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Documents
Thomas Brush17 min
5 Secrets To FINISH Your Game!
Successfully completing a game development project requires a disciplined approach to both the creative process and personal management.
- Prioritize the refinement of existing mechanics over the addition of new features to prevent feature creep and avoid unnecessary project scope expansion.
- Establish external accountability through recurring commitments with a partner, including defined consequences for failing to meet progress goals.
- Maintain a small, manageable project scope by focusing on creating a high-quality 'diamond' rather than attempting to emulate the scale of AAA titles.
Thomas BrushJan 2019
Jonas Tyroller42 min
Make Cool Games With Unity 3D! - (Part 2)
Efficient game development in Unity relies heavily on the strategic use of prefabs to streamline object management and level design.
- Utilize prefabs as modular building blocks for game elements like enemies and obstacles to enable global updates and ensure consistency across multiple scenes.
- Implement object-finding workarounds in scripts to manage enemy behavior, as prefabs cannot maintain direct references to objects within a specific scene.
- Develop core mechanics by combining foundational, reusable scripts for collision detection, object destruction, and dynamic movement rather than writing redundant code.
Jonas TyrollerJan 2019
Thomas Brush33 min
How To Make 2D Platformers (Unity Fundamentals Tutorial)
Building a professional 2D platformer in Unity requires a disciplined approach to project architecture and the integration of specialized animation tools.
- Establish a scalable foundation by prioritizing organized object hierarchies and utilizing layered artwork exported from external design software.
- Implement player physics using capsule colliders and configure orthographic cameras with Cinemachine to ensure consistent movement and reliable tracking.
- Simulate three-dimensional depth in 2D environments by applying parallax scrolling scripts that assign varying movement factors to background and foreground layers.
Thomas BrushJan 2019
Jonas Tyroller3 min
Wowie Jam! - (2019 February 1)
The Wowie Jam, scheduled for February 2019, serves as a creative initiative designed to push independent developers toward exploring unconventional game design territories.
- The Wowie Jam, held in February 2019, is a three-day game development event focused on experimental design and unconventional mechanics like non-combat warfare.
- Submissions are evaluated against seven specific criteria: fun, simplicity, visuals, sound, creativity, theme adherence, and a subjective 'Wowie' factor.
- The event guarantees that every participant's submission will be played and featured in a dedicated YouTube video for promotional visibility.
Jonas TyrollerJan 2019
Thomas Brush21 min
2D Animation (Unity Tutorial)!
This guide outlines the technical workflow for creating and integrating 2D character animations into the Unity game engine using Spine 2D.
- Integrate Spine 2D animations into Unity by importing a JSON file and atlas, then using the Skeleton Mecanim component to bridge Spine animations with Unity’s native state machine.
- Manage complex character behaviors like running, jumping, and attacking by using boolean parameters and transition logic within the Unity state machine.
- Construct skeletal rigs in Spine by establishing parent-child bone relationships that prioritize functional movement over strict anatomical accuracy.
Thomas BrushJan 2019
Jonas Tyroller4 min
Level Design Does NOT Start With Any Level!
Effective level design is not a task that begins with the construction of a level, but rather with the development of a robust, versatile toolbox of mechanics and building blocks.
- Level design should begin by building a versatile toolbox of mechanics rather than constructing individual levels, as the quality of the final product depends on the adaptability of these foundational components.
- Developers should prioritize mechanics that possess high reusability and context-dependency to maximize production efficiency and avoid the need to create new assets for every challenge.
- Meaningful gameplay variety is achieved through mechanical synergy, where different systems influence one another to create new outcomes, such as a slowing effect that alters the efficacy of a projectile weapon.
Jonas TyrollerJan 2019
Thomas Brush15 min
5 MISTAKES I Made When I Started Making Games
Independent game development requires a shift in mindset from short-term gratification to long-term sustainability.
- Prioritize clean coding and strategic asset organization from the start to prevent the long-term technical debt caused by disorganized, duct-taped workflows.
- Avoid impulsive feature creep by documenting new ideas in a roadmap and evaluating them against the project's core vision rather than integrating them immediately.
- Treat game development as a professional product rather than an extension of personal identity to minimize the emotional paralysis and anxiety associated with the fear of failure.
Thomas BrushJan 2019
Game Developers Conference29 min
Pushing Boundaries: Animating Expansion Packs for The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt
The development of expansion packs for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt required a significant overhaul of animation workflows to overcome severe time constraints.
- CD Projekt Red produced more animation content for The Witcher 3 expansion packs in one year than they did for the base game, despite having only half the development time available.
- The animation team improved efficiency by implementing a 'strike team' structure, where individual animators were assigned as owners of specific monsters or NPCs and acted as co-directors during motion capture sessions.
- To accelerate production, the team formalized communication pipelines using templates that required story and design departments to align on character motivations before animation began.
Game Developers ConferenceJan 2019
Report18 pages
2019 Global Games Market Report
The global games market is experiencing robust expansion, with total revenues projected to reach $152.1 billion in 2019, representing a 9.6% year-on-year increase.
- The global games market is projected to reach $152.1 billion in 2019, a 9.6% year-on-year increase, with a forecasted valuation of $196 billion by 2022.
- Mobile gaming remains the primary industry driver, consistently accounting for nearly half of all global revenue.
- The United States is expected to surpass China as the top individual country for gaming revenue, supported by strong performance in the console sector.
NewzooJan 2019
Report50 pages
Czech Video Game Industry: PC, Console and Mobile Game Developers in Czech Republic 2019
The Czech video game industry has established itself as a high-growth, export-oriented pillar of the national digital economy.
- The Czech video game industry, despite lacking government support, is a significant part of the digital economy, with Czech companies comprising roughly 10% of all game companies in Central and Eastern Europe and generating twice the revenue of the Czech film industry.
- In 2018, 31 games were created in the Czech Republic, contributing to a total of 136 games released by Czech studios between 2015 and 2018; PC and console game development (67%) dominates, though over half of studios also focus on mobile platforms (61%).
- The industry faces a major obstacle in the lack of skilled developers, with almost 1,500 individuals working in game development in 2018 (83% male), and over 60% of Czech game development companies experiencing labor shortages.
Institute for Digital EconomyJan 2019
Thomas Brush7 min
The ONLY 2019 Resolution Indies Should Make
The primary objective for independent game developers in 2019 is to shift the internal framework of self-definition from external validation to internal conviction.
- Independent developers must shift their primary framework of self-definition from external validation to internal conviction to ensure professional and personal growth.
- Relying on the opinions of peers, critics, and societal expectations inhibits artistic excellence and undermines individual well-being.
- Developers should establish a self-determined vision for their future, setting ambitious goals for game releases, physical fitness, and emotional regulation.
Thomas BrushDec 2018
Jonas Tyroller12 min
1 Year Indie Dev! (2018 Results)
This retrospective analysis evaluates the first year of a solo indie game development career, focusing on the symbiotic relationship between game production and content creation.
- Building a YouTube audience serves as a critical engine for indie development, directly facilitating game visibility, playtesting, and essential feedback loops for solo creators.
- Transitioning from daily low-quality content to a weekly high-production-value schedule increased average video views from 200–300 to 1,000.
- The developer’s YouTube channel grew from zero to 1,500 subscribers over the 2018 calendar year, demonstrating the effectiveness of consistent content creation.
Jonas TyrollerDec 2018