The Harsh Truth About Game Development 

What are some other harsh truths I missed? Also, remember: ► Learn how to become a full time game dev, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-how-to-make-six-figures ► Enroll in my 3D workshop, free!: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-15-minute-3D-game ► Make your game instantly beautiful with my free workbook: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-instant-beauty-color-workbook ► Get my 2D game kit, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-2D-game-kit ► Join my 2D character workshop, free: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-2d-character-art-workshop ► Wishlist Twisted Tower: store.steampowered.com/app/1575990/Twisted_Tower/ ► Learn how to make money as a RU-vidr: www.fulltimegamedev.com/opt-in-indie-game-income-workshop

50% being unhappy making your game or 99% being unhappy at an office job. I know which one I'd take.

My 4th harsh truth as a solo indie game developer is "there's always not enough time"... Especially if you're still learning at the same time developing and building a community around your game. Doing everything solo is very hard, mentally and emotionally too. To all solo devs out there grinding everyday. Cheers to you! We'll get there someday, keep grinding... 😊❤

This is why I just make my games as a hobby and I drive a bus for a living. At least in bus driving, the pay is decent and I don't have to worry about competition and oversaturation in the job market. In fact, I could pretty much pick what I want to do. And driving a bus can be as fun as playing a video game.

I don’t think you realize how much of an MAJOR upgrade that 50% happy is for the vast majority of people.

The tools thing is a really good callout and also good to know that MOST folks run away from tools dev like the plague so if you happen to be someone who LIKES tool development, it's far less competitive and has a much higher demand than say, a level creator. And that's true not just in game dev but business app dev too. Everywhere I've worked we've had the main products but also reporting tools, customer support tools, configuration tools, all of that stuff - and especially any reporting tools or things to deal with money tracking - that's stuff that management REALLY cares about so if you're good at it, you may have some decent job security. It's not for everyone, but that's part of that "it takes all kinds of instruments to make an orchestra" approach to teams - find what you're good at and befriend those that are good at what you're bad at.

Yes, that is true, I have been working on a private project for a year and a half now, it's so time-consuming and sometimes frustrating as hell, but goddam if it isn't my passion then I wonder where that fire in me is coming from that keeps me going on and on! thanks for being a good inspirer Thomas.

Great video! I've been a professional game designer for over 30 years and everything you say is 100% accurate. It can't be stated enough how difficult and complex game development is. That's part of the reason I love doing it so much. The other parts are the great people I get to work with and hearing from gamers how much they loved a game I worked on.

I’ve worked in the game industry for years now as an engineer, and so much of what I do is just putting buttons on screen in the exact right places or trying to figure out why that one character vibrates when they walk, or wrestling with version control software, and this is at small-ish studios (I’ve worked at a few companies, the largest with about 60 people). The nitty gritty definitely isn’t always as fun as bringing new gameplay features to life, but it’s a huge part of the job. Also I’d definitely point out that for the vast majority of game developers out there, the stuff you’re working on generally isn’t your idea, or isn’t COMPLETELY your idea. A piece of advice i always give young/aspiring/student game devs is to work with a team on a game that isn’t your idea and see if you still enjoy working on it. If not, that can be a red flag, but honestly, almost every time they really enjoy working on games that aren’t their idea! And that’s great to know! It makes sense though, like for every person you probably have hundreds to thousands of pieces of media you really like that aren’t your idea, but that doesn’t make you automatically disinterested in it. And the studio culture good things not being reported is also definitely true. A good friend of mine works at Naughty Dog, which has been famous for endless crunch, but recently they redid some things in the company, and now the crunch is gone. It wasn’t reported on, but company leadership made a genuine effort to improve the lives of their employees and it worked. I’ve heard many similar stories over the years. For every bad apple there are many good ones you don’t hear about.

Great video! make more like this, ,very comprehensive and well explained, I love how you simplified things and even defined hooks were just to make sure everyone was on the same page

Great video Thomas, always nice to hear your input and thoughts! I feel like you unlocked something in my brain when you started talking about the Trinity Hook, even though I have made tiny non-commercial games before and I currently work at a indie studio I never thought about how each hook should lead into each other. Of course I knew that hooks has to FIT together, but them relying, building, and improving each other is another thing entirely, and you described it so well and succinctly!

Thomas, thank you so much for inspiring me to make my first game. Its been a real tough road. However i am persisting. I will do it. Thanks for being a great voice in the community.

Hey Thomas this was an amazing video. Thank You! and hope you continue releasing this kind of video. I actually learn a few things from it and helps with my vision for what I am trying to work on.

The harsh truth about this video and channel: This guy is not a game dev, he is a RU-vid. It's apparent from a very often used familiar format, cadence and structure of the video. I don't have to go past the introduction to know this guy is basically chatgpt equivalent of a RU-vid videos and a skinner box.

Sitting in an office - doing work that's not your vision, nor your future vision should just be a means to finance your true future. Regardless of game development or any endeavor. Any career is extreme hard work. And it is not meant to be 'fun' in the sense of fun when you sit and do nothing but play video games. True work is extremely hard and mundane but without it you just will not move forward. Just believe in one thing - it will happen. It can be anything, a game, a movie, some product that's breaking into a new market... failure should not be in your vocabulary. I don't know how failure can be an option when there's nothing else BUT this to do in your life. Personally I've been obsessed with every single aspect of video games since I played mario and megaman on nintendo. I used to think it was the art, or animation. But I realized I needed to make video games. And it's going to be a hard journey since nobody in my family understands this. But it's going to be worth living this life rather than a life of the regret of never having tried.

Congratulation for your game Twisted Tower! I follow you since you started 3D modeling, and I'm amazed of how fine and polished are the aesthetics! Impressive!

I don't think everyone can be good at marketing, even with education and practice, and a lot of folks just don't like it. But, you CAN make games without that, and even better, you can make friends with someone who is as passionate about marketing and business as you are about making games. I don't think folks should try to do this stuff alone unless they have a reason to.

Long time game engineer here. As my experience grew, the more I would work on the problems. Antiquated crap. Making bad ideas work. I miss the early days of small teams making new products. With the advent of AI I think that’s where things are headed again. Definitely a good time to go Indy.

Just a note on the AAA studios, and just one example, Rockstar, its a studio as much as a supermarket is a brand, if you work at Walmart or Asda, you work for that company, but the building, the local management is different, to show this, look at Rockstar as i said above you have: Rockstar Games Rockstar North Rockstar San Diego Rockstar Toronto Rockstar Lincoln Rockstar Leeds Rockstar Leeds Rockstar International Rockstar London Rockstar India Rockstar Dundee Each one of these has different culture, people, teams, atmosphere, they tend to work on their own projects, I know that's changing a bit more since RDR2 and GTA 6 just because of the scope, but they will still be specialised. To summarise all of this, a bad apple doesnt make a bad bunch, but can easily spoil it all if not removed, you can work with 10 people, 100 or 1000, you will get arseholes, you will get terrible managers, but you will also get lovers, family for life, people who just connect, managers who care and look out for people. its just a fact of statistics, and that humans in nature, take negative alot better than positive, if youre happy you may tell 1 person, if youre unhappy, you will tell 10 people.

This was the most comprehensive video I've seen in your channel so far. Thank you Thomas!

I would love a video on these three hooks. Maybe you could give more examples from other indie and AAA games to give us an idea of how to recognize potential hooks in our own games. And also what makes a great hook? Is it that the mechanic has literally never been seen before? Or can I present a well-known gameplay form in a new way? I'm curious. Also great video sir!

My brother and I are working on our first project in our free time on top of full-time jobs and family responsibilities. It's a lot to take on for sure, even for two people. I even actually quit my RU-vid channel that I was working on for it so I could focus more on learning what I needed to. Figured I didn't have time to do everything that I want to do. I really felt that 50% bit. I've been getting pretty decent with blender and I made this goblin and I really enjoyed modeling it out. I think it looks great! While I was working on the model, I randomly discovered that retopology was a thing and I got to say I'm not a huge fan. But I figured such is the life of a gamedev.

Hi I have a question so I’m in school for software engineering but I have udemy courses for 2D but I wanted to know what else art tools can be used besides blender and photoshop I’m learning C# and Python Java I also want to make a team as well but I don’t know where to look

Thank you Thomas for all the lessons while I work on my own 1st game

That Trinity hook feels like something amazing that's been hidden in plain sight, and honestly glad you mentioned it.

Hi I'm learning how to make games in unreal and in the first i was just focusing on building and developing things which were not actually building games but this trinity hook has actually changed my mind and I'm totally sure that i can hire in my favorite AAA game studio. I've also seen lots of videos about game developing on tihs channel Thank you for saving my life❤🙏🙏

Personally that "miserable" feeling to me is replaced with an overshadowing Badass feeling following the words "get good" this invites sicko mode to consume your soul and ignore any skill gaps. Ez claps.

I've been a software engineer for over a decade and have wanted to jump into indie game development for at least the last five. So I wasn't surprised by aaaany of these harsh truths, and really they feel encouraging. My husband and I are both very excited to jump in, and I appreciate seeing this type of content.

I'd never heard of the "Trinity Hook" until watching this video. Thank you for doing what not enough people do: being direct about the inherent problems, but also offering a solution.

12:14 there's something that fsr nobody talks about like it doesn't exist. I'm an indie developer, I'm also... an employee. 5 years since I made the jump from AAA to indie dev, my bosses went from 3 people, to then hire me and a colleague to 5 people, then a bit more and now our game is released, made with 18 people. I have the fun of making a game I love, be creatively impactful, but I also don't have the financial risk that comes with starting your own studio, I get a paycheck every 2 weeks, while my bosses had to basically run on their savings and eat a lot of instant noodle to get there. It's not: you work for AAA games or you start your own studio. Those more successful indie devs, they hire people, I mean Thomas hire people, those people, they exists, it's an option and in 5 years, I did about 5 hours of overtime, before a PAX where I wanted a little feature in, nobody asked me for those 5 hours, I did it because I wanted to. Yes, somewhere inside, I wish I would make my own game, but I can always do that on the side (I mean, that's what I do actually), but being an employee in an indie studio is definitely the best option for me.

With AI it helped with the development of my third game I added features meant for my dream game into the third game(a visual novel 3,d mecha game hybrid).

Hello i have a quastion for you as an indie game devolper do u have time to play games ? And by sahing that i dont mean your own games i mean playing games in genrall?

The mechanical hook is the "idea" part. It's not easy to come up with a unique game mechanic but most of us have an idea for a game and with an entry level skill in any game engine you can test the idea right away and put tweaks on it to chase the "fun". The story hook is what wraps the whole game i think. if you got the game mechanics and settled on some basic game animation techniques. (Assuming you're not a full production AAA studio). Thats all set. For me the challenging and gruelling of these three hooks is the visuals. That's going to make or break your game. It's polish, it's the art direction, the eye candy. The final hook that will decide if your game is cheap or a priceless work of art.

I’m happy in the office probably 60-70% of the time and only really down 10% max. My job is challenging though, and quite varied. That really helps

Making the workplace more enjoyable and fostering kindness towards employees is crucial for productivity and well-being. It's a goal worth striving for, and hopefully, with efforts and awareness, we can create a more supportive and positive work environment for everyone.

Taken up coding for Dreamcast development, I've done research on self-publishing, the necessary tools, got my coding language of choice down, and am going to publish them myself, and not give arbitrary deadlines that a big publisher would. Full time job? Nah, hobby and side gig? Absolutely. I have income already, so it's not gonna have any crunch times and the like. I have fun learning, so coding doesn't burn me out. And I live the life of a hermit, leaving only for work, so it's a perfect occupation/side job for me.

Man, I just wish I had a job. I do not mind any difficulties in game development and video games in general as I am too interested in how humans engage with them. My biggest aspiration for the future as of now is to make some sort of multiplayer rpg related thing. That video from Game Theory about the WOW incident makes me want to recreate it in some capacity. I just want to sit down and watch human behaviour. I want to observe what you humans do in response to any element of a video game and use the insight gained to utilise it to create cooler experiences. But for now, I just really want to observe human behaviour.

Thank you because this was incredibly insightful. I've been a professional web dev, mostly server side, for over ten years. I work at an awesome company but I do find the work quite boring. I've hacked on a game engine or two over the years and I recently tried Godot. I'm quite enjoying the system. I'm going to keep experimenting in my free time. Perhaps I will eventually make a big project. I would never risk my financial future on such a project though. I think the stress of it would block any creativity or chance of success. Games take a very long time to make, but one advantage we have now is that we are not forced to use cutting edge techniques to stay relevant.

Thank you for this, it's honest and helpful ❤ I've made silly games and now I'm starting my first professional project

As someone who is just getting started in Unity Hub tutorials with a desire to make a video game, I am keeping it real and trying not to overthink the hurdles that I will need to overcome in the coming months and years as I venture into game development. Thank you for being real.

Hi I am a software engineer in college for IT but I want to also learn game development but I do not not where to start i want to learn python for apps and softwares and C# for games and pc softwares as well I want to start with C# first because i know python is easy and not hard to learn if you know a language already but I want to learn C# for game development and software apps I wanted to know if anyone knew any update courses or tutorials for beginners I do software engineering and also want to do indie game development solo i know that’s hard but I want to try it I really want help on how to start as a indie game developer

This video fueled my fire even more, thank you for making videos!

This is very helpful love the trinity hook

i almost guarantee no one thats bought thomas's course has made a million dollars making games or doing youtube

Thanks for the insight, Thomas. I love these authentic talks about game development. 🔥

In Case one got time, is finically not under pressure und loves to grind oneself by learning a lot of things and manly want to realise a vision. So, a project expected to need many years. How to consider ahead the vision-evolvement of the used software (Blender, Unrreal Engine ...)

no one else paused video at the beach graphic to look for waldo?? ...i didn't find him..=(

I really want to see Twisted Tower VR, make it a hybrid flat and VR game. It worked amazingly well for Resident Evil.

Why number one affect me is that I don't have a computer for almost 4 years now, so that's my only biggest setback

As a solo dev I can agree having to learn many skills to create a game

What does tripple a mean?

This is why I am not making games anymore, I am moving into programming coaching. I dont have a desire to make games anymore, I developed love for programming alone and that is the path i am making.

I realized after countless attempts that I am miserable behind an office desk. I would take the 50% chance of happiness. The joy of creating something I envisioned outweighs anything. I would like to be smart about it tho. And invest on other assets.

Wow I didn't realize how long it's been since I watched one of your vids thomas😢time to catch up

what about solo devs?

Honestly the editor tools bit is only really true with engines like Unity that give you virtually no tools out of the box 😂

Trinity hook is a nice concept, but it doesnt work for every genre obviously. Racing sims dont need a story hook. Many roguelites especially of the Vampire Survivors kind dont need a story hook either. In my opinion the mechanic hook is by far the most important one. The most successful indie game of all time Minecraft only has one hook, the mechanical one. And it doesnt have to be some new novel idea, if the game feels good to play no matter what the gameplay is like thats a hook. You dont have to reinvent platforming if you make it feel really good and responsive. Too often indie devs think they have to reinvent the wheel, and we end up with a passionate project but odd ideas that doom it.

The biggest harsh truth of game development I heard of is "If you like to play games, DON'T BECOME A GAME DEVELOPER", this might sound weird, but it makes so much sense. If you hear the stories of all major successful developers they love playing games, yes, but their true passion lies somewhere else, coding, art, even being an entrepreneur. If you want to be successful indie developer you need to spend your time making games to learn how to make great games, if you keep playing them, and even worse, playing them without paying attention to the design, you are just wasting your time and will end up in that 68% Thomas talked about. What really bothers me is that in between the years 2000 and 2010 that phrase was used a lot, but I haven't heard it since, that's kinda scary to be honest, and that explains some of the current industry issues: Studios are filled with gamers, not game developers, the mentality is completely different.

okay i must be missing something about the trinity hook, but some of the most renowned games doesnt even have story or visuals? for examples, flappy bird doesnt have any story, the visuals it even "stole" super mario's pipe asset. 2048, no story and assets, just swipes as the mechanics piano tiles, baba is you, the snake game, pacman, candy crush? i can name lots of them none of them has stories and barely visuals, yet they are very popular..?

I'm hoping AI and tech development will reduce the need to master tons of different skills and makes it easier for indie game devs

Very timely

That almost made me quit quiting

YESSS THE TRINITY HOOK I’VE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS

Hi. My student Dionie is doing a project on the History of Video Games and would like to interview you, if possible, about your journey into video game development and any tips you may have for someone who wants to be a developer. Would you be interested in doing a quick virtual interview with my student? He's a senior who is interested in potentially pursuing a career in this field. We would greatly appreciate it.

damn i only got two hooks. fuck mechanical

And the community manager of Satisfactory thinks its a good idea to leave his job and go gamedev....... perhaps he should have watched this video before he made his choice,

"96% of all games generated less than $1,000,000". Surely that is too low? You're telling me 1 in 25 indie games makes $1m in revenue?

Damm this was harsh

91k!?! LOL. Not in Japanese companies. Over here you are doing pretty well if you can make 50k. Entry level is around 30k.

Lol. Some people are unhappy 99% of the time they spend at work! 50% ain't bad!

Oh ! I have bought "The First Tree"... ! ...just to say... 🙂

we ball!

Well for the past month, I spent most of my time in Houdini than unreal engine ..

I work in AAA, and I must say, pay, burnout, unhappy work culture, its not great, I just accept a job in a smaller AA studio, and I everything seems to be far more positive so far, then again, I should wait until I have some more time in the AA

I love how he says "this was really fun",but he just destroyed oeople dreams😂

The thing is its frustrating and fun

Are childish, fifth grade elementary style art the only route for indie? Anytime I see an indie game it's usually a game I would never play unless I was maybe 10 years old. I have seen very cool indie games that are completely 3D that were only made by 1 person, but i dont see many. Usually it's an elementary School themed art styled game that fits an arcade environment. Like if you were to go to an arcade it would be cool to play most indie games, but most are not really something I would download on my computer or console.

Exactly the video i needed

its hard

If my first game makes a $1000 I'd be over the moon lol. I'm a video editor moving game dev one step at a time so I zero delusions of making thousands of dollars on my first crappy game.

Another harsh truth is your ego: I believe that anybody who is interested in game dev has researched a bit to gain some insight about the reality of game development. Thus, they are familiar with the problems that come along with indie game dev. However, they still attempt to create a "massive MMO" or "my own version of LoL". Despite the fact that they know it takes years to finish such a project, they still commit themselves to do it **alone**. And then, they are overwhelmed by the massive amount of tasks that need to be done. This problem even occurs on "smaller" projects. My hope for future game devs is that they look for friends or people online who share the same interests for games and create them **together**. Working with a team doesn't only achieve greater things, but it also makes much more fun!

Cult of the lamb is so good 👍

I didn't see the full video and I don't think I will game development sounds hard and might not be worth it oh why did I wish to make a game now I know I can't damn I wanted to make a soul knight plus ratchet and clank game together I'm 21 years old I guess I don't have what it takes Man all those cool weapon and gadget ideas all wasted.I will still stay subbed but I won't visit because it gives me pain how one was smarter and better than you ever be because they had more experiences and passion while mine started later with no practice.I think I m being a little dramatic here Don't feel bad for me or at least don't laugh at me.

Yo😊

The user game 🤔✌️💻👍

The hard truth is that if your're dreaming to do it full time, it's much better to just buy a lottery ticket instead :)

Powerful

Pretty sure Thomas is paying the bills from game dev "training" , and being a RU-vidr. Not from makings games, since it's being honest time. Now that Im a real game developer putting out games I can finally see this.

Just create a simple game 🤔✌️

I would be soo happy if my first game made a thousand bucks

I am a game dev I understand

being a bootstrap video game studio is tuff too especially if you are in India ;(

waaaa you ruined my day!😭😭🤓

Imagine working in the factory every day... will you feel 50/50? Stfu!

well let me add 1, you knew what the things he about to said all along, you know this all along, but still in the bottom of your heart you are stubborn, declining every thing you hear, and still thinks that those things don't work on you. You might agree in the moment, but sometime later you will forget this again, which is sad... This "you" here also include me.... sadly...

Solo gamedev is a waste of time and money unless you have a good marketing plan.

chat-gpt will end us all soon!

Another harsh truth is coding sucks

First 🎉

This is the 100th time you've made the same video, unsubbing.