And miles to go before I sleep

[Dromarion]

I encountered this forum and the book two years ago right after high school. Didn't do much with it, didn't have the drive and meandered around different jobs until I got a tolerable one as a clerk. I'm a twenty year old guy in Vancouver with a year of Accounting studies that I'm probably not going to go back to. I knew right out of high school that accounting wasn't going to make me rich but it felt like there was no other way. I was able to find a way through TMF .

I suffered the curse of having a head bursting full of ideas but never acted on them. I was afraid of public rejection of my creative endeavors and it kept me frozen for years. I've let entire plots of stories disappear out of my head and into eternity. I've let my drawing hand slack because I would quit the instant a sketch didn't go my way. I've played video games where I would proclaim in my head, "Hey, I can make this" before immediately shaking my head and going, "No I can't."

Well I'm still afraid of rejection but I'm now aware of it and I'm not going to let it stop me from doing anything anymore. From now on I'll be writing all my ideas down and keeping them visible.

Now I know many are wary about video games, especially in a hub of productivity like this forum but I feel that it is the place that I can make my fastlane. Developing a video game is going to put all my resourcefulness, creativity and skills into practice. Gaming is a booming industry. People buy games all the time, including me, and this is a place where it is a proven fast lane for a few individuals (See: Toby Fox, Scott Cawthon, Eric Barone). I've known this silly industry for more than half of my life and I know my markets. I know what's good and what makes headlines. And I'll be so lucky to be cater to a market that LOVES to give unsolicited feedback. If a gamer loves/hates your game, you're going to hear about it whether or not you ask for it.

I'm coming into this with very little experience in writing, drawing, programming, sound design, and marketing. I don't need to be the best at any of these in order to be successful, just good, maybe even proficient. I have the rest of my life and unlimited tries to be a winner in this game. It's going to take a long time to be good enough to make a blockbuster product. It's going to be a lot of frustration and heartbreak, a lot of rehashing and bad beats. I know I'm going to fall off the wagon and quit, maybe a few times and pursue other things. But I'll never quit the pursuit for freedom, I made this post just for this purpose. Thanks MJ and thank you for reading.

May I always look back at this post whenever I'm in trouble.

 

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[ZF Lee]

Welcome.
I might consider gaming to be a harder Fastlane in the sense that people vote more selfishly with their money in terms of emotions. People don't choose games to solve their problems. They choose games to kill time, excite themselves in their boring Slowlane lives (mindfuck!) or just social conformity.

I'm not a game creator, but I have noticed a few things about the gaming industry.
The game need not be perfect. It need not be too flashy. You can keep updating the game for all you like.
It needs to be ADDICTIVE.
How ADDICTIVE? Enough to make the whole world buzz like a swarm of bees about it.
From what I can see, the best games have
1) bloggers and youtubers raving about them and playing walkthroughs. If pewdiepie picks your game up, it's like being Kiyosaki in an Oprah show.

When people are interested and amazed with something new, they'll talk about it. They will rave about it. They will throw money.

The gaming industry is very competitive, but what I can tell, your marketing could be taken care of for free, seeing that there are Youtubers or bloggers who promote games for a living...provided the game is a hit.

2) continuous backups, improvements, bug fixes. The game does not need to be completed. Minecraft is still being updated far more than most games, and its performance is a far cry from its humble origins. Give the gamers BETTER.

How in the hell do I know about this shit? Do I have experience as a game creator?
Niet. No. But I know because of the BUSINESS LOGIC behind it.

But if you run the gig as a BUSINESS, you will notice you need
a) SALES. Every business, be it gaming or fly exterminating, feeds on cashflow. Create a very simple game with the base concepts of your game. An MVP, very simple, but embodies the main concepts. I'm looking into this field as this is a very challenging Fastlane (good!).
b) CONTINUOUS MARKET FEEDBACK AND CUSTOMER WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING.
c) A TEAM-if you want to obey the Comm of Time, and if the market votes for your game.

Now here's the best part...I have just noticed it:
While gaming might not strictly obey the Comm of Need and Entry (and rightfully so!), it is perhaps the most innovative-weaponised industry of the Fastlane. Embodying the Internet and its mechanisms, provided the market agrees to the vote, you might have a very dangerous shit going on.

You might have all the skills and coding knowledge, but unless INNOVATION is not weaponised, the game's a no-show.
Here are some short case studies on games:
a) Angry Birds is basically a catapult shooting birds and pigs. I have been playing other catapult styled games as a kid. The concept was merely refurbished and redesigned into something more incredulous and comical.

b)Minecraft was actually an upgraded version of Infiniminer. Go visit its blogs, its reddit AMA, and research it. I have interest in it, because the game started from NOTHING but just stones and earth (if you know what I mean). If you see how BARE minecraft actually was, and how CUSTOMER INTERACTION AND FEEDBACK mechanisms played out, you might see the real gems of ANY Fastlane business.

BTW Mojang the studio behind Minecraft sold for a billion dollars...and I think the manpower/employees in the studio was as best 50 pax....the marketing work is done by Youtube and the Internet lol...

c)The recent EA games Battlefield was a hit...a WW1 game! I didn't play it...I just watched the videos. But one thing was clear...it is hard to make an interesting game out of a primitive war where mankind was using one-shot boring crackpot rifles and planes as fragile as a china vase. WW1 was a very sad and messed up war..but somehow EA games made a massive masterpiece of heroism, ferocity and tenacity out of it.

Read into the gamemakers' blogs and other online commentators.....not only the game product is important but the marketing and feedback loop. You might be going into one of the most interesting Fastlanes.

I wish you the best.

 

[TeaEarlGreyHot]

A good first step into game development would be to make game mods. It will teach you about audio, 3d modeling and animation, texturing, scripting, and loooot more. You can also make a little money off of mods if you want by charging a small fee for downloads or offering free but asking for donations.

The recent EA games Battlefield was a hit . . . WW1 was a very sad and messed up war..but somehow EA games made a massive masterpiece of heroism, ferocity and tenacity out of it.

I know exactly how Battlefield 1 was so successful. Other than the fact that the tons of Battlefield fans will automatically buy it -- There is also a fan base of WWI amongst gamers. Sure it's not as big as the WWII base, but had they made it about WWII then people would get pissed, as they have already ripped literally everything else straight out of another popular free to play (micro sales) game, Heroes & Generals...

 

[Dromarion]

Thanks for the support guys.

You know, I have spent an embarrassingly large amount of time and money on this goofy hobby, spending hundreds of hours playing hundreds of different games from every single genre. I've embedded myself in dozens of gaming communities, from Youtube to Nexus Mods to 4chan's Video Games board. I've spent hours installing and sometimes creating mods in order to get the ideal experience in a game. Reading all those blogs, reviews and discussions on the creation and merits of games that interest me. Only now have I realized that I've been doing market research the entire time. Despite competition, there's a lot of different niches and markets clamoring for new, good and complete content. I saw lot of success stories recently from just combining different themes and genres with a unique experience. Quite a few of these blended concepts have been machine gunned into my legal pad for the last two days.

I've installed Unity and Gamemaker 2, and I'll have to stare at their icons whenever I turn on the computer. It's going to be a long grind, and whatever the success of my early projects, creating my first game is going to be a valuable exercise. I'm probably not going to make any breakout hits by myself but it will do me some good to know how the sausage is made when I decide to hire out.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

spending hundreds of hours playing hundreds of different games from every single genre. I've embedded myself in dozens of gaming communities, from Youtube to Nexus Mods to 4chan's Video Games board. I've spent hours installing and sometimes creating mods in order to get the ideal experience in a game.

A very nice asset to have as it will probably give you an advantage in identifying weaknesses or problem areas.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Espectro]

I encountered this forum and the book two years ago right after high school. Didn't do much with it, didn't have the drive and meandered around different jobs until I got a tolerable one as a clerk. I'm a twenty year old guy in Vancouver with a year of Accounting studies that I'm probably not going to go back to. I knew right out of high school that accounting wasn't going to make me rich but it felt like there was no other way. I was able to find a way through TMF .

I suffered the curse of having a head bursting full of ideas but never acted on them. I was afraid of public rejection of my creative endeavors and it kept me frozen for years. I've let entire plots of stories disappear out of my head and into eternity. I've let my drawing hand slack because I would quit the instant a sketch didn't go my way. I've played video games where I would proclaim in my head, "Hey, I can make this" before immediately shaking my head and going, "No I can't."

Well I'm still afraid of rejection but I'm now aware of it and I'm not going to let it stop me from doing anything anymore. From now on I'll be writing all my ideas down and keeping them visible.

Now I know many are wary about video games, especially in a hub of productivity like this forum but I feel that it is the place that I can make my fastlane. Developing a video game is going to put all my resourcefulness, creativity and skills into practice. Gaming is a booming industry. People buy games all the time, including me, and this is a place where it is a proven fast lane for a few individuals (See: Toby Fox, Scott Cawthon, Eric Barone). I've known this silly industry for more than half of my life and I know my markets. I know what's good and what makes headlines. And I'll be so lucky to be cater to a market that LOVES to give unsolicited feedback. If a gamer loves/hates your game, you're going to hear about it whether or not you ask for it.

I'm coming into this with very little experience in writing, drawing, programming, sound design, and marketing. I don't need to be the best at any of these in order to be successful, just good, maybe even proficient. I have the rest of my life and unlimited tries to be a winner in this game. It's going to take a long time to be good enough to make a blockbuster product. It's going to be a lot of frustration and heartbreak, a lot of rehashing and bad beats. I know I'm going to fall off the wagon and quit, maybe a few times and pursue other things. But I'll never quit the pursuit for freedom, I made this post just for this purpose. Thanks MJ and thank you for reading.

May I always look back at this post whenever I'm in trouble.

Hi Dramarion I too have a dream of making a good game. I LOVE the creative aspect of it and I am a very creative person. I played countless hours of Video Games before I decided to focus my time on actually learning how to make one. I want to start off small and make a game app. Just like you I recently got on udemy and bought the "3D development course" to learn the skill. I would like to keep in contact with you since we both share the same ideas and are both driven as students of the fastlane. Tell me what would be the best way to keep in contact with you.

 

[Dromarion]

A very nice asset to have as it will probably give you an advantage in identifying weaknesses or problem areas.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks MJ, Looking forward to the new book!

Hi Dramarion I too have a dream of making a good game. I LOVE the creative aspect of it and I am a very creative person. I played countless hours of Video Games before I decided to focus my time on actually learning how to make one. I want to start off small and make a game app. Just like you I recently got on udemy and bought the "3D development course" to learn the skill. I would like to keep in contact with you since we both share the same ideas and are both driven as students of the fastlane. Tell me what would be the best way to keep in contact with you.

I'll PM you my email. I'm not a very active talker though.

As for Udemy courses, they're having a sale right now.

This was my haul today for just $30:
Learn to Code by Making Games - The Complete Unity Developer
Become a Game Maker with Gamemaker Studio

 

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[million$$$smile]

Well I'm still afraid of rejection but I'm now aware of it and I'm not going to let it stop me from doing anything anymore.

Welcome to the forum

Fear of Rejection? It's a waste of time. It will hold you back.

Fear of rejection oftentimes is tied to lack of confidence. As you grow in confidence and gain a few wins under your belt, the fear of rejection should subside a bit.

Learn to get comfortable in your own skin.
No one else is going to live in it

See ya around

 

[Andy Black]

Welcome to the forum.

Gaming is such a massive industry that there are ways to add value / make money without even creating a game. Don't discount those as some might be quicker to get going and might help you bootstrap.

 

[Chazmania]

Welcome!

I'm coming into this with very little experience in writing, drawing, programming, sound design, and marketing. I don't need to be the best at any of these in order to be successful, just good, maybe even proficient. I have the rest of my life and unlimited tries to be a winner in this game. It's going to take a long time to be good enough to make a blockbuster product. It's going to be a lot of frustration and heartbreak, a lot of rehashing and bad beats. I know I'm going to fall off the wagon and quit, maybe a few times and pursue other things. But I'll never quit the pursuit for freedom, I made this post just for this purpose. Thanks MJ and thank you for reading.

That's 'process'. Embrace the pains that come from expanding your comfort zone. Best of luck.

 

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