BoomerKuwanger posted...
I'm also an application developer who wants to make games, but it seems like a path that's fraught with pitfalls. The way I understand your options (aside from abandoning the dream altogether) are:
1. Try to get a job at a big studio where you're gonna be taking a pay cut to get treated worse and only be working on a small unit of a game.
2. Make a game in SOME of your free time and be prepared for it to take ~10 years
3. Make a game in ALL of your free time and be prepared for it to take 5+ years
4. Quit your job and make your own game full time, hoping it only takes about 3 years
I think 1 is out of the question for me because I already have a pretty cushy job. 2 and 3 require you to really have a long view and be willing to sacrifice doing a lot of things you enjoy. 4 could work if you have a huge savings or are able to crowdfund it, but both are unlikely for most people. Plus any of 2-4 you then have to hope it somehow sells in the very vast sea of indies.
Yeah 2/3 is sort of what Im going for. Another option that I feel is possible is making a vertical prototype of a game that is really good, and going to my network of friends and acquaintances, or even the internet to see if there is interest in making it a full game. The Kickstarter/indiegogo route (without necessarily relying on those sites)