My 10 YEAR Indie Game Development Journey

ThinMatrix

8 Jul 202323:57

EducationalLearning

32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRVideo celebrates the 10-year YouTube journey of an indie game developer who began by making an MMO named 'Soccer One' while at university. Although the Kickstarter failed, through Patreon support he developed nature simulation game 'Aquilinox' over 6 years before finally releasing it in 2018. After some time off recovering from health issues, he began developing a new city builder game and recently in 2022 switched to a farming game called 'Homegrown'. He thanks his longtime viewers and supporters in the YouTube community that made this game dev journey possible over the past decade.

Takeaways

😊 Started making games as a hobby while studying computer science at university
👨‍💻 Learned game development from YouTube tutorials and made own game engine from scratch
🎮 Worked on first game project 'Soccer One' for 3 years before trying Kickstarter
📉 Kickstarter failed so had to get a job, but continued making games like 'Aquilinox' on the side
🎉 Finally released first commercial game 'Aquilinox' in 2018 after 6 years of development
🏆 'Aquilinox' sold over 10K copies and was featured on Steam shortly after release
😔 Had health issues that slowed down progress on next ambitious city builder game project
📈 YouTube channel grew from 200 to over 100K subscribers over the 10 year journey
🙏 Patreon earnings eventually provided enough income to work on games full-time
🌾 Now working on new farming game 'Homegrown' while still making weekly devlog videos

Q & A

What was the name of the first game the narrator wanted to make?
-The first game the narrator wanted to make was called SocOne, which stood for "someone come up with a name" but no one ever did, so he stuck with SocOne.
Why did the narrator start making YouTube videos about game development?
-The narrator was inspired by other developers showing their games in devlog videos. Although there weren't many devlog videos at the time and they didn't get many views, the narrator decided to give it a try himself.
What happened after the SocOne Kickstarter campaign failed?
-After the SocOne Kickstarter failed, the narrator had to start looking for a full-time job since he was out of money. However, he didn't want to give up on game development yet, so he started work on a new small game called Aquilinox that he could work on in his spare time.
What was the inspiration for the game Aquilinox?
-The inspiration for Aquilinox was to create a nature simulation game, akin to a city builder game but focused on creating and managing ecosystems instead of cities.
Why did the initial Aquilinox release get delayed?
-The initial Aquilinox release was delayed because just two days after announcing the release date, the narrator was diagnosed with mouth cancer and had to undergo surgery and hospitalization, requiring the release to be postponed.
How successful was the eventual launch of Aquilinox?
-The eventual launch of Aquilinox was very successful, selling over 10,000 copies in the first couple weeks. It received 97% positive ratings and was even trending on Steam for a bit, gaining traction from YouTubers and streamers covering the game.
Why does the narrator always choose to build his own game engines from scratch?
-The narrator enjoys building his own game engines, as he finds it really satisfying to do everything from scratch and have full control over every aspect. For him, making his own engine is a key part of what got him hooked on game development.
What was the inspiration for the narrator's city builder game project?
-After releasing Aquilinox, the narrator was inspired to create another low-poly game, this time attempting an ambitious city builder game where he could build an improved engine from the ground up.
Why did the narrator eventually give up on the city builder game?
-The scope of the city builder game ended up being too ambitious and progress was too slow. Combined with recurring health issues, the narrator struggled with motivation. So after 2 years, he decided to switch to a smaller, more manageable project.
What is the narrator's latest project called?
-The narrator's latest project that he started in 2022 and is still working on is called Homegrown. It's a casual farming game focused on growing vegetables to sell at market.

Outlines

00:00

😊 Getting Started With Game Development

05:01

👾 Working on Soccer One Full-Time

10:03

🏗️ Pivoting to New Game: Aquilinox

15:03

🚀 Releasing Aquilinox and Enjoying Success

20:03

🏙️ Trying Again With a City Builder Game

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Game development

The main theme of the video is the speaker's 10 year journey as an indie game developer. Game development refers to the process of creating video games, including programming, art creation, design, testing, etc. The speaker documents his learning process, projects, challenges and milestones in game development over the past decade.

💡Devlog

A devlog is a video blog that documents the process of game development. The speaker starts creating devlogs early on to share his progress. Devlogs become a way for him to hold himself accountable, get feedback and build a community.

💡Engine

A game engine provides core functionality for game development, like graphics rendering, physics, AI, etc. The speaker chooses to build his own engines from scratch rather than using pre-made ones, as he enjoys the process and wants full control.

💡Release

Releasing a commercially viable game is a major milestone for an indie developer. The speaker tries unsuccessfully to release his first game Sock One after 3 years of work. He finally releases Aquilinox in 2018, marking his transition into full time development.

💡Community

The speaker builds an engaged online community over the years that supports him financially and creatively. Community members even contribute art assets to his earlier games, making development a collaborative effort.

💡Kickstarter

Kickstarter is a popular crowd funding platform. The speaker starts a campaign to fund further development of Sock One but sadly does not succeed in raising money.

💡Steam

Steam is large video game distribution platform. The speaker releases Aquilinox on Steam, running into launch issues but eventually finding success and visibility.

💡UX/UI

User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design are important considerations while building game engines from scratch. The speaker improves on earlier efforts while creating his city builder game's GUI library.

💡Scope

Managing scope refers to setting reasonable goals and boundaries for a development project. Going overboard with unrealistic ambitions results in delays and loss of motivation for the speaker at multiple points.

💡Iteration

Game development is an iterative process requiring constant improvement and polishing before reaching a releasable state. This is highlighted by the multi-year development cycles for the speaker's projects.

Highlights

In 2012, I had the idea for an MMO game called Soccer One, which inspired me to learn game development

I started making weekly devlog videos in 2013 showing my progress on Soccer One; this later grew into a popular YouTube channel

In 2014, I graduated university and went full time as an indie developer, working on Soccer One and YouTube with savings to last 10-12 months

In 2015, I launched a failed Kickstarter campaign for Soccer One, thinking it was make or break for my game dev dream

After Soccer One failed on Kickstarter, I started a new small project called Aquilinox to work on while having a job

Thanks to growing YouTube/Patreon support, I was able to work full time and spend 3 years polishing Aquilinox before its 2018 release

I had to postpone Aquilinox's launch for cancer treatment, but an extra few months let me polish it up really nicely

Aquilinox sold over 10,000 copies on launch and was featured by YouTubers/streamers I had watched for years

In 2019 I took time off after Aquilinox's success, moved flats, and started a new low poly city builder game

I always make my own game engines from scratch because I really enjoy the process, despite it being less efficient

After struggling to progress the ambitious city builder for 2 years, I switched to a new small farming game called Homegrown in 2022

Homegrown has been the most enjoyable project since my first game Soccer One; I'm confident it will release next year

Now in 2024, after 10 years of YouTube devlogs, I'm still working on games and videos thanks to the support of subscribers

I switched back to the update video style from my first few YouTube videos to celebrate 10 years

Thank you to everyone who has watched my journey over the past decade; it has only been possible due to your support

Transcripts

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