Become a Computer Game Developer: Writing Your Next Game








Chapter 6






Writing Your Next Game

Fame, glory, money, caffeine,
caffeine, caffeine.
Okay, let's assume you have finished your first
game. Congratulations! You are well on your way. The question is, what do
you do next?
The time has come to make some decisions about your career. Do you want
to be a full-time game developer, or do you want to do this as an income
supplement or a hobby? Do you want a secure job where you get regular
paychecks, or do you want to experience the risks and benefits of being
self-employed? The answers to these questions will affect the types of
games you will write in the future.
Let's examine some of the strategies you may want to consider as your
career advances. Again, I am going to focus on the career of the lone
wolf, because let's face it -- being an employee is a no-brainer. You do
what you're told and you get paid for it. Not much room for strategic
choices there. The lone wolf, on the other hand, has to be smart to
survive, and that means weighing your options and making intelligent
choices.


Career Strategies of the Lone Wolf Developer





Growing
Remember how I told you to make your
first game a simple game? You can make your second game an easy
game, too, but you don't want to keep doing simple games forever.
Now is time to flex your muscles. Every game you make from
now on should teach you something. If you were a BASIC programmer
before, it is time to learn C. If you were a DOS programmer, it is
time to learn Windows. Don't take on too much all at once. Learning
should be an incremental activity. But it should be a lifetime
activity. All game programmers must learn new skills all the time.
It is the only way to keep up with technology.
Every game programmer begins their career far behind the "cutting
edge" of technology. Every game programmer's goal should be to catch
up with technology. It is an unreachable goal. Technology is a
moving target. As soon as you get close to it, it changes again. But
that is what makes this industry so dynamic, and so full of
opportunities. Choose some aspect of technology that interests you,
and aim for it.


Choosing a Genre

What kind of games do you like? Do you
like multi-player games? How about 3D games? Strategy games? Let
your personal interests guide your career. If you are a sports game
fan, don't try to write an RPG. It will only result in an inferior
game.
Think about time constraints. Do you want to spend two years
writing your next game? What if it meant you could write two games
in three years?
Try to guess where technology will be next year. Will a Windows
3.1 program sell in a Windows 95 world? Is mode X too primitive? Are
hardware-accelerator cards too non-standard?
These are hard questions. But think about what you are doing.
Writing a game is a huge investment. Don't just clone your favorite
game. Try to write something that will provide you with some
long-term benefit.


Finding a Niche

The really successful lone-wolf
developers are the ones who have recognized a niche and exploited
it. A good niche will have a large audience, and little competition.
It will have avenues of communication available so you can reach
your audience. It will lend itself to addicting (or educational)
games, and it will allow plenty of add-ons.
My most successful niche is gambling games. Millions of people
love to gamble, and there are lots of way to write new slot machines
and card games. I can sell new software to the same people over and
over. I can also sell software in non-traditional markets --
gambling magazines, for example. Instead of being the 500th
shareware game in a collection of shareware games, my game will
stand out as the only gambling software in a collection of books and
videos. This niche works well for me.
I know authors who have been successful in the educational
market, in fonts, in fortune telling and the occult, and in jigsaw
puzzles. If you can spot a niche and fill it, you are in good shape.
You can make money for years that way.


Untapped Markets

The computer game market is so flooded,
just getting a new game noticed is a challenge. But with cleverness,
you can put your game where there are no games. I have games running
on seat-back computers on America West Airlines airplanes. This is
an interesting market. Consider that it is a captive audience,
relatively bored, that is staring at my games (and my name) for the
duration of a flight.
As technology advances, look for opportunities. They don't always
pay off, but consider them anyway. I have seen games sold in vending
machines, on television, in books, in bookstores, in gift shops, and
in non-software magazines.
If you write bowling games, advertise in bowling magazines. You
might be surprised at how cheap such advertising can be, and how
well it can pay off. If you write a sports simulation, try to get
your software in a sports memorabilia/cards store.
Look around you, and try to come up with an idea nobody else has
thought of yet.


Recycling
Think in terms of your current game
evolving into your next game. While very few game engines are
actually reuseable, a great deal of game code is used over and over.
You can write a "new" game engine incorporating a lot of functions
of your last game engine.
Always, always always keep your code clean. Indent
carefully, pay attention to comments, organize your functions
thoughtfully in source code files and libraries. Think of it in
terms of being kind to your future self. The future you will be
grateful to the past you for leaving such a clean, useful legacy.



Hired Codeslinger

As you gain a reputation for being a
hot-shot game developer, you may find yourself presented with
opportunities to work on other people's projects. Again, choose
carefully which ones you will accept. If the money is good, the
genre is one you are familiar with, and the title will look good in
your portfolio, then by all means take the job. If, on the other
hand, the work is in an area that is completely unfamiliar to you,
the only compensation is a promise of future royalties, and it looks
like you could get bogged down in the project for months or years,
then walk away. You will be better off starting and completing your
own game than to get sucked into a loser project like this.


Form Alliances
As mentioned before, programmers need
artists, and artists need programmers. Publishers need developers
and developers need publishers. The whole game development industry
is an interconnected fabric. It is absolutely essential to have
positive, professional relationships with others in the industry.
Always be ethical in your dealings with others. Do not make
promises you can not keep. Do not give away secrets. Be reliable in
financial matters.
Do not flame people you don't know in a public forum. Only
amateurs do that. Professionals in the industry know they will run
into each other over and over. The person you flame this year may
the person you want to do business with next year. Don't burn your
bridges.
Look for new ways to work together with the people you already
know. This may be something as simple as a web page link or as
sophisticated as a marketing co-op. If you happen upon an excellent
opportunity, share it with your friends. They, in turn, will share
valuable information with you.
Encourage your peers in their careers. The threat of competition
is not nearly as damaging as the threat of isolation. You want the
industry five years from now to be filled with people you know well.
Form long-term relationships.


Portfolio Building

Lone wolf developers generally don't
have resumes. They have portfolios. A portfolio is a collection of
titles that you have worked on and completed.
Pay attention to your portfolio. Try to choose projects that will
look good on your record. Having one best-seller, or half a dozen
completed and released titles, will earn you respect in the game
developer community. This translates to better projects and job
offers.


Distractions
Distractions are a trap. You may find
yourself offered work that has nothing to do with game development.
Maybe for some quick cash you agree to write the database program
for an auto repair company. Be careful. You will be expected to
support and maintain this program for years. Meanwhile, your
portfolio is not growing, technology is advancing without you, and
the new skills you are learning have nothing to do with game
development.
Distractions trade a short-term gain (quick cash) for a long-term
asset (career advancement). Be careful.


Courage
Being a game developer is hard. It is a
long-term commitment involving considerable risks. It means working
long hours and making hard choices. Sometimes it means throwing out
months (or years) of work and starting over from scratch. Game
development is not for the faint-hearted.
Have you finished
your second game yet? You have? Great! Email me and tell me about it. But
don't just tell me -- the world deserves to know. In Chapter 7 we will talk
about some ways to promote your game, and more importantly, yourself.












Click here to read what
peopleare saying aboutthis web site.




Home Page | Contents
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4
Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8
Glossary | Author | Books | Links Discussion




This site created and maintained by Diana Gruber .
Graphics designed by Susan
Kelleghan .

Copyright © 1997 Ted Gruber Software, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.