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How long till your first game?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by HKSpadez, Jul 23, 2014.

  1. HKSpadez

    HKSpadez

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    I started learning about 2 yrs ago and I've never gotten much done outside of making prototypes. was wondering if anyone else in same boat or if I just really need to nut up and finish one of my projects.

    Currently working on a team for a card game: http://adventsaga.net/

    But prototypes is about all I've done so far and my role in the team isn't that huge (I work on matchmaking/networking/online chat)

    and i was just wondering if this is normal progress.. or wasting too much time with trying new things out and not finishing stuff?
     
  2. Deleted User

    Deleted User

    Guest

    I would say its probably fairly common, however now is the point that you need to start finishing a project that's worthwhile. I'm still learning myself but I have also spent a year or so working on prototypes and switching from project to project, but I am currently working on my first worthwhile project. Try not to feel like it was time wasted but rather time spent learning and just getting a feel for game Dev.
     
  3. melkior

    melkior

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    In February of 2012 I decided I would teach myself programming (having already been an artist for many years) and released my first game in October of 2012.

    I worked extremely hard and dedicated to do that though.

    I have now completed 8 games, 6 of which actually got released. 2 were prototypes that werent worth going too much farther with but are playable little games :)
     
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  4. calmcarrots

    calmcarrots

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    Still working on mine. I have been using unity for 2 years now and i started my project about a year ago. I still have so much to do haha. I rewrote my project 4 times now. It is super efficient, runs well, and can be run on low end computers. I plan on revealing my game next week and hope to finish it by the end of the year. So excited lol
     
  5. Gigiwoo

    Gigiwoo

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    Heard the quote, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results." Finishing ANYTHING will enable you to one day be like Melkior, "I have now completed 8 games, 6 of which actually got released. :)" or like me, 6 products, 200,000 customers, accomplished in my spare time, with full-time job, 2 kids, and a wife.

    Since deadlines are motivating, allow ONLY 12 weeks: 4 weeks of core gameplay, 8 weeks of polish. Joel Spolsky advises, "Shipping is an feature. A really important feature. Your product must have it"

    Save the magnum opus for when you're truly skilled! "Nut up and finish one of your projects."
    Gigi
     
  6. HKSpadez

    HKSpadez

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    @Gigiwoo ! I saw ur other post man. very good read. I'm happy to hear u were able to do all that with a full time job and a family. Thats pretty amazing.

    I just got out of college as a Electrical Engineer working as a firmware UEFI BIOS developer when i started unity. Was different... doing programming for a game instead of for hardware. Was getting discouraged at the thought of me not having enough time cause of my full time job and gf but that was motivating to hear.

    I think I will go with the 12 weeks plan. I think it will be a good motivator.

    thanks for all the stories guys lol ;_; glad to know im not completely alone when dealing with being in a rut due to wanting to hit too many prototypes.
     
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  7. der_r

    der_r

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    My first few games all took less than a week or two.
     
  8. Steve-Tack

    Steve-Tack

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    I would suggest doing a new game with the smallest scope you can imagine in the shortest time possible. Don't invest a lot of effort into a huge amount of visual polish necessarily. It can give you a reality check for how long things take and how long the tail end of a project can go. Plus it just feels good to get a published game out there.

    As a hobbyist, I can afford to work on my larger PC/Oculus Rift project as much as I want, but none of us have unlimited time. I took a break from that and published the tiniest game I could conceive of to iOS and Android. I only have nights and weekends, so it took 10 days. A lot of that was spent picking out music and sound effects, learning the iOS publishing thing, testing, and tweaking levels. That's stuff you tend to think of as the "last 1%" (which really isn't).

    I got two main things out of doing the tiny game: it was surprisingly fun and now I have a better feel of what I can accomplish in X number of days. It's got me thinking in terms of scaling down the scope of my larger game, which wasn't particularly ambitious to start with, or so I thought.
     
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  9. calmcarrots

    calmcarrots

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    Bro that's really good to hear. I will try that 12 week plan on my next game. Or is it not too late to do that to my project? Lol anyways I like that plan
     
  10. Kellyrayj

    Kellyrayj

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    This year I hope!

    I failed at the 12 weeks challenge pretty hardcore. I made a nice prototype or so I thought and was well on my way and then all my progress died. Had many other exciting things happening in my life and the game just fell off my radar. It took about a month of not opening it before I dove in again and realized that once again my scope was too grand so I scaled back and suddenly the project was exciting again. I redid some art and boiled the game down to what it was suppose to be.

    When I'm done with 100 Orcs I want to try the 12 weeks again. My knowledge is so much greater now than it was at the start of the year. Here's hoping!
     
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  11. roger0

    roger0

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    I've tried building 2 other games before. The first one got to big so I started on the 2nd. Then that one got to big so I created a third. I am almost finished with the third game, however its proving to be more than I expected as well.

    I am not starting anymore projects until I get this one complete!
     
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  12. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    My first couple of games each took less than a week. One of them was a long weekend (~4 days), another one I think was most of a work-week equivalent.

    Most projects I complete are less than a full-time month of my effort.

    But yeah, time to "nut up". ;)

    Pick a small project and dedicate yourself to finishing it. For personal projects, this is the main reason that I do them one at a time. I start something, I then finish it before starting something else. It encourages me to keep the scope small, because the more I add to the current thing the further back it pushes my next thing.

    When I say "small", pick something you think you can do in half of the time allocated. To do it well you'll find takes longer than you thought. Polish takes the lion's share of pretty much any game project.
     
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  13. Teremo

    Teremo

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    Been a month and I have yet to finish my prototype, mainly because I'm new to fairly programming and game design in general. I've basically done application programming, but I've never programmed a game before. My experience with Unity is very limited, I need to finish the 2D tutorial and plan on moving on to the scripting tutorial... problem is, it's a lot of information for me to take.

    I already created the sprites I needed (look like complete rubbish), I just need to program them. As of now, I've been doing a lot of research on how to create a "pixel-perfect" 2D game and how to improve in the art department since my art looks like a 3 year old drew them.

    It's a very basic game at it's core, to which I plan on adding once I finish it... which as of now, I am not rushing.

    You can just call me a dirty peasant.
     
  14. KRGraphics

    KRGraphics

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    Right now, I am working on a fighting game, but development is being slowed down by life, other pursuits, novel publication, and R&D using Unity. Most of the time is spent on asset design and testing new tools for my pipeline. It is more like a CG film than a game. I am hoping to have a working alpha build done soon, and maybe I can find some programmers to help with it. It's a hobby really...
     
  15. infinitypbr

    infinitypbr

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    It depends a lot of the scope of the game of course. The game I'm working on now is not small, as it's a 30 hour (or more? not sure) game with an open world, lots of dungeons and environments. Top down RPG.

    I started about 10 months ago, working full time, just me and the asset store.

    It's been "almost ready" for the past 3 months, but the last bit of polish/fixing is crazy tedious. Just re-did my enemy scripts today (and cut their processing time by 100x, only using 1% of the frame rate they did before!), so it's all important stuff.

    But I will be VERY happy when it's actually released.
     
  16. Gigiwoo

    Gigiwoo

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    Fear of failure is a barrier to success. Use blocks, cubes, circles to make the SMALLEST fun thing possible. Lack of art, programming, and experience are the adornments of the barrier your ego erects to protect itself from the fiery onslaught of criticism that is the crucible in which mastery is born.

    Gigi
     
  17. AndrewGrayGames

    AndrewGrayGames

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    So my first project - SHMUP: Orbital Combat - took about six months as it was a prototype/learn Unity for myself project. I had a part-time job, complete lack of fear, and time. I didn't work on it anywhere close to 24/7, but it was a release.

    My second project, Zombies vs. Knights, took me about a month to create, and I spent closer to 8 hours a day on it for the month it took me to make it. It's currently my most successful game.*

    My third project, The Hero's Journey, took ten months, and is doing only slightly better than SHMUP did after its release.

    My experience so far shows me, that as a one-man band, a short dev cycle is better than a long one. That's why I'm dusting the fear of networking code off of my boots (I've done it before) and getting crud done this week. I need to put a playable prototype on the WIP forums so I can get feedback and peer pressure, and said prototype won't write itself!

    *: It took about two years of lying fallow on Wooglie for it to start consistently giving me income. As of this morning, I average about one eurocent per day on the game, with 20-40 plays per day. Prior to that it was doing about as good as SHMUP: Orbital Combat, which is to say, < 10 plays per day, no income ever. The 'initial spike' even sucked.
     
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  18. roger0

    roger0

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    Hey, where did you get the music for zombies vs kights? Whats the name of it?
     
  19. AndrewGrayGames

    AndrewGrayGames

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    I wrote the music in Zombies vs. Knights myself. The Zombie theme was the first time I ever wrote a percussion-only piece, what's more. The tunes, and theme of the game, were inspired by Warcraft III, written in Anvil Studio, and rendered into OGGs using SynthFont. I did no post-production on them, as I couldn't preserve the looping with the filters that needed to be used.
     
    Last edited: Jul 24, 2014
  20. NinjaRubberBand

    NinjaRubberBand

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    I started programming javascript in november 2013, i started using unity in march 2013, so i knew how to use unity before i started programming. I also had experience in photoshop so the art was not a problem.
    I released my first game "Out Of Orbit 18 february 2014 on google play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.EQUAL.OutofOrbit

    Then i released my second game "Gravity Switch" 9 days later: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.EQUAL.GravitySwitch

    And my third game "Rope Skip" 23 april 2014: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.EqualGames.RopeSkip

    Im trying to do some bigger projects right now.
     
  21. Philip-Rowlands

    Philip-Rowlands

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    These are games made with Unity, all throughout the last 12-15 months. Before that, I'd started but never finished a few things with JLWGL and XNA, all as learning projects.

    First game: 10 hours for a game jam. Was the winning entry, purely by being the only thing that was finished :D
    Second game: 3-4 months (quite ad hoc, alongside my Master's thesis).
    Third game: 10 hours for a game jam. Didn't win, but it was pretty fun to make.
    Fourth game (WIP link in my sig): I consider this my first proper game in Unity. I started it in earnest around the end of June, and plan to have it finished for Valentine's Day next year. I'm probably allowing myself far too much time :p
     
  22. yoonitee

    yoonitee

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    I think my shortest game (a board game) took about 3 days from idea to uploading on the store (and it's quite popular!).
    My longest one (a racing game) dragged on for about 6-7 months on and off.

    I personally would advise trying to complete games in 1 month. Any less and the quality may suffer. Any more and the financial returns on the app stores may not cover your costs. (Well that's all relative since how do you value a game that may be making revenue for 5 years or more?) Then you would have 12 good games a year. Which is not too shabby. :)
     
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  23. Teremo

    Teremo

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    That's the problem, I AM using blocks, cubes, and circles. Haha!

    I'm open for criticism, I use to be a percussionist and have received my share of bad and creative criticism. I know my art is not the best, but I acknowledge it so I can improve on.

    But you're right, "fear of failure is a barrier to success."

    I mainly write in such way so people don't take my comments as what some one that has been a game dev for a while would say. I'm very ignorant in terms of programming, art design, and game development; I'd hate to give bad insight to what it's like to make games to newbies like myself, do apologize if I come off as me trying to protect an ego.
     
  24. Gigiwoo

    Gigiwoo

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    On the contrary, you are pre-slamming yourself, before others can, which reminds me of Imposter Syndrome. And I wanted to encourage you to set that nonsense aside. Finish a product, and get it out there, so you can learn where you failed, improve your skills, and try again. Fail fast and often, so you can get through the Difficult Years as quick as possible.

    Gigi.
     
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  25. Teremo

    Teremo

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    Haha! Had no idea such syndrome existed. I guess you're right, I am suffering from Imposter Syndrome.

    That's where the problem lays, as of now, I'm using this game as a way to teach myself. I wish I could create and code a game with-in a month but my limited knowledge on the field prevents me on doing so, I am in the learning phase.

    Thanks for the advice.
     
  26. yoonitee

    yoonitee

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    I would advise don't try and match an AAA game because it's not possible for an indie to do that. Instead try and put your creativity and personality into the game. What's the point in being an indie developer if you can't express yourself? Otherwise you might as well work for a big coorporation with the "suits"!
     
  27. makoto_snkw

    makoto_snkw

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    I discovered Unity back in 2013, around July.
    Now it's July 2014.
    And I'm still, not even close to Alpha.

    But I believe, the first start is always the hardest because you need to learn and get yourself familiar with the workflow.
    After that things will go smooth and easy.
     
  28. Teremo

    Teremo

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    But I like wearing suits. :(
     
  29. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Note that this does not mean that you should set out to fail, though. It's the "fast" bit that's important, not the "fail" bit.

    What it does mean is that you should do short stuff to begin with so that a) if you do fail, you don't invest any more into a project than you absolutely have to and b) you get to the analysis part of the cycle early and often. Analysis is super important because that's where you identify opportunities for improvement to make the next thing you do better.

    Personally, while I like the concept behind "fail fast" approaches, I don't like that name because it's really not about failing - it's about succeeding. It's just that the approach involves accepting that you probably will fail a few times before you find a success, being cool with that, and making the most of it when it happens.
     
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  30. Gigiwoo

    Gigiwoo

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    I haven't decided yet ... whether 'failure' is the wrong word, or exactly the perfect word.

    Gigi
     
  31. LMan

    LMan

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    7-ish months for myself and my team- We spent the first 4 learning and working on a project that was too large for us, then we took a hard look at what we could do, and went after something more simple. 3 more months of working/figuring out what we were doing, and we had our first product! Have to say that finishing something was the best feeling ever.
     
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  32. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    To be honest, for those who understand the concept behind the name it's not a big deal. We know that it means you should position yourself to move away from "failures" as quickly and cheaply as possible if and when they occur. It's for people who don't understand that yet that I think it's a bit of a turnoff.

    Note, though, that as long as it starts a conversation it's still doing something positive.
     
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  33. pete1061

    pete1061

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    Yeah, I'm afraid I'm not emotionally healthy enough to be able to do this stuff. I've given up on every project I have ever started. My latest has been dead in the water for 3 months.
     
  34. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    Pick a really small project. Pick something you think you can do in a month. It'll take two or three, but that's cool, because the end should be in sight.

    Or, even pick something you think you can do in a week or a fortnight. Just do something minimal that gets you through the entire project life cycle - build it, test it, release it, learn from it. You'll never get to the "learn from it" stage of that cycle if you're always false-starting all the way back at "build it".
     
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  35. zombiegorilla

    zombiegorilla

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    It is exactly the perfect word, because it is accurate.

    Game dev is a creative endeavor. Like any other creative endeavor, if you don't fail from time to time, you aren't taking risks (or worse, not recognizing when you fail). Failing is part of the process and being afraid to fail can be crippling or prevent you from taking risks.

    "Failing fast" is a very important (and difficult) skill to have. The opposite of a fast fail isn't "sucess" it is failing slowly. I think it is tricky for folks who build games, because often the type of people who are drawn to game dev are problem solvers in the first place. Our natural response when something is failing is to fix it. Sure, good when bug fixing, but harder when the fail is farther up the line. More than once I have watched a slow motion train-wreck when we have launched a game, it utterly fails then we spend months trying to "fix" it. It never really works.

    Personally, while I fully understand and embrace the "fast fail", I am horrible at actually pivoting or going back to the drawing board when needed. I am one of the "I can make it work!" types. (even when 'making it work' takes 5 times longer than stepping back and finding a better solution) I am lucky to have folks around me who are more sensible in that respect.

    If you are like me and not good at knowing when to draw the line, try to find someone you trust to give you a gut/sanity check when needed. Failing fast is really important.
     
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  36. zombiegorilla

    zombiegorilla

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    'Smooth' and 'easy' are words generally not associated with 'game development'. ;)
     
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  37. angrypenguin

    angrypenguin

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    For me the main challenge is picking personal projects where failure is something that can be recognized early. I do similar work commonly with short deadlines for my day job, so the idea of doing short deadline stuff on my own time is just... well, stuff that! So I pick longer things that I can chew away at for months, and often only get a few hours a week to put in. As a result, it's often ages between starting something and having it at the stage where I can get useful feedback.

    As a hobby I still enjoy it, so no issue there. And I still get the learning advantages of short dev cycles from a lot of stuff at work, so I'm cool there too. But I admit I do sometimes feel envious of other developers I know who crank out simpler games at much higher rate.
     
  38. TheValar

    TheValar

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    When I first got Unity I messed around with it on and off for probably 4 months or so. Kinda started a project but my motivation fizzled.

    After a little break I finished my first "full" project in probably 1 or 2 months (don't remember exact dates). This was just a one level platformer that I used to propose to my wife but it helped me learn some basics.

    After that I picked up my previously abandoned idea again and turned it into my senior project at college. This one was my first full game and probably took me about 4 months total.

    Making prototypes is good but I think eventually you have to decide if one of them is viable for a full game and see it through to completion.
     
  39. Soul-Challenger

    Soul-Challenger

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    Started checking out Unity in early 2011 with zero programming skill.
    First prototype in spring 2012
    Second prototype should be ready in summer 2015 ;)

    Oh yeah, not working on this full-time, cause: day-job, 2 kids, depleting energy with advancing age... etc