The art of failure

[Music] [Music] hi everybody this talk will be about art of failure that's something like about of my life so you know I'm Marisa pura I'm from Poland from war so I run the teller horse company in 2013 now I'm CEO and you know that I'm making games but who have I been this more important because that's lead me to making games I was a creative and graphic designer in Poland working for advertising agencies for 25 years and there was a lot that was walk for biggest brands in Poland also I was working for smallest company

for my friends especially in a music industry because I made some stuff that's that's not important I made about 78 album covers just because I'm a musician too so it was a 25 years of making music and making design so I released about the 18 albums so that I got that two skills the design and the music and I tried to program of course because there was a de programs like a flash or macro media director and stuff like that I was experience with this but I thought that I can program but it was you know that was failure of course my first serious mistake was that I create a well-paid job and started making games so that was that was the first and the biggest I think failure but I'm happy with it yeah I start making games I made four games I released four games to this time the one the first one was the steampunker I made this games by myself

to be honest but you know the second was the steam crowd it was under runner there was a steam punk periscope we are shooter there was experimental we are and the last one is a steam work it's in November so I'm working on the next games not less important now and I can call it small success because I want some hours I was struggling on the world from conference to conference that was cool i won the awards ah God but I thought that this was success but what is success the success is the fact of getting no achieving wealth respect of fame yeah I thought that it was this but you know the definition of success it's changing in time we start with we want to the success is when we not pay not being panties when we have a friends when I have a driving license then we have a sex of course and at last we have a manner which is trying to have a mandate and then ok we are exactly the

same but parantha wrong direction so that's the definition of success of the you know the every part of our lives so but I think more accurate definition of success is this because we are in London so there was Winston Churchill success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm I think this is my my way of life yeah everyone think that success is do know that the straight line to success you start the game making games and then you are releasing game ok that's that that's not not not this way it really looks like this there's you know that a lot of points a lot of changing of ways of making everything sometimes you want to give up that's the way to success success this not build on success is built on failure that's that's true I think that's that's it's really true so how we do we define failure of course we know that this this

one there are our own homonymous that was you know that that everyone was learning about that but people are not interested in errors there is a Peter Berger landscape with the fall of Icarus that was you know the life is going on there were farmer there was life there is a good weather but the I Carlos is here you know no one is interested in the failure that's that's we know this guy this is Pablo Picasso it was he was considered as a genius of course because he was a really gifted drummer than painter that he made you know that this art was like Demoiselle d'Avignon on the age of 26 that was absolutely you know absolutely genius perfect genius there's someone paintings of him of course but there was the person like season and first exhibition got in the age of 35 he considered the

production of painting as a process of searching he wasn't genius he made unbelievable amount of sittings and our freeman's when he was painting portrait of Gustav Geoffroy or por todo ambrose of all arts 150 occasions and then of course I don't think as a failure those always he was perfectionist but he give up his artworks so there was this now we can consider that that Picasso could tell I want to find not search what Suzanne Isaac in painting so that's what this two different ways to achieve a success of course this way is good and this is good too but maybe this is more painful this is more straight full I don't know maybe this is for person with the ego this is for person which like working of course director car players but for Susana is worth more than Picasso artworks another person and

another failure it was a Spencer silver he finally inventing new glue glue was too weak okay but his friend Arthur fry put this wig low on smaller sheet of paper okay that was a feather but now then was it was a success Steve Jobs of course we know that Steve Jobs was one of the famous person on the ward making apple computers and stuff like that back he got you all this made errors too that he was driving the company who tried to make the computer next computer the slaughter was very very expensive and of course it was a failure because no one wants to buy this computer because this was too expensive it was good computer but it was too expensive but the operating system was the reason Apple bought next computer in 97 in 1997 and

several years basis for Apple popular oh six so that why we got this all the retina of Steve Jobs to his company and you know that all the iDevices ipods iphones imax of course and the itunes store so it was a failure but now it's a success we know this game the space invaders sometimes you know the fader is a feature because there you know when there when we are shooting this Alice the game is going faster and faster and faster it was because when was all the screen was drought and under on the device it was memory was full and when we when we were shooting this and destroy in this audience there was a less audience so the memory was praying and the game run faster so it was a failure may be some you know there some problems with a technological problem

but it becomes success every problem is an opportunity jeez okay I agreed with this and now some of my my errors I made with making my games for example my first problem I do it by myself I started as you know there was a graphic designer musician I could program so I try to do everything by myself of course it was spectacular failure I started after you know the plain music music I was on the influences of punk rock and stuff like that no future Sex Pistols and I wish to do iy do it yourself it was more it was more familiar for me but when we can make some stuff and there was my heroes you know that the band's like a Sony give Pixies and especially Fugazi and the discourse scene from Washington DC they may do you know the something it was in the late 80s they made it something like Network sending

fanzine sending tapes cassette tapes to to there's fans but they making something like card so some kind of network not working connected with this music and it was cool for me because they made it without a major label without the money that was cool and then I switch this heroes for these heroes and tried to make the same here but it was you know the feathers of the time management because one was just one person but there's a you know the design music of course I didn't notice that there was something like a game design you know modeling now making sound effects everything was inside this and I was working all the time there was everlasting crunch but it was funny because you know that I was making game my game my own game I imagined that and just trying to raise it and read my stone and girls of course because there's only one person salsa and I all

the time tried to not give up but it but you know there's something fun when you are making something what you want and not someone wants you to do that of course I tried to finding shortcuts and this is you know that I couldn't draw the old games hand round and make the animation because it was a problem with the time so I find the some shortcuts I've made it to debunk their backgrounds and their put inside the 3d character I was know it was a good idea because it do save a lot of time for me doesn't like it was look into my game you know that saw something like that there was it to the background and the person was the hero was working on there another level another problem of course I was you know that I've done my first time my priests approach to to making

games so I should chose engine so you must choose of course but I didn't have an experience I try find someone a GameSalad it was a drag-and-drop engine to making games without coding so I thought oh god that's that's something for me but it was really hard because I it was my game was too complicated to make the game in this engine so I start - of course it was failed I start to searching and this time something some engine of course some of it was years ago so some of these engines was where expensive some were free yeah that's of course nothing fit mad I found a unity unity doesn't pay me for this that's just you know that I think the unity was the best engine for me especially I found this plug-in pie maker which was the visual scripting plugin and it it was cool because I could make some stuff

you know I saw everything the coding was not for me that at this time I won came again called but you know that I'm not good in that that's true but what this visual scripting helped me a lot to make them my first game another problem marketing of course I'm one when army there is no money because I I quit the job and there is no ads because I got no money but it's you know there is something like marketing I couldn't make something like that I start going with my games for showcases conferences competitions first everywhere every everywhere I could afford to go and there was a you know the at the end it was a whole world yeah but but it was hard I save my money and we try to spend them for travelling and then going for conferences and meet the people show showing them the and I think it was a good strategy but finally I want some hours because I was going for this events and that was cool

and that was another some energy to make the games better and better yeah by the way the events are cool so so know they're always meeting the new people and then I like it and it was connected with this was a first coverage because when I want some hours or I went somewhere I try to know to connect with the press and then tell them about this that was cool and the social media I always try to make something like you know the cover cover art for for Facebook or whatever just you know to tell everyone that I am going somewhere with my games another another good idea was to became speaker because you know when are you going for the even like that that's cool to be a speaker and then connect with people and told them something something important yeah another problem to find the money

because I'm making game for it was a two years or one half one year and half and I started you know there was disrupting friends and family loans business loans okay but I try to find a seed money investments indie game fans I apply for some funds European Union funds it was a creative euro but there's a nice program in in the European Union and there is a creative European trade Europe and I won it and then I get some grant for for my next game so that was cool of course I tried to crowdfunding and made an IndieGoGo campaign and I try to interests of a venture capitalist successful that was successful so now I can make against but of course there's always probably money that's not that's not solved but you know the postpone another problem no localization that was my idea to go for example to Tokyo yet

for Tokyo Game Show I get you another in the booth for free ok going to Tokyo there was a note 300,000 people there it was really huge and I was would gain steampunker that I've got localized only this title that was crazy but no one was talking in English so my when they see the many of the game they they couldn't play this I should stay and show them how to play the game that was done and the next time I was with a my next game I got the leaflets and everything you know the translator that was good idea for for this yeah that's localization is important because for example I went to get to play the game in a Sega you know there saloon and there was something like that in a game that so the red button is a go next or cancel all the green button is on the on this side but it's a green should be you know that the

play I didn't solve this problem I found the fabric like fiber when you can translate for $5 some questions there's some some words and little school because sometimes you know that when the game is much bigger that's that's too small service for some like that but sometimes when you need to translate for example some words or or some somewhere so that's that's cool okay there's some problem with the Zynga that was crazy because of my game area was called spin ville and this is the letter from Zynga because you know they they got the right for the ending wheel for Europe and states everywhere for example if I got it do you know the t-shirts I love Seville that's too much for me you know the game farmville that was timely but the different games

absolutely different game this is sha sha this is you know single-player game with a steampunk style and nothing in common when you think you know that as this numbers are known okay but when you in this time when you put the teller horse in the results in the independent L house did you mean and they you know that that's right to force me to change the name of course I changed the name because I don't have any money to do it for lawyers and then to fight with Zynga there was some polish you know the smart words that don't try to fight in kicking with the horse that's crazy PR and press coverage that was effect of this that was cool because it was failure you know there are not that I should change the name but a lot of people write about this fight my fight with the fight fighters in the argument with a single another problem featuring

will solve all problems I thought that will be like that I got the game steam craft it was you know featured in a google day those were cool reviews you know sales photo but reviews because I made some more risky update in time of featuring and there was a you know the black screen for a finger the half of the day or something like that and was not disaster but it was good visibility of course there was a good downloads but I wasn't prepared for this so if you plan something like that be ready another problem which was platform hell because I start making because I was fond of my iPad so I make the game for iOS for tablet and of course I didn't predict that this something like screen resolution and aspect ratios in Android so there was that a lot of devices and of course on the iPad this one one one it was a spare one aspect ratio but it

was you know the the problem with the performance in androids with gyroscopes god that was a lot it was a job so now embark on new project with other problems in my mind so in all those problems oh so that's by the experience the best navigator in life sooner or later takes you in the right direction so I released four games I can call the success but as you can see there was a lot of fighters that was the only you know that some my fighters okay thank you very much thank you any any questions any thoughts in just come here with the mic sorry I just want to add so I'm a game designer and as similar to you I I love playmaker I I recommend a filmmaker to to everyone every junior designer everyone because understanding scripting in Evin in in a

kind of rudimentary way helps you talk a lot easier with programmers and since I get programmed these things get a lolly that's it's a if you don't know playmaker I mean it was the best hundred pounds I ever spent it's like fifty dollars now and yeah buy it yeah I agree I all the same that I'm using you know the stuff they play make and because everyone was coding oh god I can't yeah but it's a fast faster tool for prototyping for everything to be honest sorry I'm not a coder and you only find the easiest to use a sharpener open it easy just dive in yeah I don't think that's an interesting because I think it's about what you're trying to do and why but anyway it's not blow make it up there's not a unity talk however much I might want it to be thank you very much [Music] [Music]