Should I quit 3D and move onto 2D?

proto93

so I want to become an indie-dev as a hobby after work. I have always done 3D and never considered 2D until last night I had a dream of converting all my projects into a 2D format.

When I woke up, I actually sat down and took some time to think. Right now I study programming, sculpting, and modeling. I still do not know much about topology, texturing, rigging, animating, and lets not forget the sound effects.

I am a one man hobbyist and do not really want to hire others since I do not have the money, nor is it a serious thing.

looking at 2D i realized some compromises to my game would have to be made, but the amount of work would plummet and I can make faster progress. But I prefer 3D. 

What do you guys think is the best thing to do?

Brian "Panda" Choi

2D

Andreicus

Hi, if your goal is to make money as an indie developer 2D is your best option because there are way less technical stuff involved during the creation of the game and the path of the "one man army" is perfectly doable after you are good at drawing and programming and if you don't want to learn programming ( i mean the code like c++ and so on ) there are a lot of good 2D game engines like Game Maker where you can code with a visual language ( something like Unreal Blueprint ).

Regarding 3D it is very difficult to be the only developer on a game, unless it is a very simple game like space invaders, a platform or you can work on it full time because people pay you to develop it like Yandere Simulator that has a Patreon.
You also need to be good in every department of 3D like modeling, animation, rigging, texturing, optimization etc.

There is also another way, the 2D game with pre rendered 3D sprites way, you make your models and textures in 3D, you render it and then you import them into a 2D game engine.
An example of that is Pillars of Eternity or Clash of Clans on mobile.

proto93

Andreicus said:

Hi, if your goal is to make money as an indie developer 2D is your best option because there are way less technical stuff involved during the creation of the game and the path of the "one man army" is perfectly doable after you are good at drawing and programming and if you don't want to learn programming ( i mean the code like c++ and so on ) there are a lot of good 2D game engines like Game Maker where you can code with a visual language ( something like Unreal Blueprint ).

Regarding 3D it is very difficult to be the only developer on a game, unless it is a very simple game like space invaders, a platform or you can work on it full time because people pay you to develop it like Yandere Simulator that has a Patreon.
You also need to be good in every department of 3D like modeling, animation, rigging, texturing, optimization etc.

There is also another way, the 2D game with pre rendered 3D sprites way, you make your models and textures in 3D, you render it and then you import them into a 2D game engine.
An example of that is Pillars of Eternity or Clash of Clans on mobile.

I actually like to program in c# due to feeling that I have more control over engines such as game maker and rpg maker. Currently using Unity but my eyes have been drawn to Godot since it is getting C# implemented.

It would be nice to make money off indie games but that really isnt my main focus. I enjoy 3D modeling and sculpting, but it really does take a long time and I have no idea how to animate them in a realistic fashion. Making old-school pokemon style characters and going top down seems much simpler.

ideally I really enjoy 3D more but it just seems like I am not getting anything done.

Bletzkarn

If you want to be a 1 man army then yes, go with 2D. 

3D is just too much work to do all yourself. As you say you haven't even started with animating and rigging, both of which probably take longer then making the damn model in the first place!

Let's say you want to make your game. You make a 16 sprite sheet in a day versus spending 4 weeks completing a 3D character.

pangaea

If you have a manageable 3D style for example Animal Crossing or Wind Waker or even below that. Then, is it clear that 2D will be faster.

Looking at graphtreon it seems like a lot of 2D games are slower on development. Some 2D projects even with a ton of funds seem to just die.

Looking at some of the top sprite art like Hyper Light Drifter, is it necessary easier and quicker than a 3D game with manageable style.

Maybe a reduce scope of 3D art would mean it would be quicker in the long run.