The Bottom Feeder

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

I freely admit that I do most of my writing online to get attention for our games in an immensely overcrowded industry. So let me briefly mention that we have announced the Kickstarter for our next indie RPG, Avernum 4: Greed and Glory. It's way easier to write dialogue than make intricate 3-D models. It doesn't take much.

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Writing Film Art Indy 96

The Bottom Feeder

OCTOBER 4, 2023

The Aging, Remastering Indie Dev We will be releasing Geneforge 2 - Infestation to celebrate our 30th year writing indie games for a living. That's a long time to be an indie dev, and unexplored territory in this industry. These days, we are a tiny, tiny fish in the indie gaming pool. Indie gaming is big now.

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Indy Writing Games Dev 119

Game Dev Unchained

MAY 9, 2023

From the nuances of technological advancements to the ideological tug of war between indie creators and corporate giants, the discussion spanned a variety of pertinent topics within the gaming industry. The conversation also addressed the concerns of indie developers struggling to preserve their unique vision amid growing corporate influence.

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Indy Education Educational Technology 98

Radiator Blog

MARCH 16, 2025

I'm also speaking at GDC about the difficulty of teaching level design and writing The Level Design Book , now a top search result and community resource used in multiple schools and studios. THURSDAY: I want to go to the boshi's place x Syzygy: FREE RANGE INDIE GAMES ONLY $2.99 A lot of the dev team will be hanging around GDC too.

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Education Educational Dev Demo 100

Grumpy Gamer

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

It’s hard work and probably cost me more but I love making game engines and writing compilers. I ran into a programmer at an indie meet-up and she told me this story about how another programmer at her company brought up building their own game engine. I love the power and the freedom.

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Game Engine Engineering Engine Indy 130

GamesIndustry.biz

JUNE 5, 2023

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox It's been six years since we last spoke to Square Enix Collective, the indie publishing arm of the Final Fantasy company. We've just not heard from them.

Simulation 98

Simulation Indy Fantasy Writing 98

PreMortem.Games

DECEMBER 22, 2023

Solo dev Graham Reid: “Being part of a like-minded community is really important” Young Dutch indie developer Lente is something of a free spirit. Every man and his dog has made an indie game but no one has painted a game yet. A point of interest in the indie game sea.” Having a solid, realistic plan is everything.”

Development 257

Development Dev Indy Game Developer 257

Grumpy Gamer

MAY 2, 2023

I posted this chain on Mastodon, but am reposting it here… Getting AI to write your game dialog is about the same as getting some C- high school student to do it. I do worry about how rigid unions would hamper true indie game work. At least with the later you be giving a high school student a job.

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AI Indy Writing Games 130

The Bottom Feeder

MARCH 5, 2024

Alas, I feel compelled to write about it. It's a hard thing to write about. But I have a whole lot of my own personal skin in this game, and I've been writing and speaking on this exact topic for a long time. I've Been Writing About This For a Long Time Who the hell am I anyway? And indie games! It's painful.

Indy 116

Indy Writing Games Fighting 116

Grumpy Gamer

NOVEMBER 12, 2021

It's hard work and probably cost me more but I love making game engines and writing compilers. I ran into a programmer at an indie meet-up and she told me this story about how another programmer at her company brought up building their own game engine. I love the power and the freedom.

Game Engine 100

Game Engine Engineering Engine Indy 100

Ask a Game Dev

MARCH 12, 2024

The circumstances under which the engineers do the work is different and the scope of individual contributions is different between large teams and small, but the engineers are still doing the same general thing - writing code to solve abstract problems.

AAA 69

AAA Indy Mobile Mobile 69

PreMortem.Games

APRIL 12, 2023

First time game developers Max Nielsen and João Martinez form Grenaa Games , a Sweden based indie game studio. “We One day, Dave Kosak, who helped us with some writing, suggested the idea of finding true love. We don’t take ourselves very seriously.

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Games Build Studios Shaders 185

PreMortem.Games

MARCH 29, 2024

The low-poly racing game, developed by Polish indie developer Pixel Perfect Dude , feels like a love letter to the PlayStation 1 era of rally games, where you could actually name the top drivers and the cars they drove. “Ah Ah yes those co-pilots!” “We

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Pixel Racing Terrain Asset 156

Brand Game Development

JANUARY 29, 2018

Why writing rules is different than other kinds of writing How to structure a rule book Making rule books clear and concise Your player’s first experience and your rule book Dealing with rule book skimmers Parting advice. Brandon: Both in consulting and in creating books, you’ve done quite a bit of writing.

Writing 130

Writing Games Mechanics Balance 130

The Bottom Feeder

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

Fortunately, Steam has provided one good way for indies with hustle to get a little bonus visibility: Steam Next Fest! It's a biannual event where indie developers can make demos of their games available for a week. Our next indie RPG, Geneforge 2 - Infestation , is coming out March 27, 2024. Great strategy for an indie.

Indy 110

Indy Demo Games Balance 110

Yobob Games

OCTOBER 23, 2020

Harvest Island Indie Game Marketing Struggle. Indie Game Analysis. ” There are two games that caught my attention as an indie developer. I’ll start with the first tree and what he did to become a successful indie developer with his marketing approach. The First Tree - Indie Game Marketing.

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Indy Demo Games Media 52

PreMortem.Games

MAY 12, 2023

One thing that has become clear is that the key to survival as an indie artist is to focus on creating valuable intellectual property that is hard to reproduce. Why do fantasy authors write series consisting of many books? This strategy works at any scale, and it is critical for indie devs to develop their own IP that is hard to copy.

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Art AI Indy Games 104

The Bottom Feeder

MARCH 27, 2024

We have just released Geneforge 2 - Infestation , our newest indie RPG, for Windows and Mac! We predated the indie game boom by a long time. In the old days, to make the economics of the business work, we had to write games fast. Subscribe now Our newest indie role-playing epic, Geneforge 2 - Infestation , is now out!

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Indy Writing Content Internet 119

PreMortem.Games

JULY 1, 2024

Now, with the follow-up, Nirvana Noir , the New York-based indie studio Feral Cat Den is crafting audio-visual poetry in motion. Previous to making their own indie games, the studio’s background was in advertising and product design. Their first game, Genesis Noir, was already a moving work of art.

Art 138

Art Graphics Games Puzzle 138

PreMortem.Games

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Yet, for indie dev Almar, it offered an escape from the corporate rat race he felt trapped in. So, almost two years ago I decided to fully embrace the indie path and became a solodev.” Then I write down everything I consider relevant into spreadsheets to compare them all. What are the biggest advantages of working solo?

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Dev Playtesting Art Games 160

PreMortem.Games

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

The indie studio was founded in 2022 by Kostia Liakhov , Game Director and Head of Art, and Samantha (Sam) Cable , Game Director and Head of Narrative. ” Inspired by the rising issue of pet abandonment, Cable wanted to write a script that demonstrates the complex and nuanced world of cat ownership. .

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Advertising Writing Film Scripting 118

PreMortem.Games

MAY 15, 2024

French indie studio Seed by Seed appreciates the importance of players’ time. After that, everyone is the boss of their own part of work, whether it’s design, art, writing, coding etc. With Baladins we want to show that the RPG scene can be welcoming for everyone and that we can imagine new ways to write fantasy.

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Co-op Fantasy Writing Studios 129

Game Wisdom

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

We spoke about adventure game design and writing along with the challenges of … The post Adventure Game Design With Krunchy Fried Games appeared first on Game Wisdom.

Game Design 52

Game Design Game Designer Games Writing 52

PreMortem.Games

AUGUST 1, 2023

Well known indie dev ( Vlambeer ) Rami Ismail developed a ready-made pitch template , with the help of several indie studios of all sizes, and professionals working at two dozen publishers. These are good primers to keep in mind as you’re writing your pitch and can generally help you understand the process of pitching.

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Point and Click Dev Indy Writing 104

Deconstructor of Fun

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

When Ahmetcan isn’t busy crafting and designing killer features, you’ll find him exploring Berlin's vibrant tech scene or writing for Deconstructor of Fun in one of the hipster cafes of the city. With a knack for puzzles, arcades, and simulation games.

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Feature Art Mechanics Balance 98

Brand Game Development

DECEMBER 9, 2019

I was literally turning 26 when I somehow got the idea in mind that I needed to either write a book or invent something to help pay for business school. So I started writing a book on how to fail well. Anyway, I started writing a book on how to fail well and then I thought… having barely gotten into the book, “I need to fail more.

Retail 130

Retail Games Writing Indy 130

Keith Burgun

DECEMBER 26, 2024

Here’s the trailer: 13 days ago (from the time of this writing) I started on this game. The elevator pitch is more or less, what if Vampire Survivors was way more physics-y and zany, and only took 10 minutes to play instead of 30? Since then, I’ve been doing 10-11 hour days every day and making incredible progress.

Bug 52

Bug Writing Games Indy 52

PreMortem.Games

MARCH 1, 2024

Regarding the designing of traits, story elements, characters, mission objectives and dialogue writing, I took on most of that. For me personally it spread me too thin across Art, SFX, Designs, Visual Scripting, Writing and Marketing Material. The indie duo feels relieved and a little bit anxious.

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Studios Prototyping Visual Scripting Art 104

PreMortem.Games

JULY 8, 2024

Today, his award-winning studio, just a year old, has been a part of the prestigious Google Indie Games Accelerator and the Creation Africa Program. On his artistic side, Sithlu recalls writing little stories and poems in the back of his notepads but didn’t show them to people until one day in grade 10. “A I have around 160 poems now.

Studios 129

Studios Education Educational Point and Click 129

PreMortem.Games

JULY 26, 2024

I’ve done some indie filmmaking which I then thought was the most ridiculous amount of work any one person could ever do. It may start as a feature to ‘walk through’ the design, where that documentation is immediately obsolete as I write it. But that usually goes up and down, and you can expect to not work every weekend.

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Dev Development Build Game Developer 145

Grumpy Gamer

JANUARY 11, 2018

There used to be posts here - “excerpts” from a novel you have not been writing. And better yet, write more of those? Those were part of a daily writing exercise I used to do in the mornings. I would sit down with a pad and paper and just start writing, never pausing and never thinking about any direction.

Point and Click 130

Point and Click Writing Build Dev 130

PreMortem.Games

MARCH 1, 2023

Truth is, that conversation was over 10 years ago and Harold Halibut is still in development by the German indie team Slow Bros. Then we took one summer to write a big outline and collect and sort all the individual pieces of information we had come up with up until that point. And who knows, one day it might be.

Build 104

Build Writing Film Prop 104

The Bottom Feeder

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Our tiny company has been earning (well, "earning") a good living making indie computer games for 27 years now. We write super-retro, super-low-budget games that don't look great. The answer is: Writing. If I was, I'd be writing books nobody buys because nobody buys books anymore. A really solid story in an indie game.

Writing 60

Writing Games AAA Indy 60

Brand Game Development

MARCH 16, 2020

Crowdfunding is more popular than it has ever been before, which is great because this is one of the most popular ways to produce indie board games. Of course, at the same time, indie board games are getting a lot better. That may sound icky, but don’t simply write off the traditional publishing route.

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Games Quality Assurance Art Game Developer 130

The Bottom Feeder

APRIL 9, 2024

It is basically 5E D&D, but an indie game, and it's a lot of fun and a big success. Sometimes, when I'm writing a game, I start acting like a hardass and tacking on difficulty. Just as writing is almost always improved by editing it down, just about any game system can be improved by chopping out a few rules.

Writing 105

Writing Fantasy Editing Indy 105

PreMortem.Games

MAY 21, 2024

First time game developers Max Nielsen and João Martinez form Grenaa Games , a Sweden based indie game studio. “We One day, Dave Kosak, who helped us with some writing, suggested the idea of finding true love. We don’t take ourselves very seriously.

Games 104

Games Build Studios Shaders 104

PreMortem.Games

JULY 29, 2024

Oscar Salandin , known as Peculiar Pixels, received a major validation for his debut game, BOTSU Ridiculous Robots , by being named the Overall Winner at the Develop Indie Showcase Awards 2024. Some had worked on AAA games I’d played, released indie games, or previously ran companies in games. Writing things down helps too.”

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Dev Development Sandbox Indy 138