Table Of ContentTHE INDIE GAME
DEVELOPER
HANDBOOK
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THE INDIE GAME
DEVELOPER
HANDBOOK
Richard Hill-Whittall
First published 2015
by Focal Press
70 Blanchard Road, Suite 402, Burlington, MA 01803
and by Focal Press
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Focal Press is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2015 Taylor & Francis
The right of Richard Hill-Whittall to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As
new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in
research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become
necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and
knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds,
or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they
should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties
for whom they have a professional responsibility.
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and
are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hill-Whittall, Richard.
The indie game developer handbook / Richard Hill-Whittall.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Computer games—Programming. I. Title.
QA76.76.C672H55 2015
794.8'1526—dc23
2014033755
ISBN: 978-1-138-82842-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73841-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Minion Pro
By Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
vi contents
Indie Game Development xiii
The Best Job in the World! xiv
1 Development Tools and Resources 1
Game Development Systems 1
Unity 2
GameMaker Studio 7
Unreal Engine 4 8
Construct 2 9
Clickteam Fusion 12
Game Salad 13
App Game Kit 15
Marmalade 16
Cocos2d-x 18
Corona 19
Flash 22
Art and Design Resources 26
Audio Resources 29
Outsourcing 33
Outsourcing Agreements 35
Outsourcing Notes From a Freelancer Perspective 36
Development Tools and Resources 39
Microsoft BizSpark 39
Adobe Creative Cloud 40
My Software Kit List 43
Image Compression Tools 47
Case Study—Creating a Prototype in Unity 48
Development Diary—Part One 48
Development Diary—Part Two 53
Developing Our First Unity Game 59
2 Self-Publishing 65
Base Game Projects 66
Publishing on PC 67
Playable Free Alpha Demo 68
Early Access Release 68
Installers 69
DRM 70
Selling a PC Game 71
Direct Sales 73
Bundles 74
contents vii
Publishing on Game Portals 76
Key Portals 76
Other Portals to Consider 78
Publishing on Steam 80
Publishing on the PlayStation Network 84
Concept Approval 85
Development Kits 85
Age Ratings 85
Translations 86
QA Submission 86
Product Codes 86
Financials 86
Pricing and Promotions 87
Publishing on Nintendo 89
Concept Approval 89
Development Kits 89
Age Ratings 89
Translations 89
QA Submission 90
Product Codes 90
Financials 90
Pricing and Promotions 90
Publishing on Xbox 91
ID@Xbox 92
Publishing on Apple 93
iOS Development 93
Mac Development 95
Mac App Store 96
Publishing on Android 99
Google Play 99
Amazon App Store 99
SlideME 100
Amazon Fire 100
OUYA 102
GameStick 102
Nook 103
Partnering With Games Publishers 103
Devolver Digital 104
Midnight City 104
Thumbstar 104
Ripstone 104
Chillingo 105
DotEmu 105
viii contents
Points to Consider When Approaching a Publisher 105
Revenue Split 105
Payment Terms 105
Intellectual Property Rights (IP) 105
Ports to Other Devices 106
What Will They Do? 106
One Final Thing 106
Post-Mortems 106
Life of Pixel—Our First PC and Mac Launch 106
Our Android Console Experiences So Far 109
The Indoor Pub Games Sports World PlayStationVita
Post-Mortem 111
A PSP Minis Adventure 118
3 QA, Localisations and Age Ratings 123
QA Bug Tracking 123
Bug Tracking Software 124
Working With External QA 126
Language Translations 129
Age Ratings 130
4 PR and Reaching Out to the Press 133
Game Icon 134
Tagline—A One-Sentence Description of the Game 134
Descriptive Paragraph Describing the Game in Further
Detail 135
Closing Line ‘Call-to-Action’ 135
Bullet Point Feature List 136
Bullet Point Basics 136
Marketing Keywords 137
Copywriting Tips 140
Learn by Example 140
Start Sentences With Action Verbs 140
Use Active Voice 140
Economize Your Words 141
Limit Jargon 141
Keep Sentences Short 141
Press Releases 141
A Good Press Release Needs a Good Headline 142
First Paragraph 142
Second Paragraph 143
contents ix
Last Paragraph Call-to-Action 143
Important Points to Remember 144
The Press Kit 144
Company Bio 145
Press Release 145
Fact Sheet 145
Logos 145
Banner Art 146
Screenshots 146
Videos 146
Press Distribution Services 147
GamesPress 147
GameRelease.net 148
prMac 148
SoftPress Release 149
Games Press Release Distribution Service at Mitorah Games 150
Tier One Services 150
distribute() 150
Who Should You Contact? 151
Rock, Paper, Shotgun 151
Indie Games 151
TIGSource 152
Indie Game Magazine 152
Pixel Prospector 152
The Indie Mine 152
YouTubers Are the New Games Press 154
Monetization Worries 156
Let’s Play 156
Twitch 157
Reviews and Press Coverage 161
Follow-up on Reviews and Online Articles 161
Tools and Resources 162
Promoter 162
Google Alert 162
MailChimp 163
Sendy 163
YMLP 163
5 Marketing 165
Know Your Market 165
What Are Your Unique Selling Points (USPs) 166
Start Your Marketing Early 166