Is it too much for an indie game developer?

Hello, I am making indie multiplayer-only game just by myself. The designs are huge and looking very interesting. If the game would look like I’ve planned it would be a huge success. Mainly I like using Blender creating 3D things to include in the game so thats the easy stuff. The biggest problem is that my budget is close to 0, thats why i make all myself. If i could make the game until 2020, I would be more than happy.

I have some questions (please take in mind that I have UE4 from 2 weeks):

  1. Do I have to buy a hardware, physical server to let people play multiplayer and buy game servers themselves? Even if it will be just me and my friend?
  2. How to run server externally - not from engine?
  3. Is it worth to make log in system like Diablo 3, Battlefield 3/4 etc. where accounts are kept on a database including their levels, favorite weapons and servers, friends etc. being able to edit character preferences like weapon you use?
  4. If there is easier way to keep all user data (e.g. levels) than tell me please?
  5. Is it actually possible for one person to handle everything while making a game? - 3d models, blueprints, effects, animations, database, website, etc. linking it together and make it working? I think it could be too much for me, especially PHP, and I am weak at blueprints, databases and websites but it’s feasible.
  6. Is it because I don’t know how to use Marketplace or it only includes about 80 products and about 3 are free? Unity include hundreds of them… I can’t even find the free demo ones with less objects…
  7. How to apply animation set from Marketplace to my own character made in Blender?
  8. Lets say that the shock-absorber has 2 ends linked to different cubes, how to make the inside part of it, protrude while moving one cube away?
  9. Is it worth to use NVIDIA HairWorks and APEX Clothing?

Maybe I’m just being way too ambitious… I know its a lot of questions (I’ve got like 6924293 more in my mind haha) and probably the answer will not be reassuring me but thanks to anyone answering :slight_smile:

  1. you can find all the demos from epic games under the learning tab -> you can use all those assets for your commercial and non-commercial games. Over the time more and more products will be added to he marketplace
  2. in my opinion it’s worth to use APEX clothing, because you can create pretty cool and realistic cloths :slight_smile:

e.g

?v=81zCh8ASlRo

  1. You can buy your own server, but you can also rent them, the issue is that without a main server then the game doesn’t know how to connect to other players, the server is static and you can tell the game the address of the server and it will connect, and then the server would then route people to each other. The alternative is that you already know the address of the person you are trying to connect to.
  2. People like that, otherwise people can lose their preferences if they move to a new computer. Also, if there’s important information saved, like statistics or a character level then you want that controlled on the server, otherwise players can cheat the system.
  3. A lot of things that you save are going to depend entirely on what information you need to save.
  4. Yes, there’s a number of games that have been done by one person, and some really impressive ones. The thing is to understand how much work is involved, too many people take on a ton of work that is either just impossible to do in a reasonable amount of time or they don’t have the skills and it will take years for them to learn anything.
  5. Marketplace is very small, but there’s more free demos in the learning area of the launcher.
  6. A couple of options: https://docs.unrealengine/latest/INT/Engine/Animation/AnimationRetargeting/index.html https://docs.unrealengine/latest/INT/Engine/Animation/RetargetingDifferentSkeletons/index.html
  7. There’s some physics stuff but there’s also thing you would have to do with blueprints.
  8. Apex is great, but Nvidia Hairworks is not a part of UE4. To be able to use those Nvidia Gameworks addons you have to contact Nvidia about how to integrate it into your game.

There is one big problem with your game.

Short it is workhours needed to create game. You are alone, this engine (or rather assets level of details, methods of rendering etc) will be fresh for 4-6 years, after that things you created around 2014 will look old. New things will look different. So first problem is facing constant facelifting of growing library of textures and models. At some point you will do just that to keep game fresh.

Then there is possibility of epic creating new engine, they say they want continuous development of unreal, but you never know, there may be some new idea that makes current unreal obsolete that needs whole new engine. You again face migrating huge game to new engine, or have outdated game at release.

Just look at mesa project, great mod, lots of work, but it took them so long that it again looks old.

You either need smaller project first, or more people now.

Back to your more direct worries:
1- do not worry about buying server for now, its something to think around 2020, you may get sponsor until then, win lottery or get somebody to work with you on this game who has spare server. Or in 2020 your game can run on future raspberry pi for 20$.
3- that alone is as huge task as making multiplayer game for lan with some irc lobby for internet. This will double work amount.
4. for big game i would make some custom C++ code that saves level state into my own format. By level state i mean results of player interaction with level, geometry would be still in unreal.
5. yes, but i doubt with such big game you are planning. For eg. you do procedurally generated city blueprint or C++ code, you comment it well. In 5 years when its time to polish it, do you think you will still remember it all? It will be alien code to you. Also there is thing called “dual programming”, you basically have 2 persons programming same thing, together in same location. You swap every now and then. It looks like waste of 2 persons on 1 person task, but its not, it really helps focus, you can spot each others errors asap. And it is not waste of time because everybody needs some break from thinking sometimes, and thats time for swap who is coding who is watching. What i am saying you really need second person it helps to find silly mistakes.

So get one more on board before you sail.

Hi,

I guess that is, apart from all other aspects, the single most “showstopper” for a one-man-AAA-vision. When UBIsoft puts 800+ man years into a project (200 people for over 4 years), then it would mean that even if you would get 800 years old, you would still not be finished as thoe people are more or less experts in their field (modelers, texture artists, sound artists, etc).

Just curious: How comes PHP into the equation?

Cheers,
Klaus

The website of his game.

I think he was talking abt creating a website for his game with PHP.

Website for his game in PHP

Hi. Your goal 2020 is good, seriously.
Im.making my third person shooter game alone. I started learning some c++ at 11/2015 and from 2/2016 im using UE4.

However, first i recommend you make the most simple game you can imagine… my goal for my game was very simple and now after over 1 year i have only 50-70% things done… and its only very simple (no anims, no nvidia gameworks, no server setup yet)…

Its all possible to make AAA game but it may take 50 years… imo start light. Make your progression goals like:

  1. Shooting
  2. Models, textures
  3. Gameplay behaviors like on dead, damage, UI
  4. Networking stuff - replication (this is a little pain)…
    Etc etc… you will see your capatibilities…

If you checked epic tutorials, they are simple, then do this advanced tutorial: wew.shootertutorial
If you finish this tutorial (it took me about 2 months) then its big jump ahead and you will be good at visual scripting so then you will have more clear sights what and how to do… good luck!

Why you people do this?
Look at topic date before posting!

These forums really need a bump warning, there’s 2 or 3 threads bumped everyday that are no longer relevant or helpful.

I get bumping a thread that’s not time sensitive, or still relevant. But so often I see threads like this or PC building advice threads that are no longer helpful.

There should be a pop-up that comes up that says, “You’re bumping a thread hasn’t had a post in the list 6+ months. Are you sure you want to submit this message?”

Modern forums automatically lock old topics.

I just wonder how much OP did in those years since.