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Thomas Brush8 Oct 2021

A DAY IN THE LIFE of a Game Developer (THE TRUTH!)

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
Independent game development is defined by a repetitive cycle of technical troubleshooting, specifically managing complex interactions between triggers, colliders, and physics-based movement within the Unity engine.
02
Developers maintain project momentum by frequently pivoting between debugging code, consulting documentation, and utilizing external tutorials to resolve unexpected object behavior.
03
Indie workflows prioritize speed and functionality over perfection, often necessitating creative compromises like repurposing existing assets to fill gaps in development.
04
Successful project completion requires the pragmatic decision to overlook minor, non-critical bugs to ensure consistent output despite limited time and technical constraints.
05
Production efficiency is achieved by sourcing low-poly models and down-rezzing textures from free asset libraries, which allows for cost-effective environment population.
06
Live streaming and community engagement serve as essential tools for real-time testing, creative input, and building a resource-sharing ecosystem for developers.

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Transcript

and a lot of these we could pick up while we can't pick up some of them because [Laughter] oh no look it could fly why unity why thomas you got this buddy you sure yeah you've got it good thomas you're doing great today thanks guys oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] whoa look at my screen i can't even tell you what's going on i might need to restart utd i actually want a sound to play when a door can't be opened grab the key i got it now let's take a look

this is kind of creepy like watch whoa [Music] i don't know why that happened do all this crap what no i want it to work i don't want to have to do this kind of crap let's solve this together and then while you're solving that for me a little longer than a few minutes later oh there's a sphere collider what there's a mother effing sphere collider oh i was looking at the wrong triggers thomas you're so stupid [Music] who said that play once play once i love you very much you make me smile when i think about your name hey here we go this is where mounting my toe lives so moaning myrtle's in every single one

of those stalls you just can't see her by the way guys feel free to download my free 2d game kit below it's totally free it's my treat to you i used this exact 2d game kit to make a game for pewdiepie in 14 days and then i got to play it in front of his subscribers which was really awesome um so download that use it however you want it's my treat to you yeah okay today we're going to create a map editor that's a little bit easier to make a big sprawling level with uh now the door is really screwed there's no hallway i can't see it what i don't understand what's going on oh i think i know what's going on unity you suck double check here okay good everything's saving properly [Music] if i see a blue blue premix in your father summary videos so say save to god almighty that this works so

we can keep adding these yes it works all right good so somehow we need to be able to rotate this i have no idea how to do it [Music] wait wait wait wait what did you just do there how did you do that [Music] by the way guys feel free to [Music] boy all right so let's go to the tutorial and take a look we'll watch this tutorial tutorial together let's go to the tutorial okay take a look we'll watch this tutorial tutorial okay together okay should i watch me i think i want to watch me right right okay okay right right right of all the things that we want to do rotating is not one of them i'll tell you what the documentation is not great

let's go press a bunch of buttons i don't want to have to deal with this again i really don't so say goodbye to snap tool 2. so what we're going to do is we're going to ask for a refund why unity y oh a big storm is outside my window oh wow we were getting tornado warnings last week let me double check here am i going to die we're going to start decorating these rooms that's fine let's put on push pushable object i don't want to yeah that's uh so much fun i love this candle thomas you got this buddy you sure yeah you've got it good thomas you're doing great today thanks guys because i'm going crazy right you want to take advantage of being sure that you're careful about staying courageous never quitting in being positive okay trying to think of anything else we're gonna need let's find a toilet i want a low poly crappy looking toilet no pun intended let's go to free there's eight and the great news about the free assets asset

so the good thing about the free assets is they look like crap so this is exactly what we want look at this oh i love this yes all right guys we got sinks toilets globes oh you guys are smart let's take a look at the free assets what do we got oh we got a school globe ready to go welcome to 2021 guys where anybody can make games not that hard anymore pretty easy pretty cool why can't i download you f and a lot of these we could pick up while we can't pick up some of them because [Laughter] oh no look it could fly hold on [Music] so there's [Laughter] way to go thomas when you're using c sharp you want to make sure that when things are cascading down okay you consider tabulation as opposed to space we need a blackboard that's great we could put words on it creepy words

all right well i think we're gonna have to create our own i don't want to spend 15 on a stupid blackboard scale squash scale it's not perfect but whatever i don't really care do you guys care i don't think you do and it's gonna say something like help so there's our chalkboard good we actually do want some apples apple we'll probably find a free one here free casual food pack i think i want that it's going to be hard to say no to this the funny thing is i don't see an apple i see a tomato and a pepper is that a pepper or an apple yeah let's download it whatever apple there's a pineapple what the one thing i needed that doesn't exist pepper let's see there's pepper oh crap what are we gonna do here i'm okay with just pretending it's an apple it's like whatever who cares and then what's the final thing here guys with any asset we go to the texture and we down rez the heck out of it so it looks like absolute crap which is what we want look at this tub here good works great so i think everything

is pretty good my friends right right well that that's interesting thomas i would say that um i would reconsider your thought process entirely from the ground up it's gonna have like a dorm vibe huh because that's what it is it's a very sort of conservative college for girls so there's the eve's little red fingers touching the snake and there is that one quote from one of you you did a quote or i told you i would uh put your name in the game and there it is so that's kind of cool what we've got some issues my friends everything's getting placed at a rear weird spot i'm just going to pretend it didn't happen we'll address any concerns later by later i mean never i'm kind of whooped my mouth kind of hurts and i'll be honest i taste blood get over here [Music] hey thanks for watching by the way if you haven't downloaded that free 2d game kit below click below it's my treat to you i

used this game kit to make a game for pewdiepie in 14 days and i actually got to play it with him in front of his audience which is really cool this game kit is totally free it's my treat to you and you can use it however you want you can make a commercial game and make a million bucks off this game kit i don't care or you could just use it for a hobby project it's my treat to you and by the way if you haven't clicked like that would mean a ton to me hit subscribe and also this is important hit that notification bell here's why if you get notified of when i'm live you can watch me make my next game and let me know in the chat what you think about the game or any ideas you have and you might just show up your chat might just show up in the next video that i upload all right i'll talk to you later bye i love you too

Summary

Game development involves a repetitive, often frustrating cycle of technical troubleshooting and asset integration, particularly when working within the Unity engine. The primary challenge for independent developers lies in managing complex interactions between game objects, such as triggers, colliders, and physics-based movement. Technical hurdles—ranging from malfunctioning door mechanics to unexpected object behavior—frequently require developers to pivot between debugging code, consulting documentation, and seeking external tutorials to maintain project momentum.

The workflow relies heavily on the strategic use of free asset libraries to populate game environments efficiently. By sourcing low-poly models and down-rezzing textures, developers can achieve a specific aesthetic while minimizing production costs. This process often necessitates creative compromises, such as repurposing existing assets to stand in for missing items, which highlights the pragmatic nature of indie development where speed and functionality often take precedence over perfection.

Beyond the technical execution, the development process is characterized by a need for persistence and community engagement. Maintaining a consistent output requires a balance of self-motivation and the willingness to overlook minor, non-critical bugs to ensure project completion. Integrating community feedback and fostering direct interaction with an audience through live streaming serves as a vital component of the modern development lifecycle. This approach not only provides real-time testing and creative input but also builds a supportive ecosystem where developers can share resources, such as game kits, to lower the barrier to entry for aspiring creators. Ultimately, the work is defined by the tension between the desire for high-quality design and the realities of managing limited time and technical constraints.