Notes from a talk a did at a public library. Includes tips for how to start a business, and advice for people looking to develop and release their first video game.

1. How to Start a Video Game
Company and Release a Game
Tips on Getting the First Game Done,
while Balancing Life Responsibilities

2. About Me
• Owner of Cloudy Heaven Games LLC
• Education and professional experience in
Computer Science and Game Development
• Lifelong passion for video games
• After many failed attempts, founded my
company and released my first game all within
3 months, while working full-time

3. Past Attempts
• Started making games for several
competitions
– Scope was too big
– Deadlines were too close
• Put full-time job obligations over personal
projects, no matter what
• Didn’t get the proper help

4. Fears and Mindset
• Tackle fear of failure
– It hurts to fail, but look at every failure as a lesson
– Do your research, but don’t be afraid to try
• Set realistic goals
– Don’t set out on huge projects right from the start
– You have other commitments that need resources
• Don’t get overwhelmed
– Break tasks and goals down into smaller pieces

5. Starting a Business
• Why start a business?
– Keep business and personal expenses separate
– Establish a business line of credit
– Get paid
• Decide on a business entity
– Examples: Sole proprietorship, partnership, LLC
• Register a name
• Set up mailing list and business address
– Don’t use a PO Box
• Get a tax ID number
– Protects your social security number
• All of this can be done online, in a few hours, for a few hundred
dollars

6. Getting Assistance: Business
• A lot of information is available from local gov’t sites,
particularly the Small Business Administration (in the
United States)
– Steps to Starting a Business:
https://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-
managing-business/starting-business
• If you want to verify your steps, check these resources
– Local government business workshops
– SBA Local Assistance Tool: https://www.sba.gov/tools/local-
assistance
– SCORE: https://www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/score
• Get a tax advisor, because tax process for business owners
is a bit different

7. Making the Game: Choose an Idea
• Start with an idea that has a reasonable scope
• Write down and flesh out your idea
– Game Design Document (GDD) is a good idea
• Things to consider for your game idea
– Name
– Genre/Type
– Look and feel
– Rules
– Storyline
– Platform
– Number of players
– Monetization strategy

8. Making the Game: Choose Your
Development Tools
• If you’ve never done any programming, I’d suggest something
like Game Maker Studio, Construct 2 or Game Salad
• Try to choose tools you’re familiar with, if possible
• Consider the tools you’ll need for making graphics and audio
– If you’re outsourcing, you might not have to consider this
• Also make sure of what hardware you’ll need
– Laptop/computer
– Any mobile devices
– Controllers

9. Making the Game: Form Your Team
• Can’t do everything yourself, so look for help with
some tasks and skills
– If you need extra team members, post a request for help
on a site like TIGSource forums or GameDev.net
– Agree on price, timeframe, intellectual property rights, etc.
• Decide on a method for communication and delivery of
work
– Email
– Skype
– Dropbox
– Source control

10. Making the Game: Divide and
Prioritize Tasks
• Based on your GDD, you should know what
features are most important
– Be careful about scope creep!
• Use an idea “parking lot” if you need to
• Keep a spreadsheet of tasks
– Track your progress
– Can be similar to a “Kanban board”
• Always know what you can be working on at
any given moment

11. Making the Game: Test Your Game
• Look for technical errors and problems
• Also test for fun, playability, and how easy it is
to understand the game
• Consider making a test plan
• Keep track of books
– Bug status
– Solutions/lessons learned once the bugs are fixed

12. Making the Game: Be Flexible
• Plans and ideas will change
– Software development usually doesn’t go exactly
according to the original plan
– Reasons your game might change
• Some features didn’t work as well as expected
• External requirements changed (maybe a planned
platform scrapped some features, for example)
• Team runs out of money, time, or other resources
• Ask for help if you need it

13. Marketing
• Promote your game before the release
– Share development progress and news
– Let people play demos
• Places and ways to promote, before and after release
– Your game website
• News, screenshots, company info
– Independent developer sites
• IndieDB.com
• Indiegames.com
– Social media
• Twitter
• Facebook
– Press releases
• You must have a good product to back up your marketing
– All the press releases and news items will not help if your game just isn’t
interesting or well-executed

14. Maintaining a Schedule (and Sanity)
• Avoid burnout
– Take rests and breaks when you need them
– Step back from problems, and come back refreshed and with a
better perspective
• Get help when you need it
– Most software tools and languages have at least some
documentation and community support
– Look for tutorials, forums, colleagues, example games/code
• Work according to your determined priority lists
• Don’t be too self-critical!
– Not only does this crush motivation and confidence, it can be a
huge time waster!

15. More Help
• Secrets to Rapid Game Development: How I
Created a Game Business and My First Game
in 3 Months:
http://amzn.to/1Pelgvk
• Free guide:
http://cloudyheavengames.com/learn/tutorial
s/overcoming-fears-and-limiting-beliefs

16. Contact
• Website: cloudyheavengames.com
• Email: contact@cloudyheavengames.com
• Twitter: @CloudyHeavenGms