The Problem

Indie developers have trouble finding other like-minded indie developers to work with.

I talk with a lot of indie developers and they tend to fall into three main categories:  programmers, designers and artist.  Each of these groups has a hard time finding quality people from the other two groups.  This is a major problem for indie game development as fewer games are being produced and talent is going to waste.

The Cause

The main cause of this problem is a lack of communication between the groups.  There is no reliable way for Programmer Pete to find Artist Andy or Designer Dave.  Pete was in the games industry for 10 years before “going indie” but he knows few people.  He kept to himself and while he is friends with a lot of other programmers he hasn’t kept in contact with many artists or designers.  Andy has a lot of trouble finding programmers and designers he can work with.  They are always so restrictive in what they let Andy achieve.  Dave is full of great ideas but can’t find a good programmer who’s happy to implement his idea.

There are hundreds of Pete’s, Andy’s and Dave’s in the world, but few of them know or have a reliable way of finding each other.

Key Contention Points

In the rare occasions when developers from these individual groups do meet up, often they are incompatible.  From my experience, the key points of contention fall into these main categories:

• Compensation – Working for free, profit share, an hour rate or a fixed amount.  Where a developer is in their life will often drive their monetary needs.  While Dave has 3 years of savings he’s happy to burn through, Pete needs a large paycheque to buy all his programming books and pizza.
• Game Type – Each developer has their favourite game type and many developers don’t like to stray too far from their comfort zone.  Andy just wants to work on an FPS but Pete is an RTS fanatic while Dave has an idea for the greatest MMO of all time.
• Game Size – Projects range from days to years to develop.  The level of investment needs to match each individual’s situation.  While Pete might be happy to spend the next 3 years slowly plugging away at a game, Andy wants it down within the next month so he can get back to working on his comic book.
• Availability – The bills still need to be paid and the time dedicated to a “real job” directly affects how much time each developer can spend on the game.  Pete is a contract programmer who has half his week spare to work on the game while Dave works at McDonald’s 50 hours a week to make ends meet.

The Solution

One solution I’ve seen for this problem comes in the form of “help wanted” sections in popular websites such as gamedev.net and indiegamer.net.  These sites allow teams to post their project and the skills they are after.  Another solution is networking.  Taking every opportunity to meet like minded game developers and talking to as many people as possible until like-minded people are found.  Whether visiting an IGDA meeting, the GDC or the local game development educational institute.

I’ve often thought that a site dedicated to connecting indie developers would be beneficial.  Teams or individual developers could post their projects with exactly what they are looking for.  Developers can also post their skills so others can find them.  A match making system could connect these two groups and reduce the uncertainty when looking for other developers.  Do you think there’s a need for such a site, or does this site already exist and it’s not well known?  Would this site be beneficial to your current situation or are you happy with the current solutions?

Conclusion

Is this a problem you face as an indie developer?  Of all the indie developers I know, over half of them are facing this problem right now.  Have you managed to solve this problem, and if so, how?  How are you currently finding other developers to work with and how do you determine if you are compatible?

Roles

Game development involves a number of common roles as well as some overlooked ones.  Individual team members can handle multiple roles on smaller teams and some roles can be shared by more than one person.

Programming

Programming on an independent team is about more than just game development.  The programming department will be responsible for tools and website development.  They will also have to handle the creation of the installer.

Design

Design is one of the great areas it pays to share ownership.  The designer has the final say on decisions and is the go to if people are unsure.  They also maintain the game design document to unify the team.  A wiki is a great way to collaborate on the design document.

Art

The art department is responsible for not just game art but also creation of marketing material and web design.  Artists need to work closely with the programmers to make sure technical requirements are met and to drive the requirements for tools.  They also need to collaborate with design to make sure the look and feel of the game is met.

Sound

Often overlooked, sound is vitally important to give atmosphere to the game.  Sound should not be left to the last minute as it will feel disconnected and won’t add as much to the game.  The programmers should build the infrastructure for the sound early to allow experimentation.

Project Management

Project managers are responsible for the velocity of the team (how much they are achieving each milestone).  They need to be aware of when team members are falling behind and make sure everyone is performing their duties.  Visibility is the key to making sure everyone on the team is aware of their current goals and deadlines.

QA

Without QA the game will be unplayable.  QA is another area that is good to share across the whole team.  The team should be playing the game constantly and fixing bugs as they go.  It is preferable to have non-programmers doing QA as it is easy for them to overlook issues in their own code.  Sharing the games with friends and having a beta-testing period is a great way to share the load.

Business

Without someone managing the business side of game development, you may as well be making the game just for fun.  One team member needs to be responsible for making sure the game will be profitable.  The entire team needs to be mindful of the fact they are making a game for profit, not just fun.  Business includes marketing, sales, business plan writing and possibly seeking funding.  The team needs a business plan covering:

• Marketing Strategy – How will people find out about your game?  How will you sell the game and how much will it cost?
• Cash flow Summary – What are the expenses of the team and how will you afford to keep the business running?
• Economic Assessment – How much do you expect to make from the game, based on similar games

Co-Location

If possible, the entire team should work together in the one building.  This lets the team quickly test ideas, keep each other motivated, play-test the game together and watch each other play.  Renting an office is expensive and it’s important to keep costs as low as possible.  Get creative, work together on laptops in a coffee shop, move in together, or work in each other garages or basements.

Workloads

Depending on the situation each team member may have differing hours they can devote to the project.  Each team member’s level of commitment should be discussed and decided up front.  The closer these levels can be the better.  Having a large imbalance in working hours can lead to resentment and hostility between team members.  Some ways of evening out imbalances include:

• Larger share/profit ownership
• More creative control over project

Personalities

Personality trumps ability on indie teams.  As with most high-intelligence professions, game developers often have strong personalities.  While these personalities might be annoying at a large game studio, it can be the death of a small indie team.  Each developer needs to put the game and the team ahead of their own agenda.  When possible a team should be formed with people that have worked together previously.

Conflict

Every team has conflict.  Conflict can be minimized having a unified goal.  The best option is to have someone in a position of power to settle disputes.  This person must be trusted by everyone not to push their own agenda.  Some solutions to solving conflict in your team:

• Talk it through – Open, continuous conversation is the best way to solve problems
• Compromise – The larger the team, the harder it is to keep everyone happy.  Compromise is a necessity.  Ultimately the team is in it together and need to compromise to solve disputes.
• Give everyone a voice – Voting is a great way to solve disputes.  The team must agree that a voting mechanism will be used and respected up front.

Outsourcing vs In-house

Many Indie companies have little money, necessitating all work is done in-house.  Outsourcing gives a reliable quality for a fixed price.  Some areas worth outsourcing include:

• Game Engines – shared by the whole team, they can save a lot of development time
• Sound Libraries – can be used as building blocks to create sounds for the game
• Art – Art is often the critical path in development.  Outsourcing may save time and money

Conclusion

This should set you up on the path to creating a solid team for your next indie game project.  What are your experiences with building a team?  Where have you succeeded and failed? Do you have any recommendations for others who are building their team?

Is it for you?

Indie game development isn’t for everyone.  The pay is low, you typically need a “day job” and you need to work extremely hard for little reward at the beginning.  It’s not all bad though as you are your own boss (and project manager), the monetary rewards can be higher and the reward of creating something of your own is overwhelming.

If you’re passionate about making games then the negatives might seem inconsequential, however I’d recommend taking some time to think them through.  You need to be well informed about how long indie games take to develop and you need to be realistic with the goals you set.  My biggest advice is to talk to people who have done it before.  These guys can tell you where the stumbling blocks are, and give you a realistic view into what life will be like once you take the plunge.

Set Concrete, Realistic Milestones

Many indie games are killed by a lack of interest after a few months or years of development.  By keeping your goals realistic and achievable you are reducing the chances of failing in the worst way, by not completing the game.  Always have one primary goal you are heading towards (e.g. alpha, beta, release).  The primary goal should be made up of smaller, measurable goals (e.g.  implementing level 5).  Finally these smaller goals should be broken up into a constant “to do” list.  If you have any spare time, you should know exactly what you should be working on next.  This cuts down on procrastination and helps you have a clear direction for the coming days and weeks.

Find a Great Team!

Realistically, there are few games that can be created by a single person.  Your team needs to cover all the bases – programming, design, art, audio, project management.  Even if you have all these skills, having at least one other person will half the amount of work you have to do and double the number of people contributing to game ideas and “finding the fun”.

Find people who are passionate about game development.  Passion trumps ability when it comes to independent games.  As long as the team member is good at their job, it’s more important to find someone who’s passionate then the very best in their field.  The lack of short and medium term rewards from indie game development means the team will be rely on their passion to make it to the end-game.

Don’t expect to “fill the gaps” at the end of a project by slotting someone in once everything else is done.  You need a well rounded team from the outset so all areas of the game get enough love and attention.

Different people have differing levels of time they can invest.  Work this out up-front and all agree on your level of commitment.  Roughly schedule the entire game so everyone is area of expectations and can commit to the duration of the project.

Get a day job

Most people will need a “day job” to pay the bills while they live the dream of being an indie developer.  Be careful if you plan on living off your savings as they disappear quickly, and there’s nothing worse than having to go back to working full-time because you ran out of money.

Find the highest paid job you can, no matter how boring.  Think of it as a short-term solution to the problem of funding your own indie game.  You can probably find a higher paid job outside the games industry by looking at similar industry that also use your talents.  Programmers can take on business contracts, artists can go freelance, designers can become technical writers and project managers can work on “normal” software projects.  Use your imagination and focus on having as much time as possible to work on your game while still paying the bills.

Learn project management

Love it or hate it, project management needs to be done.  Indie teams rarely have one person dedicated to project management, and so the task is shared throughout the team.  This includes scheduling, planning and making sure they are met.  A great way for people to lose focus and motivation is not have a clear plan for the project.  Look at one of the many agile development methodologies (e.g. scrum) as a great way to keep from bogging down in project management.

There are plenty of great tools available to help with project management, here are a few I’d recommend looking at:

Acunote

Jira

FogBUGZ

Get pragmatic

Be pragmatic in everything you do.  Aiming for perfection will give you a great tech demo that no one will buy.  People will pay for a great game, not great technology.  Since working for myself I’ve stepped into what I call “Fanatical Pragmatism”.  Do the absolute minimum required to achieve your current goals without digging yourself into a corner.

Overestimate time and money

Everything always takes longer and costs more than you expect when you turn indie.  All the indie developers I know have spent far more money and have taken over double the time they first expected.  Constantly update schedules to keep a realistic target for your milestones.  When the schedule starts to slip, be realistic and evaluate if everyone is happy continuing.

My recommendation is to estimate how long the game will take to create and how much it will cost and multiply these values by three.  Either you’ll be happy working on the game for this long (and can afford to) or you need to cut back the scope of the game.

Make constant playable builds

Aim for a playable prototype as early as possible.  It’s difficult to be objective with your own game, so you need to reply on other people’s opinions.  Listen to their feedback and stop if your game is no good.  There’s no point spending months developing a game that’s no good.  Constantly create playable demos and show everyone you know.

Keep it small and watch feature creep

Keep the design tight and focussed.  Find the fun parts first and build only what’s necessary.  You’re an indie developer so people won’t expect a AAA title.  Aim for a lower price point and people’s expectations will be lower.  All the indie developers I’ve spoken to have had major feature creep causing their schedules to blow out.  The smaller you can start your design out, and keep it that way, the more success your project will have.  Your platform choice will help you keep things small…

Pick the right platform

The best choices for an indie developer are PC, iPhone and web.  The specific choice comes down to risk versus reward.  PC games are generally larger and therefore higher risk, however they also have a greater chance of making good money.  Web games are particularly good for a first game, just don’t expect to make much money.

There is a lot of debate at the moment about monetizing flash games and unfortunately the platform still seems a little too immature.  People just aren’t prepared to pay for a flash game.  There are numerous ways around this (like micro-payments), LostGarden has a great series on this.

Conclusion

So this is a general list of things to prepare you for becoming an independent game developer.  It’s a long, slow slog, but it’s worth the effort.  By staying focussed and making intelligent decisions as you go you’ll put yourself in a great position.  Are you working on an indie game now, or would you like to?  Leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments.