About my roughly one month in solo game development

General
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Hey everyone,

It’s been about a month with me being in game development.

To be honest, it was my dream as a kid, but yeah, I was trained as a web and application dev. It was only after I had got retrenched recently from the tech bloodbath that made me decide to do this after many rejections from jobs before I got in the door.

I do have some savings from being paid to leave as a corporate hooker, so there is a safety net.

I learnt godot from YouTube and then tried to code the game.

Progress has been…. Not ideal.

Maybe it is the fact that I decided to make a metrovania and platformer with bosses inspired by Cuphead.People are coding way more casual games from all the YouTuber programmer samples. I also expected alot more from myself actually being an application dev with a programming background and coming in to game development.

But yeah, got humbled and hit hard.

Give u a few examples.

I made a shark boss that committed debris, then it worked at first. Then after that I moved the debris code to a common scene to reuse some code for a coconut tree falling, and LOL. The coconut tree shot the coconuts backwards. After I fixed it for them, the shark shot it’s debris backwards. Lololol. That was when I learnt about global positioning and also the importance of putting your Marker2Ds for target points in a Node2D when u wanna organize your scene. If not very weird shit like this would happen where the Markers would be globally positioned instead of in relation to your scene

Then I also had this very strange issue, that my bullies for a rescue scene were getting invincible somehow. And I found it was cause I put them in a common class, and for some reason it reset the collision mask after thinking and hunting for 20 minutes why.

I would say I am a little discouraged although I realize Rome wasn’t built in a day. I only have a Shark Boss, a now slightly balanced bullying rescue scene. Coconut trees and walking enemies that move and throw coconuts correctly

Basically less than 5 minutes of gameplay. A little daunted by the task cause the game or whatever is made of it looks terrible with assets I generated with Gemini.

I probably have to hire a real pixel artist and sound engineer to do the sound properly when it’s done.

I also think I am burnt out from all the back stabbing that led to the eventual retrenchment.

I am hoping it will be a success, and yeah my work will pay off, but realistically I think probably not.

I sort of need some advise on staying motivated to code. I am happy doing it, but it is a kinda at my own pace when I get energy thing.

I am probably just ranting, so if u read it all, Thanks.

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Game dev, particularly solo game dev, is not a career choice to make. It’s a lovely hobby but please don’t think it will be anything remotely like financially viable to support yourself.

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Well, there’s a reason why I am doing it when cornered and with a safety net.

Just giving myself some time to see if I can code a game that I like that we can ship. I guess I am prepared to tank it though I hope it pays off

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Do a game jam.

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Hi there,

first of all, I loved “metrovonka” or what you called it. :slightly_smiling_face: This could be a new genre.

I know that feeling to well. It’s a lot and most often people say things like, making a game is a marathon and not a sprint.

But I guess you didn’t learn to create web applications with html, css, js, php, asp, mysql, databases, java, c# etc. within a month too?
I mean throwing coconuts correctly in an engine you never used before sounds good.

For art and audio there are free and paid resources. Lots of indie devs use those.
And this is a good place to rant. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Greetings, aye, as a person that has a similar background, I will say that the best motivation i have is think of a specific mechanic you want to see in a game, and make it a goal, then you can do it;
and aye, no need to worry about ranting here. Just happy to help when needed, even if it is merely listening. :slightly_smiling_face:

If you need other advice, some of the best motivation comes from success, small projects help even if you dont publish them at all

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Hahaha… I guess you are right. I forgot what it was like to learn anything.

It took about 1.5 years for me to get competent, and that was me coding as an 18 year old. ALOT.

I am going 40 now, so yeah abit different even with energy levels and motivation with the same free time.

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Seconded.

I’ve been a professional developer for 30 years now, and even though I know all about SDLC, and have even worked in games, I learned so much doing game jams. I learned how to plan, estimate and build a game quickly. I have intentionally kept up all my game jam entries so people can see how much they sucked in the beginning.

Godot WildJam #93 is coming up in 11 days. You’ve learned some things, and that’s great. Take a break and do something new.

Go do something else this weekend. Get out of your head. Maybe play an old game that inspires you.

Next week:

  1. Decide on a simple idea for a game.
  2. Make it simpler. (Keep in mind that enemy AI is HARD. Stick to making one enemy, two as a stretch goal. Or, just make a game with no enemies like a platformer or puzzle game.)
  3. Go do research for the next week on how to make THAT game.
  4. Explore itch.io for free assets. (More on that below.)
  5. Get ready to rumble!

I strongly suggest buying Kenney Game Assets all-In-1 for $19.95. It comes with tons of 2D and 3D assets, sound effects, and even a little level music. It will give you a framework to play with. If it’s not in the pack - don’t use it. (There’s a LOT in the pack.)

Spend time exploring that package and getting to know what’s in there so when the game jam comes, you know what to look for and have an idea of what’s available. Play with Parallax2D nodes and TileMapLayer nodes. Make a UI with Control nodes. Follow some tutorials on all three. Find some DevLogs.

And when the game jam comes, make your game. Try to fit the theme, but don’t kill yourself. Also, don’t stress about using the Wildcards. If they inspire you great, but literally NO ONE CARES if you use them. (It does not affect the voting at all, and focusing on them has been one of my biggest stumbling blocks.)

If you want to read about my previous gamejams, I have post mortems for all of them at the top of my Itch page: https://dragonforge-development.itch.io/ And for the last Godot Wild Jam I was in, I did a daily DevLog and post mortem: Devlog - Katamari Mech Spacey (カタマリメカ スペイシー) by Dragonforge Development, lightvgm (I do not recommend doing that.)

Oh, and the best advice I was given for entering game jams: Build the sh*ttiest game possible that works.

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You’ve been learning from your experiences. That’s what counts.

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yk, i work with godot for about a year now, before i only coded tech stuff i needed for studying and maybe tried making roblox games, mod minecraft a little, and i had the same problem, because first months were… yh terrible xd

only thing i made through these first months is learn how to use OOP python and how nodes work, it was after i’ve learned basics i’ve decided to start small and don’t make mistake of overscoping

I’ve started this year, i’ve made super small games - like 2 days game where i had to avoid towers and reach the point, or npcs mining rocks simulation. in february i’ve started making first bigger project - it was small survival game, i haven’t made it public, it had terrible art if any, but it worked and was quite fun to play for few minutes

Give yourself time, you’ll learn, with every small problem you learn more, and someday you’ll feel good to make your dream game, just don’t give up, it’s the most important part

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I’ve been working in Godot for years, and the kinds of problems you describe are still commonplace for me. You’re not doing nearly as terribly as you think you are :slight_smile:

Also, don’t forget that your background is in programming, not in game development. Games are created between many disciplines - you’re like a film editor making an entire motion picture, and having to do (and learn) everything from directing, to acting, to camera work, to costume design, to composing the soundtrack, and so on. Working with others might be a way to lighten that burden, and learn from other disciplines while you’re at it.

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