When I was 6 years old, my goal in life was to move to Japan and work for Nintendo. Possibly the idea of marrying Princess Toadstool was somewhere in there, but that was the idea.
When I was 20, I actually had a chance to work on MechWarrior 3. After the interview process, I decided to run very, very far away and to never consider it.
I'm 30 now, and actually have been working on a game for the better part of 8 months. My mindset is that it's a hobby that has a small chance of making enough money to live on, but I've set things up to ensure I can actually dedicate real amounts of time to it periodically. Rather that quit my day job, I moved into the consulting business (thanks to folks like patio11) to provide a financial runway for what I would prefer doing (making video games). Right now the balance is 7 months full-time consulting, 5 months making video games. However, (again, thanks to patio) I know I'm undercharging and as I'm able to raise my rate that will shift more to 5/7 or 4/8 over the next 18 months. I already have customers waiting in the pipeline that are willing to pay the new rate as soon as I'm available.
Oddly enough, my current customer is a AAA video game studio, and I've a few friends in the industry as well (also mostly at AAA studios). Personally I couldn't deal with the idea of surrendering so much creative input. There's also the fact that they literally can't pay me enough to work there. I will say that by and large the industry is filled with a tremendously nice group of passionate folks, but I "wouldn't want to live there".
It's a fickle market though, which is why I decided to mitigate the financial risk of financially unsuccessful projects by funding it with a consulting day job. The consulting affords the video game making. For me, the financial risk would've been real. I'm developing on a platform that's not taken seriously, with an art style that might put off hardcores, but with hardcore gameplay and a simple monetization strategy (you buy the app. There'll be some expansion packs, but that's it) and no IAP currency nonsense. Things a normal studio would never dare try.
Awesome stuff. I'm actually in exactly the same position on you - been making a game part time and funding it with contracting work.
Agreed on the fickle idea, as well as trying gameplay that a normal studio would never touch as it's not been proven. All I can say is keep up the effort - if its enjoyable and interesting then it will succeed. Looking forward to seeing the completed product, and I wish me, you and everyone else pushing out interesting Indi games massive luck!
When I was 20, I actually had a chance to work on MechWarrior 3. After the interview process, I decided to run very, very far away and to never consider it.
I'm 30 now, and actually have been working on a game for the better part of 8 months. My mindset is that it's a hobby that has a small chance of making enough money to live on, but I've set things up to ensure I can actually dedicate real amounts of time to it periodically. Rather that quit my day job, I moved into the consulting business (thanks to folks like patio11) to provide a financial runway for what I would prefer doing (making video games). Right now the balance is 7 months full-time consulting, 5 months making video games. However, (again, thanks to patio) I know I'm undercharging and as I'm able to raise my rate that will shift more to 5/7 or 4/8 over the next 18 months. I already have customers waiting in the pipeline that are willing to pay the new rate as soon as I'm available.
Oddly enough, my current customer is a AAA video game studio, and I've a few friends in the industry as well (also mostly at AAA studios). Personally I couldn't deal with the idea of surrendering so much creative input. There's also the fact that they literally can't pay me enough to work there. I will say that by and large the industry is filled with a tremendously nice group of passionate folks, but I "wouldn't want to live there".
It's a fickle market though, which is why I decided to mitigate the financial risk of financially unsuccessful projects by funding it with a consulting day job. The consulting affords the video game making. For me, the financial risk would've been real. I'm developing on a platform that's not taken seriously, with an art style that might put off hardcores, but with hardcore gameplay and a simple monetization strategy (you buy the app. There'll be some expansion packs, but that's it) and no IAP currency nonsense. Things a normal studio would never dare try.