If you want to know if the creative force behind a game is bankrupt. Look for “obligatory” stuff and filler they shoved in there just because the game “should” have it. Like a pointless water level, a completely unnecessary car chase. An utterly meaningless love story.

Games without soul is easily spotted by implementing mechanics, scenes, characters, or gameplay elements that feel like they are in there ONLY because they felt they should be just for the sake of it. Instead of going for something original, fun, or different.

Worst way to implement a mechanic is when a mechanic feels like a forced formulaic element shoved in there with zero passion. A useless water level, car chase, or a pointless love story are just some of the more basic examples but there’s hundreds of ways they can mess that up.

50k is as you say, the lower end. A true professional would work for 70-90k probably as a more realistic mid-level price, and up from there. And you get what you pay for. This leaves you in a spot that even if you just need 5 professional core devs working on a small project like this. The realistic price is still much higher.

The absolute highest and most realistic chance of success pretty much requires you to not just learn, but be highly proficient in at least a core job like programming. I see this tendency in many if not most viral success indie games. The person behind the idea has the skillset to be the foundation for the work needed in making it.

I think the reason the gaming landscape is littered with the corpses of failed indie game projects. Is not bad ideas. It’s affordability. Too many people cutting corners in the attempt to make their dream game. So fantastic ideas end up as mediocre products due to inexperience and funding.

Here’s the perspective of someone who wanted to make an indie game and gave up.

• (skip this part if you want it’s just the basic game idea) I had a brilliant idea for a simple digital boardgame, that uses cards for combat. It’s a 4-player strategy wargame where everyone starts in each corner. The inspiration came from the map WARLORDS from Heroes of Might and 3. Where you play on a modular 9 piece board, each with different biomes which gives different bonuses/penalties depending on which race you play. Basically a mix of Dota 2 and HOMM3. The dream game I always wanted to make but no one else made.

• Design wise it should be easy to create. It’s just a digital board game consisting of simple elements. A board, game pieces that you move around, cards, 4 different resources you can harvest, and the game pieces representing your armies (in the form of cards).

• However despite the simplicity. You need a programmer, an artist, and various other roles. But even one of these, if you want a professional game dev, takes like 50k a year in salary. And though the game shouldn’t take more than a year to make, a +6M safety net in terms of time is needed to make sure the project is completed. So that’s like 300k in salaray at the least, but realistically more like 500k because you need a safety net not just in time, but in money to complete the project.

• w/o money. You need an investor. But no one is willing to pour that amount of money into an indie project even with a solid financial plan. When you’re a “nobody”.

• If you get the funding for the game and it “only” sold 25k copies at a 30$ price it would net 750k. What this means is that with the inherent risk of a small indie game. It’s simply not worth the risk for investors.

• Also add in that you have to make a company and learn all that legal and financial stuff. In addition to leading the devs in terms of work assignments, work distribution, milestones etc.

• My conclusion is that even if you have the best idea in the world for an indie game. And 100% believe it will sell well. The only REAL option you have is simply making it yourself. Like Valheim, Rimworld, and other big indie game successes. These were made mostly by people doing it themselves.

So the only realistic option left is to learn programming, outsource artwork, and basically do 90% of the work personally.

In an age where AAA gaming industry titans waste billions on shitty and soulless games. They are still unwilling to invest “pocket change” in great indie game ideas.

I’m still sitting on this indie game I still believe in, and genuinely think would be a viral success, even after a decade. I also sit on hundreds of ideas that I gave up on, because with time I realized they were bad or too cost-inefficient to make. But even my Magnum Opus idea - I realize it’s simply impossible to make without investment or learning everything myself.

I read the title 10 times and gave up. Maybe it’s because English isn’t my native language, and this is the final test.

1 bald man 2 shaved men … I see hope in this picture. Yatoro already proved to the world that to make the enemy despair, just shave your hair.

No way techies was picked. What game was techies in?

My boys… brutally murdered in the river. I need to stop cheering for teams I’m jinxing them. It started with Topson, and in the end I placed my faith in FY hoping for him to win his first TI. I feel like I’m cursing every player and team I cheer for. Except RTZ he manages to jinx himself.

Seeing Yatoro losing team mates, and instead of backing off or playing defensive, go on the aggressive. Makes me wonder how he can afford to travel to Seattle since he would need 2 additional jumbo jets to carry his balls across the continents.

It’s such terrifying thing to see as a viewer I can’t imagine it being a player fighting against him. Your team kills 1-2 opponents. Logically you’re at a massive advantage. What does Yatoro do? He surges in with no fear, no panic, no worries. Just pure unbridled and undiluted brutality.

Watching him is like seeing one of those anime villains slowly walking towards you through fire and death without a care in the world. As if the eye of Sauron placed its gaze upon you.

I’m not even playing these games and I’m choking.

Would be a nice strat no? Pretend you’re a creep. Stand in creep camp. When someone comes to farm - SURPRISE!

Clicking my mouse is already too much micro for me. I don’t think I’d make the cut above 3k mmr.

Prediction:

TL-GG 1-2
Az-BB 2-0
TS-LGD 2-1

I tried to pitch my indie game idea to Gabe and he didn’t even answer me. I thought he was an entrepreneur, a business man and a fan of games and gaming. Yet he is ghosting me. Gabe give me a chance to pitch it at least…

I’m still trying to figure out what sort of animal Pango is supposed to be. Some type of armored sloth? Belt animal having a kid with a komodo dragon? English isn’t a native language so that’s not helping. What real life animal is pango supposed to be? Was he just made in a laboratory by alchemist?

I just have so many questions…

I just hope Miposhka retires so he can enjoy the money he has won before his heart gives out. The amounts of amphetamines he is on, even if he does retire the dude will probably need blood pressure medication for the rest of his life.

Valve really needs to start doing drug tests before it reaches a point where players literally start dropping dead in the booths midgame.

Is there any truth to the stereotype that germans don’t have a sense of humor?

Sunday? Wtf? The International reduced to 3 days, and no matches today at Saturday? I thought yesterday’s matches would be followed by the rest today. Then the semi-final and final on Sunday. But all of the remaining matches are on Sunday? So what are we supposed to watch today - our walls?

These new fragmented TI events are so botched.