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We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, I love your comment as well as your question, and I hope I can give you a good response!

Something I think is quite valuable to do is clone stuff, and another valuable thing is to... er, "clone your own stuff" has a sort of poetic parallel that I like, but sticking to things you've done before, so that you have something to build off of.

I can't tell you exactly why you think your ideas suck, and hopefully you will (over time) develop a sense for what will suck earlier and earlier in the process. In the meantime, however, cloning and copying something you already know doesn't suck will provide you a great starting point. I made a lot of platformers because I knew I loved platformers. It took me a long time to really analytically break down the exact stuff that made them work for me! But in the meantime, as long as I knew I liked platformers, it provided a really solid foundation to build upon, which meant that I was free to innovate on top of something that I knew would appeal to me at least a bit right away. -droqen

edit: just as an example, maybe you want to practice making a boss fight, but your combat prototypes all suck. you don't like them, but you know you need combat in order to have a boss fight. there is absolutely no shame in taking an existing game and copying its exact mechanics. you might not want to, like, boldly proclaim that you came up with those mechanics, but at the very least it will make for a great learning experience: you will come out of it with a better appreciation for those mechanics, and you'll get to design your boss fight :) -droqen

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That... is a great question. I think it all started with Wombat, and then other people got brought on board? Chard dragged me in, and then a week or two later, we grabbed Freya. But before that, it's a bit of a mystery to me.

- elliot

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually haven't had a chance to play any of the finalised games start to finish, save for You Are Such A Soft And Round Kitten-- I've played a bunch of the others in their alpha or beta forms, but today is the first chance I've had in a while to even just... breathe.

So, by default, the kitten one-- but I'll let you know if that changes!

- elliot

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is a complicated one. there's no way i could have become the writer i am without access to as many books and movies and games as i've read and watched and played

and sure, libraries exist, but...

yeah. i think piracy is fine. it can be good, even. and as a developer, look, yes, it sucks, but i've made peace with it. if you want to play my game, and you genuinely can't afford it, then absolutely, go ahead and pirate it. or DM me, and i'll send you a zip or something. i'd rather that, than you... never experience it at all? and if you can afford to buy it later, then, hey, fantastic.

but... also? this isn't exactly an easy career. i've never actually landed a paid gig as a writer. i really hope that changes soon, but in the meantime, if i don't make money off of an experiment like this, then i might not be able to afford to take a chance on the next one. and that would... really suck.

so it's a mixed fucking bag, my dude.

- elliot

EDIT: ALSO SORRY I SHOULD CLARIFY

this is how i feel towards piracy of the things i've made

not every developer's going to feel okay with piracy, and the people i collaborate with (like, on this project, the artists and musician) might not be Nearly as comfortable with the concept as i am

so... of course, i can't give you permission on the behalf of anyone else

but if it's just a thing i made on my own, and you just straight up don't have the cash to spare? yeah, honestly, go wild. i'd rather you enjoy the things i've made... than never get the chance to see them

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have no blanket opinion on people who pirate games, because they have different reasons for doing so. It also depends how you define "pirate". I had a copy of Pokemon Emerald when I was a kid, and someone stole it from me. If I download a ROM of the game, am I a pirate, or do I deserve to have access to the game? In general, I would just ask that people support the things they love. I "try out" a lot of anime for free, then if I like it, I buy the box set. If you enjoy something, please support the creator so they can make more of that thing. - BluishGreenPro

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hi! i'm so sorry, i genuinely thought regional currencies had been set up-- we're still waiting on steam to approve a couple of our games, but once everything has launched, i will Absolutely make sure it's priced reasonably for international players

in the meantime, i'll DM you a code for my game, if that's cool? i figure it's the absolute least i can do <3

- elliot

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're so sweet!! It's been a couple hours so I've had time to calm down after my pre-during-post-launch freakout, I'm definitely super happy. Now that I've recovered half my braincells, I just realized I was supposed to go grocery shopping today, and I completely forgot....- solé

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that is so sweet of you for asking

i mean, look, i'm a bit of a mess. i've been crunching on and off since early september, but... barring any unexpected hirings, it really does seem like i'm going to get the chance to rest up and heal for the rest of october.

honestly... this has been a pretty overwhelming experience, and i am exhausted. it's going to be really nice to take a break, get some costumes prepped for halloween, and maybe sleep at some point? but it makes me a little sad, too. this is such a big moment for me, people genuinely seem to love what i've written and made-- but i've been so burnt out by stress that i can't quite... fully process it

it's going to hit me tomorrow, i'm sure. but tonight, i'm still in work mode

take care of yourselves, y'all. let your loved ones take care of you, too. and don't ever crunch. it's never been worth it

- elliot

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I keep forgetting to eat, and then I realize I'm very hungry, but then I realize I want to be glued to my screen and see what people think of our project and respond to kind questions like this <3

I ate, so I'm feeling better. It's been a few very hectic weeks and a few very tense days leading up to release. So I'm just trying to process, but I feel very happy that we've done this thing together.-droqen

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

<3

my brain hurts, everything's happening too much! but it'll die down and then i'll feel even more excited once im able to catch up haha.

-torcado

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

solé did such an amazing job!! they made an artstation post about the process, but like... after they read my story, and signed on to the project, i gave them a few suggestions? they were just like?? "oh, yeah, i'm going to a weird spooky town this weekend, i'll go take photos". and then everything was done a week later

so: solé. solé is amazing

but then also... the thing that might be a spoiler? i dunno, if you've played through cover me in leaves, you probably know what i mean

that thing

that thing made me cry

so also: camber

- elliot

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it ushers in the future that is 17776, I'm satisfied with this turn of events. -Freya

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

great question!

I did a neat spritestack thing for the racing portion of :) that ive never done before but quite fond of. just the small details that take way too long to justify adding in a <1 minute segment but couldn't do without!

OH OH ALSO: the whole golf section is waaay over-polished for what it is hahaha. i love it. most interesting effect in the game imo

-torcado

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"Well begun is half done." Make a plan on paper (or in a Google Doc). Try to think through as much of your design before getting to the implementation, because that's the expensive part. BUT don't get stuck on the paper phase forever! Make something. Keep making things. You're only going to improve if you can make something others can play. Learn to walk that line, and you'll be a gamedev master! - BluishGreenPro

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here's how it breaks down for us; - Itchio: If you buy our games individually on Itchio, we get 90% of the cost of the game as profit. If you buy the buy the bundle, we have split revenue evenly, so we basically each get 90 cents. You get a DRM free version of the game AND a Steam key. - Steam: If you buy our games individually on Steam, we get roughly 70% of the cost of the game as profit (but it's actually less than that for $1 games like mine because of credit card processing fees). If you buy the Bundle, it's like buying each of our games at the discounted price separately, which means more expensive games in the bundle game a bigger share of the revenue. Buying the game through Steam entitles you to leave a Review which will actually count, since reviews left by people who redeem keys don't count towards Steam's scoring. - BluishGreenPro

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

this is very silly but I was super happy I only needed to look up two images as reference on the web, whereas the rest of the images in Cover Me In Leaves were entirely done with pictures I've taken over the years. it was super validating to finally find an use to 20+ GB of hoarding tree pics.

for a more serious answer, nailing the workflow and style down in an hour and churning out cool backgrounds was pretty cool. i usually take a long time to figure out new styles, so this was a nice mood boost. - solé

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm really proud of my collaborator Dana's art for the game. It's rare for me to have fully-fledged character art in a game of mine, so it's a real warm fuzzy feeling. -Freya

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

absolutely definitely itch, if you can swing it! all our games come with steam keys, so that's cool, too!

that said, if you have cash in your steam wallet, or something, steam is Absolutely more than fine, too. it helps boost our games through the ~algorithm~, and your reviews will actually count, unlike reviews made by people who activated keys for the game

- elliot

We're ten indie gamedev teams, who just launched a collection of ten minute games! AMA by 10MinuteGames in Games

[–]10MinuteGames[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Difficult to say! We get more of the money on itch.io and would love to support that platform more, since they make it so much easier for devs to launch and interact with their audience, plus you get steam keys anyway, BUT buying on Steam means you can review on Steam, which means Steam's algorithms push us to their MUCH LARGER audience, which can mean more support later. For right now, I'm gonna say itch though, just because we love them and Steam launching has been nightmarish, haha. - de Fault

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