Hello from the third issue of GameDev’s Journey. Thank you for those who subscribed the newsletter since the last issue! You should receive a Notion template as a thank you when you subscribe. Let me know if you didn’t. I’m planning to create more templates that might help you in the future.
I have a great issue for you today. I’ll be talking about how you should be documenting your progress for others instead of trying to create exclusive content for social media. We have SCI FI Characters Mega Pack Vol 2 in the asset spotlight, and we will be asking ourselves “Is my game too ambitious?” in the Motivation & Productivity part.
LET’S GO.
Marketing
Document. Don’t Create.
You don’t need go fancy when you are creating content for social media according to Gary Vaynerchuk. Most of us indies post content on social media to get visibility on our game, which takes time since creating quality content is often time-consuming. We usually think more than necessary to make sure every frame of the devlog video is great.
Gary talks about a different approach. Instead of planning out every single post, you can just share your progress on a daily basis. What did you do today? How far have you come with your game? What did you learn? You are documenting your journey instead of brainstorming about content.
But, one of the biggest mistakes people make when creating content for their personal brand is trying to oversell themselves because they think that’s what’s going to get people’s attention. Whether you’re a business coach or motivational speaker or artist, I think it’s much more fruitful to talk about your process than about the actual advice you “think” you should be giving them. - Gary Vaynerchuch
Why it works?
Allows you to make more content (and faster!)
Gary says we should post at least 6-7 times a day, which is a lot… But it’s not that hard when you are sharing your journey. It’s more like a keeping an online diary.
Makes you more relatable and sincere
When you post your failures and things you accomplished but didn’t enjoy, it reminds people that you are not different from them. It reminds them that you also fail and spend time for boring parts.
It is interesting
It’s interesting for people to get to learn what you did, how you did it and what you learned doing it. You provide value by sharing your experience.
More personal
At the end of the day, we are trying to build a community of people who are interested in our work and it’s important to keep it personal when you are building your personal brand.
You can ponder about the strategy behind every post and fabricate yourself into this “influential person”… or you can just be yourself. - Gary Vaynerchuch
So just start documenting . (I need to start as well…)
For more, you can visit here and here.
Asset Reviews
SCI FI Characters Mega Pack Vol 2
PROFACTOR INC is one of the first asset creators that comes to mind when someone says 3D character models. They do not only create high-quality models of every kind (humans, monsters, aliens, androids) but they also provide bunch of animations for them.
SCI FI Characters Mega Pack Vol 2 has 30 different models, including giant monsters, humanoid aliens, robots, and mechs. They all have more than one material with different color schemes and bunch of useful animations. I was actually surprised with the number of animations they put: idle animations for different situations (idle for holding a one-handed gun, idle for holding a two handed gun, idle for holding a big weapon), animations for walking, running, attacking, getting hit, dying, etc.
It’s a great investment for those who are developing AAA-looking SCI-FI games.
Is it worth its price or should you wait for a discount?
It has a big price tag, but don’t forget this is very high quality asset. It is worth its price, though I’ve seen in it discount multiple times (it has 50% discount while I’m writing this).
Performance
It’s quite well performant. Think twice when you are putting 500 droids to your scene though since the models and textures are high-quality.
Anything bad?
It would be great if the helmets of human characters were removable!
Motivation & Productivity
Is Your Game Too Ambitious?
I find myself asking this question. And the answer is yes. Getting too excited for your game is easy, especially when you are in the planning/drafting phase. Only after you start the development, you understand how long it takes to handle even the smallest things. I had to remind myself what David Wehle, the developer of The First Tree, said: “Cut your game idea in half!”
Inspiration
I’ve been reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie recently, and I was amazed by the book cover. Made a quick research about the artist and discovered John Harris who has beautiful drawings in science fiction genre. Check out his works here and his book here.
Other
I came across a podcast named Script Lock, where Max and Nick Folkman interview writers and discuss storytelling in video games. It’s a great source for those who are interested in narrative part of the development.
Me
I’ve been reading: Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. A friend bought it as a gift years ago. I finally decided to read it and now I regret not reading it for years. Our main character is an AI who has (or used to have) multiple bodies. Reading a character who is in more than 10 places at the same time is pretty interesting!
I’ve been watching: Aggretsuko. It’s hard not to relate with Retsuko…
I’ve been playing: Gothic 1. I’m amazed by how immersive this 22 years old game is. I will definitely talk about it in the upcoming issues.
I’ve been listening:
And that’s it from today’s issue of GameDev’s Journey. I hope you enjoyed it and find it useful. If you did, please like and leave a comment. Let me know your thoughts, suggestions, objections, etc.
But regardless, thank you so much for reading, and have a great game dev journey.