Grey Alien Games has a great article about overcoming game development obstacles. A very useful article, since this can be one of the most difficult tasks you will face. They can bring a project to a grinding stop or prevent you from even starting them. Here are some common problems, possible solutions and my opinion about them.

1. My day job takes up too much time
Try to dedicate as much free time as possible to developing games. Turn off the tv, cut back on visiting pubs, … Not the biggest problem for me, except I can’t seem to drop my gaming addiction. Ah, well, you gotta play games if you wanna make them, right?
Another very radical option is quitting your day job. This is definitely the most controversial topic when it comes to independent game development, and not for the faint of heart. When you quit your job to become a full time game developer, the choice is simple: you either make games and sell them, or you go broke and die. How’s that for a motivation?

2. I can’t quit my day job because I need the money
A good second option is getting a part-time job. You get a lot more time to work on games and at least you won’t starve to death. For me, neither quitting or a part-time job are options. Unless by some miracle I manage to build a commercial quality game that sells bigtime I will always keep my fulltime day job. Yes, I’m a chicken, but that’s the way it is.

3. I can’t find art for my game
Artists don’t work for free. There’s plenty of them that advertise their work on numerous forums. This brings us to the next two points:

4. I can’t afford an artist
Yes you can. If you REALLY can’t afford to, you probably live in a cardboard box and eat sewer rats.

5. I can’t get anyone to work for royalties
This one’s a real bitch. If you’re a beginning developer, like me, this won’t happen. It’s safe to assume your first games will be free games, so there will be no royalties. Also, nobody wants to work for royalties if you don’t have any work to show off. If you want to get good art at that point, you’ll have to pay up front, it’s that easy. When you have a decent portfolio of games so you can show artists you are able to finish a game, your chances are much better.

6. I don’t have enough time
Yes you do! Everybody has the same amount of time. You just have to set priorities.

7. My engine is taking too long
Here’s something I have said before and will probably say again lots of time: DON’T TRY TO REINVENT THE WHEEL! Developing an engine is a lot of work. Making a sprite move across the screen or creating a spinning, textured cube is easy. Building a game engine is not. I have tried it myself and unless you are John Carmack, there’s very little chance you’ll succeed within a reasonable amount of time. There are plenty of excellent engines available, some even for free, that are much better than anything you will ever build.

8. My partner won’t let me
This is a though one, and I’m probably the last person in the world to give advice about this. But anyway, here’s what I think about it: if your partner doesn’t respect your hobby, dump her (or him).

9. I’ve run out of motivation
This happens to everybody from time to time. Take a short break. Read Masters of Doom. Grey Alien Games recommends listening to game soundtracks. I prefer Rammstein or Nine Inch Nails, but it just might work!

10. The competition is strong
This shouldn’t be an obstacle but a motivation.

11. I’m not very good at programming
Programming isn’t really the hardest part of game development anymore. With the available engines, much of the hardest work is already done. Programming in Torque Script, for example, isn’t any more difficult than Javascript. With some practice you shouldn’t have any problems with this.

12. I’ve run out of ideas
Write down every little idea you get, even if it sounds stupid. Also, carry a small notebook (a paper one, not a laptop) with you at all times, so you can write stuff down. By doing this I have already collected ideas for at least five future games.

13. I have other more important things I should be doing instead
There’s only one thing I can say about this one. If this is how you feel, give up. No, really. If you have other things that are more important, don’t waste your time developing video games.

The following series of articles by Damon Brown is a must-read for every game developer, especially if you work alone, like me. The hardest part of developing a game is often not the programming, but the design itself. Coming up with good ideas is damned hard (not to mention thinking of a name!). And often, when you come up with something, only to find out it wasn’t so great after all a few days later. A cool example of this (even though it’s not game development related at all) can be found in the movie Office Space, where someone invented a “Jump-to-conclusions-mat”. I’m not gonna try to explain what it was, just watch the movie. Anyway, the articles have some really good tips on designing games, coming up with ideas and avoiding to screw up.

Nine step recipe for good independent game design, part 1
Nine step recipe for good independent game design, part 2
Nine step recipe for good independent game design, part 3

Gamasutra has an interesting article full of tips about making succesfull indie games. It contains nine vital tips. Let’s take closer look at them.

1. Efficiency in design
Gamasutra describes this as “Design around getting the most bang for your buck”. A very obvious option here is multiplayer. A multiplayer FPS doesn’t need gigantic maps, a complex storyline or state of the art AI. Allowing the player to build their own levels is another excellent idea.
Another method is prodecural content, a technique used by, for example, Audio Surf, definitely the most original game I have seen in a very long time. This game takes a song and turns it into a racing track! There’s almost no limit to the possibilities here, while the content is almost entirely user-generated.
Finally, and my personal favorite, is re-exploring the explored with modern technology. Gridblaster is a remake of an old C64 game, and many of the ideas that are currently floating around in my head are directly or indirectly based on or influenced by such games. Remakes of retro games are quite popular now, especially among older gamers (and by “older” I mean everybody who is old enough to know what a C64 is).

2. Utilize existing free, cheap, or open technology
This is something that can’t be said more than enough: don’t try to reïnvent the wheel! Don’t be ashamed to use an existing game engine. When I first started thinking about developing games I thought I could write everything from scratch using C++ and OpenGL. Big mistake! Creating a spinning cube with some textures on it is easy enough. Creating a 3D engine is not, and will probably end in something that’s in beta forever and loaded with bugs. The indie game scene exists because so many cheap or free engines are available, so use them!

3. Distribute digitally
This is a no-brainer. Don’t even think about getting your game on a cd- or dvd-rom and on store shelves. An exception perhaps are discs that come with gaming magazines. Digital distribution is easier, cheaper and a lot more accessible.

4. Develop on open platforms
This means the PC or Mac. Even though consoles are a bit more accessible now, thanks to XBox Live Arcade and (soon to come) Wiiware, and some engines support these platforms, it’s still difficult and expensive to get your games actually published.

5. Collaboration
Artists and developers often offer their services on forums such as Indie Gamer. You can ask for help there, or share your own work.

6. Consider less traditional monetization methods
I’m still a long way from making games that are good enough to sell. Placing ads on your site (no popups, animated banners or, even worse, banners with sound; everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY hates those and it’s the perfect way to drive people away from your website) is a good idea. Most websites have ads anyway and people more or less expect them.

7. Redefine success
Don’t expect to become rich overnight. If a thousand people download my game, I consider it a big succes.

8. Use alternate sources of funding
I’m not too sure about this one. All funding I need is the game engine and perhaps some sound effects, wich I can’t make myself. Most indie developers are low-budget anyway, so funding shouldn’t be a real issue.

9. Get Personal
Listen to ideas and feedback from players, post on forums, leave comments on blogs, you know the drill…

Another article with comments on these tips can be found at Rampant Games.

Anyone who writes games, especially if it’s just as a hobby so you don’t have publishers breathing down your neck and pushing you to finish the game, is probably familiar with this problem. Of all the games you start working on, not too many ever get finished. Before I started this website I created games with Game Maker, and of all the projects I ever started three got finished: a Space Invaders clone, an Asteroids Clone, and a side scrolling shooter that was so horrible I promised myself never even to speak out its name again. When you get started you think you have the best idea in the world, but after a while it doesn’t seem so great anymore, problems start piling up and before you know it, you decide to abandon a project all together. This isn’t such a shame, even Leonardo da Vinci never finished most of his paintings, but it’s nice if you know how to avoid this problem.
Grey Alien Games has a list of blog articles that deal with this problem. A short summary of the tips:

• Be patient;
• Don’t underestimate non-game screens (title screen, loading screen, credits, transitions, …), and don’t put this off until the game itself is finished;
• Enjoy creating games;
• Decide when enough is enough, or you’ll be adding features to the game forever;
• Don’t get disappointed by setbacks
• Self-imposed deadlines are a good thing;
• Make sure you know what to do when the game is finished (publishing, marketing, …)

One crucial tip I would like to add myself is this. Make sure you plan enough in advance. Don’t just dive in and think “I’ll decide that while I’m working on the game”, because this will almost sure end badly. I speak from personal experience! Even for a small game you should take notes, make lots of sketches and design the general outline of the game. And, especially if you’re a beginner, don’t underestimate the task ahead. It’s always more difficult than you think at first, and of all the developers who ever thought they could start with a MMORPG or FPS, perhaps a select few have succeeded.

Since most independent or hobby game developers can’t afford hi-tech engines like the Unreal engine, and writing one yourself - even a simple one - is a complicated and time consuming process, Nuclex has made a list of seven engines you should know. Here’s the short version:

• C4 Engine
• Ogre 3D
• Irrlicht
• Torque
• Crystal Space
• NeoEngine
• Unity 3D

The author of the article shares my opinion on Torque about the documentation. Now, I’m using the 2D version and I assume he’s talking about the 3D engine. Furthermore, the source code is said to be quite ugly and hard to understand. Of course, since I don’t use the source code, this isn’t really an issue for me, and every time I couldn’t find the answer to my problems in the documentation I could always find help in the forums.
The engine of choice, according to Nuclex, is the C4 Game Engine. The screenshots and features look quite impressive, and pricing starts at $150 for the student license. The standard license, wich is what most indie developers will use, costs $200.