1) If you're wondering how successful was and what it took to get here, I bring some data, some advice, a little about me and how I got here, and what it took to make it.
Thread below!
#indiedev #gamedev #solodev #indiegamedev
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Artur
@ArturSmiarowski
Hopeless dreamer exploring realistic ways to create overambitious games.
Working on .
Sharing work in progress and my gamedev experience.
Artur’s posts
When I look for indie games, I expect a game with a piece of someone's soul.
I want to connect with the authors through their work.
I want to see why an idea made someone spend years of their life instead of playing existing games.
What do you look for in indie games?
I began gamedev without programming experience, made a text-based MMORPG with:
- no framework
- no library
- no engine
Just raw HTML, PHP, MySQL. Tons of spaghetti code.
Released in 6 months and made a living from it for over 2 years.
Don't overthink it, just get things done!
"Just make a game you can finish instead of your dream game"
Where's this obsession with finishing games coming from?
Make a game someone wants, or you want, or a prototype for learning purposes, or do whatever makes you happy.
It's pointless to finish something nobody wants!
Replying to
I'm not that old, but when I was a kid, you could fit Diablo 2 or The Sims on your hard drive, but you couldn't fit both.
And you had to juggle CDs during playtime.
Many things improved since then, and we're spoiled with many great gaming options now.
Many indiedevs try to ship their first commercial game directly to Steam.
But if you can afford to develop in public and your genre is a good fit, start on Itch and build a fanbase first.
Steam is great at multiplying, but only if you come with a rolling snowball.
Since everyone agrees about marketing to devs, let's try to have some fun today.
I want you to pitch me your game.
But:
- No image, video, gif, or link. Text only.
- One tweet.
If I like it, I'll retweet it.
If I don't like it, I'll tell you why.
Only for 24 hours, go!
Replying to
The game looks great, but its fate was sealed when they decided to release it with 100 wishlists.
It doesn't matter how small or big the game is if nobody wants it and the Steam algorithm determines that no money can be made from it.
By today's standards of what artificial intelligence is,
Is procedurally generated content in games also "generated by AI"?
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In indiedev there is nothing as scary to me as a bad publishing deal.
I got over 20 publishers knocking for Soulash, and the best deal I got would leave me with 0$, even if the publisher doubled my sales.
I feel safer betting on me figuring out everything on my own.
"Don't market games to game developers"
Listen, if you did something unique with procedural generation, that's all I need to know to buy your game.
You can market your game directly to developers, but you should highlight different things.
I buy games for fun and inspiration.
Nobody reads the ToS, so let's make the rules as we go. 😂
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"Everyone is 10x more productive with AI!"
Ok, it's been 6 months. Any tangible results yet?
Where are the games made with AI that previously took 5 years to make?
"Procedurally generated open world sandbox strategy roguelike"
Boring!
"You're an evil god that destroys the world"
Fun!
That's indiedev marketing tip for you.
Grab attention with your core idea that makes your game interesting, and let people want to know more.
I wasn't confident in my #indiegame
- Year 1 I told myself to just keep at it as a hobby but work hard
- 2nd year I released a demo and alpha, few players see potential
- 4th year Kickstarter fails at 10k EUR goal
- 5th year we sell on Steam matching all stretch goals
#indiedev
My wife sent this to me today. It's our 15th anniversary.
I think she still likes me. 😁
Sometimes I feel like modern AAA games are for younger players that haven't yet had 10+ years of enjoyment with similar games.
While indies are where it's at for the older crowd bored with the exact same solutions they enjoyed since at least a decade ago.
I see many indiedev confused about the "give gamedev advice" marketing strategy to "promote the game".
Since I had no clue what to expect when I started with 600 followers, I want to offer my thoughts after 7 months and hopefully provide some answers.
Short thread below: 🧵⤵️
I don't like #indiedev advice to start with a small game.
With so many games already available, how much harder would it be to make a small game and find interested players?
I would say much harder than making a bigger game you would want to play.
Follow your passion!
32% (29) of negative Soulash Steam reviews are under 2 hours.
I hoped the free demo would help with the basics, but it didn't.
19 of these reviews are the difference between Mostly Positive and Very Positive ratings.
#indiedev always feels like an uphill battle on every front.
ASCII graphics will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Maybe one day I'll do something cool with it again.
0:03
This is what I do all day, every day.
Need to reproduce a minor bug?
Let's make a new world.
Need to test a location?
Let's make a new world.
Need to test new abilities or balance enemies?
Let's make a new world.
Procedural generation is the most fascinating tech in gamedev!
0:25
I would love to hear more inspirational stories of the little guys still succeeding in creating their dream games in recent years.
I don't find medium-sized studios backed by multi-million dollar publishers competing for Indie of the Year inspiring or relatable.
Can anyone recommend an artist with experience in game logo design?
Looking to commission a new logo for Soulash 2.
Games are smoke and mirrors.
I have to remind myself of this whenever I want to simulate some complex realistic system.
It's not about the underlying complexity, but about what the players will experience.
Making a complex procedural world is a fascinating challenge for a programmer.
It takes thousands of hours to add it for replayability, but there's no point to replayability if a single playthrough is not fun.
Start from the bottom when building a mountain!
Indiedev is about doing what we believe in, not what a wealthy company is willing to pay for.
Any publisher involvement means the game is not indie.
You can't have creative freedom when a large part of your game is owned by another business.
I've been grinding and grinding and grinding for ~3700 hours.
And it just dawned on me today that I'm finally approaching a significant milestone.
A demo!
And now I'm excited and stressed!
More excited, fortunately, as the reception of the closed alpha test was positive.
I'm proud to present the official alpha trailer for Soulash - a fantasy roguelike where you can take on the role of a forgotten god set on destroying the world.
#indiedevhour #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #fantasy #roguelike
1:30
It takes years to make a game, hours to play it, and minutes to shit on it.
All three are monetized by someone.
And devs greed is what's wrong with gaming?
Gamedevs crunch more hours and get paid much less than in webdev.
That's the cost of pursuing their passion.
I've been pressuring myself hard to get things rolling in the coming months.
And today, I realized I'm at a point where everything feels bleak.
No joy from work, games, movies, family time, or taking a walk.
So I'll unplug for a few days to recharge.
Have a great week, folks!
Every released game is funded somehow.
Some by day job,
Some by publisher,
Some by crowdfunding,
Some by wealthy family,
Some by revenue from other games.
No matter how much we lie to ourselves, the game's scope is tied to its funding.
Don't let the dream blind you to reality.
I barely finished high school and did poorly in computer science.
But over 14 years since, I found my way to Tech Lead and Systems Architect positions in webdev and finished 2 indie games enjoyed by thousands of people.
Find your passion, dream big, and keep working hard!
People like to focus on extremes in indiedev.
Either building a business to chase money or doing something as a hobby to follow a passion.
What I'm looking for is somewhere in the middle.
I want to be a hobbyist with funds to follow my passion.
Do you enjoy playing your own games?
I find a lot of joy in it, but at the same time, it's difficult to not end up with 30 tasks after a 1-hour playthrough. 😂
Indiedev $0 budget marketing from my perspective:
Marketing a trailer is very hard.
Marketing a Steam page is hard.
Marketing a demo is not so bad.
Marketing EA / live service game is the easiest.
Marketing a fully released game is the hardest.
What's your experience so far?
Replying to
"We will work directly with you on cases where fraud or botnets are suspected of malicious intent"
In corporate language, this means we can't do anything about it and it's on you to prove it. 🙂
The best part of programming is that feeling you have when you solve a difficult problem and think you can do anything.
14 years of coding, and that joy still fuels my passion.
Here's a secret technique for a first commercial game.
Pick a low-budget game you enjoy.
Define the parts you don't like.
Read if other players feel the same.
Make a similar game with your favorite theme - redesign the parts you don't like.
Add new ideas that fit your theme.
Today is my 35th birthday!
A great day to appreciate another milestone on the journey of life.
I'm grateful for my caring wife, 2 incredible children, the opportunity to pursue my indiedev dream, and for all the fans of my work!
Here's to at least 35 more! 🍻
It isn't easy to commit.
Custom engine? But Unity is so good!
C++? But Rust is safer!
A roguelike about world destruction? But <insert one of 100's other ideas>!
Chasing a perfect tool is like chasing an ideal game. Perfection doesn't exist.
Pick good enough and stick with it.
Just had an interesting experience on Reddit. Two paranoid people accused me of being an AI and writing ChatGPT generated content. And I got banned on /r/gamedev with no explanation.
We're up for a wild ride on the internet very soon.
I'm in that funny gamedev stage where it's overwhelming to think about everything still needed for release.
And I could throw my hands up and say I overscoped.
But that would be a lazy answer.
So today I planned the next 4 months and I feel much more confident. I got this!
One of the great things about indiedev is that even if you're solo, you're not alone.
The amount of knowledge and support you can get from other insane dreamers struggling just like you cannot be overstated.
So use it and contribute as well!
Believing in yourself and your idea for an extended period is difficult.
Doubt always seems to find its way.
Things get hopeless when we keep making progress, but the destination remains unknown.
Releasing a demo helped me a lot to validate the game idea.
Some games can't be prototyped without some big features.
Like procgen, GUI, or tools for content.
It took me ~3k hours with both games before I had a basic gameplay loop.
So don't worry if your prototype takes long, but focus on getting there before expanding horizontally.
Replying to
25) I hope some of this will be helpful to you if you're considering taking a similar path. I certainly wish this was available for games I was inspired by.
There are some things I would like to share regarding publishers, but I'll leave it for another day.
Thanks for reading!
"Ok, let's enjoy the fruits of my labor and play the game I've been building for years."
10 minutes later.
"Nope, I gotta add this little thing right now!"
Roguelikes and their infinite scopes.
The ultimate infinitely replayable gaming experience is building one.
I'm a very risk-averse person.
That's why I built my game while working full time and only after it was a success I decided to try full indie.
The risks you take will expand your potential success but also your potential failure.
Make sure you can deal with both.
Replying to
Even gaming content creators and players talk about this. It's so wild.
Twitter was very discouraging when I was making Soulash.
Everyone was making beautiful games while I was showing some ASCII animations.
Most of these beautiful gifs never became released games.
Marketing is essential, but the game needs to be the top priority.
From 600 to 2000 followers in 5 months, that's good, right? With no blue mark!
I'm overjoyed to hear from more and more people how my tweets help, and I'm glad I'm in a position where I can make a positive difference.
Thank you all for joining me on this wild journey! 🍻
I've abandoned about 50 prototypes.
Some due to a lack of art skills, some because I hit the tech ceiling too soon, and some because I got bored.
Solution? Custom engine, ascii roguelike, committing 7k hours until release.
Discover your strengths, then commit.
Replying to
Whatever you're gonna write, it will not be as spaghetti as my first project.
I still keep the source code as a memento. Behold the first 38 lines of index.php.
Raw MySQL connections, queries mingled with code. And my favorite PHP command "die()" everywhere. 😂
The best things happened to me when I didn't listen to advice.
Married at 20, now we're 15 years in, 2 kids, very happy.
Started gamedev business after high school - a life-changing experience.
If you want something rare, ignore all external voices and follow your passion.
Whatever you're building, it's critical to not lose hope.
It may take years.
It will come at some sacrifice.
It will be very rare for others to support you because not many can relate.
You can keep going if nobody believes in you, but you can't if you don't.
My dream is to make an exceptional game.
I don't fully understand what that means yet, but that's what makes it exciting.
It's an incredible adventure full of discovery and struggle.
Honesty will cost you sales but will earn you fans.
Always think long-term when chasing your indie dream.
It's the best game development stage when most features with a few hours of content are in.
Now I get to play the game and keep tweaking it as I go.
It's like playing a new game and having god mode powers to change anything I want.
And this is why I love indiedev so much!
It saddens me to see some indiedevs convinced that realistic expectations equals no aspiration.
Finishing a game is no challenge at all.
You upload whatever and say you're done.
Why not start by trying to make a game that at least 1,000 people will want to play?
Most indie games are a success.
Because most indiedevs goal is to release a game. Only shortly after (sometimes) do they discover they want sales too.
If you want to make a living from indiedev, it rarely comes from luck.
Hard work only works if it moves you toward your goals.
Over the past 14 years, I released only 2 games and abandoned >50 prototypes
Prototypes allowed me to learn multiple languages, engines, frameworks, and databases. It helped me advance in my webdev career.
If you aim to learn, you don't need the pressure to finish your project.
The massive response to the Unity debacle exposed how much we collectively rely on the whims of big companies to do indiedev.
And how it all hangs on trust when contracts don't protect our end of the stick.
Too many "irreplaceable" middlemen have chipped away our independence.
Building your own unique game can be the ultimate expression of your passion for gaming.
And it's a very humbling experience as well.
One of the most difficult things about indiedev is dealing with haters and trolls.
There's been so much positivity and excitement around my work from so many people.
Then there's that one person that will ruin my morning.
Years in, and it's still difficult to "just ignore".
Making games for fun or for money?
Both.
Making games is way more fun when you can afford pizza.
Replying to
Recoup itself should also not be acceptable as the new standard and it's being pushed more often.
When one side is protected and the other may end up with 0, that's a scam, not a partnership.
I'm like that dreamer guy on Reddit asking how to make a large procedural open-world game with history simulation, destructible terrain, weather, seasons, building, trading, factions, large battles...
Except I ignored the laughs and the standard advices and I keep trying anyway.
Thank you all for your support!
I'm glad I decided to break my fears and get to know so many of you here. 🍻
Let's see how far we can go together!
Path of Achra just released in early access on Steam, perfect timing, as I needed to unwind a bit.
I love the atmosphere and character build possibilities so far, so much creativity.
Great work, and congrats on reaching this amazing milestone !
This Unity drama is so big my players on Discord started asking if it affects Soulash 2.
They were thrilled to know I was working with a custom engine.
See, I kept saying at least some players care about the technical side of gamedev.
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If you dream of your own Dwarf Fortress, Kenshi, Rimworld, Factorio...
You can learn the skills and spend the years, but the biggest challenge to overcome is that funding opportunities are worse now.
Kickstarter, Patreon, and Early Access are all shadows of what they used to be
If you're a solodev don't be soulless when promoting your game.
Frameworks are BORING!
Why say "Soulash is blah blah..."
When you can say "Have you tried blah blah yet, cause you can in MY game Soulash!"
Make it personal, share your passion, and connect with your audience!
I've heard some games have systems to reduce the bad luck for players, buffing the RNG after a "miss" or in near-death situations.
How do you feel about that?
Do you prefer fair systems, or don't mind these magic tricks as long as the illusion is intact?
Replying to
17) After releasing a game on Steam it can feel like you have hundreds of worst possible bosses, all believing they have permission to treat you like crap for their 15$.
What I learned is it's important to focus only on positive players, they will give you the same feedback too.
MMORPGs are not what they used to be because we optimized away the need for human interaction.
Wikis, walkthroughs, guides, and party queues solved the "problem" of figuring out a massive game together.
Optimizing players' time in games doesn't always equal a better experience.
Here's an important context to know for my gamedev tweets.
I only build replayable games.
My first game was MMORPG, my 2nd & 3rd are roguelikes, and my prototypes were complex.
My future games may be roguelikes, RPGs, or strategies.
Popular indiedev paths don't work for me.
The opportunity to be a starving artist was very tempting.
But I've been there and wouldn't recommend it.
Replying to
Thanks for the space, Rami.
I'm getting close to releasing a demo of Soulash 2, a sandbox traditional roguelike about conquering procedurally generated worlds.
Regular updates at
Steam page with details:
store.steampowered.com/app/2399160/So
1:06
The Unity pricing change is an excellent reminder that engine is a crucial choice for long-term indiedev.
Quick development and easy distribution are great, but corporations will do what they need for profit.
Make sure potential divorce won't cost you everything you've built!
The bigger the company, the more it must focus on revenue.
Because the stakes are high, and failure means mass layoffs.
But as a solodev you can afford to break the mold and focus on creating unique experiences for enough players to keep the lights up.
That's your advantage.
Soulash was my second commercial game.
First came a web-based MMORPG in 2009, which sustained me for about 2 years.
A big lesson I took from it was that 2 years go by VERY fast when you do what you love.
It's easy to turn your success into a failure if you don't plan ahead.
It may be the first time I completely cleared the board.
What a great week! 🍾
For years, lack of discipline, swapping tech, and lack of artistic talent were stopping me from finishing a game.
Two things pulled me out of that loop - stubbornly sticking to my own engine and starting with ASCII graphics until the game was good.
Play to your strengths!
Looks like the weather system can be used for mass destruction too.
#roguelike #gamedev #indiedev #rpg #fantasy #indiegame
0:04
Today's meta for low-budget indie games on Steam is doing 3 releases.
Demo release.
EA release.
Full release.
3 chances to make a dent in the noise and reach new players to pull them to something worthwhile.
But there are more opportunities.
Are you using them?
Struggling to finish a game? Here's what helped me:
1. Set up a deadline.
2. Write down tasks and estimate them in work hours.
3. Order the list from the most to least impactful.
4. Throw the bottom part that won't fit the deadline into a "maybe" bucket.
Focus on the goal.
Here are some milestones you can set for your indiedev journey:
- Prototype you'll commit to
- Steam page to gather wishlists
- Closed Alpha
- Trailer
- Demo
- Early Access
- Full Release
A single, clear, and reachable goal will work wonders for your priorities in long projects
This week I've been doing design and bugfixing, mostly around world generation.
Human settlements are the first to get fleshed out.
You can see 3 stages of the human settlements - villages, towns, and cities, as they grew over 1000 years.
#screenshotsaturday #roguelike
I had many failed projects between my first and second game
I didn't fail because I dreamed big but because I lost confidence
My wife pushed me to get a job, and my kids inspired me to stick with Soulash for years
There's always a way to keep your dream alive
Never give up!
There are many paths to succeed in indiedev.
I'm a solid coder and a bad artist, so I made an engine, then focused on technically complex systems.
And once the game was good enough, I paid an artist.
Find your strengths and build your game around them.