Just some quick notes from the three presentations I was able to attend at the Full Indie Summit.
Xalavier Nelson Jr. - Key Note #
Games are creatures of process. Plan the game and also the process.
- Who are you?
- What are your abilities and constraints?
- Your life will decide your process to some extent.
- Self-awareness.
- What game do you want to make?
- For you, what determines if your game is good?
- What are the systems you will and won’t engage with?
- E.g., AI, LinkedIn, game engine choice
Chris Gortz - Keyframing StS2 #
- Receives 2D artwork from the artist. Does rigging and animation.
- Doesn’t receive much verbal instruction, just the artwork. “This one looks agile so I’ll make it move faster.”
- Comes up with story in his head for each character.
- Does a ton of sketches first. Posts sketches on Discord so team can give feedback.
- Can simulate rotation in 2D by weighting the vertices.
Edward Lu - StS2 Multiplayer #
- Casey (Mega Crit CEO) says: “Let’s prove it with a jam” (internal jams)
- Had to make sure the game worked while adding multiplayer.
- It was like replacing the foundation while the house is being built (content creators) and people are living in it (play testers).
- Started weekly internal playtest with bug reporting and fixing. First one was horrible but improved it each week.
- Game state and view separation is super important for multiplayer.