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34 now. Been developing video games for 17 years, I know 5 programming languages, music composition and production, done a bit of everything and shipped multiple games with mostly failures.... The biggest tip I can give to anyone. The 'world' which equates to the internet at this point, is very very very very superficial, and only growing more superficial every day. Literally most people buy something by going 'ooo shiney', this is no joke. Your front end, that is your website, logos, trailers, screenshots and at least the very beginning of your demo must be beautiful SUPERFICIALLY. 1) Sharp: high res, use upscaling or supersampling filters, make it at least 1080p 2) Shiney: bloom and glow 3) Animated: at least 5 frame animation if you're using pixel art or hand drawn, use squash and stretch. RPG Maker uses 3 frame animation, the difference is staggering between 5 and 3 frame animation. Many use vector art with bones, it won't look at good as hand drawn. 3D will take you too much time, but is possible. 4) Color values: Screenshot, turn it black and white, adjust colors, turn it back to color and adjust the game. 5) Shadows: Have hard high quality sharp shadows. 6) Minimalism: Do not make it detailed, you won't have time for that anyone as a single person. Also note, 3D takes a lot lot lot lot lot lot lot lot more work to get right visually. There are three main processes to game development. The first is game development itself. This is the part you probably love. The second is what I'd call 'clothing'. This equates to your 'front end', store pages and website and all of it's art and presentation. The third is PR which equates to keeping your social medias looking professional and being a social talkaholic so you can PM and or e-mail tons of people. The goal here is to get someone popular, mainly streamers, to try out the game. You can see the problem here right? The first step, making the thing, is an extremely introverted thing, while the third is extremely extroverted.

1-2: learn basic (unity, blender) 3: learn c# 4: rinse and repeat 5: make a horrible prototype 6: relax 7: fine tuning based on feedback 8: polish the visuals and feel 9: use saved money to buy stuff like music and logo 10: make the demo with 4K cover 11-12: pitch the game to 100 publishers/kickstarter

"There are a lot of people who don't want to see you succeed because they aren't succeeding", the polite version of 'haters gonna gate'.

You post this on my birthday, so is this my call to action for the year?

The key to all this is spending 2 to 3 hours every single day on your game.

I love the month-by-month steps, thank you so much! I always get overwhelmed when people just tell you what you should learn and in what order without telling for how long because then I fall for perfectionism and stay on the first task forever. So yay for this, thank you!

Dude, there's just something about the way you do these videos that gives me immense motivation to keep striving in my own game dev journey. Id pretty much given myself the same deadlines to a prototype but had been trying to do step 1-3+11-12 all within the first few months and getting frustrated to heck. This order and pacing of things is really going to help me, thank you!

Man, I cannot thank you enough for all these videos. Everytime I try to get something done I get more and more frustrated, but with every new video you release you encourage us to keep forward. This one is essential to any game developer. Most of us don't know how to measure how long it will take to make a game, or even a prototype. These 12 steps are PURE GOLD. This gives us an order, strategy and a key to measure our progress via small goals. Again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Anything worth doing, is worth doing right. Just imagine, the hard work you put in and you get that reward after 12ish months. Great advice. Getting my 13 year old to watch this as he's been doing Blender for 12 months and has now started Unity. I'm helping him by learning Unity and C#. Great road map to follow.

I found this video 3 months into my own venture and i was kind of excited to see my personal teaching was in line with your monthly milestones! im currently on month 3, just brushing up on C++ For Unreal Engine Dev! Thank you for giving me a good idea of where to continue going after this month and later!

This video was while ago, and I really appreciate every bit of the experience you share with us... It is really inspiring to realize one way or another I was doing the first steps you mentioned for the first months... However I stopped... I will put my best to finish this time! Thank you for the inspiration

Thomas brush is a indie game dev legend! Every video you post is nothing but positivity! Thank you for the energy. Love the channel

It's crazy how well timed this was for my life. I have been debating in my head if pursuing my dream of a making games was realistic, and this pushed me to finally go all in. Thank you, your videos rock!

Thank you sooo much man. I look up to you and every time i feel like i won't make it in game development i just see your videos and it just sparks the fire in me. You're the best. Thanks for making people like me to be inspired day in and day out. ❤

glad to hear me and my roommate are on a good track for our game idea, we also realize with what you showed that our only stopping point is our learning of the game engine, blender and music parts, we have those in the bag now with who and what we plan to do, thanks so much for this video

Hey Thomas, I really like your videos. You have an amazing skill set in art and game creation, and I am going to give it a real shot following your advice. It is my dream to create worlds and experiences that people can enjoy for years to come. Anyways, I just think you are super talented and thank you for all you do and your advice. You’re a source of inspiration and motivation. Thank you. Also, happy thanksgiving!

I've rewatched this video so many times to keep myself motivated. My favorite Thomas Brush video. Keep up the great work!

I've been working as a software developer for 5 years and I'm willing to make my own indie game company. Thanks for the video. This is the year. Wish me luck.

thank you! thank you! this is awesome. As someone who has been chewing on an indie game idea for years now but didn't know how to really start, this is very helpful. Many thanks.

Dude, these thumbnails are cursed Awesome Video

Thank you, this is really inspiring. I would like to see the business side of making an indie dev studio also though

Wow, this is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you!!

Actually very insightful and super helpful, I really appreciate it. I am working on a board game and I had not seen this, I have been aimlessly walking around too, but it's coming together and I feel like much of this could really help with a boardgame too. However I plan to make the boardgame into a videogame too and I will work on these steps when I finish this boardgame.

This helped so much thank you, Im someone who doesn’t know a thing about game design but I do have game developer friends and we been working together to create a game I designed and structured and it’s exciting but this makes me believe I do need to major or learn the programs to actually front line my game more

Thomas Brush: Spend 2 to 3 hours working on this. Me: Wakes up at 3am and falls asleep trying too get ideas.

Very valid points, I already imagine my next game being finished successfully! Thank you for making super informative videos.

Bro Bless me, next year i will be creating my studio. Thanks for your energy.

BRO! I'm doing this right now for my little indie game! Wish me luck I have a lot of work to do ahead of me. Thanks for your videos! They motivate and inspire me to keep going.

Watching this because I wanted to see a gaming setup for twitch and stuff, but realizing this is much more valuable with systems. Thanks man

Thomas you really inspired me... at this moment i done a terrible graphics one character and one enemy, background and "platforms" are done and starting with coding movements so excited when my character become alive ;) good luck on selling your game :)

Love this! Regarding month 9, I did wanna say that I'm a composer, multi instrumentalist, and produce all my own music. I've wanted to make music for games my whole life, and finally have the means to.

Great advice, as usual. These are awesome goals and a great path to follow. Thanks for sharing!

Gonna revisit this video in a year to post my first update :) thanks for sharing knowledge free of cost, spread love

C# is very straight forward! Take your time and dig to understand, it's very easy after a short time. If you want to be a good programmer, always practice and dig deeper.

I've got 9 & 10 covered 😅 (I'm a musician and an artist 😁👍) $3,000 saved! Seriously though, this is an invaluable guide. Sincerely, thanks for sharing this with us ✌️

Thanx for the encouragement bro, much success to you. Trying to start this with my bro. Fingers crossed lol.

Thomas, keep posting something like that. It really encourages me to go forward.

Very nice video! I like it that it's serious and focused,detailed steps . I would like to see a series of tutorials from a to z ,from start until publish including marketing . Just an idea.

This just came in time. I am already hustling and working hard to turn my vision of building best video game development studio of India into a reality. Thank you Thomas for all the inspiration man!

Great video yet again! Thanks for all the advice on actually being successful in addition to your tutorial type videos.

It might be an idea to mention finance, as softwarw isn't always readily available cheaply (things like Adobe), if you're to do it properly. Other than that though, superb video, really exciting to see how easy it is to start a studio, I'm looking forward to all the sorts of games that will be in our future! 🤩

Thank you for making this video and for inspiring others, always come back to vids like this to reaffirm those passions.

With all die respect, i just really want to hug you and thank you i found this vid by pure coincidence and youve given me hope and happiness about my goals! And motivated me so much

I’ve had an idea for a game for years, and me and my friends have always wanted to play it. I’m majoring in MIS, and I’ve taken a few coding, database, and software design classes. It’s motivating me so much to just try to make this a reality. Right now I’m just focusing on learning code and development, while also writing lore and storylines to brainstorm the main concept of this. The idea is so far fetched for an indie developer that I just want to perfect everything I can from the beginning. Just manifesting the best right now, I really hope that 10 years down the line- I’ll have a beta version of something I’ve always dreamed of :)

As someone who has pretty much done exactly this, I can also say this is very on point.

Subscribed. I love your channel man and have learnt so much from it, keep up the great work and thank you for the brilliant content!

Thank you so much.Now i can be reassured that my prototype can see some light eventually .

You are my inspiration for starting to learn start learning how to make stuff. Hopefully it will pay off.

Hi Thomas, i am starting a indie game studio we are about 5 people, been following some of your videos, been very help full thank you.

In the beginning of this year, I've start working on my own game that I passionate about like 4 years ago but never finished it. Now I've just finished it and released it on Google Play Store for free to play. It's not easy, a lot of work then negative reviews come and boys that trully harsh. But I still not givin up yet. Love your videos!

Excelent video man, wish you the best!

Hey Thomas, I just want to say that your video has inspired me to start the journey to set up my own indie game studio. I've bookmarked this video and I hope I'll be able to come back in a year or two and tell you I've succeeded. I'll see you down the road.

I really exited that I finally start fully understand English and understand what you trying to say to us. It is very helpful information. I guess I can reduce 12 months to 6 because I already moved through this stages in my life and you will see a good indi game made by myself)

These videos are so great! They inspired me to finally finish a game. It doesn't have any players obviously but it feels great

I'm 13 and starting to develop my own 2D game, I've watched several of your videos and I think I'm ready to start developing my prototype. Thank you.

Great video! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge Thomas!

Your videos have been a huge help to me! I'm a very novice game dev and an intermediate coder so your tutorials have given me confidence and things to think about/direction for my game. I've been stressing about a platformer that I'm making, but the plan I set up was very similar to the one here. Thank you for your videos, Thomas. Keep up the good work!

I really love your videos Thomas , they inspire me a lot, I don't really subscribe and comment people channels, but there's just something about yours that makes me addicted and inspired, thanks a lot.

Thank you so much for the advice and inspiration!!!

Each of us have our own difficulties to overcome, best of luck on your endeavor everyone as it ganno be a tough one to realize your dream.

Thank you very much Thomas and Congratulations for "Once upon a Coma" !!

This is really great! Thank you for sharing :)

As a fellow game dev (former Disney employee), this is the best possible summary of how to break into the industry that I've ever heard. Would add to the end that this is also a great way to get a game development job at another studio, as a fallback. :]

Thanks, good info about first prototyping, then graphics. Thanks Thomas!

I just love the intro... the music is on point!

This showed me that I went about my process completely wrong. Biggest mistake I made was polishing my prototype from the beginning and making too many levels instead of ensuring the core loop was good enough (which I'm still not sure about). I'm going to scrap it and start something new, following this advice.

That Boss voice on once upon a coma is so great 👍 so creepy like🔥 im starting my Indie studio Adventure and i have a ton of games ideas already. I'm a music producer and for the last 3 years, I've been collecting Ideal and i didn't know why, but now i have a clear road map to chart. Thanks, i appreciate 'cha my g

i havent been on this channel for a while and this video was EXACTLY what i needed. Seriously it is the best era in human history for learning...what a waste of time university was....Also people Blender 2.8 is out. It has HUGE improvements !!! if you didnt like it before give it another try !!!!! Thank you so much for your time and effort Thomas.

Fantastic video Thomas! Thank you, you inspire a lot of us! Keep it up!

Every aspiring indie game dev needs to see this video. Certainly inspired me for this year!

Fan-tastic all around info and video! Thx for the HOT 🔥 tips always have wanted to develop games since I was a weee lad. 😁 Also, love the background image on your monitor reminds me of one of my favorite fighters Last Blade 2! 👌🏼

This is a great vid i really needed it I was getting really fustrated with how i can actually make my dream of starting my game studio possible

Man you are the best indie dev guide one could have asked for .

Thanks Thomas, as an indie developer myself, I really appreciate the tips you give!

You're probably the only one who makes content thats sooo insightful...

Great video I have been playing with the idea of quitting my job to go full time because I still have income aside from working. I think this gave me the push to do it.

Thanks a lot for the effort you put into these videos.

Thanks very much for tips! Please please please make as much detailed video as possible about working with publishers and second about making a kickstarter gampaign (with stretch goals, baker levels etc.)

As a recent software developer that is getting into game dev, I'm pretty happy that I went to school for music composition and have been producing now for side income. Love your content and would love to make some music for you sometime! peace:)

Thank you for this video! The information that you gave here is priceless.

This is a great video man, I just found your channel.

I am a big fan of indie games. Every indie game I've played has their own unique and beautiful visuals, music and story. But most importantly every one if them taught me valuable lesson and inspired me to make my story. Hope everyone who watched this video build their Game Studio in 12 Month. I made my first game a week ago. Now I am going to start my next project, little bit bigger but achievable. Wish me goodluck guys. See you after this 12 months journey.

Kickass! I Loved this vid, thanks

thanks for all the videos, it helps a lot and gives some kind of goal to work towards, Saludos desde Mexico :)

Thanks for your video ,It really helped my self confidence

Hi Thomas, nice video. I am glad that you did it. You can make money from game dev. It is a huge inspiration. I have skills in visual aspects but for me, C# and unity is a hard nut to crack. But I am fighting this for over 2-3 years. Also, I quit this twice indeed. After a couple of months, I realized that I don't want to quit and also that the big break was useful too. So I think making a month-long break is the most critical one in a path of an indie game dev.

THNX for the video!

This is a great birthday gift ,thanks!

Very good and practical content. Thank you for this video.

Man, you literally posted this on the perfect time!!!! I wanted to ask about how should I start my own game, etc. 😁👍 thanks

Great video! Thomas you are always inspirational. As long as one has the passion and desire for game development then it is totally possible 👍

Damn i like how you put progress bar when skillshare ad poped up

I will try the best I can to do what you said above even if it took 2 years instead of 1 but I’m a little bit on the ‘ehh too much work’ side but I’ll try

WOW.. this was a very great video thank you so much.

Almost a year had passed away when this video came out. Anybody got any kind of success in building games and making it commercial? I'm about to strat my first year of game development. I'd love to hear about your experiences!

My only experience in coding was a one term of game dev class way back in college. I was really good at it but I never pursued it. Now, I decided to enhance that skill, start learning again and make a prototype. But I still have no vision on what game/genre I want to do. Should I learn first how to do the basics or should I figure out what game I want to do?

we wait finally a 3d game..i love ure work thomas

Great tips. This video is truth. Love the video. Well done Thomas 😊👍.

Ive made my paperwork for steam appliance. Its a big next step for me :) Basicly ive just did c# for 7 years now, started blender and other things in the last past months.