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An Indie Game Developer's Diary - Part 1: The Journey Back to Making Games in 2024

Kevin Chick Updated: Posted:
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Growing up, I found tabletop RPGs and computer games to be a refuge. I had always had difficulty connecting with others, and when certain major life events broke my world apart at a young age, it amplified that inability to connect. But in games, I could always find solitude when I needed it, and with the rise of MMOs in the '90s, I was suddenly connected to a global gaming community. Without games, my life would be very different.

I have always wanted to create games for others to enjoy and, hopefully, fulfill others' needs in the same way they did for me. This has encouraged me to work on projects in the past where I created games as a hobby, and eventually, this led to my pursuit of a degree in Computer Science. Ultimately, I never completed the degree in Computer Science. But even though I didn’t, I moved on to other endeavors and never lost that desire to create games.

In the middle of 2018, I finally took steps to make my longtime dreams of game development a reality and incorporated a company. I set everything up to bootstrap my initial project(s) so that I could still reach my goal if I could not raise further funding. Unfortunately, life had other plans, and I was diagnosed with a medical condition that affected my physical and cognitive abilities. Between my medical challenges and the start of the pandemic in 2020, any work revolving around game development ground to a halt.

Time For A Reset

Fast forward to July 2024; after surgery to cure my long-term condition, I can finally begin to move on with the rest of my life again. With my recovery almost complete, my ability to enjoy hobbies and other activities has returned in full force, and so has my desire to create games. Thankfully, the company I set up in 2018 is still in existence due to the low cost of maintaining it. But everything else needed revision and revamping.

While I have not started from ground zero again due to my prior coding experience and background in business, any projects I pursue over the next two to three years will be starting from scratch, and my primary goal will be to launch a game with a heavy multiplayer community aspect to it. So, for those who are interested in game development and how games are made, or maybe just want to read about me agonizing over the challenges as an indie developer, or have a curiosity about the process, I invite you along on this journey as I dive back into the creative process of bringing a game from zero to launch.

What’s In An Engine?

What do I already have that can help? I already have my company formed. There are people I can draw on for advice or help if needed, and I still have my initial project concepts and designs. I also have a decent library of development assets. As a goal, I still want my main project to have a heavy multiplayer community component.

So, the next decision is to finalize what Integrated Development Environment (IDE) I want to use as an indie developer in 2024. In other words, what off-the-shelf game engine do I want to go with since I don’t have the skill set or money to make my own? While many exist, my shortlist includes Godot, Lumberyard from AWS, Unity, and Unreal.

My preferred game style is 3D, with at least some action combat elements. While I could develop in Godot, avoiding subscriptions or license fees over a certain threshold, I prefer something with more support and documentation. Lumberyard is also out. I have tried it previously for a test project and found it lacking. I also don’t want to be locked into AWS services for multiplayer, and there is not as much support when compared to Unity or Unreal.

Unity has the benefit of using C# as a programming language and has a great community of creators with tons of tutorials in case I run into coding issues. However, there has been controversy recently over their fees, and historically, Unity can introduce features that take years to become production-ready. Implementing multiplayer in Unity can also be a challenge.

My current preference is Unreal. It has the most to offer out of the box, with a decent amount of support material for tutorials and documentation. It specializes in 3D action games while still being capable of creating other types of games. I can earn up to 1 million gross revenue before fees apply. For the initial downsides, I will be programming in C++ when I can’t use Blueprints for visual scripting purposes, and the build times can take longer as the game increases in size.

So, for now, Unreal it is. I look forward to the coming months as I start again and see how it all comes together. Join me next month as I dive back into coding in Unreal and begin to refresh my skill set as an indie developer.


Xevrin

Kevin Chick

Kevin "Xevrin" is an avid gamer having started playing video games on an Apple III with the Wizardry Series and Questron before the age of 10. In junior high, he branched out into tabletop gaming with the release of D&D 2nd Edition. During his first year of university, Everquest was released combining both of his favorite activities.