Image Source - Falmouth Online University Canvas
After a nice 4 week break we are back studying IGD740 which is all about the indie games industry as a whole and how to pitch, create a playable artefact to show potential investors and how to market our game. I have been looking forward to this one since I have been building my personal portfolio for nearly 2 years now. During that time I have had 1 game launch on Steam via a publisher and the rest have been published by myself on itchio. I have yet to make a game published on Steam as a solo developer though, so for me, this interests me the most.
This week we have started by being given some valuable tips on some things we can do to help broaden our horizons within the indie game scene. These range from videos, to podcasts and from Twitter to physical linkedin learning courses. NoClip, GDC and Gamemaker's Toolkit have all been suggested which I have promptly followed, but during my deep dive on other people who are prominent in the industry I also decided to follow Thomas Brush who I think is a great person to learn from since he makes an entire living off of indie game development and is very humble and always offers advice and streams his workflows on Twitch quite often.
I also decided to install SourceTree as it is a visual code version control which for me is invaluable as my coding isn't great. For this course I will be using SourceTree to ensure my game is kept up to date and accessible when peers need to check on it.
We have also been asked to fill out this document (seen below) which allows others to get to know us. We are able to work in a team on this concept or go alone. I have put a lot of thought into this and after coming from a team of 5 from the last course, I feel I would like to work alone this time around. This way, my own timetable doesn't have to let anyone down and I can work at my own pace better. I did enjoy working with the last group but my personal workload is getting busier and I need to think of them also. Personal Profile Template
Student name: Aaron Wise
Preferred platform (eg PC, mobile, board game): PC & Console
Preferred genre (or games you would wish to emulate): Horror & FPS
Preferred game engine(s): Unreal Engine
2D game, 3D game or either?: Either. Both have their advantages
Roles you are happy to take on (delete any that don’t apply, and add your own):
Visual Scripting / Technical Game Design / Level Design / 3D Art and Animation / Sound and Music / Narrative Design
Links to portfolio, blog, etc: https://aaron-wise.itch.io/ & trialbyfir3.wixsite.com/tbfgames
University email address: AW260739@FALMOUTH.AC.UK
Finally, please paste images of your best work and / or list your relevant skills and achievements here:
The creature in the hallway
One of the rooms from my house setting
Someone being attacked inside their car
An alternative world
It lives in the basement
Another room from the house setting
Detailed doors with edge ware
Week 1 lecture: As part of week 1 and the lectures within, I watched the lecture by Iain Lobb which covered off the following sections:
This is all great things to cover off as this is what I want to do, become fully self sufficient selling my games as a solo publisher. There are many aspects that I still need to cover off as a solo game developer and things like Business & Start-up fundamentals & how markets might change in the future.
Image Source - Falmouth Online University Canvas
Challenge Activity Week 1:
For this weeks challenge activity we have been asked to fill out the below form in regards to our Solo or group team details. For this course, as mentioned earlier, I have decided to go solo in order to better suit my personal needs and time that I have available.
Team name: GetPlayerCharacter
Programmers / Visual scripters: Aaron Wise
Technical game designers / Level designers: Aaron Wise
Artists and animators: Aaron Wise
Sound designers / Music composers: Aaron Wise & Free sounds
Writers / Narrative designers / Quest designers: Aaron Wise
Game genre (or games you would like to emulate): Action Adventure
Game engine: Unreal Engine
Target platform (eg PC, VR, board game): PC
2D game or 3D game?: 3D Game
Reflection - Week 1 So far, what we have covered outside the lecture has been really interesting to me. I wasn't aware of the indiepocolypse and as a result it has made me more cautious when looking at what to put out. Obviously I want to make sure I put something out which has decent quality. That being said, I will spend more time doing market research, looking at what my competitors are doing so that I can get a better understanding of how it performs.
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