Things You've Learned

I listen to a lot of podcasts.  Walking - /Filmcast.  Homework - Idle Thumbs.  Cooking - Latest in Paleo.  Working - Rebel FM.  It's a long list.  You can tell a lot about a person solely from the podcasts they subscribe to.  I always seem to have earbuds in.  If there isn't anybody around for me to talk to, I'd rather not sit in silence.

Anyway, I recently went on a podcast downloading spree.  Doing so, I felt like I imagine I would if everything at Toys R Us were free - me with a cart running down the aisles grabbing four of everything, second guessing myself on the way out the door, dumping the cart, filling it again exclusively with Nerf guns and LEGOs, shooting Nerf darts at cars on my drive home.  When my download queue emptied, I ended up with a library full of guided conversations about game development and unguided conversations about current happenings in the game industry.  I was grabbing blind, but I may have pulled out a winner: The Game Engine.  Tagline: A podcast about game development by developers, for developers.  I haven't dug too deep yet, so I have no idea which studios these guys work for, but from listening to the episode, it's obvious at least a few of the hosts/guests are indie developers.

I caught up with the cast on its one year anniversary.  Here, the five developers each shared three things they've learned over the past six months about making games.  Some of the things that were said hit me harder than I thought any of it could, so I'm going to sling it back into the ether in hopes that it connects with someone else.

In an indie game studio, change is the only constant.  Be prepared to wear a lot of hats.

Game development is like steering a car crash.

Make games for yourself.

Remember why you do what you love and pick your path wisely.

Choose values, not goals.  Choose directions, not objectives.

It is vitally important to teach yourself how to switch between your left and right brains, between regimentation and stream of consciousness.

Being young is the opportunity to drop everything and hold on to the one thing you want.

Values are discovered through process of elimination.  These values are the last things you will let go of when everything else is gone.

As a young person, you don't know your limits, so don't impose limits on yourself for what you want.

Maintaining a presence is a lot of work.  Realize what energy you have, and what in your life subtracts from this energy.

For the curious, here are some other podcasts I frequent:

• Another Castle
• Brainy Gamer
• Double Fine Action Cast
• The Game Developer's Radio
• Gamewave
• Giant Bombcast
• IndieGames.com Podcast
• The Infinite Ammo Podcast (I wrote something about Infinite Ammo in August)
• A Life Well Wasted
• The Pixar Podcast
• Pixel Junk Radio
• Retronauts

Moment of irrelevance: No idea why, but I can't help but imagine all who podcast sipping something from a mug while recording.  I like to imagine these mugs are filled with hot chocolate.  Hot chocolate seems like an exemplary beverage to build a conversation around.

Relevant: I'm young and trying to find that one thing I want.  Maybe game development is it.

Cheers,

Danny