Indie Dev Intensive [12-Week Course]

Slightly Esoteric Game Development

Indie Dev Intensive [Course]

A 12-week guide to making and finishing your indie game!

Indie Game Development Is HARD

Here are some of the common struggles people talk about when trying to develop a game:

Not knowing where to start. Feeling overwhelmed with information and the sprawling array of different skills required to make a video game.
Feeling overwhelmed by the immense amount of work it takes to finish a game (it turned out to be WAY more than what you thought when you started!)
Running out of motivation midway through a project, adding it to your PC graveyard of "one day."
Feeling like an "outsider" in the game development community. Not sure about how games are made or if you're doing it "right."
Self-doubt or feeling like your game "isn't that good." Doubting where it's worth even trying to finish (let alone show to anybody else.)
Lack of technical understanding on how to implement the features they want. Not sure how the game engine works, where to get high quality and accurate information, and having enough general knowledge to implement what they want.
"Paralysis by analysis." Overthinking the project and all the things that will need to go into it to make it. Feeling overwhelmed and not even sure where to begin.
Crashes, corrupted assets, data loss, and other issues which destroy or set back their project and dishearten them. Not sure how to recover data, troubleshoot, and/or how to take pre-emptive measures with (or feel overwhelmed by) source control.
Lack of community support and nobody to turn to when things go wrong. Nobody to ask for support with difficult problems, or even just for emotional support through the many invisible challenges that come with making an indie game.
Worried that you're "doing it wrong" (and you've got nobody to show you the "right" way to do things.) I.e. worried about making blueprints that won't scale, tech-debt, performance, missing important features, not sure how to publish etc. Worried about "bad practices."
Worried about negative feedback. Or that people will trash talk your game, and you'll have no support and invest hours of your time to just end up a failure.
Not sure how the publishing process works. Or have tried uploading to Steam in the past, and became overwhelmed with their shitty documentation and awful user interface.
Have tried to make projects in the past, but they ended up abandoned.
Haven't tried to make a project yet, but scared to start because there are too many unknowns.

My Story

Hi my name is Jackson.

In 2017 I left my career in chemistry and discovered my passion for game development. I stumbled across Unreal Engine, and quickly fell in love with building strange environments, and especially making blueprints.

I had no formal training, and had no idea what I was doing.

I just did it for the love of it.

One day turned into two, and before I knew it years had passed, and my YouTube channel had grown to a point where I felt like a career in game development was a real possibility.

But I felt like an outsider and imposter, and like I needed more experience or somebody to show me what it really meant to be a "real game developer."

In an attempt to take it more seriously, I attended a game development school in Melbourne, but quickly discovered I wasn't going to learn anything there I couldn't learn for myself (much faster) online.

I quit that school, and not long after co-founded a game studio and web3 start-up with two friends I met online.

The three of us moved to Melbourne together and in just a few months we had made $60,000 in sales and raised $400,000 in venture capital with a prototype horror FPS game. A few months in, and we had a dozen employees.

This project was very lucrative...

I was learning new skills and meeting talented people...

The future SHOULD have looked bright...

The only problem?

I was utterly miserable.

The company quickly snowballed into something I no longer wanted to be apart of. As it scaled and more money was involved, I found myself feeling suffocated and increasingly unable to do the things I got into game development to do; which was to make interesting games that I loved.

After a lot of ambivalence and pain, I finally managed to walk away.

I bought a new PC with the money I made (an upgrade from my shitty old laptop) and moved away to a cabin in the woods and did some soul-searching...

During that time at the cabin I had a lot of time to think.

I realized that I was miserable because I was basically living for the approval of other people -- going to school so I'd be taken "seriously" as a developer, and working in a start-up that made me miserable because I wanted money and thought it made me look edgy and cool.

As my time in the cabin came to end I made a vow to myself; that from now on, I would do what I wanted to do. I would make games that mattered to me, and I would see them through to the end.

It hasn't been an easy road, but since then, I've released three games of my own on Steam.

While making those games I experience burnout, depression, self-doubt, fatigue, data loss, corrupt projects, overwhelm, and more abandoned projects than I can count.

But despite all the challenges, I have come out the other side better off for it.

Each time it gets a little easier.

You learn more accurate expectations.

You learn new technical skills.

You find new support and people you can trust.

And you get a little more confident.

The purpose of this course is to pass on what I have learned from the past 7 years of game development, and to teach you what it really means to be a game developer by walking with you through the only form of education that matters -- making a game for yourself.

They say "you can go to philosophy school and never learn how to think, you'll just learn what all the other philosophers thought."

In the same way you can study game development and be in the game development industry all your life, and STILL not have the confidence or skills to design an indie game on your own and actually see it through to the end.

There is so much more than goes into making an indie game than technical understanding -- it is a deeply personal and quite frankly terrifying endeavour that results in 99% of projects eventually ending up abandoned on a PC never to see the light of day.

Indie game development is an art, and there is no school, course, or workplace that can teach you to be an artist.

The same is true for indie game developers.

What matters isn't your credentials, but whether or not you've got the courage to make your own path by walking and take yourself and your project seriously enough to see it through to the end. The technical skills come through experience along the way.

So if you're ready to walk that path -- to take yourself and your work seriously, and claim your place in the sun as an indie game developer and artists -- then this course is for you.

By the end of the course, it's my promise that you'll come out the other side a more confident, technically skilled, creative, and courageous developer who has developed a deeper understanding of what goes into making a game, and the ability to take a vision and make it a reality.

Moreover, throughout this course you'll be surrounded by support from me and likeminded peers -- people who are in the same boat as you, share similar values, and who can see your originality and immense creative potential. Believing in each other helps us to believe in ourselves.

The path is made by walking, and we will walk it together.

About This Course

Here are some of the things I've learned over the years about game development (and what I teach in this course:)

Making games is less about technical skill, and is more about good judgement. Choosing the right things to do is more important than having the skills to do everything. There are always more things to do. Making a good game, and finishing your game, is the art of understanding and focusing on what's important (and then executing on it and staying on track, which is what we teach in this course.)
Making a game is gruelling. It takes a long time, and a lot of mental and emotional labour. If you aren't prepared, have the wrong expectations, or don't have support, it is very easy to become burnout, disheartened, and abandon your projects.
Taking a game to completion requires emotional investment. Games are too hard to make if you're only lukewarm about them. In this course we have exercises to help you understand what inspires you, and how to design a project around that inspiration so that it carries you all the way through.
Self-proclaimed "game developers" are quick to criticize and cut down good ideas. I briefly attended a school for a game development diploma and was shocked by how the teachers jumped to instil self-doubt into their students (thinking they were protecting them.) The same thing happens online. People are quick to accuse you of "scope creep" and tell you your games are unrealistic, and yet at the same time will criticize you if you use third party assets to reduce the workload. Knowing how to navigate this criticism (and having an encouraging and supportive community) is essential to survive.
Game design plans need to be ruthlessly practical. "Scope creep" can be a gaslight term people will throw at you when they feel threatened by your project, BUT it is also a very important thing to be aware of because it kills many indie projects. In this course, we break down how to make practical plans and make sure that we cover ALL aspects of making a game (including a checklist of the bits that are often forgotten, like main menus, graphics controls, and other tid-bits that takes longer than you expect.) as well as set reasonable timelines with regularly check-ins to make sure everything is on track.
Good games require integrity. You can't do work that doesn't resonate with you. Likewise you can't work with people who have different values to you. Understanding yourself and what you value is critical to your success as a game dev.
Accidents happen. Game engines can be buggy. Data can be corrupted and hard work can be lost if you're not prepared and take the proper precautions. In this course we show you how to protect your project using source control, and what to do when things go wrong.
It can be paralyzing and unhelpful to focus on performance, tech-debt, and project organization. Trying to do everything "perfectly" and "correctly" can often mean doing nothing at all. But at the same time, ignoring these technical questions can also create unnecessary headaches later on. There is a middle path, and knowing where these issues ARE and ARE NOT important is what it means to have good judgment as a game dev (and something we address in this course.)
Games take longer than you think, and can blindside you if you aren't prepared and have the wrong expectations. Knowing what to expect comes with experience, and is something we teach in this course.
Good health is an important factor to game dev success. Without good health, you can't think clearly. This includes diet, exercise/movement, social support, mental health, happiness, and more. Some of the tools recommended in this course are daily walks and meditation -- both are miraculous tools for helping to clear your mind and solve tough problems.
Community and support can mean the difference between life and death (sanity and insanity.) Feeling seen, understood, appreciated, valued, and supported when times get tough is one of the most important things that will make or break the project. Members of this course are granted access to a private Discord community built on principals of encouragement, technical support, and simple witnessing of each other through triumphs and troubles. We succeed together.
Making a game is exciting and will make you a happier person. People need creative self-expression to be happy. Creating a game is a creative act. When you regularly lose yourself in flow doing something you love (making a game) your whole life will be better for it.
Creating unique and original art is a great way to meet other inspiring people. Putting out your honest and vulnerable work to the work can attract criticism, but it will also attract people who love and appreciate you for who you are. Over the years sharing my work to YouTube I have met dozens of interesting, beautiful, and creative people just like me who I never would have crossed paths with without game development. This is one of the best parts of making a game.
Game development is about confidence. It isn't about asking for permission. It isn't about being approved of by people online. Making and finishing a game is about confidence in yourself and the sincere belief that what you are doing is meaningful and important. In this course (and in our private community) our work is to help you understand your strengths, and then guide you through the ordeal of making your own game so that you come out the other side feeling more confident in your skills.

Course Outline

This course is delivered over 12 weeks with a video slideshow covering the topics below. There is a new video to watch every week along with a list of exercises to keep your game on track.

Note: This is a very brief overview of the topics covered, and does not include the entire course content.

Week 1: Introduction and intention. Excavating early inspirations and positioning ourselves to stay inspired throughout the duration of the course.
Week 2: Designing our Minimum Viable Product. Exploring asset packs and other resources.
Week 3: Project setup. Beginner-friendly guide to using source control, editor settings, packaging settings, building an exit strategy, learning to make and use plugins. Writing pseudocode for game features.
Week 4: Planning a playable prototype. How to stay sane during development, and common pitfalls people fall into.
Week 5: Developing! Finishing and packaging your playable prototype ready for pre-alpha testing.
Week 6: Begin development on the full version of your game. Playtesting the prototype in the background.
Week 7: Getting curated feedback from people you trust. Sharing development progress with the server for encouragement and support.
Week 8: Continued development on full game. Exercises for checking in on yourself and staying balanced and inspired.
Week 9: Finishing the final build of your game! Packaging and ready for playtesting and bug-finding.
Week 10: Steam page setup. Store page, graphical assets, uploading your game build using the GUI, submitting for review.
Week 11: Bug fixing! Playtesting and fixing bugs while waiting for Steam review. Making store page live to start collecting wish-lists.
Week 12: Hit the LAUNCH button! Congrats -- you did it!
Week 13+: Share with the private Discord server. Celebrate! Ask: What's next for you? Bonus resources.

Other (Soft) Topics Covered

Intention: Getting clear about what it means to be a game developer. What are we here to do?
Imagination: Crafting a powerful vision for a project (essential for lasting motivation).
Design: Translating your vision into an actionable plan of features.
1. Game design feature checklist (menus, character blueprints, controls, packaging settings, intro movie, etc)
2. Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
3. Avoiding scope creep while maintaining inspiration
4. Choosing the right things to do
Resourcefulness: How and where to get the technology and resources to help facilitate the creation of your vision.
Timeline: How to schedule your time and set a reasonable release date.
Development: How to actually build the game.
1. Project setup
2. Folder structures / general organization
3. GitHub repo setup and tutorial (artist-friendly tutorial to prevent data loss!)
4. Integrating plugins (to reduce workload)
5. Making your own plugins (for easy re-use in future projects)
6. Creating content and staying sane (comments, tooltips, pseudocode, exit strategy, best practices)
7. Packaging settings
8. Playtesting
9. Uploading to Steam (their docs are awful -- I've got a good video showing you how to do it.)
Health & Staying Sane: Suggestions regarding physical health, mental health, and other things to help you take care of yourself while developing.
Community support: How and where to find support for both technical and mental challenges while on the long journey of game development.
1. Exclusive access to private Discord with other developers taking the course.
Common pitfalls: Common and sinister issues which sneak up on or blindside developers resulting in abandoned projects.
1. Performance (tech-debt and optimization), fear, fatigue, data loss, technical challenges, overwhelm, and more.
Finishing: Overcoming the challenges that come with finishing a project (fear, grief, overwhelm, etc.)

What Is NOT Covered

This is NOT about advanced tips for publishing or marketing. This is a course about making and releasing a playable game. This guide will show you how to design, build, and package your game, upload to Steam, fill out your store page, get it approved and launched etc. -- but it will NOT covered how to get an audience, optimize your algorithm, find influencers etc.

Testimonials

Coming soon (This course is new and is currently being trialled by the first cohort.)

Maybe we can show off your game here?

Send me a testimonial and what you made with the course!

FAQ

Q: What happens if I can't keep up, or miss a week or need to stop?
- A: The videos are available for 24/7 access indefinitely! You can resume where you left off at any time you like. The 12 week timeline is the suggested timeline, but you can go at your own rate and will still be supported!
Q: Is this a subscription service?
- A: No! One payment = lifetime access.
Q: What do I do if I get stuck and have a question about one of the topics or tasks?
- A: All members of the course get access to a private Discord channel where they can ask for help and get a response either from other members or Jackson personally.
- A: If you have a technical issue related to the course (i.e. weren't automatically added to the Discord server) contact Jackson directly via DM.

Q: I'm an artist and don't know anything about programming, can I take this course?
- A: Yes! The tutorial videos in this course are designed to be easy to follow for people without a programming background. (Plus, if you get stuck on something, you can use the Discord support.)
Q: Does the course cover technical topics about how to use Unreal Engine?
- A: Yes and no. The course covers things such as project setup, source control, folder structure, packaging settings, and more. If you're looking for specific tutorials about how to use blueprints or other features on Unreal Engine, Jackson has many tutorials for free on YouTube (Slightly Esoteric Game Development) which are also referenced in parts of the course.
Q: How does the plugin discount work?
- A: All participants of the course get access to a permanent 50% off code for all of Jackson's Gumroad plugins (the code is in the Slideshow.) Enter the code at the checkout to apply the discount.
- A: If you purchased the Premium package, you will immediately gain access to all the listed plugins in Jackson's Master Collection (https://jacksonnexhip.gumroad.com/l/JacksonsMasterCollection)
Q: What if I've never made a game before?
- A: Great! This course is perfect for you.
Q: Does this course cover marketing and sales?
- A: No! This course will get your game on Steam, but you'll need to look elsewhere for marketing advice!
Q: What happens when I finish the course? Am I kicked from the server?
- A: No! Access to the private Discord community is for life! You can stay there and continue to get support for your projects after the course. (You even get a special badge in our Discord server marking you as a published game developer and course veteran!)
Q: How do I join the private support server?
- A: You should be automatically added upon purchasing the course. If you experience any issues, DM Jackson and he can add you directly.

Sample Content

Click this video to open up a playlist of short clips from the Indie Dev Intensive.

Let's Make Your Game!

My grandfather died this year, and something he always used to say was "time waits for nobody." He had dementia in the later stages of his life and would repeat catchphrases like this so often that they completely lost their meaning and we would all just laugh at him (in good humour.)

As I get older, however, those words ring more and more true.

I've put so many of my projects on hold over the years, thinking that there would be a better time to pursue them.

Sometimes it's good to take a break -- but other times those breaks can turn into months and years, and in a blink of an eye it can feel like the best years of your life have passed you by.

I don't say this to make anybody feel guilty or desperate to "make the most" of life, but just to acknowledge the simple and very important fact that things don't have to be perfect in order to start.

Action has magic to it. You don't always need to know where you're going. Often, just the act of taking a single step towards something can open doors to new opportunities you couldn't see before.

I've postponed many of my projects -- worried about if I have the skills or not, if I'll be able to finish it, if they'll make money or not, etc.

But every time I find the courage to just say fuck it, and start, I find myself much happier for it.

The older I get the more I am realizing that regardless of what happens, it's in the saying "yes" and giving things a shot that is the real reward.

So if you're ready to come on this journey with me, and dive into some work that matters to you, then click the button and let's get started.

I'll see you on the other side!

~ Jackson

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