AdviceToolbox
Developer Jeff Spoonhower offers
advice on ways to grow as a developerIndie reflections:
AUTHOR Making Anew Part 9
JEFF SPOONHOWER
Jeff Spoonhower is a
developer, artist, and college
professor who’s been working
on triple-A and indie games
for over 17 years.
anewthegame.com
aspects of in-engine work in Unity, to name just
a few. Learning to master these disciplines over
the course of a hectic production schedule has
been a difficult, but necessary process – one
that you will likely need to undertake, no matter
what your area of expertise is.
In order to learn these new disciplines, you’ll
need to adopt what I like to call the ‘spirit of
adventure’. Like an explorer venturing out into
the wild unknown, you’ll need to say “yes” to
many new challenges and dive in head-first,
not really knowing clearly what lies ahead.
My development partner, Steve Copeland, and
I have jokingly asked each other many times
throughout production if we would have even
started working on Anew having known ahead of
time how challenging the development process
would be. As we near the launch of our game,
and the light at the end of the tunnel is visible,
we are finally responding “yes” to this question.
As you begin to work on your own game and
inevitably learn new processes and techniques,
stay strong and positive. You will emerge as a
leaner, meaner, and much more experienced
developer with a wider skill set. Let’s discuss a
few things you can do to help prepare yourself
for this period of growth and learning.
ery few game developers
holistically understand each
facet of game development or
master every skill needed to
complete a game on their own.
Through dedication, practice, and professional
experience, the majority of developers become
proficient in specific areas of development, such
as art, programming, design, or production.
In order to finish a game as a member of a small
indie team, however, you’ll inevitably need to
step outside your comfort zone and learn a host
of new skills, processes, and techniques.THE SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE
When you’re making games on an indie budget,
you’ll need to be skilled in a variety of disciplines,
many of which will be completely new to you.
Before working on Anew: The Distant Light, I spent
twelve years as an animator, cinematic artist,
lighting artist, sound designer, and video editor,
working on a variety of triple-A studio games.
As the sole ‘creative’ on Anew, I’ve had to quickly
learn and become proficient in many other
areas of production such as modelling, texturing,
visual effects, environmental and gameplay
design, cinematic scripting, and many technicalV
38 / wfmag.cc
Programmers: get up to speed on art
processes to maximise the appeal of
your characters and worlds. To expand your game
development knowledge and
skills, you must become an
explorer, venturing into
unknown lands.