Discussion [CONCLUDED] Dev Logs?

Neptune

Member
It seems like a lot of developers (especially indie) share a lot of the development process for games they create.

Have any experience with this?

Do you think sharing pre-beta content is a good idea for marketing/advertising, or do you think its a waste of time/effort?

Any opinions appreciated:D
 
Personally, I think devlogs should be written from the game's birth and to it's release, maybe even after. Let people know your passionate about the project, have them updated on the latest news, that way they can watch the game grow with you. Also gives people time to be interested in the project and perhaps try to help you with getting it done. I don't think it's ever a waste of time to write a devlog, even when you're getting little to no traffic you can still look at your progress and say "Wow, I've actually made it this far!"

I didn't write a lot of devlogs with Starblast Alpha, and the ones I wrote we're mainly just updates. With my next game I'll be sure to keep my audience informed as much as possible! :D
 

Neptune

Member
@Lucia I like that idea.
As a programmer, I get annoyed when I see an indie dev log of "now with sprint!...!!!" kind of features...
 
I keep a change-log locally so that I know when I implemented various versions, which makes it easier to roll back to previous versions if I need. I also very much value alpha-testing, and I need the change-log for my alpha-testers to be able to note on changes I made and make sure they can test everything properly. Mostly though, there's a certain satisfaction I get from writing something into the change-log: it keeps me motivated to work because I can check something off a list.

Publicly I like posting updates because it helps build a community and an audience. It also keeps me accountable for making progress because those people want to see what I'm working on. I can also get feedback and suggestions as I go to improve the game. Usually with public releases I pull only the major topics from the change-log like: added this area, and 2 new bosses, and fixed crashes, just so people know what to expect. But not the whole change-log, most people don't care.

While @Edwin is right, it's not necessary for a game to succeed, at least for me it's a critical part of my development process, mostly responsible for keeping me motivated, and involving the community in the development in the game, instead of working on it in isolation.
 
I don't think it's necessary, but it can't hurt. Quality (real and perceived) of your game is going to be 95% of what makes or breaks you, though.

Consider this: every minute you spend dev-logging is a minute you could've spent improving your actual game. Which is more important? The answer is different for everybody, but it's worth thinking about. We only have so many hours in a day.

That said, Cloaked Games makes a good point that sharing your game with an audience is good for your mental health, which is why even though I feel like I'm "wasting" my time whenever I share progress on my game, I still make time to do it once in awhile. (Constantly if you count my status updates, lol.) It's good for your health to be part of a community and share your work with others. It's good to help your fellow devs out by checking out their work, too!
 
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RujiK

Member
For anyone working on their FIRST game, I strongly recommend a devlog for these reasons:

1: YOU'RE BIASED! It's virtually impossible to accurately rate your own game. Just about everyone making a game thinks their game is better than it actually is. It's like having a baby. It's super special to the parents but to everyone else it's probably just mediocre. If your devlog gets no feedback your game might be mediocre.

2: YOU NEED INPUT. Every game has flaws. Your game will probably have imperfections you never even thought about. When I first posted my original devlog the first thing pointed out to me was the colors are very bland. I had seriously stressed about individual colors but never looked at the entire picture. This was great feedback I may have never thought of myself.

3: GET CUSTOMERS! When I first started my devlog I had 15 followers on twitter. Now I have 3,400 and I am proud of that number. The sooner you start telling people about your game the more people will have heard of it when it gets released.

4: MOTIVATION. Hearing "Wow! Your game looks like amazing! Can't wait for it!" Never gets old. It provides loads of motivation and feeds your ego.


If you want to get feedback and maintain an audience I find it's much better to show than to tell. IE:
  • "Check out my devlog! It has colorful graphics and I just added birds and butterflies!!"

Vs an actual screenshot you very painstakingly took:


Obviously the picture will get people much more excited for your game. Feel free to check out my devlog if you would like ideas for how a picture oriented devlog looks:
https://forum.yoyogames.com/index.php?threads/sock-sock-goes-pop-pop-gifs.36711/

(Yes, I am advertising but I think it's appropriate since we are discussing the pros and cons of devlogs.) Hopefully my post has convinced you how awesome devlogs can be for the creator AND the audience!
 
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