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Good Game by One Person, Is it Possible?
This question might turn out extremely vague, but I have really been thinking long and hard about it. I started using Unity a couple weeks back and went crazy with it. Now that I am comfortable with the interface and all, I have really been exploring my capabilities. I am 15 so I am not trying to make video game development a serious course (or atleast right now). I started on a horror game project today, since I ditched my FPS project since they are overrated in my opinion. Horror games may be too, but I have never tried it.
Most of the time when starting a big thing, I drown myself with cool ideas but once I progress they fade away or I realize the limits I have such as my modeling skills, music composing, etc.. I know it leads to the idea of having a team. But I am the only one in my family that knows that coding exists :p and I know I could make friends online, but I find it...risky, so to say. In school I have also liked working individually when I had the option. But yet I wondered why I had no friends D:
My point is, is it possible to make a decent game by myself? I have read articles and seen videos of people making games by themselves and being succesful. (No, I am not trying to sell my games, I just want to let my ideas come true.) I mean, I started making my own sound effects like footsteps, but I still use the internet for textures and music. If anything, I want to stop taking music since 15 year old's don't really have a lawyer when getting sued :p The textures are no big deal to me, I have lots of materials in and around my house. The main thing worrying me the most, are models. Or "humanoid" models, I could make props just fine. Considering my horror game, I don't know if I could make it successful without any monsters, just paranormal activity (again, not trying to sell, just trying to have fun). I really want to consider having a team, but does anyone have tips,ideas, or anything for working alone?
Please do make your reply as long as you want since I am interested in hearing opinions and all.
You can definitely develop a good game solely on your own. The first place that you need to start is with believing in yourself and having lots and lots of patience. Than you need to start polishing your existing skills or gain new one. Focus on one thing at a time, like for instance the usual flow for developing a game goes like this:
Preproduction(Design Phase)>Production(Development Phase)>TestingPhase>Deployment.
The core foundation of any game is laid down in the Design phase. Design phase is subdivided into Art Design, Layout Design(UserInterface), Technical Design(how will mechanics work in your game, game logic, what the game is about).
Focus there first, take your time and learn as you go. There is a ton of open source resources available on the internet, utilize them or try to create your own resources(characters/environments).
Read Barry Rountree advice here:
As for the music you can always pick open source music and do not have to worry about copyright claims. I am pasting some links below:
http://freesound.org/browse/ http://99sounds.org/free-sound-effects/ http://www.freesfx.co.uk/ http://www.bensound.com https://www.playonloop.com/free-sound-effects/
Having a $$anonymous$$m is a fantastic idea. In a $$anonymous$$m you divide responsibilities with each other and collaborate your skills to achieve a common goal. However, once in a while you should definitely try to go through the whole development cycle as an individual, you gain a lot of skills this way and will have better understanding of all aspects of a development cycle.
You can also get humanoid models with animation to use freely from sites like https://www.mixamo.com/store/ . They give you the flexibility to customize the 3dmodels as you like and use in your game for free as long you give them proper credit.
Lastly have confidence in yourself, and start with one step at a time. Game development is all about patience. If you have any questions feel free to ping me any time.
Warshift is another one made by one guy too, and in Unity. It's a RTS/action game in early access. Haven't played it, but it looks incredible for a one-man developed game. Pretty polished.I first heard about it by reading the Unity forums. There was a post there by the developer in the forums dedicated to user made games. I believe he said it took him 3 years so far.
It is, with a lot of effort and time. FEZ, Super Meatboy and Dust - An Elysian Tale are examples of games made by solely one person each.
But don't be to excited. They took about 5 years each and were created by full-time professionals. It's literally a question of discipline. If you don't have that, you won't get it done.
Super $$anonymous$$eatboy was made by a $$anonymous$$m of two - Ed and $$anonymous$$my. Stardew Valley and $$anonymous$$ Was Alone were both made by solo developers, along with many, many more games that have not had so much media attention, but still earn enough to keep their creators in business.
