The Current State of Indie Game Development
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Transcript of The Current State of Indie Game Development
The current state of indie game development
source: http://buy.indiegamethemovie.com/
About meSome part of my life I’ve played the role of a:
● Game Designer● Flash Developer● Zero marketing guy● Entrepreneur● IxD/UX/IA designer● JavaScript Developer● Business Developer / Growth hacker
a.k.a Generalist :) @vitaliy_filipov
6 startup projects, still haven’t changed the world but“Over the last 4 years, I've spent 354.5 hours playing my steam selection, which includes 105 items, is valued at $1419, and requires 526.4 GB” - so I’m a gamer too :)
source: http://thepatternlibrary.com/#alchemy
In this presentation we will talk about the indie game ...
time
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ideasteams
development
business
FUTURE
the interest curve
from:
“Run your business in the real world, create your games in the imaginary one” ~ Vitaliy Filipov
but first ….
Read Guy Kawasaki’s “Reality Check” - I believe indie game developers will be more successful if they understand their industry better
The indie Ideawhich is better?
To have one polished mechanic in your game?
To have 100 mini games in your game?
source: http://www.krillbite.com/theplan/
To think about what the player will feel when playing your game?
To think about what you will feel when playing your game?
vs.
vs.
The indie Idea
source: super meat boy / rock,paper,shotgun
Most of the time indie game developers are focused on polished mechanics and want to express something. They feel like artists.
Watch “Indie game the movie”
Indies playtest ideas on hackathons - ludum dare, global game jam & others. That’s why they’re their first early adopters.
Answer: It’s all about your game scope.
The Team
source: Journey
which is better?
highly motivated people? vs. team with deep expertise?
team consisting of friends? vs. unknown people?
motivated by money? vs. motivated by glory?motivated by self-expression? vs.
Most of the time indie game developers are motivated by self-expression & have the technical chops to execute their idea.
The Team
That’s why we rarely see successful first time indies. Most have shipped titles before.
source: google.com
The DevelopmentOrganization && Collaboration
source: Bit.Trip Runner
Use tools:
Pomodairo - time management
ifttt - task automation
PandaApp - inspiration
Evernote - notes
RescueTime - behavioural analytics
The Development();which is better?
ship(something); vs. learn(something);
source: http://jfix.by/
The Development();Answer: Learn by shipping ;P
Some of the game engines are pretty indie friendly
Think about your game? 2d vs 3d?
Think about pros and cons defined by your game. This will define your software stack - if you need any at all (classic boardgames are still alive & people play them alot ;))
source: warcluster.com
Which is better?
UDK vs. Unity3d
source: http://bindingofisaac.com/
Beware of religious debates - 45% of indies use Unity3D (unreleased McKinsey report)
The Development
Game Design
In AAA games you have:- System game designer- Content game designer- Level game designer- World designer- Mechanics…- technical…- narrative
source: http://www.theastronauts.com/
Most of the time indies are all of these at once.
Amazing! (⊃。•‿́•。̀)⊃
The DevelopmentGame Community ヽ༼ ʘ̚͜لʘ̚༼◕_◕༽◉_◔ ༽ノ
Which is better?
source: http://www.destructoid.com
10 downloads -> 10 fans vs. 1000 downloads -> 1 fan
Currently there’s a lot of noise, a lot of feedback and comments. Indies build communities around online platforms
We see a couple types of behaviour in the indie game industry - Phil, Notch, Jonathan Blow, … others
Indies talk with their community, understand them, become friends if possible.How often do you talk with people that play your games? Pay attention and respond logically to criticism ;)
The DevelopmentMusic & Art
source: Proteus
It’s hard to find. Currently in the industry there’s a lot of pixel art - incoming dynamic shading! O_O
There’s a lot of chiptunes too
Indie games flavour themselves with unique setting & experiences but we’re seeing that this is an exaggeration - there’s still a lot of copy-cats
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The Business FUTURE
Which is better?
talk with 10 people and show them your early prototype?
buy an email list with 10,000 and spam them!
source: http://www.fezgame.com/
The Business
Indies make blogs (dev diaries), twitter, facebook - engage early, engage often!People start kickstarter(/finisher) campaigns
People learn from pixel prospector!
Answer: do things that don’t scale!
Business & Legal source: http://castlecrashers.com/
Indies have many roles because they’re prepared for the legal stuff
Accountant Lawyer Paperwork guy
Public figure guy
Which is better?Starting with registered company? Registering on a later stage?vs.
source: http://playdead.com/limbo/
Answer: Most of the indie developers don’t even have a company until they generate revenue - single game, single entity principle.
THE FUTURE
source: kuker
Things to care about:- Singularity- Trans Gaming- Internet of Things- Oculus?!!?- Emotiv !?!!?!?!?!
something to add?
source: warcluster.com
Thank you!Talk with me at
@vitaliy_filipov