Video game development is my passion and I’m making it my fast lane strategy.

[DonyaSze]

I know that MJ said working on your dream isn’t the best way to make millions, but I’ve put together an explanation of why my dream project is a good idea to build based on the CENTS formula.



Control:

I have it allllll as the leader of the team and main developer.



Entry:

To some, the entry may seem easy, and the market saturated, but that’s because the market is saturated with LOW QUALITY games.

Making a game is hard, but lots of people are doing it. Making an EXCELLENT game though is FRICKING HARD. I’ve played lots of indie games in my little developer circle, NONE were of EXCELLENT quality. So the execution, like with anything, is the most important factor.



Need (Value)



The value of a game lies within it’s ability to entertain. It has to not only be fun, but the graphics also have to be easy to read and understand what’s going on. It doesn’t matter if your game is 8-but or AAA quality, readability and ability to convey feeling is what matters. Of course, do people NEED a Castlevania-like game with Visual Novel elements? I haven’t seen anyone make one before, so there is an opportunity there. The NEED lies within the game’s difficulty level. People have expressed their concerns with Visual Novel hybrids being too easy. So our challenge is to make it a fun and fulfilling challenge with a great story.



Time



Once the game is done, it can be sold forever online and my team and I will continue profiting off of it forever.



Scale



Since selling it digitally online can make it be sold just about anywhere, the scale of the business can get massive! We can make more games as well.


With that said, I would like to document my progress so far. I will update this thread later with business growth progress such as leads and things.

2019 (and earlier):

My friend and I began designing characters and writing story for the game and creating 3D graphics.


2020 :

I began officially developing the game as a 3D exploration game to start with.



2021:

I hired (EXPENSIVE) marketing ‘experts’ to get the word out about our Kickstarter for the game before the demo was completed (mistake). They pushed us to have a demo out asap, which resulted in a low quality product, and when our Kickstarter launched, it flopped.



2022:

I salvaged the game to make a side-view ‘2.5D’ platformer jumpy runny slashy game instead, with 2D sprites in front of a 3D background. That way it would be easier on a small team like us, and allow for more creativity. Besides, it ended up looking nicer than the 3D version anyway because of the look of the smooth 2D sprites instead of janky 3D models. I updated all of the portrait sprites to reflect the new version of the game which resulted in better quality portraits.



2023:

I created a Kickstarter pre-launch page for the new version of the game so that people could follow it and see when it launches, and continued production of the new demo.



2024:

I have a goal of 1000 Kickstarter followers that I want to reach before launching the new Kickstarter as well as completing the ACTUALLY GOOD demo. My goal is to finish the demo before the end of this year. If I can launch the KS this year too that would be icing on the cake. Been progressing smoothly in development (with the occasional bump or two).



Today:

Jan 30, 2024

The Kickstarter has 142 followers, so we are 14% of the way towards the prelaunch page goal! My plan for today was to write this, and do some drawing for the game.



I’m hoping this thread will keep me accountable since I’m posting it on a forum with such big huge mega winners.



Looking forward to more progress!

 

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[SnowLava]

I know that MJ said working on your dream isn’t the best way to make millions, but I’ve put together an explanation of why my dream project is a good idea to build based on the CENTS formula.



Control:

I have it allllll as the leader of the team and main developer.



Entry:

To some, the entry may seem easy, and the market saturated, but that’s because the market is saturated with LOW QUALITY games.

Making a game is hard, but lots of people are doing it. Making an EXCELLENT game though is FRICKING HARD. I’ve played lots of indie games in my little developer circle, NONE were of EXCELLENT quality. So the execution, like with anything, is the most important factor.



Need (Value)



The value of a game lies within it’s ability to entertain. It has to not only be fun, but the graphics also have to be easy to read and understand what’s going on. It doesn’t matter if your game is 8-but or AAA quality, readability and ability to convey feeling is what matters. Of course, do people NEED a Castlevania-like game with Visual Novel elements? I haven’t seen anyone make one before, so there is an opportunity there. The NEED lies within the game’s difficulty level. People have expressed their concerns with Visual Novel hybrids being too easy. So our challenge is to make it a fun and fulfilling challenge with a great story.



Time



Once the game is done, it can be sold forever online and my team and I will continue profiting off of it forever.



Scale



Since selling it digitally online can make it be sold just about anywhere, the scale of the business can get massive! We can make more games as well.


With that said, I would like to document my progress so far. I will update this thread later with business growth progress such as leads and things.

2019 (and earlier):

My friend and I began designing characters and writing story for the game and creating 3D graphics.


2020 :

I began officially developing the game as a 3D exploration game to start with.



2021:

I hired (EXPENSIVE) marketing ‘experts’ to get the word out about our Kickstarter for the game before the demo was completed (mistake). They pushed us to have a demo out asap, which resulted in a low quality product, and when our Kickstarter launched, it flopped.



2022:

I salvaged the game to make a side-view ‘2.5D’ platformer jumpy runny slashy game instead, with 2D sprites in front of a 3D background. That way it would be easier on a small team like us, and allow for more creativity. Besides, it ended up looking nicer than the 3D version anyway because of the look of the smooth 2D sprites instead of janky 3D models. I updated all of the portrait sprites to reflect the new version of the game which resulted in better quality portraits.



2023:

I created a Kickstarter pre-launch page for the new version of the game so that people could follow it and see when it launches, and continued production of the new demo.



2024:

I have a goal of 1000 Kickstarter followers that I want to reach before launching the new Kickstarter as well as completing the ACTUALLY GOOD demo. My goal is to finish the demo before the end of this year. If I can launch the KS this year too that would be icing on the cake. Been progressing smoothly in development (with the occasional bump or two).



Today:

Jan 30, 2024

The Kickstarter has 142 followers, so we are 14% of the way towards the prelaunch page goal! My plan for today was to write this, and do some drawing for the game.



I’m hoping this thread will keep me accountable since I’m posting it on a forum with such big huge mega winners.



Looking forward to more progress!

Good for you that you found a way to turn passion to CENTS. Good luck for the future.

What kind of game is it if you dont mind me asking?

 

[DonyaSze]

Good for you that you found a way to turn passion to CENTS. Good luck for the future.

What kind of game is it if you dont mind me asking?

Thanks!

In an exploration game where you jump on things and fight things. There are big story scenes that you read that have some pictures to go with them, hence ‘Visual Novel’ There’s a romance aspect of it which was my main driving force behind making the game. Now on top of that I just want to make a super good game.

 

[Wael]

I know that MJ said working on your dream isn’t the best way to make millions, but I’ve put together an explanation of why my dream project is a good idea to build based on the CENTS formula.



Control:

I have it allllll as the leader of the team and main developer.



Entry:

To some, the entry may seem easy, and the market saturated, but that’s because the market is saturated with LOW QUALITY games.

Making a game is hard, but lots of people are doing it. Making an EXCELLENT game though is FRICKING HARD. I’ve played lots of indie games in my little developer circle, NONE were of EXCELLENT quality. So the execution, like with anything, is the most important factor.



Need (Value)



The value of a game lies within it’s ability to entertain. It has to not only be fun, but the graphics also have to be easy to read and understand what’s going on. It doesn’t matter if your game is 8-but or AAA quality, readability and ability to convey feeling is what matters. Of course, do people NEED a Castlevania-like game with Visual Novel elements? I haven’t seen anyone make one before, so there is an opportunity there. The NEED lies within the game’s difficulty level. People have expressed their concerns with Visual Novel hybrids being too easy. So our challenge is to make it a fun and fulfilling challenge with a great story.



Time



Once the game is done, it can be sold forever online and my team and I will continue profiting off of it forever.



Scale



Since selling it digitally online can make it be sold just about anywhere, the scale of the business can get massive! We can make more games as well.


With that said, I would like to document my progress so far. I will update this thread later with business growth progress such as leads and things.

2019 (and earlier):

My friend and I began designing characters and writing story for the game and creating 3D graphics.


2020 :

I began officially developing the game as a 3D exploration game to start with.



2021:

I hired (EXPENSIVE) marketing ‘experts’ to get the word out about our Kickstarter for the game before the demo was completed (mistake). They pushed us to have a demo out asap, which resulted in a low quality product, and when our Kickstarter launched, it flopped.



2022:

I salvaged the game to make a side-view ‘2.5D’ platformer jumpy runny slashy game instead, with 2D sprites in front of a 3D background. That way it would be easier on a small team like us, and allow for more creativity. Besides, it ended up looking nicer than the 3D version anyway because of the look of the smooth 2D sprites instead of janky 3D models. I updated all of the portrait sprites to reflect the new version of the game which resulted in better quality portraits.



2023:

I created a Kickstarter pre-launch page for the new version of the game so that people could follow it and see when it launches, and continued production of the new demo.



2024:

I have a goal of 1000 Kickstarter followers that I want to reach before launching the new Kickstarter as well as completing the ACTUALLY GOOD demo. My goal is to finish the demo before the end of this year. If I can launch the KS this year too that would be icing on the cake. Been progressing smoothly in development (with the occasional bump or two).



Today:

Jan 30, 2024

The Kickstarter has 142 followers, so we are 14% of the way towards the prelaunch page goal! My plan for today was to write this, and do some drawing for the game.



I’m hoping this thread will keep me accountable since I’m posting it on a forum with such big huge mega winners.



Looking forward to more progress!

Good luck to you, I hope you will succeed.

 

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[JustinBoshans]

You might want to check out PirateSoftware on twitch. He used to work for Blizzard and quit to become an indie game developer. you should ask him about his process on his channel.

View: https://www.twitch.tv/piratesoftware

 

[srodrigo]

I hope you can pull this off. What worries me from what you've posted above is that you've been making this game for years. Have you got actual feedback from players? Building a prototype (not even a demo, just a prototype with cubes and spheres) and seeing if people find it fun? I imagine your demo is a vertical slice of the game and not 80% of everything done? 5 years to get a demo sounds like a lot, sounds like you are trying to make a game that's too big for you at the moment.

Boring me-story below, but hopping it can help:

I've tried game development before, and I'm toying with getting back into it. The fact that games take rather long to make did put me off a lot and I didn't stick. That, and listening to "common wisdom" and trying all sorts of things, chasing the money that is theoretically easier to make in other industries. The result is I made more money ($20) with one of my little awful games than with any other stuff. Some people here disagree, but if you don't care enough to get obsessed about it, you are not going to make it work. Some here might be able to, but not everyone can deliver a great product on an industry they don't give a F*ck about. I've wasted 5 years chasing all sorts of things and making $0. I might just fall back into game development and be okay with making no money if it fails, but at least I'll gain skills and put stuff out there that I care about. It's really difficult to get the outcome (money) out of the equation though, very difficult. I could ship a couple of SaaS or mobile app MVPs in the time it'd take to make a game. Funnily enough, I've got 6 SaaS/mobile apps projects that I never finished and shipped, because I didn't care enough. I wish I had invested that time into making another game, that I would have most likely shipped at least.

I'll share my progress thread in case it's of help EXECUTION - Building a video games business from scratch - Warning: I've been all over the place for a while, so the last few pages are a bit of a mess, but the first few pages might be interesting to you.

 

[constant]

Control:

I have it allllll as the leader of the team and main developer.

Keep in mind that once you publish your game on a platform (such as Steam or the Play Store), you will not have complete control anymore, as the platform may remove your game at any time without prior notice.

 

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[EmotionEngine]

Keep in mind that once you publish your game on a platform (such as Steam or the Play Store), you will not have complete control anymore, as the platform may remove your game at any time without prior notice.

That is extremely unlikely to occur unless you violate terms. I've worked on multiple console, pc and mobile titles for developers including big ones.

@DonyaSze
Pre-emptive measures:
1. Start development with other platforms in mind. Build for multiple platforms like PC. Build your own Shopify site to distribute.
2. Port to console. (So that adds more stores like PlayStation Store and Xbox Store.)
3. Distribute on multiple platforms like Itch.io, Humble Bundle, Game Jolt, GOG.com. Even more places to put your game.

Also, market your game. Talk to influencers and invest in ads to raise awareness for your game. If the game is decent, people will come.

 

[DonyaSze]

I hope you can pull this off. What worries me from what you've posted above is that you've been making this game for years. Have you got actual feedback from players? Building a prototype (not even a demo, just a prototype with cubes and spheres) and seeing if people find it fun? I imagine your demo is a vertical slice of the game and not 80% of everything done? 5 years to get a demo sounds like a lot, sounds like you are trying to make a game that's too big for you at the moment.

Boring me-story below, but hopping it can help:

I've tried game development before, and I'm toying with getting back into it. The fact that games take rather long to make did put me off a lot and I didn't stick. That, and listening to "common wisdom" and trying all sorts of things, chasing the money that is theoretically easier to make in other industries. The result is I made more money ($20) with one of my little awful games than with any other stuff. Some people here disagree, but if you don't care enough to get obsessed about it, you are not going to make it work. Some here might be able to, but not everyone can deliver a great product on an industry they don't give a F*ck about. I've wasted 5 years chasing all sorts of things and making $0. I might just fall back into game development and be okay with making no money if it fails, but at least I'll gain skills and put stuff out there that I care about. It's really difficult to get the outcome (money) out of the equation though, very difficult. I could ship a couple of SaaS or mobile app MVPs in the time it'd take to make a game. Funnily enough, I've got 6 SaaS/mobile apps projects that I never finished and shipped, because I didn't care enough. I wish I had invested that time into making another game, that I would have most likely shipped at least.

I'll share my progress thread in case it's of help EXECUTION - Building a video games business from scratch - Warning: I've been all over the place for a while, so the last few pages are a bit of a mess, but the first few pages might be interesting to you.

Thank you for the feedback! I’ll check out your thread soon.

The first year, 2019, I worked at a full time job as a 3D animator and game developer and didn’t have a car, so travel time on bus ate up most of my free time. I spent time during lunch breaks and coffee breaks drawing for the game. I admit I also had video games distracting me in the evening, but that’s because I was all ‘comfortable’ in the ‘slow lane’ so it didn’t matter to me that I was so slow at the time.



I got laid off from the job at the beginning of 2020, and fell into depression. I job hunted though anyway, not thinking of going all out on my game dev business, it was basically a hobby at that point and my mind wasn’t ‘thinking big’.



A month or two later I got into a Network Marketing company, and they told me to invest during the initial outbreak, so I did and I made some nice money from it. They also got me into self help books, which is basically the best thing ever so, while I totally failed at that ‘business’ and quit, I learned the extreme value of self help books and began obsessively listening to them while drawing for the game, 3D modeling for the game, and even while playing video games (I love video games haha).



So after quitting network marketing, I felt an extreme sense of releif, even though I went ALL OUT on it and barely budged in the ‘business’, I was happy to no longer have the stress of needing to phone everyone and go to meetings and having my downlines quit all day.



In 2021 I decided to… you guessed it! Go back to work as a graphic artist and be small again. I worked for a few months, but the whole time I kept thinking more and more about going full-tilt on my video game. So the news that I was being laid off delighted me because then I could work on my game haha.



So I then started going all out on my game finally and working 30-40 hours a week on development.



I think I got my initial post time wrong, in 2022 was when I launched and failed the Kickstarter. I spent the money I made from investing on expensive marketing ’professionals’ and flunked.



I fell into depression again and didn’t do any game dev for several months. Not until I came up with the new idea to salvage the game and make it 2.5D instead. That way I would have more fun with it and it would look nicer and all the other reasons I put in my initial post.



I do have prototypes of sorts and I give them to my one team mate to try out while she streams it and her and her viewer base give feedback! She tested out exploration and enjoyed it, next build I’m working on is the battle build (+ more exploration).



Today:

I am sick, I think it’s just a cold, but I can’t sleep so I’m just going to draw sprites for my game haha.

 

[DonyaSze]

That is extremely unlikely to occur unless you violate terms. I've worked on multiple console, pc and mobile titles for developers including big ones.

@DonyaSze
Pre-emptive measures:
1. Start development with other platforms in mind. Build for multiple platforms like PC. Build your own Shopify site to distribute.
2. Port to console. (So that adds more stores like PlayStation Store and Xbox Store.)
3. Distribute on multiple platforms like Itch.io, Humble Bundle, Game Jolt, GOG.com. Even more places to put your game.

Also, market your game. Talk to influencers and invest in ads to raise awareness for your game. If the game is decent, people will come.

Oh yeah I been thinking about all that stuff a lot. I’ve been building it to work with both keyboard+mouse and controller.

 

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[srodrigo]

Thank you for the feedback! I’ll check out your thread soon.

The first year, 2019, I worked at a full time job as a 3D animator and game developer and didn’t have a car, so travel time on bus ate up most of my free time. I spent time during lunch breaks and coffee breaks drawing for the game. I admit I also had video games distracting me in the evening, but that’s because I was all ‘comfortable’ in the ‘slow lane’ so it didn’t matter to me that I was so slow at the time.



I got laid off from the job at the beginning of 2020, and fell into depression. I job hunted though anyway, not thinking of going all out on my game dev business, it was basically a hobby at that point and my mind wasn’t ‘thinking big’.



A month or two later I got into a Network Marketing company, and they told me to invest during the initial outbreak, so I did and I made some nice money from it. They also got me into self help books, which is basically the best thing ever so, while I totally failed at that ‘business’ and quit, I learned the extreme value of self help books and began obsessively listening to them while drawing for the game, 3D modeling for the game, and even while playing video games (I love video games haha).



So after quitting network marketing, I felt an extreme sense of releif, even though I went ALL OUT on it and barely budged in the ‘business’, I was happy to no longer have the stress of needing to phone everyone and go to meetings and having my downlines quit all day.



In 2021 I decided to… you guessed it! Go back to work as a graphic artist and be small again. I worked for a few months, but the whole time I kept thinking more and more about going full-tilt on my video game. So the news that I was being laid off delighted me because then I could work on my game haha.



So I then started going all out on my game finally and working 30-40 hours a week on development.



I think I got my initial post time wrong, in 2022 was when I launched and failed the Kickstarter. I spent the money I made from investing on expensive marketing ’professionals’ and flunked.



I fell into depression again and didn’t do any game dev for several months. Not until I came up with the new idea to salvage the game and make it 2.5D instead. That way I would have more fun with it and it would look nicer and all the other reasons I put in my initial post.



I do have prototypes of sorts and I give them to my one team mate to try out while she streams it and her and her viewer base give feedback! She tested out exploration and enjoyed it, next build I’m working on is the battle build (+ more exploration).



Today:

I am sick, I think it’s just a cold, but I can’t sleep so I’m just going to draw sprites for my game haha.

Sorry to hear you had a rough time. I know that fitting a commercial side project into everything life throws at us is not easy. I'm glad that you are still committed to finish the game after so long. I hope it'll pan out well at the end

 

[DonyaSze]

Sorry to hear you had a rough time. I know that fitting a commercial side project into everything life throws at us is not easy. I'm glad that you are still committed to finish the game after so long. I hope it'll pan out well at the end

Thanks!!!

 

[DonyaSze]

Screenshot of the game during exploration!

 

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[DonyaSze]

Today I'm very excited. I made the MP system and MP restore system work the way it's supposed to, and now the game is FUN for me! Instead of going 'who would play this?' like I did before I go 'I wanna play this!!!'. I'm even more excited to work on my project now awwwww yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

 

[EmotionEngine]

Today I'm very excited. I made the MP system and MP restore system work the way it's supposed to, and now the game is FUN for me! Instead of going 'who would play this?' like I did before I go 'I wanna play this!!!'. I'm even more excited to work on my project now awwwww yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

How long is it going to take you to make an RPG? It took ConcernedApe years to make Stardew Valley by himself and he grinded for 12+ hours a day.

 

[DonyaSze]

How long is it going to take you to make an RPG? It took ConcernedApe years to make Stardew Valley by himself and he grinded for 12+ hours a day.

My last game I completed was 'simple' and had 60 levels and took 3 years to make, but I wasn't working 12+ hours a day, and my programmer would only work maybe once a week, but worked more during the end.

I am taking most roles this time, artist, programmer, designer, etc... And I'm working a decent amount of time. If the game gets funded well through Kickstarter, then it should take 2 years with a bigger team. If it doesn't get funded 'well' and only 'minimal' then I can't bring on anyone else and I'll have to start doing 12+ hours like the Stardew guy.

 

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[DonyaSze]

I switched from twitter to bluesky for social media marketing, I also use instagram. Just two social medias at a time is what I can focus on. I decided to up my marketing game by trying to create a more engaging video that 'tells a story' in a sort of way. 'Hand-drawn animations!' and then the video shows me drawing and then some game play.

 

[monishkumar]

I know that MJ said working on your dream isn’t the best way to make millions, but I’ve put together an explanation of why my dream project is a good idea to build based on the CENTS formula.



Control:

I have it allllll as the leader of the team and main developer.



Entry:

To some, the entry may seem easy, and the market saturated, but that’s because the market is saturated with LOW QUALITY games.

Making a game is hard, but lots of people are doing it. Making an EXCELLENT game though is FRICKING HARD. I’ve played lots of indie games in my little developer circle, NONE were of EXCELLENT quality. So the execution, like with anything, is the most important factor.



Need (Value)



The value of a game lies within it’s ability to entertain. It has to not only be fun, but the graphics also have to be easy to read and understand what’s going on. It doesn’t matter if your game is 8-but or AAA quality, readability and ability to convey feeling is what matters. Of course, do people NEED a Castlevania-like game with Visual Novel elements? I haven’t seen anyone make one before, so there is an opportunity there. The NEED lies within the game’s difficulty level. People have expressed their concerns with Visual Novel hybrids being too easy. So our challenge is to make it a fun and fulfilling challenge with a great story.



Time



Once the game is done, it can be sold forever online and my team and I will continue profiting off of it forever.



Scale



Since selling it digitally online can make it be sold just about anywhere, the scale of the business can get massive! We can make more games as well.


With that said, I would like to document my progress so far. I will update this thread later with business growth progress such as leads and things.

2019 (and earlier):

My friend and I began designing characters and writing story for the game and creating 3D graphics.


2020 :

I began officially developing the game as a 3D exploration game to start with.



2021:

I hired (EXPENSIVE) marketing ‘experts’ to get the word out about our Kickstarter for the game before the demo was completed (mistake). They pushed us to have a demo out asap, which resulted in a low quality product, and when our Kickstarter launched, it flopped.



2022:

I salvaged the game to make a side-view ‘2.5D’ platformer jumpy runny slashy game instead, with 2D sprites in front of a 3D background. That way it would be easier on a small team like us, and allow for more creativity. Besides, it ended up looking nicer than the 3D version anyway because of the look of the smooth 2D sprites instead of janky 3D models. I updated all of the portrait sprites to reflect the new version of the game which resulted in better quality portraits.



2023:

I created a Kickstarter pre-launch page for the new version of the game so that people could follow it and see when it launches, and continued production of the new demo.



2024:

I have a goal of 1000 Kickstarter followers that I want to reach before launching the new Kickstarter as well as completing the ACTUALLY GOOD demo. My goal is to finish the demo before the end of this year. If I can launch the KS this year too that would be icing on the cake. Been progressing smoothly in development (with the occasional bump or two).



Today:

Jan 30, 2024

The Kickstarter has 142 followers, so we are 14% of the way towards the prelaunch page goal! My plan for today was to write this, and do some drawing for the game.



I’m hoping this thread will keep me accountable since I’m posting it on a forum with such big huge mega winners.



Looking forward to more progress!

Amazing. Good luck to you!

 

[DonyaSze]

I finished the second test build of the game for the combat, and it was well received by Raptorchan and her viewers! Horraaay. A win!

 

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[DonyaSze]

I’m attempting this as my marketing strategy (one of my many strategies I’ll use anyway).

GOLD! - MARKETING - How I got to 169,000 Instagram followers

I haven't dropped a new thread in a while and wanted to give back on something... So here is how I have grown on IG over the last year. This will be for normal style content you can build an "expert" following with. So, not random flexing content - but instead something you can get paying...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

The 100 QUALITY post in 100 days challenge is tough but I’m stamping out excuses. People won’t back the game if they don’t know it exists!

 

[DonyaSze]

I upgraded my animation software from procreate to toon squid so as to create better quality, cleaner, smoother animations. I just bought the software this morning, so I have yet to complete a new animation with it, but I will post a gif example here when I finish one!

Quality is EXTREMELY important in game development. There are a lot of new devs tricked by ‘simple’ game success stories, those are the exception to the rule, not the rule itself. I’ve seen lots of successful indie games, and a good 90% of them have HIGH QUALITY graphics. So I need to kick my own butt and make awesomeness.

 

[futurebillionair]

I know that MJ said working on your dream isn’t the best way to make millions, but I’ve put together an explanation of why my dream project is a good idea to build based on the CENTS formula.



Control:

I have it allllll as the leader of the team and main developer.



Entry:

To some, the entry may seem easy, and the market saturated, but that’s because the market is saturated with LOW QUALITY games.

Making a game is hard, but lots of people are doing it. Making an EXCELLENT game though is FRICKING HARD. I’ve played lots of indie games in my little developer circle, NONE were of EXCELLENT quality. So the execution, like with anything, is the most important factor.



Need (Value)



The value of a game lies within it’s ability to entertain. It has to not only be fun, but the graphics also have to be easy to read and understand what’s going on. It doesn’t matter if your game is 8-but or AAA quality, readability and ability to convey feeling is what matters. Of course, do people NEED a Castlevania-like game with Visual Novel elements? I haven’t seen anyone make one before, so there is an opportunity there. The NEED lies within the game’s difficulty level. People have expressed their concerns with Visual Novel hybrids being too easy. So our challenge is to make it a fun and fulfilling challenge with a great story.



Time



Once the game is done, it can be sold forever online and my team and I will continue profiting off of it forever.



Scale



Since selling it digitally online can make it be sold just about anywhere, the scale of the business can get massive! We can make more games as well.


With that said, I would like to document my progress so far. I will update this thread later with business growth progress such as leads and things.

2019 (and earlier):

My friend and I began designing characters and writing story for the game and creating 3D graphics.


2020 :

I began officially developing the game as a 3D exploration game to start with.



2021:

I hired (EXPENSIVE) marketing ‘experts’ to get the word out about our Kickstarter for the game before the demo was completed (mistake). They pushed us to have a demo out asap, which resulted in a low quality product, and when our Kickstarter launched, it flopped.



2022:

I salvaged the game to make a side-view ‘2.5D’ platformer jumpy runny slashy game instead, with 2D sprites in front of a 3D background. That way it would be easier on a small team like us, and allow for more creativity. Besides, it ended up looking nicer than the 3D version anyway because of the look of the smooth 2D sprites instead of janky 3D models. I updated all of the portrait sprites to reflect the new version of the game which resulted in better quality portraits.



2023:

I created a Kickstarter pre-launch page for the new version of the game so that people could follow it and see when it launches, and continued production of the new demo.



2024:

I have a goal of 1000 Kickstarter followers that I want to reach before launching the new Kickstarter as well as completing the ACTUALLY GOOD demo. My goal is to finish the demo before the end of this year. If I can launch the KS this year too that would be icing on the cake. Been progressing smoothly in development (with the occasional bump or two).



Today:

Jan 30, 2024

The Kickstarter has 142 followers, so we are 14% of the way towards the prelaunch page goal! My plan for today was to write this, and do some drawing for the game.



I’m hoping this thread will keep me accountable since I’m posting it on a forum with such big huge mega winners.



Looking forward to more progress!

Interesting to hear about, especially since I used to do game development, and now I am building a business around this field

 

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[DonyaSze]

I can’t figure out how to edit my original post, so I’ll just post a comment adding to the ‘Control’ portion and add a little about my reasons for things and experience:

I am the developer, artist, and co-writer. Main producer and director. That means it’s mostly solo-developer role, but I’m paying a musician and my friend is helping write most of the story. I still have all the control here, except over the time of my friend. She won’t let me pay her, so we agreed on rev-share, so I have to wait til she gets time to write.

I don’t have absolute control over all of the online stores I intend to sell the game on, true, but MJ always says control is not about absolutes. It’s just about minimizing risk. So I want to release on Steam, Playstion online, and X-box store hopefully.

The initial funding will begin on Kickstarter, because the game will turn out better on release if I get extra funds over the initial goal than if I just try to hack something out with my minimum finances now. Plus it’s more fun this way.

My dream is to sit on a beach or in my extremely pretty decorated expensive back yard with my cats and make video games. Basically I want to make video games to fund the making of more video games haha

I am allowed this because I have industry experience as I have worked for like a decade at 2 different full time jobs as a 3D animator for games and simulators, and at my last one, the boss let us all learn a game development course at the end of each day (I’m the only one that took the course though haha). It was the best part of my day, I didn’t want to go home at the end of each day haha.

 

[DonyaSze]

Really like the new animation program. Here’s my newest completed animation for the game!

 

[Bounce Back]

View attachment 54610
Really like the new animation program. Here’s my newest completed animation for the game!

Looks pretty pro - how long does that take to make one like that?

 

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[Nostalgia]

View attachment 54610
Really like the new animation program. Here’s my newest completed animation for the game!

Woah. That's real cool.

 

[DonyaSze]

Looks pretty pro - how long does that take to make one like that?

Not counting my failed attempt to watch tv and draw on the weekend, Friday, Monday, Tuesday (today). Three days! I’m glad I sped up my process with this program haha!

 

[DonyaSze]

I’m attempting this as my marketing strategy (one of my many strategies I’ll use anyway).

GOLD! - MARKETING - How I got to 169,000 Instagram followers

I haven't dropped a new thread in a while and wanted to give back on something... So here is how I have grown on IG over the last year. This will be for normal style content you can build an "expert" following with. So, not random flexing content - but instead something you can get paying...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

The 100 QUALITY post in 100 days challenge is tough but I’m stamping out excuses. People won’t back the game if they don’t know it exists!

I’m on a 3 week streak of posting (hopefully) good posts every day on Instagram. Funny thing is I switched back to twitter from bluesky and still get more engagement there haha

My leads have grown, but I want to report about the amount once it gets 1% closer to the goal than last time I posted about the leads. Sooon.

 

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[DonyaSze]

Update:

The Kickstarter prelaunch page is at 150/1000. We are 15% of the way there towards the leads goal!

The reason we need 1000 before launch is because of a few reasons:

- If you get a lots of 1st-day backers, you’ll end up on Kickstarter’s front page, and get more leads therefore!

-My Kickstarter goal is going to be $40,000. Pretend not all 1000 people back the project. Maybe 500 will do just fine?

-Kickstarter followers have the Highest conversion ratio of all leads methods. Take for isntance my previous project. It may have failed but the conversation ratio was over 100%!

 

[DonyaSze]

Today is my birthday! Happy birthday to me!

On Friday, April 26th, 7pm is the monthly game developer meetup for my city. I promised them a slice of my demo. They were all excited to play it last time and I didn't bring anything, my bad. This time I'm bringing something, but before that date I want to finish what I'm working on currently and put it in the game:

-Warg enemy code and animations
-Flying plant turn around animation and code
-Zone 3 vine area finished
-New portrait image