PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:
Hello, I'm RM120, a solo developer, I decided to make games because I like to create stuff: I like drawing cute characters, I have fun composing music and I like learning new things like coding which I didn't know a few years ago. Solo developing is a nice way to get all those skills work along to reach a final goal, which is making a game that others can enjoy and have fun.
I made a free game called Fiend Heart (which I have plans on update in the future) on Steam and currently I'm working in a second game called Dungeon Watchers, also on Steam.
TELL US ABOUT DUNGEON WATCHERS
When I was deciding what kind of game I wanted to make next after I finished Fiend Heart, I wanted to created something related to the "destruction of dungeons and the monsters inside them", but I also wanted a setting that allow me to create more characters in the same universe of my previous game, specially because it's something I enjoy doing. After thinking and doing some personal small prototypes for myself, I realized that something similar to Vampire Survivors or Brotato would be the answer, because those kind of games allow me to create characters with different stats and so, different experiences to the player.
So, in my current project Dungeon Watchers I'm focusing in the character amount and map variety, the player chose a character and have to figure it out how to beat the game with that specific character.
HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN
My journey as a developer is nice, because I'm having fun doing many things I like, which I believe is something very important.
WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?
I use Unity, because after doing my personal research I concluded that Unity have the perfect balance between graphics and performance and C# was a very easy first coding language to learn. It's very easy to port a game to mobile and if you want to invest so money, Unity offers a nice amount of plugins with very powerful tools that allow you speed your development time.
I have interest on learning Unreal and Godot in the future just for fun, but for now I'm sticking with Unity.
WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?
Time, plain and simple. I don't have free time. As a solo developer I only have a few hours at my disposal per day to use in my project. I have to work all week, do my chores and also use some time in learning new stuff every day in order to keep expanding my skills.
At the beginning was hard, my mind fell tired and some days I was completely burn out, but I can assure you that, if you keep pushing your limits again and again, you will reach a point where you don't feel any of that and you will have the mental fortitude to keep doing this kind of task daily in order to reach your goals.
Solo developing is changing my life for good, it's challenging and rewarding.
ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?
Define the scope of your game from the beginning, don't fall on the trap of making "something along the way", following that mindset will only make one day wake up asking yourself "ok, now what?", because you lack a plan to follow, making waste time you will not recover.
And when you are deciding the scope of your game take in account how much time can you spend making the game and what skills you have, make a schedule and set weekly goals.
Being organized, a realistic scope and having a plan will make your development go smoothly. Lacking those will lead you to procrastination.
ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?
Make games with passion, games created with passion are the ones that are destined to be remembered fondly by their players. When making games think in how make the game fun for the player. Be grateful for all the people that decided to play your game and of course, have fun making them.
-RM120
❤️
