So I just quit my day job so I can go indie and make games!

Hello Cave-storians(is that a word?),

Cave Story took about 5 years to make, my game has been in development for about 3. Time to get it done!!!


After seeing so many other posts similar to this I thought I should make my own thread about it.
Yesterday I quit my job to go full time indie. Currently, my 1st game is being finished and I'm quite excited.
I wrote a blog post here.

Please read it and let me know what you think.

I look for your wisdom and support in this huge life endeavor.

 

Haha, love the introduction, the project looks promising too, but you probably want to be careful about the whole "quitting your job" thing. Also, preferably get some people to co-develop with you. (A small team works, like mine, which is 5 people so far...).
Oh yeah, and watch these videos. And this guy. He knows his stuff about game development, so take a good note from him.

Spoiler

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wX6W3k2wLQ - Indie Game development
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvWMdWhFCc - Game Design in General
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCuUWGmatpU - Game Development
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqFcF_jRrx0 - Game Development Also

My take? Well, I'm developing my game while I still have the roof of my parents over my head, so I don't currently have to worry about finances, taxes etc.
So, be careful with the development process. Make sure you have some means of making money while you create the game. After all, you won't get the pay until after you release the game.

Good luck then.

EDIT: Damn I have no idea how to implement YouTube videos correctly...

 

Don't talk about it just do it. Talking to people about things your going to do make it mentally difficult to perform that action because you're getting feedback for something you didn't have to do. Like all those people going on about how they'll lost weight but never act on the desire.

Stop talking about it and go do it.

 

eeeeeeeh if you're gonna quit your job at least sign up for adf.ly or something

 

There are ads all over his site, I don't think adfly is necessary for him.

 

Building momentum here.

Yeah already using Google Ads and Project Wonderful. I think site has enough ads already.

 

Good luck with your project. I´d recommend a backup job though.

 

Yeah, I agree with the people who say that keeping some kind of job is smart. I'm keeping my job as I work on my indie game. Sure, it's been going slower because of that, but it's my first indie game and I have no first-hand experience in marketing games, so it really is the smartest choice for me as there is too much uncertainty. Knowing statistics and such only goes so far; first-hand experience is crucial. I'm working just enough hours to pay the bills and to have a little extra money for emergencies and for going towards my game making endeavors, and the rest of my time goes toward gaining more skills in various areas (graphics, sound design, music, 3D modeling, etc.) and also toward developing my game.

If your job was sucking the life out of you, see if you can find a different kind of job that won't take all your energy or think of ways you can make your game regardless. I've recently learned how powerful it is to realize what hinders you and what motivates and empowers you. Then I brainstorm ways to avoid what hinders or see if I can use motivational things to overcome the hindrances, etc. This was very hard for me to put into practice because I used to slack off all the time and people would swear I had ADD, but once I put my mind to it and was determined enough, I started to get things in order.

Just my 2 cents. Of course, you might have someone on your team who has experience in marketing, so you'd know more than me. Whatever the case, I wish you the best of luck!

 

Thanks for the advice, but now is not the time to have a job. I assure you I need to finish this game, any job I get will hinder that process.

 

I'm assuming you're living with a roommate who is buying you food and paying all the rent, as honestly otherwise you've made a somewhat stupid decision.

 

Well, between all of the ads, an apparent Kickstarter he has, and likely some of his own savings, he may be alright for the moment. It was mentioned in his blog post that he's "done the math and won't starve to death" for a few months. That, along with the fact that an Alpha for his game will apparently be out the 26th of this month, means he actually has a fair shot at making this, maybe...

Of course, I would still recommend you be extremely careful and have a backup plan in mind, Nathan.

 

you will never know how a product is going to fly. If you go into making something without backup, you may be lucky and have your thing go well or you will land flat on your face.
for your case it seems it may turn out all right.

If it falls, you may land in something softer.

 

Every heard of the phrase, "To achieve true success you go on a mission towards it and then burn the bridge back home."?

 

"With Fields of Fresh being a huge project to finish"

I REMEMBER YOU!

 

Thanks old sport.

Also, off topic: PawByte is looking for forum moderators. Interested? Apply via http://www.superlongname.com/posts/forums-is-almost-here-and-we-need-your-help

 

I'm part of team trying to make a pixelated game. But I also have a day job. It's just I can't do the day job when it rains, so during the winter, When it rains a lot, I work on our project, also the fact that I still live with my parents helps. I hope to have a product out within a year.

Our plan is to have people play the game on a page that displays adds on the left and right side of the computer screen.
Or let them remove the adds for 2 busks or something like that, it just depends. Might make it downloadable- if we don't fear a large amount of free distribution, But I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to that stuff.


I wish you luck man, I love making tiles for my project.
Maybe I'll try your game out here in a bit. Then I'll edit my post.

EDIT:

Well, I didn't try out the demo, but I don't think that I could provide the greatest feedback as I don't play farming games, but there is definitely an audience out there for farming games nonetheless.

I like how you're trying to get people to view farmers differently.

And it looks like their are some interesting side quests in there.

Is the game pixelated? or 3D? I didn't see any pictures, either that or I didn't realize that those actually were pictures of the game, and they weren't just there to compliment the blog.

 

Sorry for the late reply.

The game is pure pixel art(with parallax backgrounds). The older screenshots were horrible, so I took em down.

Demo is coming out by end of month with new screenies too.

 

alright I have a question

did you join the forums solely for the purpose of advertising a game nobody cares about?
possible answers: yes/yes

 

please make some video game journalism threads too
I want to know what the world thinks of the super mario

 

@Dunc2403 , No I'm a huge Cave Story fan and the 5 year span it took him to make this game inspires me. This may be my 1st thread here, but I did complete Cave Story with the "best ending".

@Noxid, roger that.


@Everyone else. I just published the lyrics to a song I wrote about "The struggle"

You can read it here: http://www.superlongname.com/posts/the-lyrics-to-my-song-about-the-struggle-i-hope-you-enjoy
Huge update coming soon on progress.