Message for Indonesian Indie Game Developers

Starting to develop games from scratch is not an easy struggle, especially if you are not a developer with a big budget or a large team. In recent years Indonesian indie developers have been trying to create and release their own games, but let’s be honest, the successes and the good ones can be counted on the fingers.

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I’m not a developer, so it might not be natural for me to talk at length and advise developers. But I have started gaming from an age where I can’t read at all. I have played thousands of good games and bad games, so indirectly many things give me perspective on what makes a game good to play or not. And learning from the many struggle stories of indie developers that already exist now, I can pick up important points for Indonesian developers out there to learn.

I’m not forcing you to do what we’re told here and you’re free to do what you want with your game. But this is the opinion I want to convey with the popularity of Indo gamers who are trying to make their own games.

Don’t get hung up on what’s mainstream and viral right now

To follow the themes and genres that are currently popular in the market is indeed too tempting because designing something that is currently popular is indeed much easier than spending time creating your own unique design. But if you really care about what you make, and really want the project you create to have its own value, try to develop something new and unique.

Let’s take an example of the most successful indie game in the world today, namely Minecraft. Mark”NotchPersson first made Minecraft by himself. This game offers simplistic but complex sandbox gameplay and invites you to be creative by building anything from the collection of blocks provided by the game. Sandbox is not a new genre, but Minecraft introduced a unique and different gameplay concept compared to most games released at that time, this different but interesting gameplay attracted a lot of public attention and was successful as it is today.

Minecraft may not be special anymore if you look at it today and maybe you underestimate the game for its popularity now. But the success of Notch is clear evidence that a unique idea can always attract people’s attention as long as it is executed perfectly. You can be the next Notch with your own ideas, and ideas don’t just come out of nowhere.

If you really have to “take” other game inspiration, give it a unique twist

Yes, finding new gameplay concepts is indeed difficult, and we also know how painful it is. If you’re forced to stick to what’s popular like DayZ-style survival games, give it a unique twist that can set your game apart from the games you inspired.

Dreadout, the Indonesian horror game made by Digital Happiness may look too familiar with the horror game from Koie Tecmo – Fatal Frames. Both games focus on exploring scary areas, both games have a beautiful girl as the main character, and both games use the camera as the main gameplay mechanic. But Dreadout has its own twist that makes this game unique.

Yes, in general what really differs from the two games is the setting and the type of supernatural creatures, but the change from Japanese demons to local demons gives this game an atmosphere that is much different from most of the horror games we usually get and that’s enough. Maybe your game will still be called knock-off than other games, as long as the game offers a different and good gaming experience, who cares?

Find your own unique artstyle

Whatever engine you use for your game, try to find your own artstyle. Taking the example of Minecraft, one might think “What is this, this blocky game?” But another aspect that makes people so familiar with Minecraft is because of its distinctive visuals. The same thing happened to games like Hotline Miami, the games looked like old-school 16-bit games, but their use of colors and artstyles was too much. stylish so that people know the game just by looking at the picture.

The latest example that we should mention is a game made in Indonesia entitled – Legrand Legacy. After viewing the latest store page of this game, we mind blowing. The game looks beautiful with an artstyle like a mix of Fire Emblem, a JRPG game from the Squaresoft era and also somehow reminds me a bit of a CRPG game from Obsidian Entertainment.

As an indie developer, it’s unlikely that your game will be known by others if you don’t have your own unique visuals. And it will be even worse if you… only with engine default assets.

Don’t get hung up on the engine’s default assets

The hardest part of game development is building your own assets. If you only have assets from the default engine, sorry, you will be stuck in the development at any time and your game will most likely be seen. bland as f*ck.

Again, we know how difficult it is to make a game. But don’t force yourself to be Rise of Nu****** 2.0 Yesterday, most of them used Cry Engine’s default assets, overhyped by social media because they didn’t know it was mostly taken from engine’s default assets, then disappeared from the sight of the earth.

Turning criticism into lessons or even inspiration

If you share your game with the world, it’s impossible for 100% of the people in the world to be satisfied with your results, so get used to the criticism. You won’t always be flooded with sweet reviews, there must be at least one that is hotly criticized from A to Z about your game. Take these criticisms as a note for you and don’t let these criticisms discourage you to cancel continuing game development.

As an inspiration story, developer Five Nights at Freddy’s – Scott Cawthon, did not just come up with the idea of the horror game and it was an instant success. He previously made a game called Chipper and Sons Lumber Co. The game was heavily criticized by many people because the characters in the game look like animatronic robots. Scott took the criticism positively and turned it into an idea for the next game which is now a huge success to the point that there are 4 sequels, 1 spinoff and 1 film adaptation in the works. If you can take criticism well, who knows you may become the next Scott.

If you really mean it, ganbatte!

If it’s the intention to develop the game, then keep going, don’t give up. Of course, there is a problem with your progress, but that’s the difficulty of being a game developer. Taking a story from a few days ago from StudioMHDR, the developer of Cuphead, they are willing to stop working and pawn the house just for their first game project.

If you really care about your game, anything you can do, and as long as you are brave and can be creative yourself, your game can become game of the year or become a timeless classic.

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