The Stress of Game Development - Tips for Survival - Extra Credits 

Making games is hard... but you can survive it. Here's our advice.

"Passion is important but so is sustainability" So true.. I think these tips are helpful to almost any profession requiring continual creative energy. Thanks for the helpful reminders :)

Really like the guest art in this one. Also, RIP to every game designer's dream that died from Toby Fox, lol.

Damn Joe, your art's so squishy!

I love this guy's art! It's magnificently Seussian.

These are all really good points, I should follow these 3:03 "Sleep right" Looks at clock 3:03 AM *IT IS A SIGN!*

Okay, so...I'm leading a small indie team and making a game that might be a little too ambitious but damn it, there's no point in going indie if you're just going to make the same games as everyone else. I didn't think these things were going to apply to me because I'm part of such a small, close-knit team...but I think I was wrong. While being the idea guy has always been my forte (though experience has taught me that maybe 1 in 5 turn out to be interesting enough to pursue), I am also the director, producer, lead designer, and writer for the project and burnout exists. There are days, where I literally cannot do anything productive because I'm just drained. Or nights where I cannot sleep because "what if nobody likes my game" snuck into brain that evening. I get jealous of other indie games and pray I can be as successful as Toby Fox or Scott Cawthorn or Jonathan Blow so I can keep making the games I want to make. It's honestly the worst part of the job...especially when, as my first real career type job, I feel the weight of every decision I make since it's mostly my input people are going to criticizing. That said, it's unbelievably energizing when something just works. When we put in a new art asset or get apply a new set of voice lines or sound effects. I really do feel like we're going to change everything just because somethings are coming together and looking like a real, marketable game. So I guess the point of this rant it say thank you for this. This video was really helped me internalize that what I'm feeling isn't invalid or some kind of premonition. I'm just starting to go through another burn out cycle and haven't been very productive lately, but I think if I can feel satisfied just hitting a minor daily milestone instead of worrying over all that is left to do, I might just survive my first tour through the game industry trenches.

I love Joe's art. I was barely over a minute in when I realized I already wanted to see him do these more in the future. Seriously: I laughed out loud at 5:13. This man's talent for visual metaphor is superb.

I think your guest artist is a bee

This art is awesome

2:16 this imagery already puts me at great stress.

this is the first episode where I have paused the video to enjoy the drawings

fantastic guest artist.

Shoutout to Dr. Seuss for animating this episode from beyond the grave!

This artist is amazing. Truly amazed at how much action you've been able to put into still frames. The depth of emotion in each gesture.

I want to play "Call of Judy"

The art is simply delightful. Kudos!

Thanks guys! I really needed to hear this. I've been struggling a lot lately and knowing how similar my struggles are to other devs is oddly comforting.

Thank you so much for making this episode! I try to stay positive, but every now and then I have to deal with severe development fatigue. I'm glad I'm not the only one. This episode is a great reminder pick-me-up for when the going gets tough.

I love all of the little details in Joseph's art. Everything from Zombocom, to Part 3 & Knuckles had me eating the art style up.

Thanks for making me more aware of how important advertisement in forehand is. I never thought it'd be that big of a deal but it seems like it really is.

This is increasingly well timed, thank you EC (was literally making a game design doc for an assignment before watching this, Ive been up for 18+ hours now)

I love how the guest artists are starting to do their own unique intros instead of the old "waving person" that the earlier ones did.

These are great to come back to over and over. I watched this when I first started my project and I'm watching it now when I'm feeling a little overwhelm. Good videos!

Thank you for this! I just released a game about a week ago and I swear my full time job for the past month has been just talking to people and trying to spread the word about the game. It's been rough but I've managed to create at least a small group of people who are in to the game. I really feel like word of mouth is the only option for an indie, the marketing budget that would be required to compete in a standard style of marketing is just soo high. (I have found reddit ads to be useful though)

"If we didn't enjoy a good challenge, I guess we wouldn't enjoy games so much". This is exactly what I needed. Thank you

I give the art.... A Bee

Thanks really needed the tip, I was laying off game dev shifting to my recent months as a full time web developer, the language used is so different that I find it hard to get back into it on a tight schedule.

The art in this episode is FANTASTIC! Joseph is amazingly talented! Good for him, and good for you guys for collabing with him.

this is solid advice not just for game devs but for any project that has to deal with a largish audience. I know writers, artists, and even youtubers that could use giving this positive advice some serious thought. but most are so busy trying to top themselves they don't see they have lost their roots and are slowly rotting from the ground up. I love these people and I don't want to see them fall, or even worse eventually hate their craft, so I am going to share this.

Yup. That's exactly what's coming up for me. I'm working on a demo for a couple of months, using up most of my spare time for it. Welp, I hope i reach point 5 instead of 4. Only future will tell.

This guest artist has some of the most dynamic and expressive stuff ive seen. GOOD SHIT

Dabbing is the single most important part of making games. Don't know what the problem could be in that scenario.

With an eye focused on getting into the industry myself, this video is definitely an eye opener and helps to voice something that not just in game development but also in day to day life gets forgotten about. Stress can lead toward so many different problems which could be solved or alleviated by the simple act of reaching out to someone else or having someone else reach out to you. sorry if this was a bit of a rant.

The fact that your videos are great is not a surprise to me. The fact that surprises me is that you don't have over a million subscribers. I mean, how is that possible?!?!? What I'm trying to say is that you guys are fantastic! Keep up the good work!

My goodness, this artwork is incredible. There was so much movement, even though they were technically still-frames (if that makes sense). Joseph had me laughing the entire time. Thumbs up.

The art in this episode was awesome!! please tell me he's going to be a regular from now on. I have never laughed out loud as many times during EC videos as I did here. The faces were so expressive and the references were great!

Woah, I hope you pay your guest artists. This one did a bloody good job.

im studying as a game artist atm and i just found your channel. this place is AWESOME. im working on a game atm and this will come in handy when i really get into it

The art is really perfect for this topic. Over the top and insane in a way on stress can make you feel. Nice work. Also, Undertale was the perfect example for the "if your game gets to successful" bit, because Toby Fox himself has come out and said he is worried about how he'll follow it up.

Everytime toon Dan showed up, his tie flopping all over the desk was hilarious.

The guest artist did well on articulating on the talk's points. On topic, though, mental stress has been one of the biggest problems I've been facing since I started my second game. I've faced everything from Stress Point #1-4 on my first game, and #3 was uncanny. Now I'm working on the first game I'm actually mustering the gall to sell, rather than give it for free as a fan game. I have a small group following my lead, which alone is scary. The fact that they seem pretty apathetic about the project has been adding weight to the stress. I would love to reach out to peers, but you could say that my area is the opposite of the town of Eureka in terms of ambition. So, I write this out now, hoping to both seek encouragement from others that may be going through similar gauntlets and to be proof that they are not alone. Anyway, I want to thank you for this video. It's made a heavy load in my life easier to bear.

A special kudos to the guest artistry this week! I loved a bunch of your pieces here, and will probably remember that "Tripping Over Your Ego" one for my own future reference. Thank you for your work!

This does not apply just to games, but to any entertainment medium of work. It's amazing that Extra Credits gives you great guidance for more than game development 😃

Maslov did a truly fantastic job on the art on this one, really knocked it out of the park.

I totally love the artstyle in this video! Super expressive!

So much is true for software in general. Thanks for a great episode!

Joseph Maslov was a fantastic guest artist, guys. I caught myself laughing at his stills several times this episode, and the detail he had going on is super impressive for the turn around. Good job!

Joe's art style is awesome, really expressive. I would like to see it in a game or even a comic. Hope he comes back for future episodes.

This is amazing. And it came on the right time for me. My team is unmotivated and we never even started our big project, only talked about it. We made some jam games (only one truly finished) and we hope to pump up with the upcoming ludum dare. And thanks, thank you very much, EC team. This means a lot to me.

digging the art this week! well done Joe!

Good tips! I have been in the industry as a programmer for 15 year. I have spent a lot of my career worrying about the success of my games. I have learned that if I do my best to help make the project a success, then I have to let go and allow the game to have whatever success it will. If it succeeds or fails, so be it.

I write lots of small pieces of software for work and I'm amazed by how many of the pre-release stresses you mentioned here happen in my work. Thanks for the advice.

You just gotta love the hilarious crazyness of the artwork.

Could not have heard this at a better time. On the final stretch of my first game and it's literally every single point in this video has been through my mind in that order. Definitely not expecting much after all the thinking, but it's good to know we're all kinda in this together, Thanks Bro and keep up the great work :)

The guest artist did an amazing job. The style was so fun and dynamic. I would love to see him come back some time in the future.

I really needed this, right now in my life! Thank you!!

Thank you guys for this. A lot of what you said in the video can apply to pretty much any creative endeavor and it rings true. Creating any sort of content (a Podcast for example) can get really disheartening with long production times, little or no feedback, and just burning out because you don't think anyone cares. With the multitudes of things out there in your chosen area, you just have to remember why you're doing it in the first place and not lose hope. tl;dr Thanks for continuing to inspire me!

Although a lot of people before me have already said it I want to say, that your guest artist was really great :D

that's some pretty amazing art, I love Dan's overly expressive poses

How might a person become a guest artist for this series? I really like what you guys do and I do pretty good at the draw-wring~!

been binge watching a crap ton of your extra credit videos. good stuff

I love the expresive characters of the artist this week

Watched this at the perfect time. Thank you.

Wow, this video came just in time for me and my team, considering we're just on our first project. Thanks guys

Bravo Joe Here (Joseph Maslov) for such beautiful and hilarious art. Absolutely amazing and well done. And of course, great job to Daniel, James, Chris, and Carrie as usual for another great episode! I love your videos! Always learning so much.

Love love love!!!! Thank you so much for the advice. I needed to hear that.

I always love the little cute animations that go with every info-packed video, perfectly complimenting knowledge with an minimalist art style - but I feel that the art of this episode is trying to grab the most attention instead of being focused on the information. It could be my subjective dislike of the art style, but I appreciate that different artists can be showcased. If I could offer an opinion, maybe reel back on the "eye-popping" artwork and focus on an minimalist and visually clever aesthetic over a crass aesthetic.

This is phenomenal advice, and totally applies to other creative fields like Architectural Design. Boy, is it hard to kick-start a career, and every little fella around just looks so successful.

The artist just knocked it out of the park. Omg! So good!

Thanks for the tips. I'll keep all of this in mind. Also, Maslov did a wonderful job

Great stuff here, a lot of things that I like to practice myself when making games.

This video had a lot of amazing illustrations! Thanks for sharing!

You know me, I've left many comments before. I'm still going through all your vids, although sometimes I take months and months of a time out, only to come back after half a year passes..... ...but anyway, this is the VERY FIRST vid of yours, however, where I was almost distracted as much by the art than by the words. Seriously great art in this one, you should have this guy back again, many times. Hell, make him a permanent addition to your team.

Wow, Joe must have spent forever on this video: the art is amazingly expressive

Dang Joe! I love that expressive art style. :D

The multi-part illustrations were nicely executed here!

Absolutely fantastic artwork.

now this is really awesome and a great thing to focus on before taking the dive myself. I've got a long way to go before that happens however, but I'm still writing down game ideas and extensions to each idea as I go but I just need to focus on the major game development stuff too. Each and every game I play with a unique aspect gives me new ideas in how to approach certain game mechanics and what might be well received or work well with audiences.

Great episode! I liked the artwork a lot and the overall message. Good job as always Extra Credits

not that yall arent normally so awesome but the artists style this week was really cool and emotive. the faces were very cool n squish. keep up the good work yall

seriously beautiful art! Please have Joseph do another episode some time!

Loved the art in this episode, nice job Joe! 😆

These tips are pretty great for making any projects - Well done Extra Credits!

the art in this episode is top notch! please get this artist some money and hits on whatever he does!

How eerily timely, EC, I just released a game the day before yesterday to deaf ears. Thanks, some of that was nice to hear.

Really enjoyed the art in this one. Good work!

Oh yes I can agree to all of this haha. I'm happy with the result of the release of my game or at least the open beta. It was a lot of fun to work on the project and I'm already working on my next :)

Funny how you mentioned Undertale: I was incredibly hyped for that title, and thought I would have to spread the word around as much as possible so it didn't sink into obscurity. Turns out the game didn't need me XD

I love the art this week. Excellent job!

Loved the artwork on this one. Had me pausing the video a couple times just to check it out.

I'm sure I'm like the 300th person to mention it, but Mr. Maslov's art looks like it came directly out of a Dr. Seuss book. I was more enraptured than usual this week. Also that Bowser Jr. shot was so incredibly adorable, I'm going to come back on my computer (on mobile atm) to crank up the resolution and screenshot that as a background.

This guy is great. I love the illustrations!!!

I really enjoyed Joe's art! Please invite him back again!

The artwork for this episode is amazingly creative.

Thank you for this video. it was so correct. I myself are soon to release my first android game. Even though it's a smaller one. I really understood what you meant with the stress and pressure. It's hard to accomplish something new and crestive. But in the end even though when if I realese it. I can pat myself on the shoulder and say. "I made that" Although the worst stress you can ever accomplish is almost being done with your project and suddenly the enginge you're using crash. Then every time you try to open it crash again.. *shivers* been there done that

im 2 months into developing a game which i have been planning for SIXTEEN years! the burnout component of this really spoke to me. ive been getting up at 4am and not stopping till 6pm (other than a half hour for a quick shower) ive been surviving on coffee and nicotine. ive totally burned myself out and have found myself making more and more mistakes which mean im doing the development equivalent of stuttering. Anyway, ice had a few days off and its amazing how much more motivated and ready to work i feel.

Everyone is talking about the art... what about the actual video? I found this really good.

This video was amazing and this guest artist is STUPENDOUS!

Such a different art style, I like it!