Preface: The Perfect Recipe?

This week we present a totally new feature for Gameindustry.com aimed at pulling back the covers a bit on the mysterious game industry. Dave Tucker is getting into the industry as a brand new developer. So we are kind of in on ground floor with him. Each month Dave will update us on his process, his triumphs and failures as he knocks on doors and gets his own development studio up and running. So welcome to Dave, and thanks for letting us come along for the ride. We wish you the best of luck!

The Games Industry is currently seeing an uprising of Indie developers which has been fuelled by the maturing of Digital Distribution. Both professionals that have left the large conglomerate studios to pursue their own artistic direction and garage developers alike are generating a steady stream of titles across a wide range of genres and platforms. I fall in to the latter category.

I am developing my own game for a number of reasons, but primarily as a basis to construct a career for myself in a very competitive industry. Whether I succeed or die trying, I will keep you updated with my progress in the form of this diary.

"Before anything else, preparation is the key to success" – Alexander Graham Bell.

Developing a game single-handedly will be challenging as I must simultaneously embody the roles of Director/Producer, Programmer, Artist and Sound Engineer. Doing so will require discipline and a strong sense of direction so therefore preparation is key.

Anybody who has studied computer science will be familiar with the systems development lifecycle. For those who haven’t, it defines the sequence of activities for software development. We can adapt this framework to work for games development.

Project Planning – This is where you write your Proposal/Concept

Requirements Definition – Develop your concept and provide a list of features

Design – Explain in detail how you will implement these features

Implementation –
Coding, Drawing, Composing and debugging comes here

Testing – Make sure that the finished product is ripe for deployment

Publish – Submit your game to the distribution method of your choosing

Maintenance – Fix bugs, add features

Planning – We analyse the highlights and lowlights of Game number one and start on Game number two.

This week I will write my Game Proposal, which will detail what I am trying to achieve and why. The most exciting element of which will be my market research… playing as many games as possible!

I will leave you with, what is in my opinion, the recipe for a successful Indie title. Wish me luck!

Indie Game Recipie

1 kilo. Quirky ideas or game mechanics

1 cup. Cameos from other Indie game protagonists

1 pinch. Near copyright infringement

Add nostalgia and/or visually stunning artwork to taste

Bake for 6-12months in a hot oven

Most Played: Assassins Creed

Most Wanted: Portal 2