Over the next week or two you must form a team with which to create a game proof of concept (alternatively you can choose to work alone). To get to know more about your cohort, please complete the template supplied here and post in the forum below.
Student name:
Jack Self
Preferred platform (eg PC, mobile, board game):
PC & Mobile
Preferred genre (or games you would wish to emulate):
Platformer, Horror, Survival, RPG, FPS, Story-Rich - Inspirations include Tell Tale: The Walking Dead, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Oblivion, Halo: Combat Evolved and Metro: 2033.
Preferred game engine(s):
Unity (C#), Unreal Engine (Blueprint) & GameMaker Studio 1.4 (GML)
2D game, 3D game or either?:
2D & 3D
Roles you are happy to take on (delete any that don’t apply, and add your own):
Coding / Technical Game Design / Level Design / 3D Art / 2D Art / Sound and Music / Narrative Design / Quest Design
Links to portfolio, blog, etc:
University email address:
Finally, please paste images of your best work and / or list your relevant skills and achievements here:
I consider my skills to be in programming, gameplay design and sound design.
I have experience using video editing software such as Adobe Premiere Pro CC and DaVinci Resolve 17.
I have experience publishing games on itch.io and Steam.
I am open to trying new things and can adapt quickly.
The Indie Game Industry
The first lecture was about the Indie Game industry, presented by Iain Lobb. Lobb introduces the lecture by highlighting business fundamentals, such as having a product or service to sell, the importance of customer relations (B2B, B2C, and B2G) and finally, how to recognise demand. Lobb then discusses how to make money as an independent games developer. Notably, he talks about the differences between selling an Xbox, PC, VR, mobile, web and board games. From Flash games to the 'Netflix for games', he continues by looking into how the market has changed over time and whether or not it has been for the better.
Figure 1: The Indie Game Industry by Iain Lobb (Slide 3)
Figure 2: The Indie Game Industry by Iain Lobb (Slide 14)
Iain Lobb presented a variety of ways in which an indie developer might be able to generate revenue from their game. Although well documented, I am all too familiar with these modern-day methods. I was, however, intrigued by the history of indie games, specifically how flash games made money and what caused their downfall.
The History of Indie Games
The second lecture was a talk about the history of Indie Games by Bennett Foddy. This lecture was interesting because I wasn't aware of the tools and games mentioned by Foddy from the 1980s. Foddy continues by stating that creating indie games is a great way to be creative and experiment. He firmly believes the indie movement is far from over!
Understanding the Indiepocalypse
The third topic was about understanding the 'indiepocalypse' in which there were two GDC videos to watch. The first was named "What Do We Mean When We Say Indiepocalypse?" and the second was named "2014 vs. 2018: The Shape of Financial Success Before and After the Indiepocalypse".
Teachings that I took away from the talk were:
The price of the game has to be right
Project vulnerability can be an asset
Deals off great games can hinder new indie titles
Create radically different games
Don't 'fire and forget' (plan for post-release)
Indie developers can often wait a long time before making money
Word of mouth can be a great way to get traction for your game
Source(s):
Indie Game Development
Finally, the last set of videos were presented by Jonas Tyroller on Indie Game development whereby he encouraged his audience to stay active and create interesting USPs to stand out from the crowd and MVP as soon as possible.
Source(s):
Challenge Activity - Team Formation
Date: 28th September 2022
Team name:
*Logo created by Nathan
Programmers / Visual scripters:
Adam & Jack
Technical game designers / Level designers:
Adam, Nathan & Jack
Artists and animators:
Nathan & Jack
Sound designers / Music composers:
Adam, Nathan & Jack
Writers / Narrative designers / Quest designers:
Nathan & Adam
Game genre (or games you would like to emulate):
Pixel, Stealth, Action, Dungeon Crawler
Inspirations: The Legend of Zelda (1986), Metal Gear (1987), Alien Storm (1990), Octopath Traveler (2019)
Game engine:
Unity (C#)
Target platform (eg PC, VR, board game):
PC
2D game or 3D game?:
2.5D (Top-down)
Ideation (Miro)
Figure 3: Game Idea(s) - Ideation 'Mash-Up' (Miro)
Idea 1:
My first idea is a mash-up of Stranger Things and a Metroidvania-type game. Images are from Stranger Things (TV show), Hollow Knight (game), and Sorcery+ (game).
Idea 2:
My second idea is a mash-up of a shooter game and hardcore progression (very rogue-like, dungeon crawler experience). Think 'Pickle Rick' the game. Images are from Dead Cells (game), Shooter (tutorial by Heartbeast), and Rick and Morty (TV show).
Idea 3:
My third idea is a mash-up of a Zelda dungeon and Darkest Dungeon (a theme that was popular amongst the group). Images are from The Legend of Zelda (game), Darkest Dungeon (game), and Pokémon: Fire Red (game).
Tools & Software
Currently, we are using Slack as our primary means of online communication with channels to organise our work. Moreover, we have integrated Miro and Jira as a workspace and Kanban board, respectively.
Surprisingly, this is my first time using Slack and Jira, as they were both presented by one of my cohorts. Slack doesn't look unfamiliar as it reminds me of Discord, although Jira will take some time to get used to.
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