Thinking about producing a video game? How to get started.

Making a game is hard. Here is a step-by-step guide to get you started.

1.??????Assemble a team: while having more people is usually better, these are the profiles you must have to create any game. For example, in the case of indie development, we consider sound designers and QA testers to have more of an external role.

a.??????Programmers: the backbone of the project, those who make the idea come to life through coding.

b.??????Designers: the architects, they craft, test, and polish the mechanics that make the game fun and appealing.

c.??????Artists: directors communicate the artistic vision and establish continuity within the assets of the game, concept artists help the team gather an idea of what the designers are looking to create, sculptors create the assets and animators take these and turn them into beautiful pieces of moving art. It is important to note, especially in smaller teams, that one person can fulfil more than one role.

d.??????Producers: the administrative support of the project, they establish the project plan, create and manage tasks, and help keep everyone on track to reach global goals.

2.??????Brainstorm an idea: a game is much more about the execution than about having a good idea; however, this is also necessary to create a good game. Having the entire team participate in the process of creating the first idea helps keep everyone involved, motivated and in sync with the project. Designers should then take this initial idea and take it to the next level, working with the producers to ensure that the scope is actually viable with the team, budget, and time frame you are working with.

3.??????Make a plan: indie development often fails because of a lack of a good plan. Establishing goals and breaking these down into smaller and smaller tasks that are then divided to each member of the team, using tools like Gantt charts or project management software such as Jira, HacknPlan, Trello, etc. is necessary when creating a game. Set accomplishable time frames to avoid burnout and the infamous crunch and try to work in iterations, it is easier to make a portion of the game and improve it over several iterations and better to see where you are headed, and if the game is actually fun, than working with waterfall development, where you essentially wait until the last moment to see if the game works at all. Most importantly, remember that the plan will not be perfect, things will change, obstacles will surface, and you must adapt to these circumstances, the plan should be a living object that is adjusted throughout development.

4.??????Establish milestones: game development works in iterations and phases, its not a puzzle that is completed when all the pieces are put together, well it is, but it is a working product long before then. By having milestones to work towards, you can ensure the team’s efforts are on track with the project goals. These milestones should have a set of criteria that needs to be fulfilled. There isn’t a one size fits all framework for every game, but common phases include: Concept, Pre-production, Production and Post-production, and common milestones include Pre-alpha, Alpha, Beta, Gold candidate and Release.

5.??????Set up fixed meetings: depending on how serious the project is or which constraints you are working with, set up daily, bi-weekly, or weekly meetings to catch up on what everyone is doing, this provides visibility but also synchronizes team efforts. Aside from these fixed meeting points, facilitate meetings whenever these check-ups aren’t enough, but don’t go overboard as to overwhelm the team or be inefficient with their time.

6.??????Promote the game: your game might be amazing, but that’s no good if nobody knows it exists. Research your target audience, find out everything about them and establish a marketing plan to reach people that might buy the game. Marketing is a very broad topic, but in essence it’s a lot of common sense, what works well with indie development is keeping people involved in the process of making the game, actually interacting with your audience and keeping them engaged from the start is easier and more rewarding than finding people to buy the game after it has launched.

7.??????Execute: if you’ve made it this far, all that’s left is actually making the game. Easy right? That’s why we started by saying that making any game is hard. Anyway, this is our first game so what are you doing listening to us?