5 MISTAKES I Made When I Started Making Games

don't treat your game like it's a baby it's not a baby it's a game and it will go away pinstripe is done I finished that game it's been launched I don't care about that game hey guys how you feeling today feeling cozy are you feeling beautiful good let's get started my name is Thomas brush I'm the creator of a game called pinstripe I'm also working on a game called once upon a coma I've been making games for about 10 years now and I love what I do but there's plenty of mistakes I could do a whole series on just mistakes I've made in the game industry so here are 5 mistakes in fact 5 more mistakes if you've watched my previous video steaks I've made in the indie game industry specifically as a rookie when I first started out alright so let's get started the first one is I focused too much on the short term believe it or not when you first start making games it's really hard to focus on the long term and some of you probably know this feeling it's it's hard to make that next step even even work on your game the next day or the next week and continue on month after month and maybe even year after year so all you're thinking about is short term how do I get stuff done now

as opposed to ensuring that you can continue to get stuff done efficiently year after year some of you don't realize this but that game you're working on right now if you stick with it it's gonna take you a couple years to finish so right now figure out ways that you can be more efficient and effective in the long term so some simple ways to to think about effectiveness in the long term is what kind of a code are you writing right now is your code sort of haphazardly is that high set half Hazzard Lee haphazardly are you just slamming down code as quick as you can because you got to go to dinner you've got to go to bed and you've got to finish your game and you only have an hour to work on it tonight is that what you're doing well that's not really a good way to do it because if you're gonna be making games in the long term you're gonna have to go and fix that code later it's it's not a good idea to duct-tape your game together because it's gonna collapse multiple times in the long term so think about the code that you're writing think about how

you're layering your artwork maybe in Photoshop or in blender are you naming things intuitively are you being strategic with how you're putting your project together you really want to ensure that when you look at your game a year from now you're not gonna become psychotic by looking at the stuff you've made right you want to make sure you can you can deal with it that it's okay cuz no matter how perfect you are and how efficient and effective you are you're always gonna look back on your project and realize things you could have done differently but don't be like me don't look back a year later and be miserable dealing with the crap you put together because you were impatient and you weren't focused on the long-term all right the second mistake I made as an indie game developer is I was frantic I was constantly frantic like a freaking squirrel every little thing that I can think of I wanted to put in my game it was disgustingly was third it was hard it was hard what

about this what about that what about this what about that be a little bit more strategic with the content you're adding into your game a good rule of thumb when it becomes when you feel like you're maybe being a little bit too frantic is how long has this idea been in my head if you're like me an idea will pop in my head and I'll feel like I have to add it to my game or I won't be able to get to sleep at night so I'll go in delete stuff that I already worked on for two weeks that I was strategic about creating and I'll just make a change and I'll change everything and then I'll wake up the next morning and be like why did I do that so don't be frantic with your ideas your ideas are great so don't ignore your ideas you just don't have to put them in your game immediately right like write them down or record them or set a reminder on your phone to think about that idea the next day you don't have to immediately put it in your game this certainly comes back to that first point of focusing on the long-term when you're frantic you're really focused on the

short-term getting that instant gratification of making a change right so playing God making games it really feels good you do get a rush it's like it's almost like playing the lottery or something and gambling you're right you have an idea and you think will this stick and you throw it at your game and you hope that it feels good and you hope that it makes your game better and when it does rare make your game better these frantic ideas you have when they do work it's exciting and you get addictive and you want to do it again and I just want to say it's not really a sustainable way to make games don't be frantic don't be changing stuff constantly be strategic about your changes again your ideas are good any idea can be a really great idea but instead of destroying stuff you've spent time on write it down think about it sleep on it and see how it works in the long run so third mistake is a lack of focus this is a really interesting idea and I was sort of thinking about it on

on the way to my studio today I really had a hard time when I was an indie game developer focusing on specific things that would make my game better I kind of just threw all sorts of ideas together and just threw him into my game and would hope that they would work so I would do some music here write some musicals like I really like that song I wrote so I'm gonna try and figure out how to make the artwork work with that song and so I would I would have one thing one piece of artwork or one function of the game leading another function and I didn't really have an idea or a roadmap for the game now for once upon a coma there is a road map and it's written out very specifically obviously we've deviated from that occasionally but for the most part we're following a road map we are limiting ourselves and again it's all these things are kind of tied together into being impatient when you first start making a game you're impatient and that

causes you to have a lack of focus it's really difficult for you to understand that if you can focus on something for two or three weeks those are the ideas you should be able to be implementing into your game if you can't focus on on something for more than a day it's not worth putting into your game so try and be focused put together a road map just a paragraph or even maybe a three page document of what the game includes the functionality of the game what's the story how are things laid out in the game what's the artwork look like how does it feel what's the setting what are the characters how long do you want the game to be playable what's your target audience focus on this stuff and it's really difficult to do this I get that when you're working maybe two hours a day on your game as opposed to full-time I'm lucky enough that I'm I'm working full-time so I don't feel guilty spending three hours of my day just working on a road map but when you have two hours of of time valuable time to

work on your game I understand that it feels really challenging to to go and spend that two hours that precious two hours of time that you have during the day to put together a word document but trust me it's worth it in the long run alright the fourth mistake I made as an indie game developer is that overvalued my game now this is an interesting one some of you right now it's kind of a badge of honor to call your game your baby right you see this a lot on Facebook groups for like indie game developers about your indie game being your baby and this thing you've put your heart and soul into and you're basically over valuing your game so much so that you're calling it an infant human being so I have a baby I have an infant daughter well she's one now and I have felt that way about my games that's messed up but I have felt that way about

my games not anymore but when I first started making games when I was working on pinstripe I had a weird affection for my game so much so that it would cause me distress and depression and anxiety part of the overvaluing of your game treating it like a baby most of that actually will lead to anxiety and depression and the reason why you are over valuing it is perhaps plenty of good reasons about your dreams and aspirations and who you want to be like I love that stuff I love becoming the best version of yourself but when you obsess about your future especially the financial future you start to kind of worship what you're working on a lot of Mom's worship their children and their children are everything and if their children disappoint them they're bedridden right lots of parents feel this way don't be that way with

your game don't be that way with anything really but especially don't be that way with your game because the market is so unpredictable now all that aside I want to tell you the reason why you should not treat your game like it's your baby the reason why is because obviously it causes anxiety and depression and difficult taking it's difficult taking the next step when you're constantly obsessed with your game but the ultimate reason why you should not do this is it's difficult to be creative it's difficult to be yourself it's difficult to be the best creative version of yourself when you're obsessed with something when you're obsessed and depressed and anxious about your game it's difficult taking that next step and being creative I think creativity and being courageous are like one in the same so if you can't be courageous you're not gonna be creative being creative takes a lot of guts it takes a lot of bravery so when you are over valuing your game when you're treating it like a human being it's

gonna be very difficult for you to be honest and tell the truth with your game right some of the best advice I've ever been given about storytelling for example in my games is to be honest to tell the truth it's very difficult for you to tell the truth when you're obsessed when you're anxious and depressed don't treat your game like it's a baby it's not a baby it's a game and it will go away pinstripe is done I finished that game it's been launched I don't care about that game I don't care if people critique it crap all over it it doesn't matter to me it's done and so my next game wants upon a coma I'm treating it like that I'm basically seeing into the future knowing that I won't care about it I won't care about it as much as I do now so it's not a big deal and I'm actually profiting from that I'm much more creative life is good and I'm having fun all right the fourth reason are I'm sorry no the fifth way right the fifth reason what am I trying to say guys what is this video about the fifth mistake I made as an indie game developer was I

was a purist now this wasn't necessarily true towards the end of pinstripes development which pinstripe was my first commercial release wasn't really true towards the end of it but the beginning of it yes absolutely I cared so much about doing everything myself making proprietary systems really focusing on I'm not gonna use plugins or I'm not gonna use assets from the asset store on unity I'm gonna build it all on my own because that's what you're supposed to do right that's what a game developer is right they they build everything from scratch they're not gonna use other people's artwork because you're not an artist if you're using other people's art or code or plugins or whatever that's bull it's just not true every artist every creator is going to utilize tools available to him the cool thing about living in today's modern technological era is that there are so many amazing tools available to you inside of unity itself so don't be a purist now here's the thing if you're really talented at something specific so

for example if you're really good at code and you're really good at building maybe a physics based system or something like that go for it you know be a purist about it build a proprietary physics system but make sure it shines and outshines any other plugins or systems that have been pre-built that most other developers are using out of the box or if you're a really good artist for example be a purist about your art so I feel like I'm gifted in art work so I'm going to be a purist about my artwork that's what I'm trying to say I'm going to focus on it be a perfectionist about it because that's where I shine and I can actually use that to my advantage now if you don't care about the commercial success of your game and the and maybe the viability of your business then you know forget about what I'm saying about being a purist if that's what you want to do if that's who you want to be that's totally fine go for it man but if you care about financial stability and sustainability and making a business that works long term can't be spending all of your time

because time is money you can't be spending all of your time building proprietary systems like people like knotch and Bill Gates and these wildly successful people who built proprietary systems from scratch those people are amazing brilliant people I'm not saying you're not brilliant but they are very lucky and if that's your goal if you want to be those people go for it do it but if you just want to make an indie game don't be a purist just get started and make it happen and lean on your talents all right guys if you like this video please subscribe and also hit the bell icon I post bi-weekly videos and I also do live streaming of me making games I try and do that daily and I love it so hit subscribe the bell icon leave a comment and I'll try and answer as best as I can alright guys one final note I offer mentorship and coaching to people who want to be successful in the indie game industry so head on over to patreon and you can take a look at my coaching tier where I can coach you to become an indie

game developer finish your game and maybe even help you art direct and figure out how to make your game perfect and that you can follow through take the next steps to ensure that you're gonna make an incredible indie game alright guys thanks so much I'll see you later bye