A game from beginning to end

Help and Feedback Game Design Support
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Hi, Luis here :slight_smile:

Well, this will be short and sweet, I require some coaching on game creation, publishing, and marketing.

Creation:

I need to know everything I need to be able to create and optimize the game to be published.

Resources needed (Programs, Subscriptions, etc…), assets (Devs, Modelers, Builders, etc…), everything that goes into the category of creation.

Publishing:

What should I know before the due date? Is there money to be spent on game publishing?

Marketing:

Some ways of advertisement. Sponsors or ads? Content creators? Should I hire a company to do it? Should I do it right after launch?

I would love to have a 1 to 1 call for an hour. Willing to pay for any experienced devs to contact me and just chat. (discord: luisingles#9153)

Thank you!
-Luis Ingles

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Creation

Make a game you are passionate about and that offers both repeatability and social aspects. I make games on my own all the time, and have done just fine (5 games with active players, daily revenue of 10-20K robux).

Make your own assets. If you need assistance, hire somebody for a split commision.

Publishing

Don’t worry much about a due date, don’t worry about spending money on publish.

Marketing

I feel many people don’t grasp what ads and sponsors are for, so I can answer for you :slight_smile:
Ads and sponsors should be used sparingly. Get your friends and family to play and leave advice, get feedback from devforum. Once the game is 100% perfect and polished, and people don’t actively play it still, maybe sponsor for 1-2K. If you can keep a stable player count for at least a month after sponsoring, then you made the game right. If not, make changes as needed, get more advice, and sponsor again later in time. Don’t ever spend too much though.

All of this advice is coming from 10 years of experience on Roblox, both as a player and as a developer. I really hope I helped, and don’t hesitate to ask more questions :slight_smile:

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Creation

If you’re creating a game yourself, you should learn the basics and intermediate skills of scripting, building, and UIs (the big three). Meaning, you’ll need to know a decent amount in various sectors of developing. However, if you’re teaming up with other devs, then, you don’t have to be skilled in all areas. For example, pick the one you’re best at, like programming. You can be the programmer of your game and hire other devs for UIs and building. If you do hire, then be prepared to pay as not everyone is going to accept payment in percentages (you know, it can be risky sometimes).

This is totally up to you, but I prefer working alone, for the most part, instead of setting up my own dev team. I guess it’s due to my poor project and group management skills, hopefully, that’ll improve over time. :tongue:

As per assets, you should consider making your own ones and not free models as it will be more original and you’ll develop an art style. Then, you’ll be known by that style and it’ll essentially become your artistic signature, which is pretty cool.

As per resources, here’s a list:

UI

  • Adobe XD (no that’s not an emoji!)
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • GIMP
  • other graphic designing programs

Building/Modeling

  • Blender
  • Cinema4D
  • others

Programming (not as needed, but I’ve heard they’re useful for programmers)

  • Visual Studio
  • etc.

So, some of these are free, others are paid subscriptions. It’s your choice on what to get. Sure, paid programs tend to have higher quality, but no all the time. For example, I’ve heard that GIMP 95% of the features that Photoshop has, so if you think you really really need that 5% then, go ahead!

Publishing

I don’t think there’s much to say here apart from configuring your game’s settings as it will be one of the last processes. For example, just check that your game allows mobile players, set the VIP server price, etc.

As per the moral aspect, just know that even if you are bombarded with harsh criticism, make sure you know what’s real feedback and what’s jealousy. Anything on the internet receives haters, but that doesn’t make them valid, they’re mostly only trolling or don’t appreciate others’ success. So, don’t get discouraged!

Marketing

So, if your game needs some players on it to make it playable for an average player (like team-based games), then it’d be best to kick-start it via sponsors/ads. There are tens of hundreds of posts on the DevForum and many articles on Medium and the DevHub that explain sponsoring and ads at an in-depth level. They each have their advantages, along with several minor flaws, so it’s up to you then. The tactic is to spread out your ads and sponsors across several days (like, don’t spend it all at once) as it’s bound to receive more attention. Again, more strategies and “prime ways” can be found on the DevForum and even YouTube.

But, if your game can go fine with a few players (especially single-player games), then I’d first find a content creator that reads the comments and picks out suggestions. Some of them get burned out and are willing to play anything that their viewers desire. So, that’s your chance to bring attention to your game for basically no price. If, for reason, it doesn’t work, then onto ads and sponsors.

That’s all I have, for now, good luck with your game!

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These are great resources, but I feel you don’t need many of these for development. In fact, I’ve pretty much just made my games with Roblox alone, and GIMP for UI and thumbnails.

Visual Studio also is a bit too much for some younger developers out there, so I do recommend Notepad++ or GitHub for external coding instead, as they are much simpler in my opinion.

EDIT: I do want to note that if you are a full-time builder, then Blender should definitely be used! I forgot to mention that, mb.

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