Embarking on the Indie Path

[kedinik]

Hi there, I'm new to the forums.

I'm a student at UCLA and I recently committed myself to creating a 2D sprite-based space combat game. I want to learn the ropes of game development with independent projects, and eventually start a game development company. This site seems like an excellent resource.

I'm using XNA Studios at the moment. I wrote out a rudimentary design document, and I'm familiarizing myself with XNA. I'm also procuring images and sound files. I bought www.boss-fight.com although, as you can see, I've yet to set it up properly. I plan to offer my simpler and shorter games for free, and to sell the more time-intensive products for $5-$10.

Seeing as I'm new to all of this, I would appreciate advice about what a new indie developer should watch out for, and how best to prepare for future needs. How to select the right software for game development, potential roadblocks in production, how to market the finished product, or really anything that you wish you had known back when you were first starting out. Thanks in advance,

-Kevin Potter

[Sybixsus]

potential roadblocks in production
I'm using XNA Studios

Ding-Ding-Ding! One potential roadblock you might stumble across is that your players are going to require not only the .Net Framework but also the XNA runtimes, plus DX9. That's kinda limiting your audience and while a 2d space combat game doesn't exactly get filed under casual, it's not exactly hardcore niche either. Such a game could well appeal to retro fans, who are not necessarily bothered about all the latest technology, updates and drivers.

There are plenty of decent alternatives which would work on anything with DX7 ( or DX8, that's got a good install-base now ) and up. You have to compromise a little on your choice of language and libraries, but these things are always a balance judgement.

[Code_wizard]

The XNA, .NET 2.0, and directX come in redistributable packages. With a good installation program these can be simple enough for most casual gamers. I believe XNA to be a viable development platform. You could have a full package including all these with the game install then a light install for hardcore gamers who already have everything set up.


...Uh yeah anyway, didn't mean to hijack the post...sorry

[NathanR]

Its funny I just stumbled on your post. I too had the same thought process about a year ago: I wanted to do something in games, I wanted to make my own, I wanted to start a game company.

So I sold my house for money, got some programmers who shared my vision (thats fancy talk for working free/cheap) and an artist.

Its been almost a year since I first sat down and said "Ok. Im doing this for real."

This morning I thought it would benefit all mankind if I started sharing my journey in to the game dev world so I opened a blogspot blog. You can check it out here: http://puzzleblocks.blogspot.com/

I havent shared much there yet, but its only day 1. I'll make an entry a day.

Back on the subject though: using XNA is a good idea, despite what others have said. You are pretty much guaranteed that your games will run fine on the majority of gamer PCs out there and best of all they will run swimmingly on the Xbox360.

That was why I chose to use C# .net and directX as well... mostly. Actually the other half of the equation was "What languages do we know, so we can get coding quickly and not delay our launch?" Then of that resultant list we crossed things off like Perl which would make a very poor video game. We would have loved to use Java for its cross platform yummyness but simply didnt have the time to get to know it better.

Anywho, I hope you have as much fun making your first 2d game as I have had making my first 5. It gets easier, and you'll learn quickly. Oh and my company is in Huntington Beach CA just south of you if you are at UCLA. Send me a private message if you want to come see our operation (and let me attempt to convince you to work here! bwaaa hahaha)

[ragdollsoft]

I recommend you start slow and do it part-time until you made a game that is succesfull enough to provide you at least a bare living.

[Gary the Llama]

Finish your first game. Don't give up when it gets hard, or boring, or you think nobody's going to buy it. Just finish it. Then you do it all over again.

Also, you'd better update that blog every day like you promised or I'll hunt you down. :)

[NathanR]

I think thats one of the biggest mistakes I (and my employees/partners) made too.

Dont quit your day job until your first title is done.

Its soooo hard to work two jobs: working all day for somebody else and then get home and work some more on your game(s). In the short term its worth it, because if your first game flops you arent screwed when its time to pay rent. In my case it would be paying rent, salaries, utilities, and taxes. If you crash and burn when moonlighting, its not so bad.

Its hard, but its worth it.

You mentioned you are a student so you probably have income from parents, or a job between classes. Thats the best time to work on something like a video game, when you arent beholden to The Man for your liveleyhood.

Yes I will update that blog every day.