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Long time, guys. How's life been going for you?
I just finished with PAX Prime this last week and it was crazy. It was the first time exhibiting my game, Potions: A Curious Tale, in front of such a large audience. It really helped me feel more justified in calling myself a game developer.
It was fun, it was overwhelming and it was tiring. Now that it's over, I have to figure out what I want to do next. Kind of funny how running a company requires making so many decisions! I'm thinking of ramping up a crowd funding campaign, because, truthfully, I've poured pretty much my whole bank account into this game over the last year and I won't be able to finish it without getting funding or, at least, moonlighting. I'd rather not moonlight.
While I've helped my friends exhibit their games in the past, I never had to work the show floor as much as I did for PAX nor have I had the stress of all of the responsibilities being mine to handle. And the press, too!
After four days of standing around, puking out the same information about your game again and again, when a reporter finally comes around and asks you a few harder questions, it's hard to just form sentences, let alone speak eloquently about your game and development! I found myself having difficulty talking even to my closest friends, let alone press about my work.
The constant noise and visual stimulation also really grated on me by the end. I found myself almost in a panic on the third day when I had to work from 9am-4:30pm without a break. I almost had a complete meltdown before I was relieved and able to take a few minutes to rest away from the sounds and people in a local park. I felt loads better after my tiny break, but I was pretty sure I was going to lose my mind and breakdown and cry beforehand.
One thing that I was pleasantly surprised by was how few people made the very common assumption that I was not the lead developer or lead programmer. I can't even count how many times people assume I'm the artists or some other contributor. I guess it's because of my gender.
A few months ago, I was describing my team to someone and the conversation went basically like this:
Me: "Our main development team consists of me, two artists and an audio engineer."
Dude: "So who does the programming?"
Me: "Me?"
Dude: "Oh"
Me: (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
I try not to get offended by people assuming I do art, but it gets tiring when absolutely no one expects that I am the designer, programmer and team lead.
But... as I said, that wasn't the case at PAX! I'm not sure why, but it was a huge comfort and relief to be acknowledged as a lead developer and programmer without having to demand it.
Anyway, I'm still recovering from PAX and decided to hide inside today away from people and noises. Hope you are all doing well! I hope to write another blog this week about the game industry (especially the indie scene), but I'm happy to write about anything! So feel free to leave a comment about anything you'd like to hear about.
Of course, I didn't take any pictures while presenting (derp), so here's some other photos:
My modest set-up at Power of Play (a small game convention that was in June):
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/jqr5EeQ.jpg)
The majority of my main team (Wesley, the character artist and animator, Joshua, the audio engineer, and me):
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Nh7Ft9A.jpg)
The WIN booth group, where I presented my game at PAX Prime:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/feTUyHt.jpg)
Indie Megabooth developers and organizers, where a majority of indie games are displayed at PAX:
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/5P8s0ti.jpg)
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1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
in that last pic did someone actually make a game called "gaems"?
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On September 07 2015 09:57 lichter wrote:
in that last pic did someone actually make a game called "gaems"?
I believe it is a portable PC company: https://gaemspge.com/
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Im sooo jealous. Pax is always super fun but couldn't make it TT, even though work is literally two blocks away. Had to live vicariously through all the customers
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On September 07 2015 11:30 MysteryMeat1 wrote:
Im sooo jealous. Pax is always super fun but couldn't make it TT, even though work is literally two blocks away. Had to live vicariously through all the customers
Next year, be sure to swing by the Seattle Indies Expo (SIX). It's free to get in, there's a ton of awesome local indie games and it becomes open bar at 6pm!
http://seattleindies.org/six/
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Thanks for sharing your experience. Watched the trailer for your game and it actually looks interesting. I've always thought the old debates of "gaming is not inclusive of girls" and "girls are not represented enough in games" can and should be settled by girls developing games they want to play. So power to you for representing action. Even though that probably isn't explicitly why you are developing your game, I think it's still something positive and empowering for others.
I think I remember you posting videos chronicling some of the early difficulties and self doubt of developing an indie game. Glad to see you persevered and are trying to see your product through to the end. It's always inspiring to see grit and tenacity in the face of setbacks. So anyway, good luck and keep on.
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1001 YEARS KESPAJAIL22272 Posts
On September 07 2015 11:23 Riku wrote:Show nested quote +On September 07 2015 09:57 lichter wrote:
in that last pic did someone actually make a game called "gaems"? I believe it is a portable PC company: https://gaemspge.com/
i await the "dead gaems" memes if they go kaput
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hi, first time random reader, is potions for pc or mobile? who done the music (edit i see now in your pic you showed your audio engineer). i skipped to a battle in your last vlog and it sounded good. how do you pay the team or do you not pay them "much"? whats your ETA? i know these might be intrusive questions so just ignore if you prefer
im a fresh graduate just about to put my CV up again, its nice/motivating to see things like this randomly (ps if anyone is hiring i'm willing to relocate to anywhere lol)
my "dream" is sort of like work for a year or two and then take time off to develop myself in something i really want to do, like you are doing (for me maybe it will be music or art or idk)
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On September 07 2015 12:37 Glowsphere wrote:
Thanks for sharing your experience. Watched the trailer for your game and it actually looks interesting. I've always thought the old debates of "gaming is not inclusive of girls" and "girls are not represented enough in games" can and should be settled by girls developing games they want to play. So power to you for representing action. Even though that probably isn't explicitly why you are developing your game, I think it's still something positive and empowering for others.
I think I remember you posting videos chronicling some of the early difficulties and self doubt of developing an indie game. Glad to see you persevered and are trying to see your product through to the end. It's always inspiring to see grit and tenacity in the face of setbacks. So anyway, good luck and keep on.
Thanks! Yeah, I made this game for me and, upon observation of who was drawn to it, realized that it is a game that appeals greatly to other females, especially younger ones. However, the gameplay is still rather on the "hardcore" side of things, so it also brings back nostalgia for old school gamers, too.
Self-doubt is something I still struggle with, especially with an unclear path ahead of me, but the support of my peers and gamers in general has been really helpful.
On September 07 2015 17:51 FFGenerations wrote:
hi, first time random reader, is potions for pc or mobile? who done the music (edit i see now in your pic you showed your audio engineer). i skipped to a battle in your last vlog and it sounded good. how do you pay the team or do you not pay them "much"? whats your ETA? i know these might be intrusive questions so just ignore if you prefer
im a fresh graduate just about to put my CV up again, its nice/motivating to see things like this randomly (ps if anyone is hiring i'm willing to relocate to anywhere lol)
my "dream" is sort of like work for a year or two and then take time off to develop myself in something i really want to do, like you are doing (for me maybe it will be music or art or idk)
I pay my team with my personal savings I gathered while working as a SDE in the biotech industry. I fear that money is starting to run low, though, so now I'm looking towards that crowd funding launch in November to collect what I need to finish the game. I would expect, with funding, to launch around Q4 of 2016, but it could easily take longer.
And definitely follow that dream. Even if you don't end up making it into the dream job, you'll have at least taken the chance and don't have to worry about what "could have been."
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EPT
