Need Advice from the Game Dev Veterans

Hello All,

I'm making this thread because I feel like I'm "doing it wrong" when it comes to game development. I won't bore you all with the details, so I'll just make a list of my concerns/issues, and hope that I can learn from whatever advice you all may be able to provide.

Motivations:
- I love games, been playing since the early 90s.
- I love software engineering. Got my CS degree 12 years ago and have worked in the SWE industry since the day I graduated.
- I love creating things and have 2,542,612 ideas rolling in my head of games I'd LOVE to make.
- Playing the current wave of indie games gives me renewed hope that I don't have to have the budget of Activision or Ubisoft to make cools games.
-Unity, Unreal, Godot, etc are free!!!! (sort of)

Roadblocks:
- I'm 34, married, one child that is 2 years old
- I have a fulltime job that demands 40-50 hours/week of my time
- Weekends are spent doing typical husband/father stuff (clean up the yard, fix the house, family time, etc)
- I have almost no free time during the week. There are simply not enough hours in the day.
- I'm a one man army. All the art, music, and graphics I have to do myself. I am NOT an artist

My concerns are that I just won't have the time necessary to do anything meaningful in this industry. I'm not looking to become the next EA, but I'd love to put something out there at some point that makes the news for a day.

I've been playing with Unity for about 2 years now. I've made tiny projects here and there. But nothing that I'd ever bring to market. And these tiny projects take months to make. When I say tiny, I mean tiny. For example, my current project is just a one scene demo of a shmup with the player, one large enemy, and a life bar. That's it. It took me 2 months to make that. Not because I had difficulties with the coding, but because I literally have no time.

I'd love to do a game jam, or go to a unity convention, or something like that. Learn, grow, meet people in the community, make some connections in the industry, etc. But, literally no time.

To all the game dev vets on this board: How do you do it? Where do you find the time? I know everyone's life is different. Yet, there has to be a better, more efficient way, to do what I enjoy doing. Because make no mistake, even though I've only made tiny projects for a few years, I LOVE doing it. It's so much fun!

Thanks for reading,
Brodi

 

Your a hobbyist. Just accept it and keep having fun. Embrace the limitation of only being able to create simple games. The more you do this the more creative you will become with your time limitations. Pretty much every indie goes through the stage of whats in your mind then reality kicks your ass.

My advice is too ignore the software engineering side of game dev and embrace something like Playmaker, Node/Flow canvas (my preference). Otherwise you will never finish a game and will spend all your energy reinventing a million wheels.

 

Hello young one with few obligations (it only gets worse from here on but that's OK you get optimised at dealing with things!)

Focus on fun and silly things, do not, under any circumstances, focus on project quality. Just pure fun with smart decision making about scope.

Suggestion:

3 month projects + 1 month to market+release each time. Design around those moderate constraints. If you have only got 2 hours spare in a day.

Math it:

3 months = 91 days
2 hours a day = 182 hours

Seems like it's possible to make something fun and actually important. Limitations breed creativity.

 

I do not find the time. I squander it and sacrifice moments I could've spent with those I love, and I regret it every day. Just wanted to leave this grim reminder if you ever forget your priorities.

 

Ok, this hit a little harder than I thought it would.

 

Just limit the hours per day, and when you limit those hours think to yourself about how much good news it is you did limit those hours! It means you get back to those who are really important to you sooner. It's a happy thing.

 

Ok, so how to break down 182 hours...

Core mechanics: 30 hours.
Content creation: 100 hours.
Polish and release: 50 hours.
Work you underestimated and blew your schedule with: 100 hours.

So plan out 3 months with the understanding that you'll probably need another 2 to finish. 2 hours a day. Organize and track your time.

Main roadblocks: visuals need to be simple and clean. You don't want to invest much of your time here since it will be inefficiently spent (your strength is code not visual). Plan for this.

 

Nothing prevents you from building complex games. You just have to be willing to embrace the idea that you will be working on said game exclusively for decades and that you will have to make compromises to see your vision to completion.

 

Im a father of 2 with a understanding wife (which helps alot). But my trick is to get stable routines, in my case I work at dayjob from 0830 to 1700. Get the kids from kindergarten then when wife gets home at 1830 we make dinner or eat out. We put them to sleep at around 2000, my wife is doing this so I can start working on the game around this hour. Work on the game until 2400 to 0200, get up at 0830, rince and repeat. Weekends are reserved for family.

 

This is, essentially, what I've been trying to do for awhile now. Wake up at 0700, get the kid to daycare, go to work, leave work at 1630-1700, pick kid up, go home. Yet, that's when the uncertainty comes in. My wife, whom is very understanding as well, works really long weird hours. Depending on the day she could get home anywhere between 1800-2300. Which sucks because she really hates not spending time with our son.

Which leaves me as dad for the night. Cook dinner, clean the house, keep the kid from killing the dog, etc. Mommy then comes home, we have what little family time we have left in the day together. By the time everyone is asleep, it's 0030 and I'm exhausted.

Which is why what @hippocoder stated hit a bit close to home. There have been some nights where I've had to ignore my family just to get an idea out. Then I sit back and wonder if doing so was worth the time I didn't spend with my family

Oh well...that's the life of an adult...

 

Excellent advice. Since I have such little time, I should plan better to use my time more efficiently.

And just come to terms with the fact that I won't be doing anything "quickly".

 

You work 40-50 hours per week and you have a family. Even working full-time it takes A LOT of time to make a full game solo. You should join/build a team, or it will take you DECADES to make something decent.

 

Or you could just make something that's a lot of fun, and doesn't require a team putting pressure on you to ignore your family.

Something small, playful and above all, personal. The minimum viable product.

 

Everything good takes time.

IMO, the most important ingredient to success in situations like yours (and many others) is efficient, organized time management. Schedule. Track. Quantify. Know how many hours you spent on something. Keep track of everything.

If you can do this, I think you have a shot at doing something good. If not, then it's really unlikely.

 

This is an important thing to consider.

I just graduated from college. So I don't have and I don't know the hard dad struggles. But time management is something that EVERYBODY should consider. Plus, that it will set an example to your kid. Prioritize your day will make an interesting education activity for your child

 

We can't make more time. There's only so much to go around. If we need time to do something, we have to stop doing something else that currently takes up that time.

If being a (semi) pro game dev is what you really want, you're going to have to sacrifice some of your existing time to work on it. No way around that. If there's nothing in that time you will be willing to sacrifice, then you can't be a (semi) pro game dev. Yet.

It comes down to figuring out what you really want in life. I've been a pro game developer since 1994, and I spend most of my days here at home with my wife (also a pro game dev) working on our games. We raised three kids to adulthood during that time. Our son is now getting involved with game development on his own. The sacrifices were many and large. But that's what it took. Because that's what we wanted, and that's what we loved.

Sounds like you're taking some tiny bit of time to do this, but you're finding that time to not be enough. It isn't, and honestly it never will be, because to be successful in game development often requires more time in a day than there actually is in a day. Projects typically take three times (at least) longer than you planned for, and then after release even more time creating and releasing updates. It's just the reality of the business.

If you really want commercial success in this industry (or any industry), you'll have to make (sometimes major) sacrifices to get it. There's no way around it.

Being a hobbyist has its virtues, that's for damned sure. Not as much at stake and not as much heartache. I sometimes wish I'd stayed that, and done something else with my own life. But that's a whole other story.

 

This is more important than your indie dev dreams.

 

Come be a hobbyist. We've got the best deal here.

• You can work on literally anything at all you want. No need to pay attention to customers or a boss.
• The hours can scale up and down as life dictates.
• You end up with more money then a game developer.
• You don't have to do the boring bits. Sure an indie developer might get to spend 80+ hours a week making games. But most of that time is spent doing boring stuff because they have to actually produce something that commercially viable.

 

Lots of excellent answers in this thread. I appreciate everyone throwing in their own expertise and personal experiences.

I'm going to have to rethink my whole approach to this.

 

hah! touché

 

This clip describes it all, well, I think even a bit too much:

Sacrifices are inevitable. If you're willing to spare time, then this time won't go anywhere else. Family, friends, and leisure time will be a major hit. That's if you've got the dayjob. Otherwise you could get away with it, but then money problem arises.

Best advice I've heard, is that leave all the work for the weekend, and have a spare time after your daily job.
(Nights free).

It's better to have one sitting for 6/3h than 5 in 1h 1h 1h 1h 1h.
Taking a break after long day may be much better option than working extra hours.

 

Here's the reality. Two hours a day. You can find that time without sacrificing family. Assuming that your personality is one where this kind of thing is possible.

Personally, I'm not. I am an obsessive. I need to be able to devote myself entirely to something, but everyone is different. So know yourself.

Secondly, spending a couple hundred hours will not produce a "news worthy" game. Especially if it's your first finished product. So your expectations need to be dialed way down.

Your dream here is a marathon, not a sprint. That first 3-5 months will produce something that is not widely appreciated, that's ok, it's a learning experience. Your second will be better, and your third even better. If you keep rolling like this, you have a shot at eventually producing something good, as well as learning what's realistic for you - both in terms of time management and game quality.

What I'm suggesting here is a mixture of hobbiest and pro. You are not looking for wild commercial success (at least initially). You're looking at learning the full process and gaining the skills and habits you need. Once you've been through the process a couple times and have a good understanding of what the process is (both for time management and actual production) then you can figure out what to do with it. Either shoot for something commercially viable or just enjoy a fun hobby on the side.

 

I actually think @AndersMalmgren is a good example. Although his initial product was a bigger time investment than what's being suggested here. That said, he produced a game and continued to support it for like 2 years now. In the process he's gotten way better at making games. Virtual Warfighter may not have been a huge commercial success, but my guess is that Ander's next project has a real shot at it (maybe a sequel, maybe a stand alone).

 

Hey I'm in a similar situation, I work a full time job not relevant to game development and work 40-50 hours a week. So I can relate as I understand how difficult it is to find the time, energy, and motivation to work on games outside of work. Though things are slightly easier for me as I'm not married and don't have kids, so my weekends are more often open.

I noticed you mentioned you wanted to make time on weekends to go to networking events or participate in game jams. As long as you and your wife aren't both working jobs that require you to work weekends often, I don't think it's unreasonable for you to ask if she doesn't mind you taking a weekend to go to some of these things every once in a while. The Global Game Jam only happens once a year. So even if it's only that, do you think your wife would mind you taking a weekend off once a year to participate? I participate every year and I must say it's a valuable experience. You meet new people, get some experience working on a team with other game developers, and often learn something new. It helps strengthen your current skillset.

Also if you have vacation time you can use, have you thought of using that so you can dedicate the occasional weekday to game development? I started doing that recently as I was getting frustrated with how slowly I've been progressing on my own game.

Also there are online game jams you can participate in from home! Some of them are pretty short so you might be able to use them as a way to challenge yourself to make a game in a few hours. Check out the jam page on Itch: https://itch.io/jams

 

Generally any time I spent playing games is now spent making games.
Which was quite a bit, so it's turned out to be time neutral.
My kids are gone, wife took over their closets and told them it's too late to come back.
Guess you'll have to wait awhile to get that far though. Have fun!

 

The reality is a follows:

1. You first game will suck. Get over it. Your chances of making another Flappy Bird are one to billion.
2. It will take you A LOT of time to make your first game. I assure you it will take you MUCH more time than you think. That's especially true if your are new to this craft. Anything non-abstract and we are talking years full-time, 12 hours per day.
3. Most amateurs who release games on Google Play get 100 downloads and they wonder why.
4. Most amateurs who release games on Steam get 100 sales and they wonder why.

You are not going to make anything REMOTELY competitive doing it in your spare time, while working 50 hours per week in your main job, learning everything along the way and having a healthy family and personal life.

 

Wake up early. Stay up late. Burn the candle at both ends.

You only live once. If you want to make something meaningful, make something you enjoy. Do the work, put something out there, and be proud of the fact that you at least did that.

Most people don't.

-Chilton

 

This is a good start. Knowing your dev capacity at any time helps tremendously in gauging how to complete a project.
I'm not in a situation with kids, but I feel like I'm just as strapped for time as the next game developer.

There are a lot of "dev hacks" you can do throughout the day that can allow you to move forward when you have the opportunity. Realize that the amount of time that you have in front of your dev machine is extremely limited, and you can take advantage of the fact that a lot of what you need to do to finish a project is research, design, problem solving, and planning. Those are all activities that do not necessarily require you to be in front of your project. Save that time in front of your dev machine for vomiting out all you learned when you were away from it, to make full use of your hands-on time.

Use your smartphone a lot more than you are already. Use GoogleDrive and HackNPlan/Trello to plan out what you need to do, and even write out pseudocode. github gists are great for this too. All on the smartphone. You can be anywhere for this. Try to find as many dev tools as you can for your smartphone. I just recently got FL Studio so that I can produce music, and then eventually port it back to the dev machine.
And then, I say dev machine, like it was a desktop... No. Get a laptop (too?). This will allow you to develop in more places than just at home, at any time that you have free time. Optimize the time it takes for you to setup and cleanup your laptop on a cafe table.

If you are serious about getting to commercial quality, quickly and constantly identify all of your bottlenecks in the asset authoring pipeline, and frontload as much work as you can to develop tools to streamline that process. Always be looking for bottlenecks that suck up your dev time, and write tools to automate the process or at least make it more time efficient. But don't spend too much time gold-plating those tools. It can distract from the end goal of the game product.

Take your 2,542,612 ideas, choose the top 10, and find the top 3 that you can do in 1-3 months. Your views in life will change, so you may need to cycle some out and others in, but realistically, if you want to create a product with such little time, you don't have time to worry about any idea except 1.

As for the engine, if you are not experienced in it, you need to just gain experience and focus on that. And I don't mean just the language. Learn the ins and outs of it so that it becomes an "extension of you", rather than you having to learn things while you develop your game. If you need to learn-as-you-go, then I would definitely stay in hobby-land instead of commercial-land until most of the engine becomes second nature to you. You need to be able to step away from code 5-15 minutes after you've spent time looking at it and working on it, because that could possibly be the only free time you get. While systems can take hours to completely build, it's possible to break that up and still keep everything together in your head. 5-15 minutes could even be just enough time to launch your game and test out whether a button works.

Again, I'm not in the same situation as you, but I find some of these things works for me. Realize that whatever design you have, you will have to scope down significantly. If you make it too large, you are at risk for it taking too long to finish, the industry will move on, the tech will change, and you'll spend more time keeping the code up to working order than actually making the game.

If you are not an artist, highly consider contracting out work with the cash you're bringing in from your 50-hour/week job. Hell, you may even consider contracting out for some programming too. If you can't set aside a budget for this, then again, you have to stick in hobby-land for a while.

It sounds grim, but "it is what it is". Seeing as you're still 34, consider that us old fogeys are still at it. Hone your skills in whatever engine you choose and try not to jump around engines. A lot of us have done that, and at least for me, I regret it. I wrote Unity off as an amateur game tool. After I came to the revelation that I won't ever finish a project building something from the ground up, I took full advantage of the Unity asset store, which helps with that ever elusive free-time problem. Good luck.

EDIT:
Oh, and a tablet with youtube is the best babysitter. (Not serious? Serious?)

 

No. Just no. Everything else you said is spot on.

 

One man armies don't conquer S***. Lone wolves starve.

There's a few who don't, but if you are asking how, you ain't that lone wolf.

So develop a skill, and become part of a team. Keep your regular job in the meantime. I think the best chance for becoming a "game dev" is by 1. having a wide experience in producing games, and 2. being a known and respected leader in that industry.

Same as any other career. If you want to be the boss, you have to put in the time.

Otherwise it's probably best to be a hobbyist, and put your children first and not give them digital crack to keep them away from you. (this is not directed at OP, but the above comment which I hope is a joke!)

 

Geez guys, it was a joke.

 

I just wanted to jump on a high horse. I hate babies.