Could you supply a name/url of this once-off one time price sale publisher you used?

There are not many around.

Thanks.

Ibuku
weaponstudios.com

Personally, I want to do Indie development, but don''t have the experience. I am still a high school student. I need to know how to develop with DirectX or OpenGL before I start doing that. But, I am developing on the GBA and is working out pretty well. I am almost complete with my snake game(first game ever that I designed from scratch). Here is my layout/plan:

1.)Gradutate High School
2.)Go to college
3.)Graduate with Computer Science degree
4.)During this span, learn about game programming
5.)Get a job in programming or get a job in game development

I''m not gonna do Indie style right away. I''m gonna let it happen. If I develop a good game, then I''ll publish it. Nothin will be pushed. I''m still on the learning curve, but this thread has really helped.

Thanks.

Ibuku, I am publishing with Idigicon (www.idigicon.com), simply because they seem to be honest and I don''t have to worry about getting my money or being tricked out of royalties or similar.

Maybe some other publishers would pay a bit more (although for my quick little game prolly not), but at least I know I don''t get a contract with 5 pages of small print.
And George Bray (who is in charge of buying games) is a very friendly guy and keeps good contact with you while the deal is being worked out. He openly tells you how much he can pay for your game and how you should/can improve the game, then you can decide if it is a good deal or not. For me it was.
Btw, you can also choose a royalty option with them as far as I know.

GaborD,
I''d like to see some screenshot of your game, where can I find them?

Sure, you can see some of them here:
http://www.geocities.com/gaendric/screens.html

I’m curious as to how many of you out there are planning to make your game development hobby a full time occupation?

I am.

What are your plans?

Educating myself about the industry. Focusing on my design. Remember it''s not about the competition it''s about the customer. See the trends forming.

How do you see yourself going full time?

>I pump the income from my second job into my studio, so I have good tools and sustained open doors so the perception is created in the industry and business community that I am here to stay, and solvent.


For me, I work for a fairly well known software company,
doing pretty repetitive testing and not learning a whole
lot of development skills. It has always been my goal
to work in the games industry, but just recently I realized
that I don’t want to work for some big name game company.



I want to be an independent, making my own rules and writing my own games the way I think they should be written.

>I couldn''t think of a better thing to do with my time and notion.



How about you? what are your plans for greatness?

> My plans are different. I come from the place philosophically that in any given market, at any given time, only one bold stroke will work. Thus, I design large, and about five years out on the expectation curve of what the technology may do.

I look at the global environmental factors effecting games, some of which are: negative political sentiment about violence is easy to generate, so I have to treat violence sensitively, and consider if I can make a fun game still fun with less violence, I see failing social systems around us like education and I see an opportunity to make learning a part of my game without sacrificing fun, I see entertainment proper doing everything they can to get involved with our industry, as they see it as the future of entertainment like I do, and think of ways that I can incorporate their strategies to my advantage, I think of underdeveloped genre aspects in the areas I design in and see how I can maximize that underpotentialization towards the impact of my game when it is released, I construct a firm vision of what I want the game to do for my player, then I go out and interview (aka premarketing) all kinds of ppl from all walks of life on the subject, I read and research and listen to my peers in chat and on all the websites I consider credible, I document heavily and prepare my business plan so that it will not only be complete but stick to the core philosophy of the organizatio I want to build, I realize that if you present your ideas to somebody a bit at a time and remain consistent and graduated in your information, at a certain point you''ve trained a free rep in somebody who digs what you are doing and feels cool about articulating it.

I could go on, but better to walk the walk...

Addy