Developer Success Stories

You know that sounds exactly like something an engineer would do. Simply reverse engineering your products isn't sufficient. Oh no. They have to reverse engineer your factory too.

 

And the building's air-conditioning, every car...

 

This I so agree with. :/

 

Ditto - though for my day job its called OPSEC not NDA.

And Im not personally successful... Yet!

 

Here's the secret sauce recipe that can be applied to any business:

1) CAPITAL
Funding grants access to...

2) TALENT
Talent that helps make a game that rises above the ever-swelling ocean of mediocrity.

3) A WILLINGNESS TO TAKE RISK
Rarely have risk averse folk been able to step out of a bubble to put themselves in a position to be successful (in the financial sense).

4) BUSINESS EXPERTISE
The technical aspect of any business is still only a small part of the overall formula. Marketing acts as a multiplier to an already strong product. HR keeps the team motivated and the churn rate low. Finance keeps an eye on cashflow in the past, present and future. Legal helps protect your business.

5) EMOTIONAL HEALTH
Rarely features on lists of young developers, but comes with age. An out of kilter work-life balance can wreak havoc on performance.

6) EXPERIENCE
Helps avoid common pitfalls.

7) 1% INSPIRATION, 99% PERSPIRATION
Truth.

8) SACRIFICE
Important early on, like working weekends when friends are having fun, or forgoing a purchase so it can fund more dev. Can act against (5).

9) A DOLLOP OF GOOD LUCK
Although much of this is an ability to recognize an opportunity and to take advantage of it.

10) TIME
I read somewhere that often if someone hasn't made it by the age of 35, the odds are stacked against them. Mortgage, kids, pension - life has a tendency towards becoming risk averse over years. Better to get on with it while you are young as life acts against (3).

Good luck folks, and happy holidays!

 

its called working hard, and don't be lazy, I been a freelance dev now for over a decade. and I do fairly well and have a family.

 

I had a mortage at 18... and was successful then as an ASE Master Mechanic then got sick and turned my game development hobby into full time and got my degree. and become a successful freelancer.

So my point is no matter what happens if you work hard, you will always land on your feet and get what you want, I should know.. I worked hard even when I got cancer and was knocked down and got back up. 41 now

 

"Success" is too subjective. I think many people are failures even when they see themselves as great successes. Most people, when asked in confidence or surveyed anonymously, will tell you that they aren't satisfied with their lives. These people range from "same S***, different day" to "I don't know what the point of any of this is" to "I am just waiting to die" in their attitudes in life.

If you wake up every day happy, you are a success. Everyone else is just putting on a show.

I'll make my damn game when I make it, the way I want and it will sell as many copies as it will. Whether that's 0 or 1,000,000 (stupider, more random things have happened) it doesn't matter. What matters to me is that nobody is telling me how to use my talent.

I hope everyone here makes $1,000,000 from game development. But you can't be happier than I am with what I have in life. They don't sell that on Ebay.

Merry fudgin Christmas

 

If you wake up in the morning your day is off to a good start

 

I

It's fantastic that you are happy with your life. But the topic was success as a game developer. Those can be exclusive, or inclusive. No need to be grumpy and dismissive about other's success base on your personal criteria or what you have achieved. If you are truly happy with what you have achieved, you don't need to find ways to dismiss or qualify others joy in life.

 

The problem with this kind of argument (if you were really "A" then you would not "B"), other than it being entirely based on personal opinion, is that it is always used to attempt to disprove someone's claim about their own person by drawing inferences about that person from highly subjective personal impressions of things said or done.

Your view of me and my "grumpiness" is colored by your expectations of how you would act if you were me, and you imagining of what that would be like, etc.

"People from [foreign country] must like bad tasting food, because I don't like their food and if I were them I wouldn't eat it."

^ This is basically your argument.

"I am happy that you think you like that food, but if you really knew what good food was, you wouldn't eat that."

 

No, actually that is exactly the nature of your post. You dismissed other's comments with claims about studies, and that they are really failures and just delusional, and that your version of success is superior because are happier than everyone else. Pretty much exactly what your last post stated.

I made no relative/qualitative claims of success, while you clearly did. I am making no 'arguement'. That is why your post is grumpy. People are sharing why or what they feel is successful for them. Instead, you opted to share why you think they aren't really successful. Judge yourself by your own standards. Dismissing others won't improve your own situation. The topic was about sharing individual success stories, not why you don't think they meet your standards.

 

Did someone delete some posts inbetween? Becuase there appears to be a hole in the flow of conversation.

 

No. At least not that I'm aware of and I have a habit of watching these forums a little too much.

 

People today are jealous of others because they are not happy with there life and when they are at... Which is there own fault.. To many people today are selfish and think there life is so bad.. If you have your health you have everything.. Try losing your carrer and your health...... You can feel sorry for your self or you can do something about it. Same goes for people that THINK there life is so bad because a girl friend left them....Which is not so bad...you get over it... I'm married now and been there done that.. With age you grow out of alot of the nonsense you see others complain about..

 

Great post, funny how people do come off as jealous, they have no way of knowing what that person has , and what they have done to be successful so to make stupid comments like that is stupid and rude.. So I agree with Zombiegorilla here.

 

I been sick for over a decade fighting cancer and have a family, when people say that health will decline in being successful is nonsense. When I was an ASE Master mechanic I made 100k-120k a year, that is successful. When alot of them make less. So for some people to say that health will decline is nonsense, health declines can by doing nothing... I was very happy with my job and still got sick.. So when I become a game developer for a company, then went freelance, my marriage did not suffer nor did my health.. My health had issues before.. When my health declined it pushed me to do more and better and get my degree while I was sick... I lived this I should know from experience. NOw IF YOU let stress get to you yes you can become ill.. If you have a wife or husband who does not back you, yes your relationship can suffer ..With or without success..,.

 

There was one deleted after my last post

 

People are different. Some are sturdier some are fragile, some can endure more some can endure less. Throw enough challenge at one person, and they'll grow stronger. Do the same thing with someone else, and they'll break or worse. Their situations are different too.

I certainly saw people lose health while chasing careers. So I wouldn't call that nonsense.

 

Are you possibly ignoring someone? I see that occasionally, it's kinda funny, it looks like some conversing with themselves.

 

I guess that's better than seeing in your Skype feed "this message was removed" (Why was it removed? )

 

A buddy of mine is a top penciler at marvel, he had a heart attack at 37 (though he was at dc at the time). He is living much more healthy these days, and slowed down... A little bit. . I'm definitely more healthy than the early days, but I attribute some of that to the fact that I work with other similarly obsessive creative folks. It helps when as a group, you can help keep each other in check.

 

I get this far to often. What makes it worse is any quotes are ignored too. So it sometimes takes a little while to realise you are missing half a convo.

But most of the time hitting the show ignored content button simply remonds you of why you made the ignore in the first place.

 

Or one of those "post deleted" posts, then half the post shows up later down as a quote!

This is why I dream of doing a massive collaboration with my friends and any tag-alongs at some point! (Don't have the resources to do so yet, being 18 and all)

 

Secrets to success?
Be honest and don't kid yourself. If you tell lies you yourself, you give yourself false pride.


Secret #1 - to the artists without any portfolios...
In this forum, I see many artists, who have NO portfolio, for MANY years.
Always the same - "I want to make a MMO..." and then ask other artists who have portfolios, to work for free - for the artist-without-a-portfolio. WTF is that?


Secret #2 - your portfolio should show your best works...
Your portfolio should represent your best works. Don't put stick drawings or bad artwork with terrible color co-ordination, bad/no-perspective. If you say you have a degree, your portfolio should reflect works that prove you have a degree. If you have very junior artwork on your portfolio, and you have a degree, the employer has the right to ask you for your degree certificate. If you don't have any and you have bad portfolio - good luck. You should remove the words "graduated from Institute of ..." from your portfolio.

So tell the truth... If you don't have a degree and have good portfolio - doesn't matter. If you have bad art and claim to have a degree, good luck...


Secret #3 - Learn to accept criticism and don't insult artists with better portfolio than your's.
If someone tells you what's wrong with your drawing, listen to him. Don't go and piss on him. Respect the art director. He might be protecting you, and giving you salary. If you don't respect the people who give you salary, one day, you will be without salary, without food and wonder what happened.


Secret #4 - Practice, practice, practice.
Don't be lazy and don't practice your drawing skills. If you have bad or poor eye-hand co-ordination, or can't seem to draw, find another profession. Ditto for developer. Don't code in your spare time?...


Secret #5 - Respect IP.
Don't re-use customer's stuff for your own purposes. There are plenty of concept artists I've seen re-use art-drawn for someone, and given to multiple people. So pat yourself on the back if you are one of them and don't have any success.

If customer buys a license, return it back after usage. Don't be stupid like some people on this forum who share their licenses on illegal forums.


Secret #6 - Be honest with your self-criticism
If you can't draw concept art and want to join a large studio, you can imagine yourself hating the job, when you have to draw daily in different art styles. If it's crunch time and you can't keep up - good luck.


Secret #7 - Respect other artists
Respect other artists. They may have different skill-set than your's, like animation, modelling, VFX which are different set of art skills for their jobs. Later in the future, that other artist might need your help and you get freelance contracts.

The exception are idea-guy artists. Their portfolio are full of stick drawings or non-existent or junior-level artwork, and they usually ask for free work to add to their portfolio.

 

VERY GOOD POINTS.

 

Secret #8 - Never call yourself lofty titles without proof of workmanship.
Don't call yourself lead developer, or art director, unless you can delegate work and do most of the work yourself. CEO of non-existent companies comes to my mind.

The idea guy art director delegating work to unpaid artists slaves is an unforgettable yet funny experience.

If you wanna call yourself a lead artist, you should have some Magic the Gathering, Ubisoft or Gameloft Order & Chaos Duels or Hex cards on your portfolio, or equivalent...

You'll be setting art direction, art style, and doing major portions of the artwork... and if you can't get it right for a major assignment (not necessarily gaming), maybe it's time to consider working as junior position and let someone else set it for you. If you still can't draw, maybe work as an intern. If you can't do basics - like do simple character concepts, props or environments, you should really stop calling yourself an artist.

Same for lead developer. You'll be doing major doing parts. If you can't walk objects on a Navigation Mesh not using Unity for server-side, or can't control server-side AI, or can't do object persistence on server-AI (required for sand-box MMO), don't even think of doing a MMO. If you can't make a RPG, do the basics, Pong, then start working your way upwards. Simple pong-like games are popular on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.


Secret #9 - Wacom tablet?
This is for those artists who don't have a Wacom tablet. It's time you get one. Using mouse for drawing is pulling my leg. Oh please, don't tell me you have to get a top-of-the-line Cintiq, for junior artists... If your eye-to-hand co-ordination is terrible, If you break one during your employment, you get to keep it, and/or get your salary deducted.

If you don't have any, you can get some 3B/2B/2H pencils and small notepad in any stationary shop. If you can't draw using that, I really don't know why you are doing this... Hey, let's do an off-line art challenge. Good luck faking it .


Secret #10 - Hard work
The secret to success is hard work. That means, people who you work with, should also work hard. Can you imagine, if some idea guy, who asks for US$60/hour, and who does nothing, or complete mess, works with you?

The developers work hard, the artists work hard. A joe-average person knows which games are made with people who put effort and dedication into their projects.

 

Your advice mostly applies to artists, not developers.

There's not much use of Wacom tablet in programming, for example.

 

Secret #11 - code, code, code and code.
Make a dozen prototypes using different technologies.

Make a Pong game using DI (Dependency Injection)
Make a Pong game using DirectX
Make a Pong game using OpenGL
Make a Pong game using data-driven parameters. Instead of hard-wiring the levels, try to script the levels to read from TXT file instead.

Make a Pong game using NGUI, uGUI, DFGUI, ScaleForm, Neosis as the GUI to appreciate different methods of doing things.

Make a Pong game using Bullet Physics, Unity Physics, FarSeer...

Make so many Pong games that you can appreciate how to use different technologies and different methods of doing things.


Secret #12 - Use Scrum

Having daily reviews, sprint retrospectives, pair programming helps.


Secret #13 - Pair Programming. Don't get an idea-guy developer to pair-program!
Get someone of equal yoke. It's very rare (at least on this forum) to get someone equal or better than you.


Secret #14 - App Portfolio
When you've been coding so long, when was the last successful app? You'll have to do similar - create a portfolio site, instead of artwork, put code or code-samples instead. Open a Github account and post your open-source works. Or are you doing really terrible code?


Secret #15/ #3 - Learn to accept criticism and don't insult developers with better portfolio than your's.
If someone tells you what's wrong with your code, listen to him. Don't go and piss on him. Respect the senior developers. He might be protecting you, and the company is giving you a salary.


Secret #16/ #6 - Be honest with your self-criticism
If you can't code and want to join a large studio, you can imagine yourself hating the job, when you have to code daily in strict coding style. If it's crunch time and you can't keep up - you'll drop-out.


Secret #17 - Not so relevant, Resharper.
Great. You got resharper. Now try to remember the hints and code warnings. Try to code like as if you don't need resharper.


Secret #18 - Learn to read code.
Learn to read other people's code. If you don't know how to read code, don't know how to use a SDK (mostly code-fragments), LEARN.

(Same for artists, if you don't know how to follow art direction..., you see this artist saying, I want to do it a different way, and they get fired after that.)

 

Well, duh. Everyone here is better than everyone else here, obviously.

 

When people go off like this, using words like "judge" and "superior" and "dismiss", I just wonder why they are so mad at themselves. You can't possibly be this ticked off at some random internet poster for no reason.

 

Don't ask me. Ask the people on Commercial: Job Offering. They're, like, switching developers like one developer a week.

 

That's a bad advice.

That's a good way to waste years studying different technologies without ever releasing a game.

I do not recommend doing that. Also, I do not recommend making 50 pong games.

Programming requires passion to study it efficiently, and remaking same thing many times over and over again will surely kill any sort of fun you might have. You need to have fun.

Also, usually it makes sense to study material that is directly related to the task at hand. Studying 50 different frameworks just for the heck of it - instead of getting things done - won't get people very far.

 

What is success for me?
To give full-time jobs to skilled people (and they support their families), that help me with our games.


What is not success?
Helping selfish people who don't learn anything, helping greed people who don't give back, helping people who are just here for the sake of making a quick buck and move on.


What advice would I give to other developers to be successful?
Don't treat your customers like garbage. Don't treat the people who pay you a salary, like garbage, like what happened to me last years. I don't deal with artists who don't have portfolios, and developers who don't have any known apps on the Google/iOS App Store.

I would tell others, respect IP. I respect other people's IP, I buy all licensed and give to my staff, but they would backstab me and leak it out, so I fired them days later. I also tell my staff same. You respect other people's IP, so stop BitTorrenting the movies and so on...

I would tell others, be humble and treat others well. That's not true that Brazil has no studios. You should see how they treat other Brazilians to get some idea what kind of treatment they receive such that they don't want to work there.

Take your spare time to learn, learn and learn. Learn something new.

If you can't work freelance, work for others. If you can't work for others, or find work, did you even bother applying at a studio? If you can't find work at all, you may find harsh reality staring at you.

If you have to ask others to do work for you, that means you're giving out money to others. That's not successful if you make a MMO and need lots of labour but unwilling to pay for it.

If you earn a million/year and your staff salary is $250k every month, you'll have to make tens of millions to be successful. What is success by that definition if you can't earn multi-millions?

 

Something like that... I don't know how to state it further without context.

 

I certainly saw people lose health while chasing careers. So I wouldn't call that nonsense.[/QUOTE]

You need to reread what I said... I said that meaning if someone losing there health, THAT does not always mean they will do poorly or not become successful thats nonsense...

..I have lost a career if you actually read my posts from the start that is why I commented on it since I experinced it..So you may want to reread what I said from the start.. of my first post. Its nonsense saying, that if you get sick, that you will NOT be successful..That is nonsense... So again reread from the first post. /Cheers...

PS: I'm defending the statement that health has nothing to do with success or not, you can pick your self back up, I should know.. been there done that and still doing it, Cancer survivior ...

 

how did this thread turn from "developer success stories" into "how to be successfull?" kind of advices and judging opinions of each other and discussing what successfull means, when the thread opener clearly defined what kind of stories he wants to hear (financially independent with game development)

 

The thread opener also admitted to being a troll.

 

Every argument/statement involving subjectively or broadly defined term has a high chance of turning into argument about definitions or semantics.

sometimes. Which depends on circumstances.

 

Wow. Amen.

 

Well if you are making a game for steam you should have multiplayer compare the golf games with multiplayer to the golf games without less than 10k to 300k+
http://steamspy.com/search.php?s=golf

Assault android cactus is arguably a much better game (got more press) then It came from space and ate our brains but the later sold alot more copies.
http://steamspy.com/app/250110
http://steamspy.com/app/342620

You could probably prove the opposite looking some other data on steam.

If your making a game for koong make an idle game or one of the popular categories

 

Some games that are not F2P; are sold more than 1$ and they sell good, it really depends on your game.
If you make a generic game , another thousand version of a runner game or flappy birds or another thousand crappy looking and bad gameplay and non interesting game , indeed it won't work good.

I agree , but i think success is always lot of work first , some deep research, and lot of polish.

I see tons of crap in the mobile sector and tons of the same formula games like rogue games on steam for example, or thousand of another zombie games.
Many are made by amateurs, other by people only skilled but that don't have any creativity , they are just copying other game formula without bringing the shiny little points on gameplay or graphics mood and style that will make the game appart and outstanding.

I don't say oversimplified is bad, but there is too much oversimplified games looking like other hundred similar . Many times this is oversimplified that could work but it lacks some unique style or identity , some color mood choice or it lack somthing making it attractive in the design. They don't try to bring some unique mood and unique details or didn't research enought.


For example there is lot of platformers, but only few can compete with games like Shovel Knight or Ori, both are different, and both are polished a lot in all areas and have a unique universe , gameplay, content and interest.

I think this is the good forumla also, but this is this very hard to apply for the majority of people.

About hours, 50 is not necessary , for example some great games like Ori don't need 50 hours gameplay to remain great , other style like Uncharted games don't need 50 hours, but some RPG are expected to have lot of content in that case 50 hours can be the minimum expected.

Finding some interesting plot even for some simple platformer is hard , bringing new gameplay to some FPS game also asks lot of research people don't do.

Also lot of indies just don't go enougth crazy in creativity like in the past. We didn't see lot of FPS games where you could drive a mecha for example , or games with crazy universe and diversified gameplay like Citizens Kabuto
http://www.gog.com/game/giants_citizen_kabuto
Yes a majority of indie people are just copying ideas and lacks new ideas and creativity about the story , the mood and design of the game or the gameplay.


Making the graphic style and mood appealing is not so easy , there is too much indie oversimplified 3D games or over pixellated 2D games if you browse Steam because they can't make better graphics or don't have some 3D artist in their team.

Only few indies try to make decent 2D charactesr and level design like what you can find on Snes , the majority will just take the over pixellated games route more like C64 games.
That is sad some times seeing some indies not making efforts on that area when their concept and game is brilliant but failed because of graphics not attractive.

Polishing a game and listening to the feedback is not a common skill , a lot will just push their game on Steam sometimes rushing it.
Like the game "Woolfe - The Red Hood Diaries" that had lot of potential.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/281940/http://store.steampowered.com/app/281940/
They had some great story to develop, interesting characters and levels, but the game failed because of the cluncky gameplay , that lacks some deep in the gameplay , the game is too repetitive and borring, it is too short also and is lacking content.
When i saw the game developping i really thaught it was becoming a great indie small game with a success like Shovel Knight, but they failed for some almost supid decisions and reasons.

When you work on games like that , even if you fail you will gain great lessons on what to do what to avoid when you are making a game alone or in a team.


About game demos or betas of your game with the feedback is precious,could it be about graphics, gameplay, content or overall feeling about your game, because other players always will give you great points you didn't see.

 

sometimes. Which depends on circumstances.[/QUOTE]

You have an answer for everything, I stated mine on experince and not opinion... What about you.....

 

I disagree with you 100% people who do remake old games can help people understand what is going on, then take that and make there own game.... People have been doing this for ever.. All schools do this as well, when getting your degree and I seen people who are terrible at programming, or art, and they would remake exisiting art , mechanics.

Then a few terms later, they are making there own and the stuff looks amazing.. This is from experience and NOT opinion like some of you...

PS: Everyone one of your posts come off as negative, stop being jealous sir of others peoples success. Because it sounds like it when you are coming off so negative on everyones posts and disgree with everyone... Makes you sound jealous and hateful..

 

Remaking old games is baby steps. You can't be taking baby steps and preparing for your magnum opus for your whole life, at one point you gotta learn to fly and actually write the damn thing.

Your post sound like you got really annoyed by my previous point... except you can't come up with a decent argument against it.

If you have problem a problem with me either use "ignore" feature, or call upon judgement of hippomoderator whose watchful eye overlooks those forums.

The school is over. The training gloves are off. Set up a goal, and pursue it with all the passion you have, while ignoring anything that is not related to it. And "look at every available framework out there" is a good recipe to waste lots of time while thinking you're doing something useful, because while reimplementing Pong 50 times you'll learn how to reimplement pong 50 times, not how to write the game you had in mind.

 

@neginfinity - Looks like you've got this covered. Guess I can recede to the shadows.

 

Making a pong game can be good the first time a beginner uses Unity, it could be why not a simple exercice like moving a physic objects using forces and velocity functions.
This is the first steps and there is no rules to learn. Some people start directly focusing on their game for example some fps game so they dig some example and try to write the basics.
I agree making 50 times the same pong game you won't learn a lot because of the fiocused gamùeplay on Pong style game.

You are wrong, there is again no rule , each of us will go in their own way of doing things sometimes it's success others times it is a failure but they learn from mistakes.
Some indies already used good templates , for example Ultimate FPS asset is great quality package and some people used it without needing to reinvent the wheel and implement their game on top of it and they sold their game on steam for example.

There is no rules when it comes to begin making your game, some people will learn fast, others will need playmaker, or templates, and some others will fail because of many reasons.

 

Secret #11 - code, code, code and code.
100% agree. I'm not sure about doing Pong a bunch of times.

Learning is important but making 10 versions of the same old game could quickly make someone hate what they're doing. I jumped into game dev by trying to make a full fledged 8 player multiplayer RTS/MOBA with some website design knowhows. Everything from getting stuff to move, putting up a minimap, coding a ghetto UI, to rigging up death sounds was extremely fun and seeing the new features was encouraging throughout the experiences. Needless to say, the project wasn't completed. Syncing 200+ units over Photon wasn't the best idea. But if you're going to spend several months on an unprofitable project, might as well spend it on something you want to do.

 

Try doing it in another way/technique. You'll eventually find one that works and move on. If everything fails, stop and get someone else to do the networking parts.

 

How to be a successful game developer? Make a successful game.

If it isn't successful you aren't a successful game developer, you're just a game developer.