Getting Started in Independent Game Development With Psychometric Studios Interactive, LLC 1

Who We Are: Making games and art that make a statement, make you think, and keep you entertained. Make Your Cognitive Wheels Turn Introductions What We Do Our Mission Statement Intro of each panelist, what they do during the day, what they do for PSI 2

So You Want to Make Games… Getting Everything Legal Be sure to talk with a lawyer and accountant! Cost-effective websites to help you get started: Legal Zoom IRS.gov Legal Match Type of Business Venture Capital Vs Crowd Funding Vs Personal Funding You have an idea, and want to make a game…. Where do you go from here? Making sure you’re legal- Talk to a lawyer AND accountant to make sure everything is set up properly – websites to help you Prevents you from getting in trouble with the government and lays the way to making money! Decide what type of business you want to have: LLC Partnerships Incorporation This is why talking to both a lawyer and accountant are important! They will know which type of business model is best for your start up and how to set up contracts vs employment and pay rates Venture Capital- Someone gives you money to start your start up, but expects payment in return- typically with interest. Basically a loan Crowd Funding- good way to get people interested, but also typically has a time limit to raise funds and must be creative to keep people intersted Personal Funding- comes from your own pocket. Have to be careful to keep business and personal funds separate to avoid legal woes! 3

Building Your Team Working Solo Working with a Team Very difficult, but not impossible Full creative control No time limits or deadlines unless you want them Little accountability Easier to get everything done Sound boards to bounce ideas off Clashes may occur Deadlines important! Creative people with creative ideas! Working alone is hard, but not impossible. Many people have been successful at making games solo- however its very difficult, especially when you have another job to make the money to be able to make games. Working solo gives full creative control, but no accountability to keep things moving Its nice to have other people help keep you on track when you get stuck or lose interest When working with a team, you have other people who are depending one you, so don’t mess it up for them, too, even if you’re the boss! You want to keep you team happy and wanting to work with you! Spent 1 year struggling on own, built a team in 2 months, great progress! 4

Picking Your Development Tool Many options are available Varying levels of difficulty Coding experience may or may not be required Costs vary, though many are free Consider you and your team’s capabilities when deciding Consider scalability and support You have an idea, and want to make a game…. Where do you go from here? Making sure you’re legal- Talk to a lawyer AND accountant to make sure everything is set up properly – websites to help you Prevents you from getting in trouble with the government and lays the way to making money! Decide what type of business you want to have: LLC Partnerships Incorporation This is why talking to both a lawyer and accountant are important! They will know which type of business model is best for your start up and how to set up contracts vs employment and pay rates Venture Capital- Someone gives you money to start your start up, but expects payment in return- typically with interest. Basically a loan Crowd Funding- good way to get people interested, but also typically has a time limit to raise funds and must be creative to keep people intersted Personal Funding- comes from your own pocket. Have to be careful to keep business and personal funds separate to avoid legal woes! 5

Tips for Good Teamwork Time constraints However long you think something will take, triple that. And then double it to be sure. Development time will shorten as you gain experience as a team. “When your body says ‘I’m done,’ you’re only 40% done.” Have fun, but be professional! Above all, communicate! You have an idea, and want to make a game…. Where do you go from here? Making sure you’re legal- Talk to a lawyer AND accountant to make sure everything is set up properly – websites to help you Prevents you from getting in trouble with the government and lays the way to making money! Decide what type of business you want to have: LLC Partnerships Incorporation This is why talking to both a lawyer and accountant are important! They will know which type of business model is best for your start up and how to set up contracts vs employment and pay rates Venture Capital- Someone gives you money to start your start up, but expects payment in return- typically with interest. Basically a loan Crowd Funding- good way to get people interested, but also typically has a time limit to raise funds and must be creative to keep people intersted Personal Funding- comes from your own pocket. Have to be careful to keep business and personal funds separate to avoid legal woes! 6

Easy Options GameMaker: Studio Stencyl 2D games Little-to-no coding required Drag-and-drop Free version (w/ watermark) available Multiplayer games EX: Hotline Miami 2D Flash games Drag-and-drop Incredibly simple No coding required Complex projects may not be possible “Building with LEGOs” EX: Impossible Pixel Working alone is hard, but not impossible. Many people have been successful at making games solo- however its very difficult, especially when you have another job to make the money to be able to make games. Working solo gives full creative control, but no accountability to keep things moving Its nice to have other people help keep you on track when you get stuck or lose interest When working with a team, you have other people who are depending one you, so don’t mess it up for them, too, even if you’re the boss! You want to keep you team happy and wanting to work with you! Spent 1 year struggling on own, built a team in 2 months, great progress! 7

Medium Options RPG Maker Unity 3D 2D role playing games Scripting only required for complex operations Free with cheap (often on sale for under $100) pro version Non-tradtional RPGs hard to do EX: To the Moon 2D and 3D games Code in C#, JS, or Boo Extensive asset store Free version available Can develop on PC, Mac, and Linux Can make builds for just about any platform EX: Gone Home Working alone is hard, but not impossible. Many people have been successful at making games solo- however its very difficult, especially when you have another job to make the money to be able to make games. Working solo gives full creative control, but no accountability to keep things moving Its nice to have other people help keep you on track when you get stuck or lose interest When working with a team, you have other people who are depending one you, so don’t mess it up for them, too, even if you’re the boss! You want to keep you team happy and wanting to work with you! Spent 1 year struggling on own, built a team in 2 months, great progress! 8

Hard Options Unreal Engine CryEngine 3D games Need to know C++ Now free with 5% royalties after earning $3000/quarter Can build for just about anything anymore Top-notch graphics Easy debugging EX: Gears of War 3D games Beautiful weather and environmental effects Supports all major platforms Need C++ knowledge Non-FPS titles difficult Royalty free, but costs $50 - $150 per month EX: Crysis 3 Working alone is hard, but not impossible. Many people have been successful at making games solo- however its very difficult, especially when you have another job to make the money to be able to make games. Working solo gives full creative control, but no accountability to keep things moving Its nice to have other people help keep you on track when you get stuck or lose interest When working with a team, you have other people who are depending one you, so don’t mess it up for them, too, even if you’re the boss! You want to keep you team happy and wanting to work with you! Spent 1 year struggling on own, built a team in 2 months, great progress! 9

Other Options Cocos2D Construct 2 Marmalade Game Salad Source 2 Lumberyard Fail Fasts are games or projects you make quickly to explore ideas, tools, and techniques without the concern of it being a success If working with a team- lets you see the strengths and weaknesses of each member, where and with who they work best, and can be used as a learning experiences Don’t use your best ideas on a fail fast! BUT, feel free to put them out there for free or low cost 10

Other Useful Tools Adobe Creative Cloud Photoshop, Illustrator, and Audition will see heavy use Create nearly every asset you’ll use Blender Open source tool useful for creating 3D models and textures Slack, Trello, Skype, Dropbox, etc. Keep your team connected and organized Fail Fasts are games or projects you make quickly to explore ideas, tools, and techniques without the concern of it being a success If working with a team- lets you see the strengths and weaknesses of each member, where and with who they work best, and can be used as a learning experiences Don’t use your best ideas on a fail fast! BUT, feel free to put them out there for free or low cost 11

Fail Fasts: What Are They? Quick games or projects Don’t worry about it being a break-out hit But if it is, that’s awesome! Learning tools and experiences Fail Fasts are games or projects you make quickly to explore ideas, tools, and techniques without the concern of it being a success If working with a team- lets you see the strengths and weaknesses of each member, where and with who they work best, and can be used as a learning experiences Don’t use your best ideas on a fail fast! BUT, feel free to put them out there for free or low cost 12

Quick Shot Art and Concepts Some of our quick shot concepts and music, with a quick turn around 13

Making Games Accessible Colorblindness Dyslexia Special fonts for dyslexic players 14

Making Games Accessible 15

Getting People Involved Social Media Presence Keep people interested with sneak peeks and information Get involved with your fan base! Networking Get out there and socialize! Make friends with others in the industry. They might have helpful tips! Have Fun! 16

Where to Find Us: PsychometricStudios.com Facebook.com/psychometricstudios Twitter.com/psi_llc 17