Does anyone work on a game by themselves or do you come to the forums and ask for help?
Or do u have friends to help you
Well it depends really … I have a good friend that is a developer that is supposed to help me with my game … but he is going through some personal issues at home, so he needs to focus on that. So for development at the moment, I am on my own and although I can bounce ideas off him, I use the forums when I can and mostly develop the game on my own.
I have another friend who is a SFX guy professionally and has learnt VFX, so he is constantly tweaking things and sending me new SFX or VFX. Without him I would have to rely on pre-bought assets … which will never sound half as good as his, so in this instance I am not alone although I rely on him solely for the SFX and VFX.
I then have a freelance temporary resource who does some modelling and texturing for me, he is only part-time and delivers when he can, so most of my art is either bought or made by me where possible.
So I would say I am alone for most of the core development but I have help with the other areas. I am however able to prioritise my time and make sure I spend the required time I need to every week to meet my internal deadlines. Mostly I use the forums for help or try to find tutorials or assets that may help me with a problem. Answer Hub is also a huge help when I get stumped with some things or I think I have found a bug.
Are thesy the only people who help you?
I’m going solo on my main game, but that doesn’t mean I’m alone.
I’m constantly asking others how they feel about an idea or what they think of a piece of concept art.
With that said, I’m also on the forums often.
Although I am a solo designer, I’m not alone in the general development.
~ Jason
Oh ok then
Is it more difficult without people?
Sadly I’m solo. Every time I’ve tried to get someone on the project they’ve been extremely flakey. It gets annoying because I find things that I enjoy most about game design (such as working on textures in Substance Designer / Painter) but then I can’t really focus on truly learning / working with it since it needs to be eschewed for the literally everything else that must be done.
As people who produced wonderful products such as Dust: An Elysian Tale can show, a single developer can produce a great product. It just becomes a lot harder to implement it especially if you’re not already experienced.
What do u mean that they’ve been flakey?
As in they are unreliable then disappear without saying anything at some point. I see it has worked well for other people who have managed to get committed people to work with, but not for moi.
I’m sorry ������
I’m sorry
That’s my team right there ^ Along with another guy helping
I think getting a team can accelerate your development
For example each person can have their own specific work in the team which not only makes the development faster. But also helps improve the skill of the person for that specific work.
Solo development is surely possible but it takes just too much time and most of the time, people quit midway because of the stress of all the work. So its surely better to have a team.
If you’re going solo. You should be determined to finish the project and let nothing stand in your way.
That is sooo true
Yes … these are the only people that help me.
Definitely a valid point, but there is also a downside to getting a team. More of your development time will be taken on managing the team and the project. No matter how dedicated your team is, not all of them will have the same work ethics as you and you will undoubtedly end up having to manage them and keep the project going forward … this will take time from you.
This is a definite possibility, hence you should “Plan your work and work your plan”. Give yourself small tasks that can be completed in a couple of days or a week at most and if you have big tasks break them down. This will give you an opportunity to see progress being made on the project and this will hopefully keep you motivated.
The point I made above will go a long way in ensuring you finish your project but you also need to have discipline and try to stick to a schedule of work.
U all have good points
Whats the best game ever made by 1 man?
I just googled games made by a single person and eh… even though they were GOOD games, They weren’t the types of videogames like most people expect to make using engines like UE4… So yeah even though managing a team can be tough, you probably NEED a team to do games that are FPS, TPS, or even just a 3D sidescroller.
i am solo as well and it sux. but for me i have found that keeping things small and simple is essential. you can always build upon a simple game that is fun with others later.
Hm. So solo is better?