i'm not a game dev, but "make it prettier" is always the least useful instruction/advice. just awful.
I do not entirely disagree with this advice, but probably not for the reasons they meant. I tend to triangulate stuff at the end as I find it easier to find my forms and edge flow using quads.
I do not entirely disagree with this advice, but probably not for the reasons they meant. I tend to triangulate stuff at the end as I find it easier to find my forms and edge flow using quads.
To not listen to people who actually play the game in festivals and so because random CEO with no game dev vision knows better and he can point out what the player wants instead of the actual players.
Was that advice?
More feedback than advice. And then side-eye at my suggestion that it would be $10.
That I should keep my mouth shut more, as I may end up on a no-promotion list. :)
I'm just small time but my friends and I were told to spend the money to form a L.L.C and protect our ip. It was completely unnecessary and a waste of money. I wouldn't suggest anyone bother to do this until they hit big.
Frankly, I don't fully agree with this. While there's a static cost to forming and then a yearly cost to maintaining an LLC, and *financially* it only makes sense at a certain point, LLC's protect you from personal legal liability and if you have any intention of commercially releasing a game and making money, it is absolutely not a bad idea. It can also simplify your taxes, if you do it right.I'm just small time but my friends and I were told to spend the money to form a L.L.C and protect our ip. It was completely unnecessary and a waste of money. I wouldn't suggest anyone bother to do this until they hit big.
California. It was going to cost us about $1000 a year to keep the business going and our sales were practically non existent after the first month (we only launched and sold the game on Steam). We ended up filing individually that year and then dissolved the company. If we got big it would've been worth it but it ended up just being a waste of time and money for us.Wonder where you live. An LLC is like 100$ to register and then a few dozen a year no?
Seems smart to me to register as one, as it simplifies your life tax wise if you get big (or at least saves you money). When tax season came, did you file as an individual or did you file your business side too?
That worry of liability was EXACTLY why we were convinced to set it up. It ended up being a waste in the end.Frankly, I don't fully agree with this. While there's a static cost to forming and then a yearly cost to maintaining an LLC, and *financially* it only makes sense at a certain point, LLC's protect you from personal legal liability and if you have any intention of commercially releasing a game and making money, it is absolutely not a bad idea. It can also simplify your taxes, if you do it right.
If you're a hobbyist, sure, stay away. But you often want to do this stuff before you become a target, which means potentially doing it before "making it big".
Source: Me, I almost got sued over the name of my first game, Sequence (now Before the Echo).
Also: I am not a lawyer or accountant, please talk to one responsibly before making personal financial decisions.
Seatbelts are also huge wastes of timeThat worry of liability was EXACTLY why we were convinced to set it up. It ended up being a waste in the end.
Uh, sometimes I don't need my health insurance but I still pay for it. Was it a waste?That worry of liability was EXACTLY why we were convinced to set it up. It ended up being a waste in the end.
Those analogies aren't appropriate with the experience I had. We could've established the company when we knew we needed to , not before.Uh, sometimes I don't need my health insurance but I still pay for it. Was it a waste?
I'm not saying it's a universally great idea, but calling it "the worst advice you've ever been given" doesn't seem accurate or fair. It's reasonable advice in most circumstances.
Edit: Damn beaten by like a second lol
Please recognize that this is so incredibly hypermild in terms of advice that could fuck your shit up in game devThose analogies aren't appropriate with the experience I had. We could've established the company when we knew we needed to , not before.
It ended up being bad advice for our case. That's my experience with it.Please recognize that this is so incredibly hypermild in terms of advice that could fuck your shit up in game dev
California. It was going to cost us about $1000 a year to keep the business going and our sales were practically non existent after the first month (we only launched and sold the game on Steam). We ended up filing individually that year and then dissolved the company. If we got big it would've been worth it but it ended up just being a waste of time and money for us.
I faced legal trouble after the moderate success of my first game and it was essential that I had it.It ended up being bad advice for our case. That's my experience with it.
We thought about forming it in another state but ultimately decided to just make it easier and use one of our own addresses. The thing was this was out first game we ever developed together ( just three of us) and we wanted to dot our i's and cross the t's. Do it as legit as possible but it was all out of pocket and in our free time. We all had full time jobs during this. It was a really great learning experience for a variety of reasons and it was an awesome time. I just wish we didn't waste the money we did because quite frankly that could've gone towards advertising instead. Which honestly is something we were barely able to do.Uff, I can totally see how 1000$ can feel as a waste of money. My state is 20$ of yearly fees from what I'm checking haha.
Still, being able to deduct all the employees expenses as business expenses should have been worth it, you guys shouldn't have filled only individually. You gotta learn the shenanigans of tax code haha.
I hope this is in reference to North American game design universities with their debt....
I think it's a pretty important on topic conversation actually. You mentioned having to change the name of your game or face being sued. Did you , for example, hire a lawyer, have one on retainer , or anything of that sort? It's expensive as hell to do so . Were you able to just handle it yourself?I faced legal trouble after the moderate success of my first game and it was essential that I had it.
I understand the advice "didn't work out for you", but you need to understand the difference between bad advice and "we just didn't end up needing these reasonable precautions".
You take steps to protect yourself.
Anyway, this is derailing the thread to some extent, so I'll move on.
I got told 33.33ms frame times were fine for VR. They are not.
At that point I had to hire a lawyer, which, yes, was expensive. But if the LLC had not been established, than those profits would be *my personal taxable income*, not my company's. (And, of course, most of a game's profits come very quickly after release, so even a quick filing after release would likely be deeply insufficient). Were I not able to pay damages/restitution, I would have to have declared bankruptcy and destroy my own personal finances for many years to come.I think it's a pretty important on topic conversation actually. You mentioned having to change the name of your game or face being sued. Did you , for example, hire a lawyer, have one on retainer , or anything of that sort? It's expensive as hell to do so . Were you able to just handle it yourself?
Players, definitely. Players often (not alway, but often) give terrible advice. I think non-devs assume many things are easier to implement than they actually are. If you see players accusing the devs of being dumb, lazy, etc. for not implementing a certain feature or whatever, I guarantee the devs already thought through the problem and there is a valid reason why it isn't in the game.Devs, I'd like to understand if the least useful advice comes from colleagues, family, peers, players, journos, etc?
Do you filter some of these out immediately as not informed or whatever?
More career advice rather than field advice, but: "Start in QA to get your foot in the door to work toward the position you actually want."
100% some modelers will have edge loops for days just to maintain their quads and as a tech animator it makes skinning harder and more annoying when there is useless extra edges all over the placeThe good advice to go for quads whenever possible, has been completely blown out of proportion to some idiotic mantra by some 3d artists.
If it's not causing shading issues, or needs to be animated, tris are more than fine if the alternative is doubling the time to get a model done.