Our Indie Experiment - MadMinute Games

baby arm writes "MadMinute Games' Norb Timpko has contributed the first installment in a series on independent game developers. He describes the balancing act required to get a game like Take Command: 2nd Manassas out the door while still having families and day jobs."

Re:This is a tough business

[ggambett]

We don't compete with the $10M projects. We're not after the same markets to begin with - there's a clear separation between hardcore and casual gamers. Casual gamers are way more interested in gameplay (although the production values have been rising over the years) so you can actually compete with a 2 or 3 person team. The key is to "fight" on your own rules, make the limitations work for you instead of against.

You're right that it is a gamble though. Your game may be a hit or a total flop. However there are some elements all successful games share, over the years you gain some understanding about what makes games work. It's still risky, which is why you see so many clones and derivatives. Yes, the casual space is filled with clones, derivatives and sequels as well. The truth is, innovation is risky. Unfortunate, maybe, but true nonetheless.

Re:I suck

[crimguy]

If it's any consolation, the game has hi-res sprites as well. The demo is limited to the low resolution sprites. It's not 3D, but for the genre it's pretty good.

Re:Employer-funded education the way of the future

[jalefkowit]

Employers could foot the bill for training employees in skills that matter for their specific jobs. In exchange, employees would sign 2, 4, or 6-year contracts for long hours in low-paying jobs during which they can be fired but can't quit.

What you're describing isn't something new; it's called indentured servitude [wikipedia.org] and it was a common form of employment in colonial North America. As we've become more attentive to the rights of the laborer, this and other forms of slavery (and being legally bound to a contract you can't get out of is certainly closer to slavery than free labor) have gone by the wayside.

I wouldn't mind seeing employer-funded education necessarily (though one wonders if that would result in the same bad consequences we've gotten from the employer-funded health care system). But indentured servitude should remain in the past, where it belongs.