My first indie game's beta is out today on PC! What have I learned so far?
Self-promotion:
My first game that I plan on publishing is starting an open beta today:
access the game here: [www.grandmastergame.com)
I would love to have you try it out and get feedback, Thanks!
What I have learned:
Making a game is rough! This is not the first game I have created, but it will be the first one that I finish.
I have spent at least 20 hours a week during my last semester of college making this game and once I graduated over 40/week.
Important lessons:
* Stay organized
* Stay focused
* Take breaks
* Constraints are a good thing
*First, Stay organized
When I first started off I was just working to work. I would randomly work on different aspects of the game often times forgetting where I last stopped.
This make me less efficient in my valuable working time. When I did get a chance to sit down and work on the game I spent 30 minutes figuring out exactly where I left off, what bug I was fixing,
and what I wanted to do next.
I then bought a notebook that I used exclusively for the game. Inside this notebook I have lists of things I am working on each with different notations for how the progress is going
or where I left off last. This was the first big step to becoming more productive.
*Second, Stay focused
My two monitors are great, and I mean GREAT for working, but they are also a great distraction. Close all non-relevant/related windows and tabs before you sit down to work.
There were countless times where seeing I had a reddit chrome window open would set me off on a tangent.
The same goes for your work environment. When you sit down to work tell your roommates/SO that you are working from 3-5 and ask politely if they would not distract you.
Once you eliminate interferences from other people/pets around you and set a specific time frame to work you will become more productive.
*Third, Take breaks
I cannot stress this enough. I would not work on the game for more than 1 hour at a time without taking a break. Standing up and walking about for 10 minutes after working for 1 hour
is the best brain food you can get. You will come up with more ideas while you are actively moving around. Take a walk, go for a run, workout, talk to a friend about what you just did, etc.
Record down your ideas wherever you decided to organize your thoughts or, if you're like me, you will forget them when you start working again.
*Finally, Constraints are a good thing
Whenever I hit a road block or problem with how I was going about something I would take a break and think about it. Almost always I was able to come up with either a way to solve it
or change the game to fit the new constraint. Some of my favourite parts of the game came about when coming up with a fix for another issue.
My first game that I plan on publishing is starting an open beta today:
access the game here: [www.grandmastergame.com)
I would love to have you try it out and get feedback, Thanks!
What I have learned:
Making a game is rough! This is not the first game I have created, but it will be the first one that I finish.
I have spent at least 20 hours a week during my last semester of college making this game and once I graduated over 40/week.
Important lessons:
* Stay organized
* Stay focused
* Take breaks
* Constraints are a good thing
*First, Stay organized
When I first started off I was just working to work. I would randomly work on different aspects of the game often times forgetting where I last stopped.
This make me less efficient in my valuable working time. When I did get a chance to sit down and work on the game I spent 30 minutes figuring out exactly where I left off, what bug I was fixing,
and what I wanted to do next.
I then bought a notebook that I used exclusively for the game. Inside this notebook I have lists of things I am working on each with different notations for how the progress is going
or where I left off last. This was the first big step to becoming more productive.
*Second, Stay focused
My two monitors are great, and I mean GREAT for working, but they are also a great distraction. Close all non-relevant/related windows and tabs before you sit down to work.
There were countless times where seeing I had a reddit chrome window open would set me off on a tangent.
The same goes for your work environment. When you sit down to work tell your roommates/SO that you are working from 3-5 and ask politely if they would not distract you.
Once you eliminate interferences from other people/pets around you and set a specific time frame to work you will become more productive.
*Third, Take breaks
I cannot stress this enough. I would not work on the game for more than 1 hour at a time without taking a break. Standing up and walking about for 10 minutes after working for 1 hour
is the best brain food you can get. You will come up with more ideas while you are actively moving around. Take a walk, go for a run, workout, talk to a friend about what you just did, etc.
Record down your ideas wherever you decided to organize your thoughts or, if you're like me, you will forget them when you start working again.
*Finally, Constraints are a good thing
Whenever I hit a road block or problem with how I was going about something I would take a break and think about it. Almost always I was able to come up with either a way to solve it
or change the game to fit the new constraint. Some of my favourite parts of the game came about when coming up with a fix for another issue.
Replies
Though, there could be visual improvements in the art style, I can clearly see all the work you put into this gem.
The essential is that it's working, I havent encountered any major bugs while playing and I do like the online multiplayer aspect of it!
However, It would be cool if you added single player campaign where the player could play alone against bots.:)
Overall, I enjoyed myself and even tricked the other player a bit with the berserker.
Visually, t needs work but the core gameplay is done, it could be cool as a little smartphone app.
However, one thing; I arrived at the crystal gem before the other player, yet the game still said I lost.
Any explanations?
I haven't played the game yet, but noticed that the website is really lacking some visual elements. No screenshots or anything eye catching to get my interest right off the bat or even tell me what kind of game it is. Also your logo is dark text on a dark background. I think some simple visual polish on the site will help draw people in to check out the game.
It kind of gets disorienting when the player moves and the camera is really jerky when he turns. I haven't been able to play much this is what I got off the bat.. Keep up the good work!
What do you think of the new landing page? (still in progress)
Camera movements was scrapped as well due to feedback from many people.
Brilliant advice man. I made an account just to say thank you.
Sooo, Thanks!
-Kem