By Chris Sanyk
By Chris Sanyk
About Me
 First exposure to computers c.1980
2600, Commodore 64, Apple ][
 Game concepts on paper at age 6
 10+ years in various IT roles
 Atari
Programmers…
(Me)
0
Great
f(x) = Greatness++
∞
Christmas 1981
(Bad?) Influences
(Bad?) Influences
(Bad?) Influences
(Bad?) Influences
Early Paper Designs
Sadly, most of those original conceptual docs no
longer survive…
…if they had, this slide would have been a really
awesome collage… :(
BunnyBots, c.1982
I have no idea what architects
really did with this…
I used mine to make video games.
Pixel Dreams
College
1993…
1990’s… Game Industry “maturing”
=
Fizzle
 As a result, I questioned whether the game




industry had a future for me that I still wanted.
I put programming aside…
…graduated…
…thought about grad school…
Played around with computers instead, until I
ended up with a career in IT.
~2005: Independent Devs
The Dream Lives
2006: IT took me back into software development.
2007: Tried, failed.
2010: Tried again…
30 years in the making…
Better late than never
Boobie Teeth!
Concept
Game Maker
Game Maker
Pros
Cons
 Cheap (Free/$25).
 Slow script interpretation.
 Quick to build simple things.
 Object-based rather than
 Easy learning curve.
Object-oriented.
 All variables are public.
 Weak on debugging.
 Weird data typing.
 Its capabilities grow with you.
 Developer community is
relatively strong.
sfxr
Paint.NET
How I happen to do what I do
My Development Process
 Vague list of ideas
 Pick one
 Build it
 Test, Tweak
 Freeze
 Document
 Build
 Release
Stuff I learned
 You are ready.
 You are not ready.
 Now is the best time.
 Take small steps, make many of them, start right
away.
Stuff I learned
 Programming is harder and easier than I thought.
Making games is more than programming
Unsure how to proceed?
 The best thing to do if you’re not confident about




how to proceed is to DO ANYTHING and watch.
Do the smallest/simplest part of what you think
you need to do that might possibly work.
Run it.
Learn.
Iterate.
Heed your calling.
 Do what you were meant to do.
Be a development fiend
 Read like a fiend.
 Code like a fiend.
 Test like a fiend.
Document Everything
Make mistakes!
Game craft is the art of fakery
Refactor at every opportunity!
Learn to ask for help
Talk to People
Money… so what?
 Stop worrying about whether and how it can
make you money.
 Do something cool first, figure out how to
monetize it later.
Do things that you would happily do for free.
Try to do everything at least once.
Your obsession is you.
Questions?
 [email protected]
 http://csanyk.com/rants/releases
 Hands-on demo after this talk
 Playtesting feedback desired
 Looking for: designers, programmers,
artists, sound/music people to
collaborate with on this or other
projects.