The not so Solo Independent Game Developer

For years, several friends and I attempted to make a game together, and for years we were unable to coordinate. The talent was there, the ideas were there, but the organization and structure never came about and it failed every time. The last attempt really looked promising, but with both of us going back to school and living 80 miles apart, the project sunk un-noticed into the mire. On a side note, even though the project failed to appear, I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent on the project and learned a lot about game engine code.

When I was facing a solo hobby, I was feeling a bit lonely. I had no doubt I could have done it with help, but now it was all on me, or was it? As I began to do more research on the industry as a whole I began to find that I was only as alone as I wanted to be. There are endless forums and blogs, many of them wanting to share their findings with others to help build and structure a strong community. I found myself quickly getting sucked in to a small bit of the community at Rampant Games where I try to add my little contributions here and there, and learning a lot more than I am teaching.

If you are just getting into the independent game development community I strongly encourage you to get started here. There is a lot of knowledge stashed away in that blog with links to even more blogs and small communities. Solo game development may seem a little intimidating at first, but don't kid yourself, you are not alone. :-)