I quit my job to go Full Time Indie!

[buzz]

Guys, why are you worried about him so much?
http://www.superlongname.com/posts/are-women-objects-to-gamers

He struck gold, expect an RPS interview with him soon.

Besides, if indie gaming doesn't work out, there's always welfare for people like him

 

[Servo]

Something deep

Bro that was deep.

 

[Cleveland Mark Blakemore]

As for people who keep saying game development is "fun and rewarding enough in itself"... well, I suppose planning and building a rollercoaster is fun for some people too. But not really the conventional meaning of "fun" that is experienced by people riding the said rollercoaster.

It is fun to me. You are met with challenges to overcome. It's a creative project and it's fun for creative people.

Riding a rollercoaster is a thrill and can obviously not be compared.

Unless you are forced to ride it for 17 years, over and over again.

 

[Cleveland Mark Blakemore]

I think Fargo and most other entrepreneurs would advise you to expect failure, lot's of soul crushing failure but if you're persistent enough maybe one day you'll succeed, hopefully before despair and insanity take hold.

 

[theweirdn8]

Thanks.

 

[Burning Bridges]

And please don't forget to update the thread when your money runs out, so we don't miss the lulz.

Btw, what do your parents think of this career step?

 

[Blaine]

If I felt the urge to enter the computer game development industry, I'd most likely attempt to do so as a computer programmer, since that's a marketable skill set outside of the industry. If I wanted to enter the industry without going back to college to earn credits, then I'd probably pick up drawing and painting again, and hope to be a skilled enough artist within 6 years or so (it's said to take about 4,000 hours of properly directed [by which I mean you have to learn perspective, vanishing points, color theory, correct use of shading, etc.] study and practice to become a respectable artist) to have a marketable portfolio.

If you're striking out on your own and you're not a proper artist or a bona fide computer programmer (learning LUA and a few tricks doesn't cut it), or at the very least independently wealthy, you're probably gonna have a bad time. In essence, you're trying to be a lone wolf idea guy/project designer, and you'd better be damned good at those things if you lack any other significant skill set.

 

[Caim]

If you're striking out on your own and you're not a proper artist or a bona fide computer programmer (learning LUA and a few tricks doesn't cut it), or at the very least independently wealthy, you're probably gonna have a bad time. In essence, you're trying to be a lone wolf idea guy/project designer, and you'd better be damned good at those things if you lack any other significant skill set.

Like I always say: the amount of employees in a game company equals the number of idea guys said company employs.

If you have "hard" skills like programming, sound design, graphical design, porting of stuff or anything like that, you have a slim chance. But if you only got "soft" skills? Oh boy. Your best shot would be something like Project Manager or Producer or something like that, but in those positions you are there to allow the art and code wizards to get their shit done so you're not telling them what to do.

If you do have the hard skills, repeat after me: Portfolio. Is. EVERYTHING. Make sure you have stuff to show and make sure it's the good stuff. The best, in fact. Even better would be being able to show a few games you've made yourself. They don't have to be anything massive: just show that you know your shit.

Another thing: start small. Your first game will not be DragonSwords: The Skyrimming with 200 hours of gameplay with deep 'mershun. Make simple things like platformers or something like that.

 

[theweirdn8]

My parents are okay with it. They have faith in me.

 

[Caim]

If faith could feed a man there would be no need for charity.

If you have a good plan, go ahead. But be very careful with what you do.

 

[Bulba]

I look forward to pirating it.

at least someone will be playing it... better then none

 

[Monocause]

Your best shot would be something like Project Manager or Producer or something like that, but in those positions you are there to allow the art and code wizards to get their shit done so you're not telling them what to do.

:D Not sure where exactly you got that from.

Also, plenty of people with soft skills end up being good designers. They can end up doing loads of different stuff. If you've got soft skills all you need is a foot in the door and the willingness to learn.

 

[theweirdn8]

Yuppers, setup a gittip account the other day. The plan is to release source code a few years after selling game.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Yuppers, setup a gittip account the other day. The plan is to release source code a few years after selling game.

I don't think you should do that if you want to make a living out of selling games.

 

[theweirdn8]

The game's source will be pretty old by the time it is released...

 

[Machocruz]

The smart way, or one of them, would be for one to stay employed while working on game assets, not a full game, in one's spare time. Then gather these game assets in a portfolio to show to an already established studio and hopefully work there earning income and gaining more experience and technical ability than one possibly acquire on one's own. Then either work towards being given the responsibility of heading a project, or strike out independently with some real credentials, industry experience, contacts, and skills. This is a path many of the successful in any creative industry have walked.

But no, people want to skip the industry bean fields and go straight to "expressing myself/I'm an artiste." I guess people know better than the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto and James Cameron.

 

[buzz]

The same goes for indie devs as well. Cactus (the guy behind Hotline Miami) was making small freeware games since 2004 and was already a bit famous before that, same with Derek Yu (Spelunky) or Pixel (Cave Story). Notch worked on Wurm Online since 2003 and participated in various gaming competitions. The guys who made Machinarium and Botanicula worked with a bigger company and made small flash games before doing the big thing. World of Goo made by former EA devs, you get the drill.

Of course, this was in the day when people didn't find the idea of making games (no matter how small) for free baffling.

 

[laclongquan]

Great golly ms molly! This thread summon Cleve!

 

[Galdred]

I'm surprised so many people here do seem to think that not being employed by a company is some kind of death sentence. I thought people were valuing freedom there. You can always alternate game development with contract work if you don't have zero skill or zero contacts, to pay the bills. If you happen no skill and no contact, then it's better to stick to working for a company indeed.

 

[theweirdn8]

I agree,

Not having a job is not instant, "may I have some ore" mode for a person. My job is to bring you good games.

 

[Machocruz]

Freedom follows dues paying in most cases (and I mean dues paid in the same industry, not at ComEd or whatever). It's not about not being destitute, but rather gaining advantage from being in an environment where one can develop practical skills and experience via access to resources they normally wouldn't have access to. From what I've seen, most creative people's skills grow exponentially when they get into a professional or pro-level environment. Most people coming out of a typical (meaning not run by no-nonsense task-masters who give you the same workload you would get in the pro environment) four year school or a period of self training aren't even half as good as they will be after a year of intense work in their field. They're quite sub-par, actually.

Basically I'm saying the indie-mined shouldn't demonize working for someone else, either, as some creativity crushing, slave labor. Both ways have their pluses and minuses. You have to be very savvy to make either one work. There are people working for 1337 game studios that will never gain any authorship over a product because they don't know how to hustle and sell themselves, only see the small picture, don't leverage their skills into other opportunities, or do just enough to get by.

 

[Burning Bridges]

 

[theweirdn8]

LOL, so you're telling me I should go tame lions instead?

 

[Burning Bridges]

No, because of this part

Counselor: Well I now have the results here of the interviews and the aptitude tests that you took last week, and from them we've built up a pretty clear picture of the sort of person that you are. And 1 think I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the ideal job for you is chartered accountancy.

Anchovy: But I am a chartered accountant.

Counselor: Jolly good. Well back to the office with you then.

Anchovy: No! No! No! You don't understand. I've been a chartered accountant for the last twenty years. I want a new job. Something exciting that will let me live.

Counselor: Well chartered accountancy is rather exciting isn't it?

Anchovy: Exciting? No it's not. It's dull. Dull. Dull. My God it's dull, it's so desperately dull and tedious and stuffy and boring and des-per-ate-ly DULL.

Counselor: Well, er, yes Mr. Anchovy, but you see your report here says that you are an extremely dull person. You see, our experts describe you as an appallingly dull fellow, unimaginative, timid, lacking in initiative, spineless, easily dominated, no sense of humor, tedious company and irrepressibly drab and awful. And whereas in most professions these would be considerable drawbacks, in chartered accountancy they are a positive boon.
​

http://montypython.50webs.com/scripts/Series_1/66.htm

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

The same goes for indie devs as well. Cactus (the guy behind Hotline Miami) was making small freeware games since 2004 and was already a bit famous before that, same with Derek Yu (Spelunky) or Pixel (Cave Story). Notch worked on Wurm Online since 2003 and participated in various gaming competitions. The guys who made Machinarium and Botanicula worked with a bigger company and made small flash games before doing the big thing. World of Goo made by former EA devs, you get the drill.

Of course, this was in the day when people didn't find the idea of making games (no matter how small) for free baffling.

Okay, I should apply to EA right now and then quit it to become a full-time indie.
The experience gained there will surely attract atention.
Right?
Right?