Coming out of 2015 we have seen quite a large number of independent games do quite well just last year alone. 2015 had the likes of Rocket League, Undertale, Her Story, and Life is Strange. All four games were huge hits that introduced fantastic new ideas to games in creative ways with Rocket League and Undertale taking the year by storm in popularity and discussions. Now I know that none of the above games came out in 2015 but they are also a homage to the massive success of some well crafted games by small independent teams in previous years. While Rocket League and Life is Strange are pushing it a little for the "indie" title as they had quite large teams with rather large budgets, but Undertale was made by a single person and Her Story a rather small team and both were quite successful (and good). Following the 1980s when most games seemed like they could be made by a single person or a small team and with the advent of 3D games the development cycle seemed to shift much more towards large budgets and AAA games which sold huge numbers of copies. This was especially true in the early and mid 2000s. But recently there has been quite a resurgence in independent game makers, and for good reason. The above image was made in Unreal Engine 4, a video game engine that is free to use (you just have to pay a percentage of your profits to them if you sell the product of the engine). With the release of engines like this, and Amazon's game engine which is now in the beta phase and will also be free to use, it is easier than ever to hop right into the actual art, sound, and design aka "game-making". Making a game engine is very taxing , time consuming, and requires a lot of know-how. Now everyone has access to some that have the potential for "Next-Gen" graphics. No, even with these engines independent games are not likely to look as good as AAA games which have much bigger art and design teams but with how good modern graphics have gotten the downgrade for indie games hardly ruins the experience like it might have in the past. Never before have AAA games and independent games been on such even footing for graphics and game development capabilities.
Thus, with all of this information it is clear that anyone who has a good idea for a game, takes the time to learn how to program a little, and works hard can make an excellent game. So if you have always dreamed about making one of your own, what are you waiting for?
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NicI'll write about science, philosophy, shows and video games. The first two frequently in regards to the latter two. Archives
March 2016
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