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Based
in Vancouver, BC, this small indie offers an underwater
adventure game and trading game. Dingo
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General
Info for Indie Developers - Some "Don'ts"
The
following tips are for indie developers just starting out
and needing some general advice. You'll find some tips that
seem obvious but will invariably help you if you do keep them
in mind the whole time you're in business. They may not seem
like much but doing all of these things will eventually help
your company grow.
Don't Waste Time
You're
probably saying, "Duh!" but be warned. Sometimes
you'll spend unnecessary time on a forum, justifying the hours
spent on it by saying, "hey! I learned a lot." Don't
fool yourself. Learn as much as you can. Fast. Don't linger
on them and don't get into long debates. If you have something
helpful to contribute, be short and sweet. Remember: while
you spent 4 hours on the forum, your competition nearly finished
making their new game.
Don't Be Evil
You know who you are. If you're
tempted to be evil, just remember that karmic retribution
will rear its ugly head on you. In other words, if you're
going to be bad, it'll somehow eventually come back to you
in a negative way. What do I mean by "bad"? Lying,
having affiliate programs that don't work, posting fake updates,
dissing your competitors, flaming someone on a forum, writing
evil reviews on listings sites, letting greed get the better
of you, etc. - unless you're a psychopath, you will know what
is evil and will have a conscience about it. All of your fellow
devs are watching you; they know EXACTLY what you're up to.
Don't Be Naive
This has to be said. Don't idolize another developer to the
point where you are just pathetic. Some of your "heros"
LIE. Listen to their advice but make your own judgments about
it. Things that might have worked for them once may not work
anymore for you right now.
Don't Be a Follower
Develop your own strategies and try not to
do exactly what others are doing. Try new and different things
to find out what works. If you copy another developer, you
might be wasting time because that might not have worked for
that developer but even if it did, you'll always be one step
behind. Besides, like the above "Don't," something
that might have worked for someone yesterday may not work
for you today.
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