One bit of advice I'd give indie devs is to approach authoritatively delivered "this is the way" advice with caution and poke it with a stick. Listen, but then critically evaluate if it makes sense for you. - ThreadSky

kanaratron.bsky.social • 161 days ago

One bit of advice I'd give indie devs is to approach authoritatively delivered "this is the way" advice with caution and poke it with a stick.

Listen, but then critically evaluate if it makes sense for you.

Comments

amicableanimal.bsky.social•160 days ago

Fuck me, yes. The amount of talks I've gone to that should have been more accurately retitled
"I Don't Understand Survivorship Bias or Privilege: Also This Information is Ten Years Out of Date"

amicableanimal.bsky.social•160 days ago

(Although I do kinda now want to write a talk with that title?)

haffisnatten.bsky.social•161 days ago

I follow the classic mantra of "it depends" 😅

kanaratron.bsky.social•161 days ago

Ha, yup!

It's tricky as it's obviously good to share what you think and have learned, just needs to be qualified. It's super easy for folks to head down a path that's got a good fit for them.

nick.aetheric-games.com•161 days ago

This is really close to one of my 8 golden rules I tell students starting out. I like your "authoritatively delivered" wording though - I might steal that :D

kanaratron.bsky.social•161 days ago

Hey Nick 👋🏻

Ha, feel free :)

bumbleborn.bsky.social•161 days ago

Couldn't agree more, I've heard "it can only be done this way" so many times, only to later find there's a bunch of other ways

Now I just take on board that they are satisfied with this way, but if I'm not I keep looking

joanwestenberg.com•161 days ago

Solid advice for writers, too.

misterabk.bsky.social•161 days ago

I remember reading a quote from a veteran along the lines of, "the player character should be the most exciting and cool character in the game, why would I want to be anyone else?" and ... I'm not sure you can tell a story like that. I'm not even sure Sonic is more interesting than Dr Robotnik.

kanaratron.bsky.social•161 days ago

Mario is the most uncool person in the room, in any room!

misterabk.bsky.social•160 days ago

Unless you have a burst pipe.

benjymous.bsky.social•160 days ago

He'd be too busy trying to dive into it to do any actual plumbing

yzahkin.games•161 days ago

That is actually a good blanket lesson for most things worth doing in life.

kanaratron.bsky.social•161 days ago

Yeah, that's true!

kanaratron.bsky.social•161 days ago

...Everyone is different.

Different strengths. Different budgets. Different goals. Different situations.

kanaratron.bsky.social•161 days ago

...Always import to listen and learn from others. Just essential to look at those learning through a pair "you" glasses.

woeandgrow.bsky.social•160 days ago

Deeply affirming honestly. I think many esp who are self taught or haven’t worked in big teams can end up in their head about doing everything “wrong” and it stops them from trying to do it at all. I love that game dev including programming is so much about creative problem solving.

gojirra.bsky.social•161 days ago

Especially when you realize that much advice like this is given by people who have never made a game.

kanaratron.bsky.social•161 days ago

Yeah, shipping is hard!

gojirra.bsky.social•161 days ago

When you browse game dev subs like Reddit for inst, it's mostly people who have never made a game as in never even gotten past early stages of learning. It's very interesting, and pretty bad how it can actually impact the discourse around "how to be a successful indie."

jodieazhar.bsky.social•161 days ago

So true. I feel caught when making certain decisions that if I ignore advice of "do it this way" & my way doesn't work out, I'll be a huge idiot. However, after doing something it turns out the way I thought would work best for me does, because I've evaluated based on how I work well

kanaratron.bsky.social•161 days ago

Yeah exactly! Hope you're good Jodie 👋

jodieazhar.bsky.social•159 days ago

I'm good! Currently recovering from a cold, but otherwise enjoying noodling away on my game and living a soft life. Hope you are also doing well x

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