No. It is not over for indie developers. Far from it. Let me write a brief summary of why I am writing this blog post. In the last few weeks, there have been more and more articles saying that it is a bad time to be an indie developer, that indie developers will cease to exist due to lack of sales and exposure, that it is the índiepocalypse’. The reasons behind these articles are two-fold. The first reason is that it has never been easier to be an indie developer and create your own games. This is true. I wouldn’t have been able to create my own games if it wasn’t for all the tools that are available (Unity, GameMaker, etc.). The second reason is that because it is much easier to develop games, there are more and more games being released every day. This makes it harder to get exposure, especially for small one-man indie developers. Lack of exposure leads to lack of sales. This is also true. Just look at Steam this year compared to previous years. There are now dozens of games coming out nearly every day. But here are the reasons why I don’t think it is all over for indie developers.
After 43 artists applied, numerous counts of bad art by me, and 6 weeks of deciding, I have chosen three people to do the art for Retool and make it look better by at least 48%. So please welcome Richard Schmidbauer and Esther Nho as the environment artists, and Tan Woon Tzer as the character artist.
There isn’t much else to say about Retool other than I am trying to optimize the code to get it ready to add all the new assets and features. So until the next update, here is a GIF of Agent M shooting some guards (yes, the characters in the game finally have some names).
Call Out For 3D Artists For Retool
Retool is at a stage where the core gameplay is implemented and the game can be played (and hopefully enjoyed). Now I can’t endure to look at its art, especially as it was created by my limited art skillset. Therefore, to improve the game a further 43%, I have decided it is time to hire a professional 3D artist. Read on if you are interested.
Retool Has Been Selected
Retool (you know, the game I have been working on for the past six months) has been selected as a finalist for the 2015 Indie Game Contest (IGC), as a part of the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival.
Retool Guard Trailer
Here is the first (kind-of) trailer for Retool. It shows how to retool the levels to eliminate guards. The game is still in alpha and all the art and sounds are subject to be changed.
Sorry about the bad quality of the footage, OBS did not want to play nice.
The music is by Aaron Paul Low.
Remember, you can download the playable alpha version from GameJolt.
Retool First Playable Build
You can now download the first public playable build of Retool. For those who do not know, Retool is a game about hacking into computers to alter electronic item’s output, which is done by rewiring them to other electronic items. If you are still confused, then go download and play the build. It will help you understand the game 43% more than just this text.
Tips When Buying A Motorcycle
I bought my first vehicle yesterday. It is a Lexmoto Michigan motorcycle. I know what people usually say about Chinese motorcycles but I decided to take the risk. It isn’t as I am going to be racing with this motorcycle. The most I will do is cruise around the streets and learn how to drive a motorcycle better. Eventually when I pass my theory and practical tests, I will buy a better motorcycle and keep the Lexmoto to play around with, as it is not worth much second hand. For now, I am happy with buying a Chinese motorcycle.
I should be picking up the motorcycle this upcoming Monday. I am excited and scared. Excited, as I will finally own my first vehicle and scared that my motorcycle will be the same as hundreds of other Chinese motorcycles: made of bad quality.
Before I decided to buy a Lexmoto, I researched on what I should look for when buying a motorcycle. I created a document with all my notes and I am going to share them online in case for anyone else who might be looking to purchase a motorcycle.
I Am Going To My First GDC Europe!
Just a small update. I am going to my first GDC Europe (or any GDC for that matter). I will be there as a Conference Associate. Hope to see you there.
Steam recently updated their refund policy allowing gamers to return any game, as long as it meets certain criteria (played the game less than two hours and owned it less than two weeks). If you don’t meet the criteria, you can still ask for a refund and Steam will manually approve or disapprove your refund request.
Or the full title ‘Why my first game will not be an instant success and why I am okay with it’.