@ZackBellGames

Zack Bell

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Wow Thank you for the answer. It really blew me away. I guess i wasnt being real with myself. Putting it on perspective answering its sad. 1)A shooter 2)No 3)No, didnt even know i should 4)No following 5)Making a game in unity 6)No 7)No Thanks for the reality check. I guess my parents are right

Equally impressed that you replied (assuming this is legitimately the same person)! That being said, let's go over all of this!
1) Cool! Is there anything unique about it? Could be anything from a mechanic, to a visual style, to a plot point. Think "remarkable". What makes your shooter worth talking about in a sea of other shooters.
2) If you need advice with PR/marketing, shoot me an email! For now, here is a talk and slides that Ale Hitti and I gave to DigiPen students: https://alejandrohitti.com/2015/07/03/how-to-get-your-game-noticed/
3) Again, email me if you need specifics. It shouldn't be too difficult to setup an LLC in your area, but you will need a bank account tied to a business entity in order to distribute your game via Steam.
4) I have yet to write an article about gaining a larger audience, but I'll get on that. Email me, for the time being.
5/6/7) Unity is great and may bypass *some* of your devkit needs. I will look into specifics if you have any further questions.
The reality of things is that you may not be prepared, but that doesn't mean that you couldn't be better off, relatively soon. Good luck!

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So :/. Im currently working on a pretty big project that i plan to release on steam, xbox or ps4 and it takes time. And my parents literally b*tch all day that im wasting my time, that i should get a job, which irritates me because im good at what i do and they think might think im all day wanking

Be realistic. What is your game? Outside of development, do you know how to handle the PR and marketing aspects of releasing your game? Do you know what it takes to open up a company and provide company banking and tax information for Valve? Can you look at market research, the span of your audience/following, and actually guarantee that this product will make you a decent living wage? What does "xbox or ps4" mean? Do you have access to devkits for both/either? If not, can you afford them?
If you answered no to any of these questions, your parents are likely correct. If your business is being affected by your parents, you are likely too young to manage a successful business. Development is just the tip of the iceberg.
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Liked by: Roland M

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is there anything that fans/followers do that bothers you? i feel guilty asking lots of questions.

I'll start with that second part, because it's a much shorter answer. Please don't hesitate to ask me as many gamedev/business questions as you want. That curiosity is what will keep you afloat in this industry for years to come. Ask me here, email me if it's personal, write me a letter and deliver it by owl if you want to impress. Whatever, really.
Ok, onto poor fan/follower etiquette:
1) Publicly requesting a shout-out, RT, follow, etc. In most cases, I would be happy to support you, but please keep that sort of thing private. I may have a polite reason that I'm ignoring you, but I'm not going to say it back, publicly either.
2) Trying to show off or show me up. I try to remain humble in work and in life. Hell, I use Game Maker to make commercial 2D games and I dropped out of college. It really does not impress me that you condensed my collision tutorial code by a few lines. In this industry it is important to see all of your peers as potential employees, bosses, and teachers. You know something that I don't know, and I know something that you don't know. If you want to impress me, make a game that is remarkable. Then I will literally be giving you my money and my respect, <3.
3) Asking to create with Spaceboy if you have yet to create on your own. This is my number one rule and recommendation for new developers. If you aren't the type of person who would pour yourself into a project for fun, then you certainly aren't going to do it for me or anyone else. Your project is going to conjure up a version of you whom is completely inspired. As you lose control over your work, your motivation will drop. If you don't create for yourself, you cannot create for others.
tl;dr -> Make games and don't worry about looking cool. I'm super uncool. Join me. Or something.

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Liked by: Brandon Duncan

what makes a successful indie game?

A successful indie game is a remarkable experience. Remarkable doesn't necessarily mean unique and it doesn't necessarily mean that it is the prettiest or even the most fun. Remarkable simply means that it is worth talking about.
Undertale is remarkable because it is incredibly unique. Super Meat Boy is remarkable due to its gameplay and level design quality. Meat Boy doesn't need to be unique in order to be remarkable. To some, it does Mario even better than Mario. That's worth talking about. Undertale doesn't need to be the most action-packed RPG because you'll be crying by the time the credits roll. That's worth talking about.
INK isn't as good as Super Meat Boy, but it still sold far more copies than I had anticipated. People who played it told other people that they had played it. Some enjoyed the aesthetic, some talked about the sound design, and some loved the fact that I was open about sharing the source code.
Look at the way that you tell people about your game. Are you excited and confident when pitching it to people? Are people sharing what you tell them with other people? How about without you asking? How about non-friends/colleagues? If not, why not?
There are an unlimited number of ways to be remarkable and that's why independent game development is possible for so many people. If you can't be unique, just do something better. If you can't do it better, do something unusual. Be worth talking about.

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Its prob a dumb question, but its people allowed to use the code of your tutorials (like SPRITE SKEWING FOR PROCEDURAL ANIMATION) or the code from your Assets in GM Market in commerial games? I learned a lot with those tutorials/examples and i took some elements from those. Is that ok? :c

Yeah, go for it! Feel free to shoot me a link if you make something cool :)

Those new avatars look like stickers! Will you be selling those?

That's kinda under wraps, at the moment. Mym and I haven't discussed any for-profit merch prior to next year's GDC/PAX East. If we have anything at PAX West, it'll just be free stuff that I'll have on me. Come find me ;)
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Liked by: Myriame Pilgrim

Do you think Fara will be a stand-alone product or a long-running thing?

Hmm, I probably shouldn't say much regarding this since nothing is set in stone beyond releasing Fara & The Eye of Darkness... But the team has at least discussed the possibility of creating other games or other products (comics, animations, etc) within Fara's world.
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Liked by: Myriame Pilgrim

You seem extra excited about something! More game projects? Cute girls?! Pokemon Go?!?!

Haha, honestly, all of the above. Aside from a few minor hiccups, it has been one hell of a month.

Yo Zack. How's life homie? Hope you feelin' lovely :)

I am feeling lovely! Thanks for asking :D Aside from being a bit hectic on the work side of things, I'm super happy right now. I really, really enjoy the group of people that I talk to and hang with recently. Unusually supportive and easy-going. Work is great, too!
Hope you're doing well! <3

Describe a day on the job (sorry, not exactly a Q).

My schedule has been fucked lately, but I'll give this a shot. I have been waking up around noon to 1:00PM. I'll check the Spaceboy Slack group and see what the team thought of my work from the night before and/or responses to any questions that I may have left for them (we work across many timezones). Every alternating day I will drive to the gym next. I will do about 90 minutes of powerlifting and then shower and all of that before starting work. If it is a weekend, I may work a bit less. Other than stopping for food and talking with the team throughout the day, I pretty much just work, plan future work, or tinker with other gamedev stuff (write a blog entry, read a programming article, etc). Lately I have been going to bed around 8:00-9:00AM.

Are you romantic? Why or why not?

It would probably be better to ask a gf? I would say yes. I have a bit of idealist in me, I think. A lot of what we think of as "romance" stems from that. A need to impress or inspire; to create something that is unique or special for someone that interests you.
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Liked by: Myriame Pilgrim

Have you learned anything new lately? #gamedev related?

Of course! I try to spend at least *some* amount of time on learning, at least once per week. Good programmers have this curiousity that cannot be satisfied. The last few weeks has mostly been shader stuff. I feel like I'm really starting to comprehend what shaders are capable and how to approach complex shader programming problems. A month or two ago, I had a grasp on the syntax and sorta what was going on, but it was also a lot of tedious trial and error. I am much more comfortable now :)
Keep a journal and write down things you have learned each work. You should always strive for personal growth :)

did you stop selling INK on the GM market place? I wanted to learn some things throught it's source code! (was digging your blog and found out about that haha)

email me and I'll send you a copy.
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Liked by: John

Sup duderino. How's life going? The world is getting crazier by the second :/ Hope you're doing well, take care

Life is great right now! Thanks for checking up; I appreciate it. This week will be big for Spaceboy Games and the personal life is going swell. :)
This hasn't been the best week for humanity, as a whole. It has been really hard seeing how Brexit has affected a ton of my friends, it has been incredibly disappointing to see how the US continues to spread racism and hate, and the murders of several Dallas officers made me sick. It was one hell of a week. I also had a friend pass away due to drug overdose. Regardless, I remain hopeful for 2016, and I really really hope that you can be, too.
When things get difficult, feel free to email me and chat. This goes for anyone who stumbles upon this <3

What's up dood. It's there a project on the back of your mind at the moment, A project that you might want to make when you get a little frustrated with Fara

Of course! I think this happens for all of us. Especially the programmer/designer type. There are going to be days where you hate what you're working on. Maybe you don't enjoy coding menus, or level design has become tedious. We always have other games floating around. Spaceboy has four games on the shelf.

what's poly about?

That is one hell of a loaded question. I don't think Ask.fm gives me enough room to fully answer this question. Maybe email me, if you're interested? In short, it's a practice where partners openly date two or more people, simultaneously.

Is that really your workspace? Dont you have a desk of some sort? That looks uncomfortable and an unproductive enviroment

For the most part, I work in a different space every day.

What are ya workin on?

Tonight? Tonight I did some menu work. A bunch of menu stuff in a setting that I'm unfamiliar with. It was somewhat fun/interesting. A bunch of by-hand vertex drawing so that I could drag around and manipulate the shape of many surfaces. As well as let the player edit the contents of each surface.

I know this was a tweet, and possibly for comedy sake. Buuuuut. Do you really think gamdave full time is like school every day of the week?

If it's not, you are likely doing it wrong. It was for comedy's sake, but I'd say that *most*, if not all, full-time devs would say that an eagerness to learn and an undying curiosity are what drive most successfully developers.

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