Defining Scope Creep Scope creep refers to the tendency for the scope of a project to grow beyond what was originally defined and agreed upon. It is a common phenomenon in game development, as new ideas emerge and stakeholders request additional features during the development process. Uncontrolled scope creep can severely impact budgets, schedules, and…
Getting Attention for Your Indie Game on a Budget As an indie game developer with limited funding, attracting attention and building hype for your game can be challenging. Implementing low-cost marketing strategies across social media, advertising, press coverage, word of mouth campaigns, and data analysis are key for indie developers seeking to maximize promotional impact…
Establishing Art Direction Early On Setting clear visual style goals and benchmarks early in development is crucial for indie teams operating on tight budgets and schedules. Concept art and style guides created at the start of the project help align the team on the intended aesthetic and serve as a north star when making decisions…
Developing games with a remote team introduces unique challenges for collaboration and coordination. Choosing the right set of platforms and tools is essential to enable team members to effectively work together on game projects, no matter where they are located. The game development workflow relies on constant communication, asset sharing, source code versioning, testing automation,…
Finding Revenue Streams Beyond Pure Sales Selling indie games in a crowded marketplace can be challenging. With thousands of new games launching each month on platforms like Steam, the Google Play Store, and the iOS App Store, standing out among the competition is difficult. This flood of new titles means consumers have more choices than…
The aspect ratio challenge As screen resolutions and aspect ratios proliferate across devices, supporting a diversity of aspect ratios poses increasing challenges for game developers. From widescreen desktop monitors to square mobile screens, catering to different playback geometries is crucial for providing quality experiences. This article explores common aspect ratios, techniques for handling multiple aspect…
Understanding Screen Size Differences There is a wide variety of popular mobile and desktop devices on the market with different display dimensions and resolutions. Smartphones range from compact 5-inch screens to larger phablet and tablet sizes approaching 10 inches diagonal. On desktop, monitor resolutions span from 720p HD to 4K UHD and beyond. Display shapes…
The Resolution Dilemma Game developers today face an increasing variety of screen resolutions and aspect ratios to account for during development. With mobile devices, tablets, laptops, and desktop PCs all running games with different display capabilities, designing games that adapt across all platforms poses challenges. Responsive design techniques that dynamically adapt layouts and assets are…
Ensuring Cross-Platform Visual Consistency in MonoGame Supporting a wide variety of display resolutions and aspect ratios is a key challenge when developing games for multiple platforms with MonoGame. A game that looks and feels consistent regardless of the device it is running on is crucial for user engagement and satisfaction. The challenge of supporting multiple…
Why Migrate from Centralized to Distributed Version Control Centralized version control systems have been a mainstay for developers for many years. However, distributed version control systems (DVCS) have many advantages that make migrating from a centralized system worthwhile for indie developers: Reduce Risks from Single Point of Failure Centralized version control repositories have a single…