The true story of how I spent 13 years making a video game. Download: adambutcher.itch.io/tobias-an... Written and Directed by @AdamButcherFilm "Awe Baby" photo from @johnengler
Wait, so you didn't just make a game all by yourself in a process that consumed 13 years of your life, but you also made it avaible for free? Dude, I can't just ignore that. Major respect.
I come back to this video every now and then just to soak it in again. It’s concise, not terse. Personal, not chatty. Well produced, not over edited. It’s everything I want to see in a video essay, and it’s over in seven glorious minutes. This deserves so many more views than 474,000 it currently sits at, and I tip my hat to its creator.
This is the real essence of a game. I remember wondering weeks, even months ago if there was any free playable game on the internet which have been made just for fun. Nice music and film influences by the way
3:42 Whoa... FINALLY! I've been looking for this scene for a looong while. I knew I had not imagined it and I knew it was from a RU-vid video describing the process of making an indie game... but I could not for the life of me, remember which RU-vid video I had watched, nor what the name of the game was! I did, however, remember it carried the name of a male person (wrongly thought it was "Nick") and, of course, I remember the scene about the light source shifting and it having two kinds of shading. Thanks RU-vid algorithm, and thanks AdamButcher for crossing my path again. Now, I'll do what I did with "Zelda: Hall of the Dead" and download it before I forget its name again.
There’s the proverbial “face only a mother could love.” I ran into something similar when I thought I’d stumbled upon a wonderful way to compose a short passage of music in which every succeeding chord was in the same key but switching to a new one at the same instance, giving you rapid-fire key changes with every beat, and I thought it sounded cool. Then I had some people listen to it and they were like “That part sounds weird.” And I confirmed-it wasn’t weird in a good way. So three cheers to you and your “game only a developer could love.” Cherish it.
Jesus let me tell you a story. So its two in the morning and I should be sleeping but I'm half consciously browsing reddit and forums and youtube all at once suddenly this video is open and I don't know how the hell I got here. Can I ask if you would let me let's play this game? If not I understand. If so highfive brother. Also not at all a big channel. Nope got seven subs and most of them are my family. Uhm well that's all I have to say. Cheers and congrats on the game man.
This video is like at least once in a year in my recommendations and I've seen it at least 4 times already. It's like those christmas traditions where you watch one specific movie every year! :D
God forbid if I'd ever go back and work on any of my old games or programming projects in general. I'd have to tear them completely apart and rebuild them. Same with my stories/books I started. They simply would not hold up to my far stricter quality guidelines that I have set for myself.
Tomu Watanabe This is true! I know I started thinking about my first PHP Programming Project I did...I can still remember some of the code in my head and how I struggled to write code to do certain things....and how poorly written it was XD I was like..."Wow...I could rewrite the whole thing, totally optimized and far FAR fewer lines."
I have a friend who makes indy games. I admire him because he´s a quiet person. I have other friends, who are more nervous and play games like CoD. I don´t know much about indy games, but I can say they permit to develop the imagination. I consider that they are the direct reflect of the imagination in the videogame world, and they are the base of every single game we see now, I will play the game, it is an example of love for the good games, which are made with time, love, real inspiration and passion. It´s free, so it means it doesn´t have any material intention, it just has a moral intention. Nice video, Adam, you are a REAL ARTIST.
Great video, great story !! Very much reminds me of my own story. My own baby is 16 years now, had been released / patched / improved. I still can't stop and trying to get it to the glory it deserves. So HEY, you're way faster than i am. I certainly stumbled at least upon 4 of these A's. Albatross being my favorite. Good to hear, there are other maniacs out there as well.
Looks interesting also very nice of you to release for it free after so much work, not many people would do that with their work. I respect that and thank you!
I can't wait to play this. Knowing the back story will make it all the more enjoyable. I respect your dedication and know it will serve you well in the future!
I discovered your game lately and I'm amazed , me and my friends like it a lot !, definitly one of my best indie games along with Bastion , Transistor and Ori. I love how after all that hard work over 13 years you made it free it's impressive .
Perhaps it's a little late for praise but I have to say, this has got to be one of if not my favorite game of all time. I remember back in 2014 I found this video in my recommended and after watching it I knew I had to play it. I booted up my crappy laptop and started to play. Now it's four years later, I'm in my senior year of high school and even though I have a much stronger laptop this game still sits on my desktop ready to be played. It just leaves this fuzzy but great feeling in my chest that most games don't. Maybe it's your personal story or just how endearing it is but I just have to say, thank you for working so hard on this game and inspiring me to work on my own projects. Have a great day!
@@AdamButcher Oh I've beaten a few times. Around this time of the year I go back and play some of my favorite games like MegaMan X or EarthBound. I was playing through the game again and thought that perhaps I should come back and thank the creator.
Great piece, very watchable, quite a bit of nostalgia value in the descriptions of the early-2000s freeware game scene. I remember in 2001 at the age of 9yo my gaming was split evenly between freeware demos loaded onto those CDs you could get (most of which never came to fruition as full games, some of which i still mourn), and...CHEX QUEST! Glad you finished your game someday, if only for your 14-year-old self.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this, was quite nostalgic. I too started making games at the age of 14 (12 years ago) when I got a free licence for Clickteam's "The Games Factory", I made easily over 30 different games over a couple of years, some never quite finished as I made around 5 of the same type of game but each one was slightly different in its approach. Keep doing what you're doing and hopefully now you'll be able to make a game in a lot shorter time :).
I absolutely love this. Congrats on finishing the game, I absolutely have to play it, if you love it I'm absolutely sure I will too, games that are made with love rather than love for money are the best ones
your game will be loved. because reasons. including the amount of love that you put in to creating it, and nostalgia of people your age and older, and young'uns getting into that style of game themselves. personally i'm going to be getting my kids into your game :D
Thanks for making this video, man. I've been where you were (9 years for me), but my game didn't make it out on the other side. You absolutely deserve a pat on the back for seeing this through.
This is rad. Thanks so much for telling your story and sharing the personal side of it! That takes guts and shows a lot of humility and good judgment, even if it was hard-won.
4 years in, and 4 times starting from scratch. I feel your pain, but I'm even more inspired hearing about someone else who's gone through the same ordeal.
Thanks so much for making this video! I'm currently sitting on a "game that time forgot" of my own... Maybe this will help me get off my butt and finish it!
Hats off to you for finishing what you started. I've been out of PC gaming due to repetitive strain on the hands but was thinking of getting back into it just to check out games that I can't play on console. I'm happy to be starting with your game. Thanks for bringing it to the world.
Boy, I have been through all of this. But eventually managed to complete some stuff as well. It took me a lot less time since I mercilessly slashed most of the complicated stuff and managed to focus on the core stuff. But as with me, your journey was, probably, enlightening.
I'm actually going through the same process right now. I've been working and reworking the same concept since 2004. And. I just want to thank you for sharing this experience. Especially considering I've gotten really close to giving up as of late. I'm very happy to know I'm not alone. P.S. Your game really does look awesome. It has that exact charm you were trying to capture. A charm that I too, agree, is missing from games as of late.
this is so relatable though. every time i try to do something i take ages and the six reasons the video mentioned are exactly what kept me from finishing most of my goals lol
A friend told me about this video, the struggle of a video game programmer. Your story was indeed interesting and to put in as many years as you did was dedication in the extreme. I'm also downloading your game now as I love new challenges. Best wishes on your future projects !
I always wanted to make a game on my free time but never made the time. This inspires me to start now. I am a fan of the NES and SNES days and want to make something from that era.
This is an amazing story! Your pure dedication is truly amazing. Most people don't realize how much dedication it takes to make indie games. For me, lack of dedication is exactly what stops me from finishing games. This story has truly inspired me to finish my own games!
I saw so much of myself in this story and got a bit nostalgic. I started making projects in "The Games Factory" when I was 11 years old (2001). Eventually I took the most interest in the animation side of things and got into Flash by 13 and here I am, heh. Although most of the characters I still use were created when I was 11, this makes me want to go back and check what else I left hanging because I certainly have my share of albatrosses. Thank you kindly for this. :-)
I like seeing these stories because they show that making mistakes is part of it and it's not all about following a successful formula that is only making games tiring and boring.
I can really relate to this! I've been working on a platformer with soundtrack and support for user-created levels for about 4 years now, and I've experienced at least half of these issues in that time. Your points on ageing are particularly spot on, as programming skills improve, the constant refactoring and rewriting of the engine, whether it's out of necessity or for personal satisfaction, can really wear you down. I'm planning to make yet another 'final push' this summer. Maybe I'll actually finish it this time. :P Excellent video, overall I think you've summed up the development process for those of us with ambitious childhood projects incredibly well.
I feel you bro. I grew up with Klik N Play and The Game Factory. Unfortunately I wasn't quite as dedicated, and more or less made games that I just made in a few hours to days.
Making a game takes so much time, I once thought I was going to make a game in RPG maker, hours later I had 2 screens, 2 characters, one battle, and 2 minutes of gameplay. Congratulations on sticking with it.
Adam, Well done. Not only on the game itself, but on the video here. Recently I had a chance to interview at a few game studios, and (perhaps its just the timing) but this video really resonated with me. Thanks for sharing your 6 A's
Dude, you are awesome! I cant believe you started this game at 14 years old! It is amazing how you were determined enough to finish this project. I hope that i will have a fraction of your determination, so i may overcome these obstacles. Thank you for sharing your story.
All praise and glory be to the Click Games era! Spent a large portion of my childhood making such games, glad to see someone making something truly amazing with it. Thank you for the last A: feeling the need to constantly continue and working on something "just because" has consumed a large portion of my life recently. Sometimes you need to know when to take a break or change directions entirely.
+ 10 Points for the Space Harrier music at the beginning! + 20 Points for the After Burner music. + 30 Points for utilizing the Upper Brinstar theme from Super Metroid. + 40 Points for the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Shop Music. + 50 points for making this lovely video telling how to avoid the ocean of B.S. you had to wade through in order for your dreams to be realized. To put it into perspective, I had AGS (Adventure Game Studio) and aimed to do an adventure game based on a...thing (Universe?) I've been conceptualizing since 2008. after playing Ben Croshaw's [#] days a [Noun] series. I got the art for a single room done, tried to make a sprite, then quit outright. You are the earthly god of perseverance.
This is an excellent video! You used a good microphone, and you have nice editing skills. I'm only a couple levels into your game so far. I'm looking forward to seeing the later content. I'm working on a game of my own; hopefully it takes me fewer than 13 years! Godspeed, sir! Wishing you the best.
I love your game, and you should be proud. AND WHAT AN AWESOME VIDEO TO GO WITH THE GAME. The effort and creativity put into each level is astonishing, and I can't put my finger on it, but it's incredibly addicting trying to pass through each chapter! The game itself is not ground breaking, but to be honest, I don't give a damn, and neither should you. This game made my day, and I hope you know that!
and this is why i put extreme importance in limiting project ambition.my first game project took over a year, second one is now over half a year, but i'm learning tons.... i believe in pumping them out like a well oiled machine, instead of tediously working on one for years. I'd love to make an epic AAA rpg but baby steps... baby steps...
