Article: The Rise and Fall of the Lone Game Developer

[KevinWorkman]

@princec

What we don’t hear about is the other 999 games that barely made a bean. The ratio is better or worse in some markets, but the basic principle is the same: we hear all the time about the successes. Try and tell someone about a failure and… well, that’s not so interesting (and thus the cycle of failure continues).

This was exactly my problem with Indie Game the Movie. At the end I was like “okay but what about the 1000 other people whose games failed?”

[princec]

I really, really don’t think it’s easier to get into programming at all. You don’t just turn it on and there it is, ready to do stuff. Indeed Apple’s iOS stuff is very cleverly locked down to make it as irritating as possible to start programming it (which is one reason I haven’t). Doing anything on Linux usually involves hair loss. I haven’t a clue where to even begin at doing “modern” web development.

What we need is something that more or less fills the hole left by the C64 and Spectrum. Then truly anyone might be interested in learning to code without distractions. I can’t see most 10 year olds having the patience to sit down and learn for a week from a website just to get Hello World.

Cas

[princec]

@KevinWorkman

@princec

What we don’t hear about is the other 999 games that barely made a bean. The ratio is better or worse in some markets, but the basic principle is the same: we hear all the time about the successes. Try and tell someone about a failure and… well, that’s not so interesting (and thus the cycle of failure continues).

This was exactly my problem with Indie Game the Movie. At the end I was like “okay but what about the 1000 other people whose games failed?”

IGtM was a giant circlejerk. But we digress.

Cas

[KevinWorkman]

@princec

I really, really don’t think it’s easier to get into programming at all. You don’t just turn it on and there it is, ready to do stuff.

I would argue that that’s exactly what Code.org’s goal is. Check out their tutorial page: http://code.org/learn

That’s filled with different ways for kids to start programming games (like Flappy Bird or Angry Birds… what’s with all the bird games), start programming for iPhone (in ways that “just work” without any setup), etc.

Sure, this isn’t aimed at people like us, and it’s not aimed at making the next blockbuster indie game. It’s aimed at the absolute basics, getting kids thinking in terms of programming, preparing them for the next step. That’s the part that I’m saying is easier- the “starting out” part.

And that translates into being more prepared for the next step, actually sitting down and writing real code. Now people won’t go into it blind and hit “the wall” that causes so many novices to quit their first programming class. So, in a way, even getting into the “higher levels” of programming are made easier through initiatives like this.

This is just starting out, so I guess we can debate the effectiveness of all of this, but I’m pretty excited to see where we go in the next few years.

[LiquidNitrogen]

On the subject of programming on smart phones, I found a basic interpreter for android. You can just download it and start coding without any hassle. Well, that is, besides the fact that trying to type code on a phone is a major hassle!

[princec]

@LiquidNitrogen

On the subject of programming on smart phones, I found a basic interpreter for android. You can just download it and start coding without any hassle. Well, that is, besides the fact that trying to type code on a phone is a major hassle!

Well… quite. It’s just not the same thing.

Gimme an ARM device with a keyboard that plugs into the telly and boots into BASIC.

Cas