The basic rules of indie gamedev. Part 1

I am Bad Dock, for about 5 years now I have been doing game design in Norilsk. We have a lot of trouble with the Internet here, so the vast majority of projects are local, and unfortunately I’m not the only one but most likely very very very few game directories available to local game developers. In this regard, I participated and helped in dozens of projects, many of which did not even reach the alpha stage. And as a result, he gained considerable experience working with teams of enthusiasts.
Over the years, I have already formed my own view on the gaming industry: my favorite type of projects, my own handwriting, and most importantly and probably most interesting to you, is a set of rules. And I would like to talk to you about them.
I understand perfectly well that about 85% of new gamers who read in game devs will not consider it necessary to follow them, and like everyone at the beginning of their journey they will meet the good old rakes who have received more people than any other in the world. About 10% will think and maybe even take a couple of tips, but they will still do it their own way and also say hello to the rake. And in the best case, only 5% of those who read will have a chance to get around them.
I'm not saying that this rake is bad, it's unpleasant. It's like slipping on the ice, it hurts, it's insulting but not deadly, and you can continue to cry, stop walking at all, or you can get up and continue the path to the intended goal. But agree, why deliberately go to them, when you can make your way around this terrible rake? Enough words, let's get started.

Hello young Padawan, who were you in a previous life?
A programmer? Or maybe an artist?
Or an economist? Do not forget this knowledge and skills, they will be useful to you.
But let's take a closer look at what brought you here,
show it to me, open your palms ...

Anyone who plays games, sooner or later thinks about creating their own project, and although for the most part it still remains a dream, some still have a sufficient sense of purpose in order to start moving along the path of gamedev in small steps. But where to start? First of all, you should always start with a competent assessment of your skills. In my experience, the first project of newbies is always a grandiose project designed to kill WoW, or become steeper than GTA, and sometimes kill WoW and become steeper than GTA. And you can not argue that your project is not really so complicated. Any project is complicated, even pacman did not appear in 1 day.
Let's take a close look at your skills, oh oh oh! Stand! I don't care who you were in the “past life”, even though Bach or Gates! At the moment you are trying to take on the duties of a game designer, and it is possible that during the creation of a project you will have the opportunity / time to program or draw art for the game. But first of all you will be gamediz! So it turns out that we have? And we have a killer warfare iiii ... everything?
Surely you should understand that with such forces, and without experience to create, something legendary is not a ride? So let's carefully write down our ideas and put them in a long box. And now we’ll get down to this design!

Most newbies don't even come close to suggesting how to make games. You can try to argue with me, but as soon as you sit down to write a dizdok, you will find that you have no idea what game mechanics are and how to describe it. And what to do with it? First of all, we should correctly evaluate our forces (i.e., their absence) and select the projector appropriate for them. It can be anything depending on your tastes. I say, I started all with maps in Warcraft 3 (it was a great time). The main thing to remember, it should not be something extraordinary, it should be just yours.
Once the muse came to you and helped to realize the essence of the universe, but you only managed to remember the notes on your game. The most tedious part begins, which most prefer to skip, writing dizdok or at least the concept dock. You may ask, why do you need this garbage if you are going to work in a circle of friends or even alone? All that is happening in your head is chaos, which only seems to be orderly. For example, try to describe the gameplay with all the small nuances like the speed of movement of opponents, the height of the jump GG, such as inventory. A bit complicated right? And this:

Since Only in the process of recording can you realize how foolish it was to give a packer a grenade launcher, and how boring Mario was to play with a jetpack.

In the internet you can find a whole bunch of different templates of concept docks and dizdokov, but you do not need them. The gaming industry is first and foremost another way of self-expression, why limit yourself to patterns at the beginning of your path?
From my own experience I can suggest just opening a Word (or taking a piece of paper) and recording everything, sooner or later you will find order in your chaotic records and just notes will turn into a concept dock thanks to which you and your partners can see the very mechanics of the game you are doing.
')
And here you have a long-awaited concept doc. This document is the basis of your project, it will allow you to correctly explain what you want to do, it will allow other people to see the game, as you see it. And most importantly, it shows the seriousness of your intentions to those whom you are trying to recruit for the creation of this project, but I will tell you about it in the next. parts of their rules indie gamedev.

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PS If you have managed to finish reading this line, I am damn grateful to you, and I will be grateful even more than you leave your comment on the read, because only thanks to them can I correct mistakes or describe incomprehensible moments in more detail.

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