I can review for making sure I'm optimizing my "Indie Time".

I've tried out a few of the common "Time Management / Prioritization" systems floating around, but they seem to always clash with my children..heh.

[Videogame Biscuit]

Same problem here. I'm only making simple 2D games but making sure I have enough time is hard. I often prepare plenty of food I can freeze so I don't waste much time in the kitchen every day or do groceries and try not to watch tv a few days a week. Helps quite a bit!

[magallanes]

Same problem here. I'm only making simple 2D games but making sure I have enough time is hard. I often prepare plenty of food I can freeze so I don't waste much time in the kitchen every day or do groceries and try not to watch tv a few days a week. Helps quite a bit!

Lol, a single guy routine. The problems with it that it's easy to fall down in the pathetic geek lifestyle, to subscriber to a gym can help also to stick with a nice crowd can help.

Anyways, it's hard to be a indie and be married and if you add childrens then the indie style of life is over.

[Christian]

Pathetic geek lifestyle rules :D

Each one of us have different obstacles in reaching our dreams, i cant imagine how complex it would be for me if i had a family to take care of, it must be pretty hard.

This is what i did, i worked for a few months and i saved some money with the objective to work fulltime in the future, in this time i just planned my game, i didnt even program a single line of code, i just worked a lot to save money. After i saved enough money, i left my job and started fulltime. Making some sacrifices is necesary if you want to reach your goals.

For me, the most important part is MOTIVATION, if you dont have it then any time management technique doesnt work. Focus on your motivation and work to increase it, then you will feel so much desire to work on your game that you wont have many distractions, and youll work on it much more, plus youll have much fun doing it. If you make this a chore, like your older job, then it makes no sense to make games, at least for me.

Here are some tips to increase motivation that have helped me to increase my productivity:
* Excersize: it gives you vitality and it helps you avoid feeling sleepy during the day.
* Choose your work: work on a game you absolutely will love to see done, something posible and not beyond your capabilities, but still, something that really exites you. Otherwise you will do things to avoid working on it, like visiting too many forums, watching too much tv, sleeping too much, etc.
* Eat well: i discovered that chocolate and coffee makes me sleepy, so i dont eat/drink those things anymore, so i recommend you to take care of what you eat because it has an effect on your mind and your vitality.
* Rest from work once in a while: Dont work too much, even if its something you like, if you work too much it will fatigue your brain, and it will take time before you go back to normal. Its like if you excersized a muscle too much, so, forget about your game once in a while and go somewhere else to something fun.
* Polish your behaviour: see and meditate on what things you do affect your productivity and find ways to change your behaviour accordingly to boost your productivity, you may need to make sacrifices like no more tv (or just decrease time considerably), no more naps, no more etc etc.

Extra Suggestions:
* Game design suggestion: work on games that dont use levels so you dont have to spend extra time and effort doing them, youll finish your game sooner, and youll work less (much less art, much less code), and youll save more money. Some examples: Tetris, Diablo 1 (has auto-generated levels), Civilization series, etc.
* Folow the advice others have given you ;)

(By the way, i have been working on my first casual game for 7 months, and im about to release it in a couple more(or less) :D)
Good luck.

[wazoo]

Good points Christian..

I'm finally back on track on my project, having suffered a long time case of Paralysis Analysis. All I can say is, don't let it happen to you. :(

Everyone has an opinion on what the best platform and language and toolkit / engine to use (especially in these forums). Since I'm very versatile in terms of language / platform software development, everytime I'd sit down and research a risk minimization path for choosing what to develop on / for, I'd find a lot of great advice from both sides of the aisle. In short, every option became a good decision and a crippling one all at the same time. :(

But I finally realized that the real kicker, dare I say "Secret" is, that everyone has made some money using everything.

I finally made a decision on things and by sticking by it I've made a lot of progress already! I'm slowly getting into my stride and plunking in code.

I believe it was Patton who said "You go to war with the army you have, not the army you want."

It's a key phrase for me. I was far too worried about "future tech" and "possible trends" than what exists in the here and now.