Point:Counterpoint

Careful Now

This is why we’re here.

Whilst the internet is a glorious thing at the best of times (there’s nowhere else that can satisfy my craving for a never ending supply of cats doing silly things videos) it’s also quite open to some really bad advice being dropped unto the world.

I’ve been guilty of it myself, I recently got asked by another site could they republish my Marketing Tips For Indies article and erm, I didn’t reply although in retrospect perhaps I should have agreed to it for the shits and giggles. The article is full of bad advice, it’s written in the full knowledge that it’s bad advice and it’s also put to the internet as a bit of a stab at those who willingly offer such bad advice freely.

And there’s no end of people who’ll offer up bad advice to aspiring indie developers. Bad advice for indies is rife.

When the TIGSource forums were formed, Fost of lovely indie developers Moonpod put wisdom to the page and it’s a wisdom that any indie developer, aspiring or otherwise should bear in mind.

“Take all advice in context.

There are a lot of people who want to be indie developers, and have been trying to finish their first game for years. That doesn’t stop them posting on forums. Within a few months of releasing our first game, most of what I had thought to be true turned out to be complete bollocks.”

I know, I know. People in talking out of their arse shocker. News at ten. Pope shitting in woods. Etc…

Like Fost, I’d advise that before you listen to anything I have to say, check me out. Make your own mind up about whether I’m talking out of my backside or not. Does freely available data back up my views? The marketing tips article I mentioned earlier, well, there was some folks who took it seriously. It’s easy to sound convincing. It’s easy to sound like you know what you’re talking about even if you’re talking absolute shit. Weigh it up, just because it’s convincing doesn’t mean it’s right. Just because advice comes in the form of “here’s what you should do” doesn’t mean you should actually do it.

The world is full of bullshit and bullshitters and wrongness. I can be one of those people, you can be one of those people. We all can be one of those people. It’s an unfortunate downside of this being human lark we have.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah. Bad advice. A Beginners Guide To Indie Game Development over at IndieGamesMag.

Down with that sort of thing

Let’s get this in straight off the bat. It is my recommendation that you do not follow this advice. I’d like to have hoped that it’s an article similar to my Marketing Tips piece, but a bit of cursory research says otherwise. This is a serious article by serious people about seriously becoming and succeeding as an indie developer and there’s more to come.

Hold me mummy, I’m scared.

Now, whilst it could be said that there’s some sage advice contained within the article, there’s an inescapable tone that I’m uncomfortable with. Roughly translated, the article is the antithesis of perhaps the greatest Indie advice there is. “Oh, what advice is that?”, you may ask. It is contained in the tag line to Anna Anthropy’s blog. “We must make the games we wish to play in the world”. Because if we don’t, what’s the fucking point?

An entire article spent essentially saying “so what if you’ve got a great game idea, you shouldn’t make it unless it’s proven to be profitable” is as bad as advice can get.

Let’s take a look at some of the points in the article.

“I’ve never met a game developer who doesn’t have hundreds of game ideas. The question becomes, which of these ideas will be the most profitable.”

It’s not wrong to say “many people have game ideas” because, y’know, they do. It’s also not wrong to say that a great deal of these ideas may be unworkable or shit. It is wrong to say “you shouldn’t try and make that idea” because here’s a thing. You know how I know if a game idea I’ve had is any good? I try and make it to see where it ends up. It might well be shit and get abandoned, if so, at least I’ve learnt that some or all of that idea wasn’t up to much. It might get developed into something and turn out rather bloody ace. There’s no real way of telling unless I actually go some way towards making it. It’s the only way to find out.

“Many aspiring indie game developers never finish their great game idea because it was too grandiose to start out with. You’re not going to come out with the next “World of Goo” if you’re new to the industry. If you’ve never worked for a big game publisher, table your great game idea till you get at least 1 profitable indie game under your belt.”

This is just bollocks. Not just slight bollocks, but complete and utter bollocks. Dangerous bollocks at that. It’s a variation on the school of unthink that’s sunk many an indie dev and I have no doubt sunk a few studios too. TIf you make x amount of games, by the nth game you’ll be able to make y:masterpiece. Here’s how it’s more likely to work out.

Possibility 1: You make some games and they’re too dull for anyone to care about in any way. You’ve lost a ruck of money and motivation. y:masterpiece never arrives. You go off to clean someone’s toilets or attempt to make an MMO for Facebook before throwing yourself off a rooftop to end it all.

Possibility 2: You make some games and they catch on. You make enough money to be comfortable. You continue making these games. Y:masterpiece never arrives as it’s now too risky. If you’re lucky, you get snapped up by one of the portals to make games for them too but it’s ok, it’s not really working for the man or anything because they’re not EA and you get to sleep on top of your desk not under it.

You also don’t need to have one profitable game under your belt to make a good game. It’s not a guarantee, it’s not a promise of future amazingness to have a game that sells. It just means you’ve made a game that can sell. Have you seen some of the games people buy? Imagine:Ubisoft Shit Farm “quietly sells a million“.

Now, if that’s the sort of thing you want to make – go right ahead. Do it. If it’s not, ask yourself why would you want to make it? Money? There’s safer bets on how to make wonga than writing games but hey, it’s worth a punt. Only if you want to, though. Personally, I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to and anyone advising me to do so is likely to get a punch in the cock for being cheeky.

If you’re going to be an indie developer you can afford to be more crazy, more nuts, more out there. You don’t have to play it safe. Go mad! Do something crazy with your game. You’re not saddled by 30 corporate suits dropping beads all over the floor as their abacuses explode with delight over the thought of yet another sequel to a popular franchise. You’re indie. You’re free. Strip off, run round the garden, put a sock on it if you must. You can be different. It’s ok.You don’t have to have worked for a big publisher to put a sock on your cock.

Bullet Dodging

“Unfortunately it’s tough to pay for all the art, music and assets that go into an indie game. And that’s not even taking into account all your blood, sweat and tears. Convinced yet? Are you so passionate about your game idea that you’re willing to pay thousands of dollars just to have it made? If you are, go for it. You may break-even or even luck out and make some money, just be prepared for the loss.”

Because that’s the only way you can make a great game, right? But in art, buy in assets, buy in music? Right? Wrong. That’s one way. It’s not the only way. If you’re smart or a little bit creative, there’s plenty of ways to avoid this particular pitfall – heck, your game idea might not even require you to do any of the above. If it does, then it’s lucky there’s some reading material out there to help you along the way.

Lost Garden: How to bootstrap your indie art needs.
Adam Atomic: Pixel art freelance best practices and guidelines.

There are ways that you can make your game come to life. There’s no need for such ridiculous negativity. Would Time Gentlemen, Please be any better with a £2,000 art budget? Maybe, maybe not. As it is, it’s still great and here’s the clincher – nothing else out there looks like it. It’s special. It’s got a style.

Experiment. Find a style you can work with. Costs=down. Phew. Dodged a bullet.

If you’re still struggling, you don’t actually need that art until the game is far enough down the line that you know it’s working lovely. At this point, you’ll know yourself whether it’s worth punting out cash for.

And “…just be prepared for the loss” – what? Read: “look, there’s no way your game idea could be any good anyway so it’d be down to pure luck as to whether you’re successful or not.”

I don’t know about you, dear readers, but I prefer to be in the business of encouraging people to at least try rather than shitting on them before they’ve started. There’s a dose of realism (and lord knows, we all get that the hard way without someone kicking dirt in our faces) and then there’s saying “hey, your game is shit” without even knowing what it is, may be or what your skills may be. I’m really not happy with the whole concept around the latter, y’know. If it’s made and it’s shit, fair do’s, bang to rights etc… at this stage? Who knows? It might just be genius. What I’m definitely sure of is that there’s no “luck” involved.

So far, so bollocks, then.

It’s reassuring to know that the article saves it’s total kick in the face for a grand finale. What do you need to do to avoid all these pitfalls and join the ranks of successful indie game developers? Wait for it, wait for it…

“So now that you’ve let go of your illustrious game, what do you do? The next step is finding an established game genre that you’re passionate about or enjoy…”

You can see where this is heading can’t you? Oh yes, what do we need to do?

“Do your homework. Find that game. Study it and prepare to copy it.”

Ah, right. In order to become a successful indie developer, you need to leave behind your good idea and take someone elses instead. (Not the first time I’ve read this advice but certainly, the first time I’ve read it without barbed tongue and not in jest).

Don’t make your own game, make a clone. It’s the only way to be sure.

I’m sure I don’t even need to rant about this part because it should be plainly obvious what’s wrong with it.

The answer you seek

So, here’s my advice if you want to become an indie developer. I’m afraid it’s not quite as verbose as either the article on IndieGamesMag or my rebuttal above. It’s this:

Make your game.

It’s not a recipe for success, granted. It’s a start though. And so what if your idea is stupidly ambitious? We all make mistakes and it might just work. There’s only one way to find out though and that’s to do it.

There’s no magic formula from the experts to help you succeed. There’s just you. You can do it. You should do it. And if you fuck up? Ah well. Learn from what you did wrong and try again armed with that knowledge.

Actually, I know I just said there isn’t a magic formula but there is something you can do to help yourself. Play lots of games. Good ones, middling ones, shit ones. Work out what works and what doesn’t and try and learn from other peoples in-game mistakes and successes and learn to be critical of your own work too.

If you want to start small and get some practice, try making a Klik Of The Month entry, a Ludum Dare entry, an entry for a Poppenkast competition or Gamejolt or TIGS competition but don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t and shouldn’t make a game. Of course you can and of course you should.

So go on, do it. Make a game. Don’t just sit there, have a go. It’s not always fun. Sometimes it’s long, boring, laborious and frustrating. Sometimes the game turns out shit. Sometimes the game turns out fantastic, you’ll never know unless you try.

And of course, be careful what advice you take as gospel. Including mine.