Watch this if you're a solo gamedev

Until recently, I wasn't aware how many of you were solo developers. It turns out it's a lot of people, so in this video, I give my most common pieces of advice for solo indie devs.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:36 Pro's of solo dev
02:27 Preface
03:00 Do less
04:24 Unlearn perfectionism
05:56 Don't forget marketing
07:50 Accountability Partner
09:46 Find a community
10:42 Long term consistency
12:12 Validate multiple devices

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[codyvidalmusic]

I can 100% vouch for not worrying about making music for your own game (unless you are already a musician)
There are SO many great composers out there that are eager to work on their first game. Go reach out to them!

[occupationalhazard]

Accountability Partner? I believe you mean, "Accountabilibuddy".

[myrrysmiasi]

As a more art focused indie developer, my advice to all the programmer focused solo devs out there is to learn some basics about visual design. It doesn't have to take a huge amount of time, and you don't need to increase the amount of effort you put into executing your game art, but improving your understanding of what makes visuals look good is going to have a *huge* impact whether you use programmer art, free or purchased assets or commission an artist.

[thomasboone]

To all (solo) devs out there: it's the little things that count like

watching people play your game,
wishlisting it,
asking about it because they are interested

It's those short moments that keep you going, that remind you why you set out to crafting this unique experience so chin up, you can do it, and best of luck to all of you!

[blackdoc]

I've always been told to wait to publish the steam page until you have a good chunk of eye candy and stuff since the steam algorithm pushes it more it's first couple weeks and if it has place holder stuff it's not going to get as many wishlists.

[OldHeadTrivia]

When you’re a musician who is learning gamedev. “Don’t bother with music, it will be to difficult”… 😎

[dontstopbelieving]

I currently have my steam page up and have been approved for the February next fest. This is my first commercial project and I am adding to my vertical slice every day (just finished my main menu today and am super happy with it)

My biggest piece of advise is first to start. Every YouTuber on the planet will tell you about this perfect set of circumstances and extensive skill set you need. Well those circumstances aren’t coming and either are those skills. The perfect situation will not just present itself magically, just get started.

But other than that I would say to get a good understanding of what you want to make. The games you like to play might not be the games you like making the most. Break your game idea down to the most minuscule pieces you can imagine. Things that seem simple from a player perspective can be incredibly complicated from a development standpoint ( my first game being a 2d rpg was really an eye opener).

[Vercidium]

Starting the Steam page early is so important. Glad you've emphasised that here

[tlothompson]

A solo dev is just someone that owns and decides the game all by themself, but can still pay someone to create or just purchase any asset they need. So in reality it's a win win, as long as you're not stubborn and willing to just pay for what you can't do yourself.

[IamFluffY]

I love the shoutout to the different hardware. As a Mac user myself, it's something always on my mind. I'm well aware most games are coded/optimized to run on Intel based Windows systems and I need to follow suit.

[morgan]

i’ve heard a few ppl saying in their first devlog that they started it for accountability, so it could be useful in that regard, plus as a form of early marketing. but yea it is extra work

[hamzahgamedev]

i am a solo dev myself and I can't tell you how valuable this video is for me.!
Thank you guys very much for making this video!

[GrzegorzKiernozek]

You may be solo dev BUT you can purchase certain defined services as you do with assets - just get someone to compose something or draw some pixel art or whatever, as a paid task.

[jaredkidd]

Having project management software has helped me out a lot. I use Trello, so I know exactly what i’m doing each day and not having to fumble around trying to figure out what part to work on.

[Laevus]

Clicked for the title, got rewarded quickly with a cute doggo. Instant like!
As a creative person with experience in a lot of creative areas already, I'm trying to get started in solo gamedev as a hobby but coding is something that I've never been able to get my head around in the past, despite a lot of trying. It's been pretty deflating over the months to see so many tutorials and hear from a lot of devs who start from a coding background, so I'm hoping to defeat that final roadblock and finally move on with some projects at last this year.

[MaxFury_Official]

Luckily for me i can do music and art, and even voice acting myself now with the help of AI voice changing. I've already done the full AI with a russian female voice for lolz in the intro of my game! Thanks to speechify i think the site was called? Also i've captured the voices to make it even more expressive so i can re-do stuff that i don't like with my own "acting". Captured some friends voices and myself in various cartoony voices i could come up with.

Such a good time to be either a indie-dev or music/art creator, so many possibilities. AI isn't the end of the world, but it can definately help if you are on a tight budget like most of us indie-devs are!

[bruceburnett]

Solo dev for me is a path of choice and necessity. Learning my pipeline now and figuring out where I fit.

[S_Tadz]

They say 'You go faster by yourself, but go farther in a team'.
Maybe true, but for most indie games scope, I think it's better to work fast than go 'far' in scope and details and publish more.
But I do jam with other devs, and that fills my 'social' requirements just as well, and I can do my solo work exactly the way I want without the downsides of being in a team (time spent on communication, design compromises, code style and workflow, etc.)

[Atlantica-Worlds]

I used to make beats before game dev so I'll be creating my own music.
What I have always wondered was when was the right time to create a Steam page. After watching this video I feel like now is the right time.

[KhroMcKrakken]

I really love this advice because it's advice I would give based on my own experience that slowed my progress in game dev. And it's not "make small crappy games" which is advice I hear ad nauseum. And when I've tried to adhere to that, I can't motivate myself to learn because I'm working on games I don't care about.

So all of this. Great advice, but what I'd add to it is: learn what motivates you to learn. If it's making a bigger game, do it, but understand that it will be broken. It will take longer. You will have to redo systems as you learn more. And so learning how not to be a perfectionist is even more important because you have to understand where your knowledge limits lie and come back when you understand what is wrong.

It should also be of note that the only real valuable thing about releasing small games first that you can't get from starting bigger is the risiduals. Even if it doesn't sell well, the money you get out of a smaller game helps fund bigger games. That's the only real reason I've found releasing smaller games to be smarter.