Thanks for watching! Hope you learned a ton. ► Learn how to become a full time game dev, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-how-to-make-six-figures ► Enroll in my 3D workshop, free!: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-15-minute-3D-game ► Make your game instantly beautiful with my free workbook: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-instant-beauty-color-workbook ► Get my 2D game kit, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-2D-game-kit ► Join my 2D character workshop, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-2d-character-art-workshop ► Wishlist Twisted Tower: store.steampowered.com/app/1575990/Twisted_Tower/ ► Learn how to make money as a RUclipsr: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-indie-game-income-workshop
I am 44 now. And I am changing my life right now, moving to another country with my wife and our little baby. I am also really considering start being a indie gamedev. Am I too old?? Maybe! I have been in the digital marketing business for 20 years now, but I’be used to code and I had created a few flash advergames in the past and also little educational games. Gamedev is my real passion, and I started to consider this again at this point of my life. Your channel is now a true inspiration for me because you really talk from your heart. Thanks.
often true, often not true. what i can say that is often true than not true is: Game Maker`s/Developers Can appreciate games even some of the bad one`s since we can see that they have worked hard, with Love&passion, but the publisher might be the reason it when bad etc, for me as example DukeNukem Forever i kind of like lots of stuff with that game and i dont hat it, bubsy 3D is a different thing XD
I played games like resdnt evil 6 and I didn't complain actually it was fun i acutelly be even lucky if I even had a an xbox one i don't because I don't even have one
A 6th Reason why game development is so hard? It's laziness and just sitting down in the chair and actually working on it; all while the brain constantly reminds you of the millions of other things that you could be doing and while the brain reminds you of how tired you are.
This is so spot on. It's like you have to be 10 people at the same time, be fine with being in a cave alone for 2 years, and then be ok with getting up in front of a crowd of people and baring your soul.
@@ThinkCitric That's more or less true, but theres something about needing to pour your soul into this thing that is unforgiving code, soulful art, and heartless business that makes game development particularly schizophrenic. I think it take a certain kind of person, to design, then create, then launch, then market a game (and a studio) successfully, with all of those processes being drenched in your blood, sweat, and tears, and keep your sanity, and stay out of bankruptcy. I've been apart and launched other start ups in the past, but never has my personality and reputation been so tied to the success or failure of a project. That's been my experience at least.
Hello ! I started to make videos about drawing of 2D arts for games in photoshop and I need support. So please, if you have enouph time to watch my video - welcome on my chanel Dyakiw Art and like if video is intresting for you. Thank for attention!
Well that´s why there are rather Game Developement studios than solo indie developers. It´s taking SO MUCH time to make polished game. Years actually. And imagine when you spend 4 years on a game that just fail at release and doesn´t recover... That´s reality
I have NEVER commented on a RUclips video but this one hit home. Thomas, you are awesome. You have seriously given me a great deal of inspiration and motivation to get going with my career in game development. Best of luck with your release of Once Upon a Coma!! I’ll be in touch :)
100% agree! Glad you wrote this comment as it motivates not only Thomas, but also other inspiring indie game devs. I have a full-time job and work on my game in my spare time. I give serious props to those who develop full-time!
2 days ago I wanted to download Unity and try to make a simple platform game. As a programmer and desktop software developer I found it hard and frustrating. Even if I already knew that making games was time and effort demanding, when I had to put myself to the test I really understood what it's really like to be a game dev. To you, to all game makers, because you have a hard job that requires many different skills and is not always rewarded, my respects. You deserve it from everyone.
Bro, you hit home when you started talking about your family. It's kinda crazy how sometimes family and friends (especially here in the US) can discourage you from wanting you to accomplish your dreams.
Depends on the kinda of person. If they have really good friends and family and I mean real quality people then wanting to be able to see them our not wanting to move a thousand miles away is reasonable. It’s why I’m struggling in deciding if I should try it.
Yes, balance is really difficult. One needs to somehow remain a nice, supportive and "present" person to family and still make it all work. Sometimes clever solutions help with this. Or one can be alone without dependents. I have one friend who is doing that to pursue his personal artistic dreams.
100%. Many people for some reason think game development is just plugging different things in and having fun. Yes, its fun, but theres a lot of hard parts both mentally and with the game itself. Although I haven't had points where I think my hobby is silly, I sometimes have the feeling that nobody will care about the game I make. I think a major issue with this is because the only stories developer-wise people hear are the success stories. Nobody is gonna write a story about how random steam game #36525 was a complete flop. Also I feel discouraged to show whatever Im working on till well after its a finished system because people for some reason immediately think dev textures, sounds, and levels are final. So now I have to tell literally everyone who checks out my game and give them a disclaimer that literally nothing is final.
@Never Trust Bob not if you have not paid your rent and your bank balance is zero ! And ,the situation is very likely in both first world and third world
You feel silly developing a game only if you care what other people think about what you're doing. Do what you think is right, be honest with yourself. If someone doesn't like it and thinks you're doing silly stuff - that's their problem, not yours.
I think the hardest thing about doing what you want is understanding how to do it. This is just for anyone who has been (and still kinda is) struggling with doing that. You have to just do it. I actually mean that. But what do I mean? Like if you want to walk then start walking. Move your legs and start walking. And then when you want to stop stop moving. Stop moving your legs. Now try to do the same thing with what you want to do. I post this because I have problems worrying about others. It's especially harder when gmstudio stopped working. I had to find a way to get it working again and I hope when I can reconnect to the internet I can keep my professional version. And consistency. You have to be consistent. Keep doing what you want so your brain can recognize this and start doing it automatically. And if you want you can think about what you want to do before you do it. I've dealt with harassment just because I want to make video games. But you just gotta do what you want. It's not easy. It's not. But try to keep going.
You are right. Bottom line - just take the first step, even if it's a baby step. Then the second one. Third one. They won't be perfect at the beginning, but you'll improve as you go. The second step is even harder than the first one. It means commitment and consistency. Yepp, people outside the industry think that making games is not a "real job". I am currently full-time indie, living from my savings and have no income. Some of the people I know think that I'm playing games all day long, and ask when I'm gonna get a job. Others look at me with pity: "She doesn't work, poor girl..." I work much harder than I used to as an employee. I just don't get paid. And I feel sorry for such people. They'll spend their lives at the office working for someone else on a job that they don't like, but they have to do that because of all the loans, mortgages and other debts they've taken. Some of them will wake up when they'll get old, some will not. I any case, I better take a different path.
Exactly lmao I just commented this too and now found someone(you) say something similar This your life so it is up to you how you want live it You were not born to entertain others and living up to others expectations You were born to do the things you love Which in his case it was gaming And that is super cool As long as he loves it
Why does it feel so? “So what are you studying”...”Game programming”. It feels like you are being judged as a person who hasn’t grown up. An art not taken seriously. Again it’s how I feel and may not even be in their minds.
Jean-Noel Seneque You have to only care about what you think and what makes you happy. There’s always going to be people who don’t agree with you or what you’re doing, or have their own opinions about it but at the end of the day, they aren’t living your life. You aren’t going to live everyday asking what they feel is okay with your life. Let them judge. If you enjoy it don’t even worry about what people on the outside looking in think.
i can't wait till i get to say to those people "oh? my job is fake? well, I made $80,000 last year at my fake job. how much did you make at your real job?"
Fardin Haque There’s a difference between working alone and being alone. If you and I work on our own projects by ourselves, we can still connect about how we’re going through the same process and are having similar experiences and struggles. It’s more so knowing you’re not alone in the process and there’s other people to struggle with.
"So its ok to work alone, but try not be lonely." Yeah, I mostly work by myself, on my own projects or as a consultant developer. My wife says I talk like crazy when she gets home, whereas her work is as a counselor, so it's sort of the opposite. There's a lot of truth in that saying.
I was to make the same comment. So much of this connected to my journey to be an author. And now I'm thinking of applying my programming skills to game development. Meanwhile my kids are young and I have zero spare time. We'll see what happens. Patience is key! ~Alysha
@@astroud1381 game development without the marketing is like 5 disciplines. I did web developement that thought that was challenging. which it is. Game development is for the masochistic. Writing could be comparable if you had to learn how to chop trees for paper, process oil for ink, learn how to bound books, and learning to write in another language -> the over lap is that even after all that work, there a chance no one ever sees your creation.
Could be the most wholehearted video i've seen in a while. You really pinpoint all the struggles you go through as a game developer and why we love it so much. Such an inspirational video. From now on, everytime I doubt why I do what I do, I will put this on! Keep up the good work man!
Wow! This really hit home. For the past decade, I've been an Indie Fiction Author. I've only self-pub'd 2 books during my writing career, and recently(in the last 4 months) I've put on the game dev hat. Writing novels is very similar to game design: always a story to tell, many ways to come up with a way to tell them, and always pushing back insecurities to move forward. Your videos are very uplifting and inspirational. Thank you.
This! man thank you for expressing how we feel as an Indie developers, it feels great knowing that I'm not alone feeling that way! I'm just starting out (6 years) and I needed to hear that. good luck man! and keep these videos coming! lots of love from Egypt.
This video warmed my heart. I’m currently studying computer science and I ran across your video to find more information about game dev as a career path. Your message was so good and inspiring.
what's really funny is how people assume you're playing games if your working on your indie project , but the minute you tell them you work for a major corporation that produces video games like square , sony, or Nintendo everyone says you're so responsible and hard working smh
First, I'm in my wife's account. Man, that really got to me... Like you in the day you made this video, today has been particularly hard. I'm way behind schule, I have zero income, I'm having a hard time trying to stay focus and productive, learning how to draw and music theory (like you said, I'm not complaining, I love it all), may be silly but my monitor has a demoniac shadow with my VGA cabe, HDIM broke, and finally my computer is not starting... Yesterday in my wife's coral party, she told them I was developing game, and when we're leaving her professor said "good luck with you game", and she meant it, but I got a really strong feeling that It was not my job, Just something I do in my play time, and immediatelly wanted to explain that it was a real job... I didn't thought. I'm feeling better now, weird, but better... I true believe that I have a dream job, my dream at least, but ALL you Said is true.
I'm 19 and a game design student and currently learning and experimenting everything on my own. Yeah i feel a little empty many times i feel low and don't want to work for a few hours but then there's a constant fear of what I'm gonna miss if i don't do work. I do concept arts and I'm learning 3D modelling and compositing. I suck at writing codes. I have so many games in my mind and I've made every asset of some of them. From UI elements to in-game animations. Everything's ready in them but i don't know how to code and that's kind of totally different for me. I'm from art background and i prefer being a designer. Last time I'd code was in class 8th, that too was some stuff in HTML( things they teach you in school ) If you can help me in any way regarding design or anything on how to make and publish your own games that'd be so helpful. I wish to get in touch with you can you share your social media profile or work email? With love, from India ❤️
@@AnkitKamble-re3rg brother, I'm currently studying game designing at artemisia college, Indore ( MP) so it's an overall degree. Tho, i prefer working on my own. I'm into designing not coding but my friends are developers and coders. If you want to be a developer, i must suggest you to learn languages specially C ( c# and c++ or preferably Python too, that depends on game engine you'll use in future) so i suggest you to get a degree in programming so you'll have no problem adapting to engines, then when you've completed, you can approach professionally or while learning too, you can learn game engines like unity or unreal ( unity requires scripting in C# while unreal requires C++) so if your basic programming language is clear you can start learning game engines ( they're no big deak once you know scripting). If you want to be a designer( i myself am a designer) you need to focus on arts, fine arts or color theory, everything related to drawings, either manual paintings or digital paintings, observe, learn ( we never stop learning because everyday there's something new to discover) start experimenting, take help of your art teacher or get online classes, just experiment and do whatever you feel like, either it be sketching just a stone or entire city. Be determined on what you've to achieve, ask for guidance or if no one is available, youtube is there. Good luck for your future
@@nicholaskh5306 haha, well all the best for your boards. Yeah you too can become a developer just check my other reply in which I've mentioned some details to start off. 😊
Out of all of your talents, your high emotional intelligence at such a "young" age is the most impressive. You seem to have many things figured out about life that took me a long ass time to figure out. This and your humility is what draws me to your videos.
Well that´s why there are rather Game Developement studios than solo indie developers. It´s taking SO MUCH time to make polished game. Years actually. And imagine when you spend 4 years on a game that just fail at release and doesn´t recover... That´s reality.
This year I'm turning into serious game developer after several tries and a couple of years of learning. Also I'm having a daughter the next month. Be able to see that you can make all this tasks (be a father - 3:41 - and a solo game developer) is encouraging. Thank you so much for making this video. Was all I needed to keep going. (PS. sorry my english, I'm from Argentina)
Dude, I am so glad that you exist. I've been struggling with this whole game development thing for a while now and I'm still trying my best. These videos you put out are a huge help to my mental wellbeing. Thank you man!
Thomas, you're so real, man ... I mean, this channel portraits the real obstacles you have to overcome. I have this dream of becoming a game dev, i have some contact with it since i was 11 years old, and today i have a wife, a home, i can't quit my job to start from scratch, but taking you as an example i'm encouraged me to do it, with the right planning. This channel, your road until here, shows us that despite every single challenge that we face in our normal lives, we can keep moving forward and make it work. I'm not the kind of ppl who have idols and worship youtubers, but man, i'm really inspired by your example. Keep the magnificent job you're doing, i really admire you. Beautifull music playing, btw.
We all go through tough times, it's all part of life. And its then when we learn the most, when we are at our worst. Keep doing what you are doing, because you are amazing at it, no matter what other think. You have all my support.
Oh Thomas, I think I need you on repeat. I circle through all those states of insecurity then overconfidence or being overwhelmed, being disappointed and it seems that every time I watch a video from you I seem to find new resolve. Thank you for that.
in the exact same boat... writting dialogue, family on the way and struggling to get done before holiday season hits. Thanks for this bro! really helped!
Thomas, thanks for posting this video. It's vulnerable and honest. I just wanted to share my take on your first problem, "Wasting time", "I've been playing games.", or "I have a really silly job." I think we all crave meaning in our lives. I often come back to the idea, "Is the glass half-full or half-empty?" Perspective. Meaning works the same way, "It's all meaningless. It's all magnificent." Fatalism or Hedonism. Perspective. For me, perspective is about balance. It seems to me that both are fully true. Chew on that. Some perspectives are useful. I've spent a lot of time trying to work out true joy, lasting happiness, meaning, and satisfaction. At the end of the day, I've come to believe that while money, friendships, family, and respect add to life they do not give lasting joy. Think stoicism. For me, it's about gratitude, it's about life, it's about cups being half-full. All that as a preface to say that "play" is the spice of life. Whether it's on a volleyball court, soccer field, family board game night, dancing at a wedding, or playing a video game. It's play that encourages that sense of wonder, making life bright and worth living. When someone plays your game, they in fact get in touch with that essential "play" part of themselves. So, I think your craft is a deeply meaningful one. I hope you find something valuable. p.s. I'm learning gamedev to teach my daughter programming and have "fun" together. Best wishes!
This is incredibly accurate and hit the right chords for me. You constantly feel stagnant no matter how hard you work or get inspired. Glad you shared your POV and show that people experience the same struggles.
I love your videos. You are very honest and super inspiring. I'm new to making games. I used to make clay animations when I was younger and always drawing or making something. Woodcarving, sculpture, oil painting, music, all sorts of stuff. From my first breath up to about mid 30´s. I'm now 48. Back then I did everything with a beautiful curious attitude, very free and just how I wanted it. Fast forward 15 years and the best kids and wife, but working in construction. I like building stuff but all energy goes for work. Going from one job or project after another and almost completely stopped drawing and painting. Now, since almost 2 years I've started again. We are superpoor now but we are alive. Drawing is different now. Harder, frustrating, more than challenging at times. But I'm learning a lot and its getting more enjoyable for every day that I now, again draw and paint and creating my own take on the world. Your stories are very positive and you're not hiding the truth about game making it seems. I don't know much about game making, hardly anything but I fell in love when I just now managed to get a guy to jump, run and shoot. Love it. Excellent videos sir..
Some great points made here. I am traditionally an artist and have been for 25 years. People at work used to say oh you have it easy all you do is play with the computer and draw. It used to bother me but I know they couldn’t do it and if they did it’s not easy. Anyways now I’m learning to code in c# and create my own games. So my point is don’t worry what people say. You’re going to find everyone starts somewhere and with hard work and time you will succeed regardless of what level your expecting to find. Thanks for the video it reassures me that I’m not the only one with similar feelings and frustrations. Cheers
I am a music producer. over lockdown I have been rethinking my whole career. I was terrible at the industry, never could get a label and never really liked that scene Over this time I really neglected my love for making games as I felt it was a distraction and recently I started writing a comic and working on video game ideas in 2020. Now my whole life makes sense 12 years worth of random music I have recorded finally has a home, . and now I am learning video game development and comic book writing I feel a complete new found love for music again. I just wanna thank you, your vids are so so helpful, in turning big ideas into sizeable actionable things. Being at a fortunate enough stage to have all the tools I need to make these things I feel a new sense of agency over my life, because I'm not looking for anyone to 'discover me' I can do it all alone. And your videos along side various other you tubers really make that a tangible thing, rather than a pipe dream. Now I realise that my love of games was never a distraction, it was one of my biggest assets. Thanks for helping me see that!
As a asparing musician, I can relate *a lot* to the fifth topic. Sometimes I look at old recordings of me playing or singing and I really think to myself "how did I manage to like this back then? I SOUND AWFUL". If I had posted these recordings anywhere, I would've definitely deleted all of them by now. Great video, btw. Thanks for the insight on being a game developer!
I have been binge watching your channel because I'm an old burnt out failed musician that had a taste of success and am great at finishing projects only to be let down by teams over and over again. Now I'm here learning how to depend on myself and I'm just starting. I am genuinely interested in how you pursue music because you have such a huge scope to manage. I relate to everything you say but in regards to all of my audio endeavors...and now I'm ready to face it again in a brand new arena and you're helping me stay rational. If you ever want to connect about music I would love to have a chance to 1 on 1 about that and other things we are similar on. Libertarian Christianity. God bless you Thomas.
I don't usually write comments, but this video has inspired me a lot. I'm in college + working 30 hours a week + programming a game in my free time (and I love it), but logically it is progressing slowly and i often feel like wasting my time. The conclusions after watching your video is that everything I'm learning by programming it's making me better in gamedev and also in my work, and what I learn by other ways I'm applying it in the game (win-win). Once again, thank you for your videos! When you feel alone, think that you're inspiring and helping many others!! ^^
Thomas, Thank you so much for speaking out about your experience in the Indie Game Industry. It's so refreshing and motivating to see people being genuine about their lives, talking not only of the peaches n cream but the hardships and trials as well. Stay true brother and know others (including me) are rooting for you! Have a happy day!
Hey Thomas, I just wanted to say thank you. I needed this. That last one, number five...so true. I'm trying to step into the game development world for about two years, now, and number five has been my bane. So, again, thank you. I have a better perspective on this, now.
I'm just starting on Game Dev, as a solo. I don't quite have the money to get all the tools I need to make the game I want, but I have what I need to get started and I can save for the rest of it. But man, any sort of roadblock makes me want to work on different parts of the game that require some of those tools, but instead i have to bash my head against this problem over and over. My biggest problem is not giving up when I run into things. Its so easy to just stop whenever I run into an issue.
I'm fairly new to game development. Its been about 3 years and I'm currently working on my first (public) game and to be honest, everything you said is completely true, even for someone fairly new as me. And hearing it from someone else is actually nice to hear. Thank you for sharing this video, and I hope to see more amazing games like yours in the future!
I discovered your channel today, and this is the second video I watched (after melee combat one) and got a say the "lonely" reason, really hits close to heart
Thanks for this video. You described many of the things I feel and experience on a mostly daily basis. ESPECIALLY what you said about hating yesterday’s work. I do this constantly. Granted, some of it needs to be trashed, but I’ve also scrapped decent art or ideas as well. This inspired me! Another thing: the artwork in your game was absolutely gorgeous, so great job! I especially liked the wheat fields/trees outdoor scene.
Related to loneliness. Something I self do when I start feeling lonely is, I go out with my best friend for a coffee and use a few hours or a day on that. It helps me get some fresh air, new ideas and I may also get some better perspective on the things I am working on. It also makes it sometimes a bit more refreshing to get back to working on the game.
I relate to all this. Been developing my own game from scratch just like you do. I have 10 years digital media experience but only been full time on my game since I quit my pretty decent job one year ago. I think I'm finally done with the engine and overall mechanics, now finally time to build the worlds themselves. Ahh... it's so fun but it's not always easy to work dense productive hours with my constant questioning of what's the right/wrong way to do things. Anyway... I'm a new subscriber and I love these videos man... they help keep me on track.
Thank you for your encouraging work and talking honestly about your journey as an indie gamedev. This gives me hope that my project will take off, as long as I make sure to persevere on this journey. I will definitively keep following your channel.
This is probably the most genuine video I've seem in a while. I want to root for you, even though I don't know what that will mean. Looking forward to your games man!
I recently found your channel Thomas. I am studying game design in college, and your channel really motivates me to get into the game development field.
Feel you should’ve truly put your game Pinstripe on discount for the switch for a few days just to get it on “Best Sellers” category. Pinstripe is a wonderful game and it sucks to not see you guys take advantage of the Black Friday up-sell to push the game even further in the public’s eye?. When searching for games on the Eshop majority of players select the “Price (low to high) settings to see what they can get cheaper at quality first...the games that are listed at similar prices closest to the “low” are observed first and ATC...which particularly increases conversions and VC (viewed content), ES (engaged shoppers), ATC (add to cart / wishlist) and IC (initiate checkout)....just a thought. Hope to see some solid marketing for Christmas 🎄
Just saw this game on sale and immediately put it into my wishlist 😂 you must know what you’re talking about. Buying it tomorrow it’s giving me those dark Christmas vibes.
It's good that you've made this video. The truth is that everything you have said seems to have happened to me. I remember seeing your Pimpstripe startup campaign on Kickstarter at the same time I launched mine. A long time already. Thanks to your videos they help me sharpen the mind and learn from your experience and that for me is priceless. Thank you.
This is very true. I've been learning about game dev for about a year now and there have been days where I was trying to learn coding, art, and music all at once
As a film guy looking at games, this was interesting. I really appreciate his honesty about the work and all that goes with it. I had a few story ideas for games, but I think I may got to a few game jams and find out some more first.
Thank you so much! For several months, I started to develop a game. And after many events, yes at the beginning it was not my project I was just the sound designer, but after a lot of adventures, I'm not going to not, and I find myself in your speech. But I'm not giving up on anything and I want to finish this project. So I felt silly to finish this project.
Thanks for this honest video. I thought about going into game development since a while now. But I'm too scared because I don't know if an how it will pay off. But as a first step I started my own RUclips channel a month ago. There's still a lot to improve, but it feels so good to finally begin with the thing that makes me happy. Making games. (and for the ones who are interested, the name of the channel is GameDevJourney).
Thanks for this vid. I recently had an argument with some dude who didn’t understand why I was saying most of my time as an indie is spent funding/managing/selling the game, not actually making it. This vid hits home
This is one of the most inspiring video I've seen. I'd say one of my biggest thing in game dev is the factor that I've been developing for web servers for 5 years now, so I find it hard to not be able to get it to work the first time in game dev. Or doing it, than reading online someone who posted a better way of coding it. I just want to start over again and that's why I have nothing out. No portfolio.
im in college and a first year game development student, and i find this really helpful im glad im not the only one who feels silly and awkward on what i want as a career in the future :) thank you
I feel inspired thank you Thomas Brush for making this video. Im a student who wants to study game development for some reason I feel unmotivated because of some people says its hard but after watching this Im much interested !! THANK YOUUUUUU
Wow... thank you so much for this. I've been binge watching your videos today, and I just want to say you are really awesome. Thanks so much for the honesty and the inspiration. I know that during this video and probably some days you question whether it's worth it, all the hats and the juggling of responsibilities and stuff. But I would like to pipe up and say that you are making a difference in a lot of people's lives just by sharing what you're doing and how you are experiencing this journey called life, especially with these videos and your content. Thank you for being an inspiration to me and for putting into words what I was struggling to articulate. Have a blessed week Thomas!
I appreciated your video. My high school son wants to be a game designer and is looking at schools, so I'm glad you mentioned Becker College. We will take a look at that. Hearing some of your story about Pinstripe and the years of work by yourself reminded me of my own game effort, Play Along Keys. Though our platforms, game types and goals are very different, there were also many similarities. I'm impressed by solo developers that are able to make a living at it somehow, I only know a few. In my own case, as you can read at the website, my own purpose is to promote trying a bit of music performance to enjoy it, sort of like one does from Guitar Hero, though my platform is mobile. My personal belief and experience is that performing music and sharing or performing it with others encourages understanding and creativity in the world. It's sort of my mission, so the game is free and I struggle to get more people to hear about it. Maybe your videos will help!
Superb video Thomas, i really needed to watch something like this. I keep trying to get started but keep talking myself out of it because of alot of your points. Seeing someone whos doing well like yourself explain that its normal to feel these things but embrace it and use things like a community to help ya, makes me feel confident to really give it a go. 👍
Truly inspirational, I've been binging your videos and I'm so glad I've found your content before diving into this idea of creating content. Thank you for all your advise.
I hear you loud and clear Mr Brush! I am a remote employee for a mobile game developer and I totally get the loneliness part. I try to chat with my team through slack, but that doesn't always help. We are meant to be around other people and working so far from my team has its downsides.
Don't let anyone judge what you do as silly. You are an artist. You are creating art that is enjoying people, that lets people have fun! If anyone thinks doing that is silly, don't waste your time with that person!
I've started working on a game just for fun at first but I kinda liked it. I've made some progress and already started to commit. But at the same time I'm just now starting to realize the roadblocks ahead.. Thanks for this video for helping me be ready for what's to come.
You're a cool guy, Thomas. I relate very much especially with the whole, this is a silly job thing. I always get asked by friends and family and it's always super awkward trying to explain to people who aren't really into games or tech what it is that I do exactly. Sometimes looked down upon because to many it doesn't count as a real job. Thank you for sharing and letting me and other solo devs be part of you community.
I made my first game when I was 13 then actively started pursuing game development in college.. made a few shitty games.. I always wanted to travel.. it's been 2 years since I made a game or wrote any code.. a lot has happened in these two years.. almost lost my life, broke my knee, dropped out, traveled a lot, broke up from an almost 5 year relationship, lived as a hippie, got framed by the corrupt police of my country in a drug case, spent 3 weeks in jail only to realize that I gotta get back in the game of game development.. but still I'm scared.. scared of spending Soo much time in a single place after traveling so much.. but as I live my life not to regret anything when I'm older.. I'm gonna start again, from scratch.. your video made me realize how much in love I was with the process of wearing all the hats and changing them.. thank you so much. I turn 22 in 15 days.. been out of jail for 4 days now.. I'm going home to make games. :)
Thank you so much for making this video, me and a group of people have created our own Game Dev team and I was assigned as the Director and Leader of the team. I am not sure of what I should do first because we are just starting out. After watching this I felt relieved and comforted. I am ready for the sadness and depression that will come our way in pursuing our passion for creating games.
This week I've been dealing with a whole lot of anxiety and depression, and that's been making it very hard to focus on my game design. Every time I try to concentrate on it, I sit here paralyzed not able to do anything because I'm so afraid of failing, or not getting it right.
I know how you feel. I've been working on Episode one for an animation series I've been working on for the past 9 years and still haven't gotten it off the ground yet. I had some help along the way, but most of the work I had to do by myself. This is one of many struggles.
I started developing game in the year of 2014 with one of my Friend. We did completed the free game and published it for play to playstore .. then I stopped for some reason, I felt that I have achieved what I wanted to do at that time . 4 years I just silently watching the game is getting rejected and not been playing by any one... yaa it’s difficult to see that .. I am following you to regain my game development passion back. Hope some days I really should jump into another journey and develop a master piece with my Artist friend. Obviously with the help of your guidance
This is a really helpful video. I've had some crazy ups and downs working on my game over the past 4 years - I never know how I'm going to feel about it from one day to the next. Now I know it's not just me :) Thanks for sharing!
I guess there are always going to be struggles, I’m coming from the opposite angle. I have a family, have my kids, have a job I’m tired of and now I’m looking to start developing! But the problem I now face is having the time. A total beginner. And I’m hoping, really hoping that that first moment I see something happen in a game from my coding that it’ll just be so magical and feel like it’s such a huge accomplishment that it’ll feel like I can do anything.
I love the part where you encourage other gamedevs to join the community on discord channels or alike. This helps so many gamedevs push through, get ideas and reflect on things together or just hang out. Solo gamedevs needs co-workers too ;)
One thing, though I know that my opinion is basically worth nothing in this digital age is that you are not just creating games so much as you are creating an escape from the mediocrity of everyday life. Especially those of us who drown in tedious mundane tasks day in and day out for a steady paycheck. The worlds and universes you guys create, from the lore, to the ambience and even the quirks relieve the common man from the shackles of the cycle and allows us to become involved in YOUR creativity and YOUR passions and experiencing something that we would not have been experienced otherwise. People like you are an inspiration and promote creativity and a drive to tell a story through more than just a line or paragraph of text. Keep up the good work and I personally will be buying Coma this upcoming paycheck. Sub well earned sir.
The struggle of being a dev and entrepreneur is a real real thing because you are torn between being techy and marketer which both consume a lot of never ending effort. Adding the loneliness is so relatable glad to hear someone experiencing same thing it decrease the feeling of being lonely somehow.
Thank you for posting. People usually just burrow away. More, and more i'm noticing chemical Biology plays such a huge role. That seemingly random and intense sorrow, and anxiety that hits you for like a full week out of the year. In my opinion I think it's this that really makes people spiral out, and quit things, Because coming back from a week long break, and seeing problems they didn't want to solve when they were fresh is very overwhelming.
who would have thought that i would be following the game dev of Coma, i played that game a long time ago and i found it really awesome, the vibe and the atmosphere. nice video!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! I've been binge watching your videos to get myself motivated to work on my little game 😁 it is so true that we always feel a bit disappointed about yesterday's work, it's a vicious cycle of always wanting to tweak small things, over and over again!
Thanks for the Advice about being too proud and the getting better at your work. You don't know how many games I started and never finished because of the same reason you just explained 9:30
Thanks for watching! Hope you learned a ton.
► Learn how to become a full time game dev, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-how-to-make-six-figures
► Enroll in my 3D workshop, free!: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-15-minute-3D-game
► Make your game instantly beautiful with my free workbook: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-instant-beauty-color-workbook
► Get my 2D game kit, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-2D-game-kit
► Join my 2D character workshop, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-2d-character-art-workshop
► Wishlist Twisted Tower: store.steampowered.com/app/1575990/Twisted_Tower/
► Learn how to make money as a RUclipsr: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-indie-game-income-workshop
I am 44 now. And I am changing my life right now, moving to another country with my wife and our little baby. I am also really considering start being a indie gamedev. Am I too old?? Maybe! I have been in the digital marketing business for 20 years now, but I’be used to code and I had created a few flash advergames in the past and also little educational games. Gamedev is my real passion, and I started to consider this again at this point of my life. Your channel is now a true inspiration for me because you really talk from your heart. Thanks.
Why r u asking permission to make games? who cares if ur 40. its your life nobody elses
I think nobody gets old enough to do something you really love, if it is your passion you should go for it.
Go for it bud, if it's your passion. Just don't quit your day job.
It's never late to start doing the things you love. Go for it.
@@OnigoroshiZero That is a lovely comment!
Only *TRUE* gamers appreciate game developers, others don't take them seriously.
Load of shit
@@Chris_t0 Of course not :)
often true, often not true. what i can say that is often true than not true is: Game Maker`s/Developers Can appreciate games even some of the bad one`s since we can see that they have worked hard, with Love&passion, but the publisher might be the reason it when bad etc, for me as example DukeNukem Forever i kind of like lots of stuff with that game and i dont hat it, bubsy 3D is a different thing XD
I think people appreciate them, but gamers truly can appreciate the hard work they can put in to the game.
I played games like resdnt evil 6 and I didn't complain actually it was fun i acutelly be even lucky if I even had a an xbox one i don't because I don't even have one
A 6th Reason why game development is so hard? It's laziness and just sitting down in the chair and actually working on it; all while the brain constantly reminds you of the millions of other things that you could be doing and while the brain reminds you of how tired you are.
Dude, this exactly
@Trusted Mars This is why the game should be announced when it's almost complete
@@Kyepo and begin To work for an DLC (if the game work)
this so real 3 years in and it feels so tiring like i never slept for days.
Dude it's literally me right now :(
This is so spot on. It's like you have to be 10 people at the same time, be fine with being in a cave alone for 2 years, and then be ok with getting up in front of a crowd of people and baring your soul.
That's right for almost every startup, not just game development.
@@ThinkCitric That's more or less true, but theres something about needing to pour your soul into this thing that is unforgiving code, soulful art, and heartless business that makes game development particularly schizophrenic. I think it take a certain kind of person, to design, then create, then launch, then market a game (and a studio) successfully, with all of those processes being drenched in your blood, sweat, and tears, and keep your sanity, and stay out of bankruptcy. I've been apart and launched other start ups in the past, but never has my personality and reputation been so tied to the success or failure of a project. That's been my experience at least.
Hello ! I started to make videos about drawing of 2D arts for games in photoshop and I need support. So please, if you have enouph time to watch my video - welcome on my chanel Dyakiw Art and like if video is intresting for you. Thank for attention!
Well that´s why there are rather Game Developement studios than solo indie developers. It´s taking SO MUCH time to make polished game. Years actually. And imagine when you spend 4 years on a game that just fail at release and doesn´t recover... That´s reality
Blue Crystal Studio word
I have NEVER commented on a RUclips video but this one hit home. Thomas, you are awesome. You have seriously given me a great deal of inspiration and motivation to get going with my career in game development. Best of luck with your release of Once Upon a Coma!! I’ll be in touch :)
Wow thank you! This really means a lot to me, and encouraged me today when I felt a bit low about the channel :)
100% agree! Glad you wrote this comment as it motivates not only Thomas, but also other inspiring indie game devs. I have a full-time job and work on my game in my spare time. I give serious props to those who develop full-time!
@WhyNot nope will definitely take at least a few more years.
@@indieprogress7170 getting closer?
@@nojusj7 slowly but surely :)
2 days ago I wanted to download Unity and try to make a simple platform game.
As a programmer and desktop software developer I found it hard and frustrating. Even if I already knew that making games was time and effort demanding, when I had to put myself to the test I really understood what it's really like to be a game dev.
To you, to all game makers, because you have a hard job that requires many different skills and is not always rewarded, my respects. You deserve it from everyone.
In my eyes game development is for those who actually love maths and science
@@ggmr399 Exactly.
Bro, you hit home when you started talking about your family. It's kinda crazy how sometimes family and friends (especially here in the US) can discourage you from wanting you to accomplish your dreams.
Depends on the kinda of person. If they have really good friends and family and I mean real quality people then wanting to be able to see them our not wanting to move a thousand miles away is reasonable. It’s why I’m struggling in deciding if I should try it.
Yes, balance is really difficult. One needs to somehow remain a nice, supportive and "present" person to family and still make it all work. Sometimes clever solutions help with this. Or one can be alone without dependents. I have one friend who is doing that to pursue his personal artistic dreams.
100%. Many people for some reason think game development is just plugging different things in and having fun.
Yes, its fun, but theres a lot of hard parts both mentally and with the game itself. Although I haven't had points where I think my hobby is silly, I sometimes have the feeling that nobody will care about the game I make.
I think a major issue with this is because the only stories developer-wise people hear are the success stories. Nobody is gonna write a story about how random steam game #36525 was a complete flop.
Also I feel discouraged to show whatever Im working on till well after its a finished system because people for some reason immediately think dev textures, sounds, and levels are final. So now I have to tell literally everyone who checks out my game and give them a disclaimer that literally nothing is final.
Any job that you can make a living of is NOT a silly job.
Well nobody knows how much money would the final product make. It could be 0 actually, things like that happen.
@Never Trust Bob not if you have not paid your rent and your bank balance is zero !
And ,the situation is very likely in both first world and third world
@Never Trust Bob Plan>$>Deadline>$>Learn>Do!fix>Plan>Learn to fix>DO! Learn a skills to not faill. It's hard but, life is HARD!
Lies!! Beeing an youtuber with playing ganes is notb a job.
agreed.
This is the most depressing and real vid about game dev I've ever seen.
You feel silly developing a game only if you care what other people think about what you're doing. Do what you think is right, be honest with yourself. If someone doesn't like it and thinks you're doing silly stuff - that's their problem, not yours.
I think the hardest thing about doing what you want is understanding how to do it. This is just for anyone who has been (and still kinda is) struggling with doing that.
You have to just do it. I actually mean that. But what do I mean? Like if you want to walk then start walking. Move your legs and start walking. And then when you want to stop stop moving. Stop moving your legs. Now try to do the same thing with what you want to do.
I post this because I have problems worrying about others. It's especially harder when gmstudio stopped working. I had to find a way to get it working again and I hope when I can reconnect to the internet I can keep my professional version.
And consistency. You have to be consistent. Keep doing what you want so your brain can recognize this and start doing it automatically. And if you want you can think about what you want to do before you do it.
I've dealt with harassment just because I want to make video games. But you just gotta do what you want. It's not easy. It's not. But try to keep going.
You are right. Bottom line - just take the first step, even if it's a baby step. Then the second one. Third one. They won't be perfect at the beginning, but you'll improve as you go.
The second step is even harder than the first one. It means commitment and consistency.
Yepp, people outside the industry think that making games is not a "real job". I am currently full-time indie, living from my savings and have no income. Some of the people I know think that I'm playing games all day long, and ask when I'm gonna get a job. Others look at me with pity: "She doesn't work, poor girl..." I work much harder than I used to as an employee. I just don't get paid.
And I feel sorry for such people. They'll spend their lives at the office working for someone else on a job that they don't like, but they have to do that because of all the loans, mortgages and other debts they've taken. Some of them will wake up when they'll get old, some will not. I any case, I better take a different path.
Its not easy as you say
I've never said it is easy. I've got to convince myself every single day I'm not making a huge mistake. But so far - I manage.
Exactly lmao
I just commented this too and now found someone(you) say something similar
This your life so it is up to you how you want live it
You were not born to entertain others and living up to others expectations
You were born to do the things you love
Which in his case it was gaming
And that is super cool
As long as he loves it
Why does it feel so? “So what are you studying”...”Game programming”. It feels like you are being judged as a person who hasn’t grown up. An art not taken seriously. Again it’s how I feel and may not even be in their minds.
Jean-Noel Seneque You have to only care about what you think and what makes you happy. There’s always going to be people who don’t agree with you or what you’re doing, or have their own opinions about it but at the end of the day, they aren’t living your life. You aren’t going to live everyday asking what they feel is okay with your life. Let them judge. If you enjoy it don’t even worry about what people on the outside looking in think.
i can't wait till i get to say to those people "oh? my job is fake? well, I made $80,000 last year at my fake job. how much did you make at your real job?"
I feel like that too. Have to really represent good in my essays
Most. People doesnt even take me seriously when i told my family that i wanted to develop games
That's so true tho when I told my teacher I wanted to be a game developer she laughed and said that's not a career.
*So its ok to work alone, but try not be lonely*
Got it.
Fardin Haque There’s a difference between working alone and being alone. If you and I work on our own projects by ourselves, we can still connect about how we’re going through the same process and are having similar experiences and struggles. It’s more so knowing you’re not alone in the process and there’s other people to struggle with.
"So its ok to work alone, but try not be lonely." Yeah, I mostly work by myself, on my own projects or as a consultant developer. My wife says I talk like crazy when she gets home, whereas her work is as a counselor, so it's sort of the opposite. There's a lot of truth in that saying.
I love how all of this applies to writing novels as well!
i can relate. at both writing novels and making indie games, because im on those two right now.
Both forms of story writing
I was to make the same comment. So much of this connected to my journey to be an author. And now I'm thinking of applying my programming skills to game development. Meanwhile my kids are young and I have zero spare time.
We'll see what happens. Patience is key!
~Alysha
@@astroud1381 game development without the marketing is like 5 disciplines. I did web developement that thought that was challenging. which it is. Game development is for the masochistic. Writing could be comparable if you had to learn how to chop trees for paper, process oil for ink, learn how to bound books, and learning to write in another language -> the over lap is that even after all that work, there a chance no one ever sees your creation.
Could be the most wholehearted video i've seen in a while. You really pinpoint all the struggles you go through as a game developer and why we love it so much. Such an inspirational video. From now on, everytime I doubt why I do what I do, I will put this on! Keep up the good work man!
no pain no gain
Wow! This really hit home. For the past decade, I've been an Indie Fiction Author. I've only self-pub'd 2 books during my writing career, and recently(in the last 4 months) I've put on the game dev hat. Writing novels is very similar to game design: always a story to tell, many ways to come up with a way to tell them, and always pushing back insecurities to move forward. Your videos are very uplifting and inspirational. Thank you.
This! man thank you for expressing how we feel as an Indie developers, it feels great knowing that I'm not alone feeling that way! I'm just starting out (6 years) and I needed to hear that. good luck man! and keep these videos coming! lots of love from Egypt.
This video warmed my heart. I’m currently studying computer science and I ran across your video to find more information about game dev as a career path. Your message was so good and inspiring.
Friend/teacher/parent: "So, what do want to do for a living?" Me: "Uuhhh... make games?" Friend/teacher/parent: lol
what's really funny is how people assume you're playing games if your working on your indie project , but the minute you tell them you work for a major corporation that produces video games like square , sony, or Nintendo everyone says you're so responsible and hard working smh
First, I'm in my wife's account.
Man, that really got to me... Like you in the day you made this video, today has been particularly hard. I'm way behind schule, I have zero income, I'm having a hard time trying to stay focus and productive, learning how to draw and music theory (like you said, I'm not complaining, I love it all), may be silly but my monitor has a demoniac shadow with my VGA cabe, HDIM broke, and finally my computer is not starting... Yesterday in my wife's coral party, she told them I was developing game, and when we're leaving her professor said "good luck with you game", and she meant it, but I got a really strong feeling that It was not my job, Just something I do in my play time, and immediatelly wanted to explain that it was a real job... I didn't thought.
I'm feeling better now, weird, but better...
I true believe that I have a dream job, my dream at least, but ALL you Said is true.
I'm 19 and a game design student and currently learning and experimenting everything on my own.
Yeah i feel a little empty many times i feel low and don't want to work for a few hours but then there's a constant fear of what I'm gonna miss if i don't do work.
I do concept arts and I'm learning 3D modelling and compositing. I suck at writing codes. I have so many games in my mind and I've made every asset of some of them. From UI elements to in-game animations. Everything's ready in them but i don't know how to code and that's kind of totally different for me. I'm from art background and i prefer being a designer. Last time I'd code was in class 8th, that too was some stuff in HTML( things they teach you in school )
If you can help me in any way regarding design or anything on how to make and publish your own games that'd be so helpful.
I wish to get in touch with you can you share your social media profile or work email?
With love, from India ❤️
Vishesh Bhai mein bhI game developer ban na chahta hu.
Aapne konse qualifications liye Kya aap mujhe Bata sakte ho?
Love from India .
Plz help me out
And I'm from northern India❤ Gonna appear for board so... You guys know, the pressure 😅. I can code but not a good artist😂
@@AnkitKamble-re3rg brother, I'm currently studying game designing at artemisia college, Indore ( MP) so it's an overall degree. Tho, i prefer working on my own. I'm into designing not coding but my friends are developers and coders. If you want to be a developer, i must suggest you to learn languages specially C ( c# and c++ or preferably Python too, that depends on game engine you'll use in future) so i suggest you to get a degree in programming so you'll have no problem adapting to engines, then when you've completed, you can approach professionally or while learning too, you can learn game engines like unity or unreal ( unity requires scripting in C# while unreal requires C++) so if your basic programming language is clear you can start learning game engines ( they're no big deak once you know scripting).
If you want to be a designer( i myself am a designer) you need to focus on arts, fine arts or color theory, everything related to drawings, either manual paintings or digital paintings, observe, learn ( we never stop learning because everyday there's something new to discover) start experimenting, take help of your art teacher or get online classes, just experiment and do whatever you feel like, either it be sketching just a stone or entire city.
Be determined on what you've to achieve, ask for guidance or if no one is available, youtube is there.
Good luck for your future
@@nicholaskh5306 haha, well all the best for your boards. Yeah you too can become a developer just check my other reply in which I've mentioned some details to start off. 😊
@@PaintStudioV thanks
Out of all of your talents, your high emotional intelligence at such a "young" age is the most impressive. You seem to have many things figured out about life that took me a long ass time to figure out. This and your humility is what draws me to your videos.
Wow! This was so real and raw. Is everything okay?
Well that´s why there are rather Game Developement studios than solo indie developers. It´s taking SO MUCH time to make polished game. Years actually. And imagine when you spend 4 years on a game that just fail at release and doesn´t recover... That´s reality.
I agree
This year I'm turning into serious game developer after several tries and a couple of years of learning. Also I'm having a daughter the next month. Be able to see that you can make all this tasks (be a father - 3:41 - and a solo game developer) is encouraging. Thank you so much for making this video. Was all I needed to keep going. (PS. sorry my english, I'm from Argentina)
Dude, I am so glad that you exist. I've been struggling with this whole game development thing for a while now and I'm still trying my best. These videos you put out are a huge help to my mental wellbeing. Thank you man!
Thomas, you're so real, man ... I mean, this channel portraits the real obstacles you have to overcome. I have this dream of becoming a game dev, i have some contact with it since i was 11 years old, and today i have a wife, a home, i can't quit my job to start from scratch, but taking you as an example i'm encouraged me to do it, with the right planning. This channel, your road until here, shows us that despite every single challenge that we face in our normal lives, we can keep moving forward and make it work. I'm not the kind of ppl who have idols and worship youtubers, but man, i'm really inspired by your example. Keep the magnificent job you're doing, i really admire you. Beautifull music playing, btw.
We all go through tough times, it's all part of life. And its then when we learn the most, when we are at our worst.
Keep doing what you are doing, because you are amazing at it, no matter what other think.
You have all my support.
Oh Thomas, I think I need you on repeat. I circle through all those states of insecurity then overconfidence or being overwhelmed, being disappointed and it seems that every time I watch a video from you I seem to find new resolve. Thank you for that.
I love how candid, honest and passionate you are. Subscribed
This video really caught my attention from the start. I appreciate your honesty and will definitely take your words to heart with an open mind.
in the exact same boat... writting dialogue, family on the way and struggling to get done before holiday season hits. Thanks for this bro! really helped!
Thomas, thanks for posting this video. It's vulnerable and honest. I just wanted to share my take on your first problem, "Wasting time", "I've been playing games.", or "I have a really silly job." I think we all crave meaning in our lives. I often come back to the idea, "Is the glass half-full or half-empty?" Perspective. Meaning works the same way, "It's all meaningless. It's all magnificent." Fatalism or Hedonism. Perspective. For me, perspective is about balance. It seems to me that both are fully true. Chew on that. Some perspectives are useful. I've spent a lot of time trying to work out true joy, lasting happiness, meaning, and satisfaction. At the end of the day, I've come to believe that while money, friendships, family, and respect add to life they do not give lasting joy. Think stoicism. For me, it's about gratitude, it's about life, it's about cups being half-full. All that as a preface to say that "play" is the spice of life. Whether it's on a volleyball court, soccer field, family board game night, dancing at a wedding, or playing a video game. It's play that encourages that sense of wonder, making life bright and worth living. When someone plays your game, they in fact get in touch with that essential "play" part of themselves. So, I think your craft is a deeply meaningful one. I hope you find something valuable. p.s. I'm learning gamedev to teach my daughter programming and have "fun" together. Best wishes!
This is incredibly accurate and hit the right chords for me. You constantly feel stagnant no matter how hard you work or get inspired. Glad you shared your POV and show that people experience the same struggles.
I love your videos. You are very honest and super inspiring. I'm new to making games. I used to make clay animations when I was younger and always drawing or making something. Woodcarving, sculpture, oil painting, music, all sorts of stuff. From my first breath up to about mid 30´s. I'm now 48. Back then I did everything with a beautiful curious attitude, very free and just how I wanted it. Fast forward 15 years and the best kids and wife, but working in construction. I like building stuff but all energy goes for work. Going from one job or project after another and almost completely stopped drawing and painting. Now, since almost 2 years I've started again. We are superpoor now but we are alive. Drawing is different now. Harder, frustrating, more than challenging at times. But I'm learning a lot and its getting more enjoyable for every day that I now, again draw and paint and creating my own take on the world. Your stories are very positive and you're not hiding the truth about game making it seems. I don't know much about game making, hardly anything but I fell in love when I just now managed to get a guy to jump, run and shoot. Love it. Excellent videos sir..
Some great points made here. I am traditionally an artist and have been for 25 years. People at work used to say oh you have it easy all you do is play with the computer and draw. It used to bother me but I know they couldn’t do it and if they did it’s not easy. Anyways now I’m learning to code in c# and create my own games. So my point is don’t worry what people say. You’re going to find everyone starts somewhere and with hard work and time you will succeed regardless of what level your expecting to find. Thanks for the video it reassures me that I’m not the only one with similar feelings and frustrations. Cheers
I am a music producer. over lockdown I have been rethinking my whole career. I was terrible at the industry, never could get a label and never really liked that scene
Over this time I really neglected my love for making games as I felt it was a distraction and recently I started writing a comic and working on video game ideas in 2020. Now my whole life makes sense 12 years worth of random music I have recorded finally has a home, . and now I am learning video game development and comic book writing I feel a complete new found love for music again. I just wanna thank you, your vids are so so helpful, in turning big ideas into sizeable actionable things. Being at a fortunate enough stage to have all the tools I need to make these things I feel a new sense of agency over my life, because I'm not looking for anyone to 'discover me' I can do it all alone. And your videos along side various other you tubers really make that a tangible thing, rather than a pipe dream.
Now I realise that my love of games was never a distraction, it was one of my biggest assets.
Thanks for helping me see that!
As a asparing musician, I can relate *a lot* to the fifth topic. Sometimes I look at old recordings of me playing or singing and I really think to myself "how did I manage to like this back then? I SOUND AWFUL". If I had posted these recordings anywhere, I would've definitely deleted all of them by now.
Great video, btw. Thanks for the insight on being a game developer!
Your first reason is really a thing that starts being a obstacles when you are getting older. I don't even tell a lot of people that I do gamedev
It’s nice having a large community of game devs, but of course you have to compete with all those people now
I have been binge watching your channel because I'm an old burnt out failed musician that had a taste of success and am great at finishing projects only to be let down by teams over and over again.
Now I'm here learning how to depend on myself and I'm just starting.
I am genuinely interested in how you pursue music because you have such a huge scope to manage.
I relate to everything you say but in regards to all of my audio endeavors...and now I'm ready to face it again in a brand new arena and you're helping me stay rational.
If you ever want to connect about music I would love to have a chance to 1 on 1 about that and other things we are similar on. Libertarian Christianity. God bless you Thomas.
I don't usually write comments, but this video has inspired me a lot. I'm in college + working 30 hours a week + programming a game in my free time (and I love it), but logically it is progressing slowly and i often feel like wasting my time. The conclusions after watching your video is that everything I'm learning by programming it's making me better in gamedev and also in my work, and what I learn by other ways I'm applying it in the game (win-win).
Once again, thank you for your videos! When you feel alone, think that you're inspiring and helping many others!! ^^
Thomas, Thank you so much for speaking out about your experience in the Indie Game Industry. It's so refreshing and motivating to see people being genuine about their lives, talking not only of the peaches n cream but the hardships and trials as well. Stay true brother and know others (including me) are rooting for you! Have a happy day!
Hey Thomas, I just wanted to say thank you. I needed this. That last one, number five...so true. I'm trying to step into the game development world for about two years, now, and number five has been my bane. So, again, thank you. I have a better perspective on this, now.
I'm just starting on Game Dev, as a solo. I don't quite have the money to get all the tools I need to make the game I want, but I have what I need to get started and I can save for the rest of it. But man, any sort of roadblock makes me want to work on different parts of the game that require some of those tools, but instead i have to bash my head against this problem over and over. My biggest problem is not giving up when I run into things. Its so easy to just stop whenever I run into an issue.
And did you become a game dev?
@@N0purpose every three months for a week long period yes, until I inevitably lose interest again lol
I'm fairly new to game development. Its been about 3 years and I'm currently working on my first (public) game and to be honest, everything you said is completely true, even for someone fairly new as me. And hearing it from someone else is actually nice to hear. Thank you for sharing this video, and I hope to see more amazing games like yours in the future!
I am completly new in game developing but i appreciate your lot struggles sir.good job.i like your videos
I discovered your channel today, and this is the second video I watched (after melee combat one) and got a say the "lonely" reason, really hits close to heart
Thanks for this video. You described many of the things I feel and experience on a mostly daily basis. ESPECIALLY what you said about hating yesterday’s work. I do this constantly. Granted, some of it needs to be trashed, but I’ve also scrapped decent art or ideas as well. This inspired me! Another thing: the artwork in your game was absolutely gorgeous, so great job! I especially liked the wheat fields/trees outdoor scene.
Related to loneliness. Something I self do when I start feeling lonely is, I go out with my best friend for a coffee and use a few hours or a day on that. It helps me get some fresh air, new ideas and I may also get some better perspective on the things I am working on. It also makes it sometimes a bit more refreshing to get back to working on the game.
I relate to all this. Been developing my own game from scratch just like you do. I have 10 years digital media experience but only been full time on my game since I quit my pretty decent job one year ago. I think I'm finally done with the engine and overall mechanics, now finally time to build the worlds themselves. Ahh... it's so fun but it's not always easy to work dense productive hours with my constant questioning of what's the right/wrong way to do things.
Anyway... I'm a new subscriber and I love these videos man... they help keep me on track.
Thank you for your encouraging work and talking honestly about your journey as an indie gamedev. This gives me hope that my project will take off, as long as I make sure to persevere on this journey. I will definitively keep following your channel.
This is probably the most genuine video I've seem in a while. I want to root for you, even though I don't know what that will mean. Looking forward to your games man!
I recently found your channel Thomas. I am studying game design in college, and your channel really motivates me to get into the game development field.
literally never thought of game dev as wasting time. not even a single time lol.
Feel you should’ve truly put your game Pinstripe on discount for the switch for a few days just to get it on “Best Sellers” category. Pinstripe is a wonderful game and it sucks to not see you guys take advantage of the Black Friday up-sell to push the game even further in the public’s eye?. When searching for games on the Eshop majority of players select the “Price (low to high) settings to see what they can get cheaper at quality first...the games that are listed at similar prices closest to the “low” are observed first and ATC...which particularly increases conversions and VC (viewed content), ES (engaged shoppers), ATC (add to cart / wishlist) and IC (initiate checkout)....just a thought. Hope to see some solid marketing for Christmas 🎄
Just saw this game on sale and immediately put it into my wishlist 😂 you must know what you’re talking about. Buying it tomorrow it’s giving me those dark Christmas vibes.
It's good that you've made this video. The truth is that everything you have said seems to have happened to me. I remember seeing your Pimpstripe startup campaign on Kickstarter at the same time I launched mine. A long time already.
Thanks to your videos they help me sharpen the mind and learn from your experience and that for me is priceless. Thank you.
God man, #5 REALLY hit hard. So true, love the advice you give though Thomas. Thank you for everything you do for this community :)
This is very true. I've been learning about game dev for about a year now and there have been days where I was trying to learn coding, art, and music all at once
As a film guy looking at games, this was interesting. I really appreciate his honesty about the work
and all that goes with it. I had a few story ideas for games, but I think I may got to a few game jams and find out some more first.
Thank you so much!
For several months, I started to develop a game. And after many events, yes at the beginning it was not my project I was just the sound designer, but after a lot of adventures, I'm not going to not, and I find myself in your speech. But I'm not giving up on anything and I want to finish this project. So I felt silly to finish this project.
Relate to this so much. I really want to make music for games but now find myself doing coding and designing pixel art haha
Thanks for this honest video. I thought about going into game development since a while now. But I'm too scared because I don't know if an how it will pay off. But as a first step I started my own RUclips channel a month ago. There's still a lot to improve, but it feels so good to finally begin with the thing that makes me happy. Making games. (and for the ones who are interested, the name of the channel is GameDevJourney).
Been doing solo game dev for about 3 months now and I love every moment of it. releasing my first game in February.
Congrats David! Please let me know when you do
Thanks for this vid. I recently had an argument with some dude who didn’t understand why I was saying most of my time as an indie is spent funding/managing/selling the game, not actually making it. This vid hits home
This is one of the most inspiring video I've seen. I'd say one of my biggest thing in game dev is the factor that I've been developing for web servers for 5 years now, so I find it hard to not be able to get it to work the first time in game dev. Or doing it, than reading online someone who posted a better way of coding it. I just want to start over again and that's why I have nothing out. No portfolio.
dude you put smiles on peoples faces and not only that you are educating people on how to do this. not a dumb job
im in college and a first year game development student, and i find this really helpful im glad im not the only one who feels silly and awkward on what i want as a career in the future :) thank you
I feel inspired thank you Thomas Brush for making this video. Im a student who wants to study game development for some reason I feel unmotivated because of some people says its hard but after watching this Im much interested !! THANK YOUUUUUU
Wow... thank you so much for this. I've been binge watching your videos today, and I just want to say you are really awesome. Thanks so much for the honesty and the inspiration. I know that during this video and probably some days you question whether it's worth it, all the hats and the juggling of responsibilities and stuff. But I would like to pipe up and say that you are making a difference in a lot of people's lives just by sharing what you're doing and how you are experiencing this journey called life, especially with these videos and your content. Thank you for being an inspiration to me and for putting into words what I was struggling to articulate. Have a blessed week Thomas!
I appreciated your video. My high school son wants to be a game designer and is looking at schools, so I'm glad you mentioned Becker College. We will take a look at that.
Hearing some of your story about Pinstripe and the years of work by yourself reminded me of my own game effort, Play Along Keys. Though our platforms, game types and goals are very different, there were also many similarities. I'm impressed by solo developers that are able to make a living at it somehow, I only know a few. In my own case, as you can read at the website, my own purpose is to promote trying a bit of music performance to enjoy it, sort of like one does from Guitar Hero, though my platform is mobile. My personal belief and experience is that performing music and sharing or performing it with others encourages understanding and creativity in the world. It's sort of my mission, so the game is free and I struggle to get more people to hear about it. Maybe your videos will help!
I hear you Thomas. Sometimes there seems to be a stale feeling. A mountain of uncertainty we must climb. Stay strong, stay humble, and persevere!
Superb video Thomas, i really needed to watch something like this. I keep trying to get started but keep talking myself out of it because of alot of your points. Seeing someone whos doing well like yourself explain that its normal to feel these things but embrace it and use things like a community to help ya, makes me feel confident to really give it a go. 👍
Truly inspirational, I've been binging your videos and I'm so glad I've found your content before diving into this idea of creating content. Thank you for all your advise.
I hear you loud and clear Mr Brush! I am a remote employee for a mobile game developer and I totally get the loneliness part. I try to chat with my team through slack, but that doesn't always help. We are meant to be around other people and working so far from my team has its downsides.
Follow your passion and follow your heart.... I'm indie dev from about a year now.... But being satisfied from what you do is important.
Thank You so much for your honesty ❤️ I can really use this moving on 💯
Don't let anyone judge what you do as silly. You are an artist. You are creating art that is enjoying people, that lets people have fun! If anyone thinks doing that is silly, don't waste your time with that person!
I've started working on a game just for fun at first but I kinda liked it. I've made some progress and already started to commit. But at the same time I'm just now starting to realize the roadblocks ahead.. Thanks for this video for helping me be ready for what's to come.
You're a cool guy, Thomas. I relate very much especially with the whole, this is a silly job thing. I always get asked by friends and family and it's always super awkward trying to explain to people who aren't really into games or tech what it is that I do exactly. Sometimes looked down upon because to many it doesn't count as a real job. Thank you for sharing and letting me and other solo devs be part of you community.
I made my first game when I was 13 then actively started pursuing game development in college.. made a few shitty games.. I always wanted to travel.. it's been 2 years since I made a game or wrote any code.. a lot has happened in these two years.. almost lost my life, broke my knee, dropped out, traveled a lot, broke up from an almost 5 year relationship, lived as a hippie, got framed by the corrupt police of my country in a drug case, spent 3 weeks in jail only to realize that I gotta get back in the game of game development.. but still I'm scared.. scared of spending Soo much time in a single place after traveling so much.. but as I live my life not to regret anything when I'm older.. I'm gonna start again, from scratch.. your video made me realize how much in love I was with the process of wearing all the hats and changing them.. thank you so much. I turn 22 in 15 days.. been out of jail for 4 days now.. I'm going home to make games. :)
Thank you so much for making this video, me and a group of people have created our own Game Dev team and I was assigned as the Director and Leader of the team. I am not sure of what I should do first because we are just starting out. After watching this I felt relieved and comforted. I am ready for the sadness and depression that will come our way in pursuing our passion for creating games.
This week I've been dealing with a whole lot of anxiety and depression, and that's been making it very hard to focus on my game design. Every time I try to concentrate on it, I sit here paralyzed not able to do anything because I'm so afraid of failing, or not getting it right.
I know how you feel. I've been working on Episode one for an animation series I've been working on for the past 9 years and still haven't gotten it off the ground yet. I had some help along the way, but most of the work I had to do by myself. This is one of many struggles.
9 years?? Now you absolutely have to see it through
I started developing game in the year of 2014 with one of my Friend. We did completed the free game and published it for play to playstore .. then I stopped for some reason, I felt that I have achieved what I wanted to do at that time . 4 years I just silently watching the game is getting rejected and not been playing by any one... yaa it’s difficult to see that .. I am following you to regain my game development passion back. Hope some days I really should jump into another journey and develop a master piece with my Artist friend. Obviously with the help of your guidance
This is a really helpful video. I've had some crazy ups and downs working on my game over the past 4 years - I never know how I'm going to feel about it from one day to the next. Now I know it's not just me :) Thanks for sharing!
I was just thinking of that! You don't know how much you've blessed me man!
I guess there are always going to be struggles, I’m coming from the opposite angle. I have a family, have my kids, have a job I’m tired of and now I’m looking to start developing! But the problem I now face is having the time. A total beginner. And I’m hoping, really hoping that that first moment I see something happen in a game from my coding that it’ll just be so magical and feel like it’s such a huge accomplishment that it’ll feel like I can do anything.
I love the part where you encourage other gamedevs to join the community on discord channels or alike. This helps so many gamedevs push through, get ideas and reflect on things together or just hang out. Solo gamedevs needs co-workers too ;)
One thing, though I know that my opinion is basically worth nothing in this digital age is that you are not just creating games so much as you are creating an escape from the mediocrity of everyday life. Especially those of us who drown in tedious mundane tasks day in and day out for a steady paycheck. The worlds and universes you guys create, from the lore, to the ambience and even the quirks relieve the common man from the shackles of the cycle and allows us to become involved in YOUR creativity and YOUR passions and experiencing something that we would not have been experienced otherwise. People like you are an inspiration and promote creativity and a drive to tell a story through more than just a line or paragraph of text. Keep up the good work and I personally will be buying Coma this upcoming paycheck. Sub well earned sir.
The struggle of being a dev and entrepreneur is a real real thing because you are torn between being techy and marketer which both consume a lot of never ending effort. Adding the loneliness is so relatable glad to hear someone experiencing same thing it decrease the feeling of being lonely somehow.
Thank you for posting. People usually just burrow away.
More, and more i'm noticing chemical Biology plays such a huge role.
That seemingly random and intense sorrow, and anxiety that hits you for like a full week out of the year.
In my opinion I think it's this that really makes people spiral out, and quit things,
Because coming back from a week long break, and seeing problems they didn't want to solve when they were fresh is very overwhelming.
Be Humble is truth. Thank you! I 'll keep going. Respect!
who would have thought that i would be following the game dev of Coma, i played that game a long time ago and i found it really awesome, the vibe and the atmosphere.
nice video!
Listening to you while working on my little game so don't feel so lonely in the silent room. Thanks Friend. :)
you are my hero, thanks for the motivation bro..
where is your discord? I really need to talk with you about being a single game dev
I'm 20 and I push carts at Walmart. Still feels like I'm 17. I need to start learning
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us! I've been binge watching your videos to get myself motivated to work on my little game 😁 it is so true that we always feel a bit disappointed about yesterday's work, it's a vicious cycle of always wanting to tweak small things, over and over again!
Thanks for the Advice about being too proud and the getting better at your work. You don't know how many games I started and never finished because of the same reason you just explained 9:30