FAQ

What’s the best game engine for beginners?

Honestly a tool is just a tool, and at the end of the day it won’t make a huge difference in your game dev journey. However, your commitment to that tool will make a difference. Plenty of successful game developers have used everything from GameMaker to Unreal to Godot. With that said, my preference is Unity, and here’s why:

  • The support forums are endless. Almost every question has already been answered, you just need to Google it.

  • The Asset Store is gigantic. There’s no way I could’ve finished my games without the various assets available.

  • Most new game developers start by making simple mobile games, and Unity is best for that.

  • I suck at programming, so I’m partial to Playmaker (a visual scripting plugin for Unity) since I found that first.

However, plenty of new solo game developers have found success with every engine out there. You just need to find the one that works best for you, and stick with it.

Can you please help me make a game / play my game / mentor me?

Oh man, I wish I had more time to help everyone who asks, but I just don’t unfortunately. I work solo so it’s a lot to balance. However, that’s why I made Game Dev Unlocked, so I can help people en masse with everything I’ve learned! Along with the articles here and my YouTube channel, there’s also the premium online school! You get tons of helpful videos and software discounts, and I mentor people on the private Discord server. I also play student’s games and live stream it for my Feedback Friday videos. Join the email newsletter below: I occasionally send out coupon codes for the school.

How do I get my indie game career started?

It’s pretty simple: start, finish, and release small games! It’s by far the best way to learn. If you don’t want to spend money on the Steam fee, then list them for free on itch.io. You’ll have to put yourself out there and you will probably deal with rejection, but nothing will teach you faster than actually finishing and releasing small projects.

Well, how do I get started making small games?

If you’ve never touched a game engine before, download one and mess around! Most of them are free, and making a simple game with simple shapes doesn’t take long. My favorite tutorials are the ones where you make a game in a few minutes (Cooking With Unity and Brackeys come to mind). Once you feel accustomed to the software, think about how you can add your own creative touch to a simple game. Also, don’t be afraid to use the Unity Asset Store. Wanna make an FPS game? Then search for First Person, filter by free, and download a sweet FPS player controller. There, you just saved hundreds of hours of work. Your first games won’t be masterpieces, and that’s OK! Finish and release them anyway on itch.io (which is free to use) and make them free to download, or name-your-own-price. Just keep learning, keep applying feedback, keep improving, and keep finishing small games!

Should I study game development at school? Will that help me get a job?

The common consensus seems to be that a degree by itself won’t really land you any game development jobs. Does that mean schooling is useless? Well no, but you have to remember that a good portfolio is a thousand times more important than your degree. If your university is helping you finish games and networking with other devs, then that can be really valuable. Just remember, the goal is to make and finish games. I interviewed quite a few people when I was at The VOID, and I’ll tell you right now: the people who stood out and got the job were people who had finished games (or other big projects).

Another tip is to focus on a niche skill set in game development, and actually make things you can show off. If you want to be a technical artist, then create an editor tool in Unity that would save time for level designers. I’ve heard there’s a big drought of audio programmers, so study up on DSP architectures and make some tools that automate annoying audio work for developers. Think outside the box! If you’re still not sure, there’s nothing wrong with a normal Computer Science degree, since that can be applied across many industries (including game development).

Can I make a living by making indie games?

Whew, this is a hard one. Did you know only 5% of indie games make a profit? I get a lot of emails saying they’re ready to drop everything and start making tons of money making games, and that’s not how it works, especially as a newcomer. Would you tell a new musician that soon they’ll be opening for Imagine Dragons, or a writer’s first book will be a New York Times Best Seller? You should expect not to make any money for a while, which is why I encourage newbies to keep their day job and work on their game as a hobby. If you stick with it, you’ll gradually learn what gamers want to pay for, what sub-genre of games you like to make, and what you’re actually able to make.

So to answer your question, YES, it is possible, but your expectations need to be realistic. We actually have quite a few people in the school who are full-time indie devs, but they all started the same way: as unpaid hobbyists making games for the love of it.

How do you do *random thing* in Unity?

So I try my best to answer all earnest emails in my inbox, but honestly you’ll find it much easier to learn things via Google then waiting for me to (slowly) answer an email! I’m self-taught, and everything I learned making games came from Googling the question, doing research, and experimenting in-editor.

Quick, my game comes out tomorrow! How can I market it and find an audience?

Unfortunately it’s probably too late. :( Sorry. Marketing and building an audience is a process that takes months upon months of consistent work. The truth of it is, there are so many games out now that gamers aren’t limited by their wallets, but by their time. They only want to play the most interesting, engaging, appealing games out there. Trying to market a game after launch is almost impossible as well, because the hype train has already left the station. In my GDC talk I illustrate how all my marketing efforts were for one goal: getting on the New and Trending tab on Steam. There’s a lot of work and honest evaluation that goes into making that goal come true (interesting hook, striking graphics, soliciting wishlists, posting GIFs weekly), and if you want a detailed plan how to make it happen, then please check out my YouTube marketing video or join us in the premium online school!

How did you make the art/environments for The First Tree?

My development strategy that sets me apart from other indie developers is I use lots of stock assets from places like the Unity Asset Store, TurboSquid, Pond5, etc. Even though I probably could make everything from scratch if I wanted to, I use these resources to save time because making a game IS A LOT OF WORK. I was still working full-time when I was making The First Tree, and I needed every bit of help I could get. I also couldn’t afford paying technical artists, programmers, composers, etc., so public assets were my only option if I ever hoped to finish something. Of course I didn’t want to release an “asset flip” game, so I modified those assets to give them my own personal touch. Here’s a video detailing how I made a unique environment using public assets. In the premium online school, there’s a tutorial section where I make a beautiful, atmospheric FPS game using free stock assets and I modify them to make the game unique. There’s a lot to learn about modifying assets because you need to know the right things to change to make your game aesthetically pleasing, but it can be done inexpensively and quickly!

So you didn’t do any programming for your two games, Home is Where One Starts and The First Tree?

That’s correct. Occasionally I would have to edit scripts in the assets I used (like the Opsive Third Person Controller), but it was usually only a couple lines of code I fumbled around with. I found Playmaker actions for things like Steam achievements as well. I am finally starting to wrangle C#, but I still prefer Playmaker because it works with my artist brain better, and it’s faster for me. It’s perfect for simple, story-driven games, but I admit it won’t help you much if you’re making a complicated RTS game or you’re porting to consoles (that’s why I enlisted help from DO Games).

How did you start learning playmaker exactly?

I watched a few of the official tutorial videos by Hutong Games, and then I just messed around. I dropped the default First Person Controller sample asset into a free house asset I found on the Asset Store, and did really small things like “walk into this room, and then it plays a sound.” After a few discarded projects, I decided I would stick with one project until it was finished, and that became Home is Where One Starts….

How can I get my game on consoles? Do I need a “connection?”

This is actually something I go over in-depth in my school (including my pitch PDFs, which department to contact in the company, etc.), but to put it simply: you don’t need a secret industry contact to gain access to PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo publishing portals, but you do need a good game and reputation. Think about it, each company only has a limited amount of dev kits and staff to go around, so why would they sacrifice company resources to an unproven indie with no published titles? That’s why launching a successful game on Steam is an important prerequisite to self-publishing on consoles. Even if you don’t sell a lot of copies, just having a game with awards or an “Overwhelmingly Positive” Steam rating might be enough to convince them.

So no, you don’t need to go to GDC to meet Xbox reps, and you don’t need the mythical “Uncle who works at Nintendo” to hook you up with a dev kit. I received console access by just emailing my proposal PDFs and filling out their forms on their indie application pages (like ID@Xbox). It takes a ton of work to self-publish (and this doesn’t even include porting/passing certification!), so it may be in your best interest to partner with an indie porting/publishing company like Serenity Forge or Ratalaika Games.

Can I interview you for my podcast, YouTube channel, etc.?

I’m sorry, my schedule is so packed and I’m juggling so many thing that I can’t participate in any long-form interviews.

c’mon man, why didn’t you answer my email / message / DM?

Update: I’m actually taking a break from the internet for a bit. I’ve appreciated the many kind messages I’ve received over the past 5 years, so thank you to those kind souls. I actually wrote about this self-discovery process in a blog post here. I was also strongly impacted by an article written by levels.io on “Why I'm unreachable and maybe you should be too.” I hope to be back online when I have some cool new game stuff to share!

Are you hiring?

First off, thanks for being interested enough to ask, really! Unfortunately I’m not hiring, mostly because I do love working solo and I already have a system that works for me.

Where can I learn more about joining the paid school?

Please check out the school’s features page here, or by clicking on Join/Sign In at the top! There’s a detailed list of what you receive with enrollment along with a separate FAQ!

Can anyone make games?

YES! If an average film-school guy who sucks at code can finish games and somehow find success doing it, then anyone can. I’ll echo this famous line by Anton Ego from the film Ratatouille:

In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for Chef Gusteau's famous motto: Anyone can cook. But I realize, only now do I truly understand what he meant. Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from anywhere.