Do you want to make games? (Patreon)

Hey everyone!

Recently, I announced a post about the reason for my recent long silence... Some of you may remember my colleague Mensh, who is working on the Sekira and Last Romantic projects. I haven't kept track of how long it's been since he last updated, but just so you know, he hasn't given up; the projects haven't been canceled. The issue is that he ran into the typical production chaos that sooner or later happens when you can't single-handedly cover all positions. For about 1.5 weeks, I've been helping him with the code for the new version of Sekira. If anyone is waiting for this update, I think he will release it soon.

If you want to become a game developer, you will inevitably have to start understanding all aspects. Even if you have tons of money that you're ready to just throw away, even if you have a little money to hire a couple of freelancers, you still need to at least understand how it all works. A build shouldn't just be a set of random files to you; you should at least understand the engine on a basic level so that the programmer you're paying can't just rip you off. You should be able to at least enter the project, know where everything is, and be able to compile a build so that you don't have to find a new contractor for every little task.

If we compare this to another field, for instance, some abstract "promotion work" from "professionals" at some PR agency might cost you a conditional $50,000 and bring you at best 20% of the expected result. Meanwhile, hiring 1-2 moderators-posters for a couple thousand for six months could bring you the full 100%.

In my own games, I've long wanted to just come up with the plot and review other people's work. I haven't been involved in 2D animation for a long time, but I can write a proper technical task, I know how it will work, and I know what results to expect and what results are reasonable to anticipate.

I remember finding a project that I really liked. The author was working on it as a hobby and didn't spend money on it, so he just used photos from the internet. Nevertheless, the game had style; it really looked like something special and very atmospheric. I offered to help him with the engine and art, to turn it into a game that could be presented to a wider audience, rather than just a local forum of 200 people. He was very pleased with my offer and immediately said that he needed about one and a half thousand full-screen art pieces. This showed a profound lack of understanding of how things actually work, how many pieces of art can be produced, and how they can be utilized.

Therefore, if you suddenly want to make any games, you at least need to have some understanding of audio slicing, 2D animation in Spine, drawing at least at the level of slicing sprites in Photoshop, and working in the chosen engine. If we're talking about 3D games, then modeling, sculpting, rigging, and animation come into play as well (I still hope that the two years I spent on courses in these disciplines will come in handy someday).

I've spent my time on this, so I guess I have the right to post a build for my own audience. Nevertheless, I don't want to compete with Mensh, so today I'll release an old version. It's quite long, so if you haven't played this game yet, you'll enjoy it. If you've been waiting for an update, Mensh will soon release the 0.6 update : )