PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
Hi, I'm Xan, the solo dev behind Casual Garage Coder. I'm doing part-time gamedev and part-time senior dev in a company totally not related to games.
I've been into coding for more than three decades now, starting by making videogames in my youth. But life hazards drove me away from that path and I've been working in industrial data processing for more than 2 decades.
After a while, I've decided to take some time to dive in the gamedev adventure once again.
TELL US ABOUT JUMP 'N' BRAWL.
I've released Jump'n'Brawl in october 2023. It is a mix of brawling and platforming game, in local versus, up to 4 players.
This game is, in fact, an accident. It began as a proof of concept to determine which game engine I could use, and one thing bringing another, the proof of concept made it to a simple small game.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
As I've progressed through my journey, I iteratively added features upon features, replaced my placeholder programmer arts with astonishing paid assets from http://itch.io. I've made sound effects using "handcrafted" sounds recorded live with my Zoom H2N. The other sounds have been done using the modular engine of Tsugi's GameSynth. Finally, I've composed and recorded the soundtrack with live guitars and a midi drumkit, on a corner of my couch, at night, when everybody was sleeping (haha).
Finally, I wanted to experiment with translation. I've learned that using online tools, even good ones, was not enough. So I've contracted the Warlocs to do so. It was an amazing experience as the translators not only take care of simply put your content in another language, but especially take care of the coherence and the quality of the final product.
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
I was looking for a game engine to quickly prototype a simple game. And I've stumbled across Godot (version 3.2 back then). At first, I was seduced by the FOSS aspect of it, and then, the simplicity of use finished to convinced me.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
The coding phase has been quite well actually, except for the time management. Having a very demanding 9-to-5 and a family leaves very few time for the rest. As many, I've sacrificed my nights and good life hygiene, and It has taking toll. It still is ... And I won't recommend this to anyone.
The marketing phase, however, was my big failure. You can make the best game in the world, if you fail to communicate about it, nobody will notice, leading to a poor whishlist, and then poor sales.
Publishing the game was quite a challenge at first. To commercialize a game, one has to comply to certain rules (creating a company, deep dive in admninistrative tasks - accounting, taxes and so on.).
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
As a solodev, i'd say : Persevere ! Making a game is one hell of a difficult task. It's ok to fail, it's ok to doubt, but in the end, it's really worth it. Iterate, tackle your failures constructively, without resentment.
One of the keys to success is to be organized. At one moment, you'll need to take a break, to step back in order to appreciate the big picture, and it will be vital for you to be able to come back to your project(s) and to know exactly what is the status and what need to be adressed. There's nothing more discouraging to go back to your own project and be lost in it.
Still as a solodev, I'd also urge to get surrounded by other gamedev, in a "safe space". I've been blessed with being part of the Godot community at first, but then, I've discovered the Indieverse community, gathering actors of the indie scene - devs, artists, publishers, voice actors, streamers, etc. - and that has been a very big plus.
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Having been through the whole process (as I've published my first game on Steam), It has been quite a bumpy ride but a very rich journey. I've built a network of very interesting and supporting persons, for most I'm considering being friends now. Retrospectively, I'm more than happy to have achieved all of this and even if my game is not a success at all (for many reasons), it was very rewarding.
-Xan
❤️
