作者：Steven Honders

首先我想先介绍下自己。我是来自荷兰HKU大学的大四毕业生。在大学四年间我带着发行游戏的目标创造了几款游戏。但是因为一些原因我未能发行全部的游戏。在大学的最后两年我完全致力于自己所创建的公司Speelbaars中，并且我们的第一款游戏《Lumini》也得到了学校的大力支持。我并不善于讲故事，所以我将在此以列表的形式提供自己在过去几年里所学到的一些东西。

1.不要只是想着创造游戏，你应该将其落实行动。

2.不要一直谈论理念，而是应该去呈现这些理念（创建游戏原型！）

3.不要尝试着独自完成所有内容。

4.学习有关开发的每个部分（游戏邦注：包括编程，设计，美术，商业）。

5.相信与你共事的人。

6.及时签订合同。

7.提前做好计划，特别是在长期项目中。

8.不要害怕向别人寻求帮助，信息或反馈。

9.不要害怕舍弃，要知道删减才是创造的艺术。

10.了解“最低可行性产品”意味着什么。

11.敢于犯错并从中获得学习。

12.你不可能阻止任何错误的出现，你只能选择去接受它们。

13.不要感到惊慌，总是会有解决方法的。

14.为你的用户创造游戏，而不是为自己。

15.永远待在舒适区是不可能发挥自己的潜能。

16.你将为了获得关注而与无数开发者展开竞争。

17.不要因此而被吓到。

18.并不是所有人都会喜欢你的游戏，但这也不是什么坏事。

19.总是会有人喜欢你的游戏，你只需要去找到他们。

20.几乎所有见到你的人都会说喜欢你的游戏，但事实不一定是这样。

21.你可能不能通过制作游戏而发财。

22.你可能不能通过制作游戏而成名。

23.你的游戏将影响某些人的生活。

24.不要让其他人打击到你。

25.现实地看待自己的未来。

26.你需要与别人进行更多的交谈。

27.你需要接触一些社交媒体。

28.不管你有多讨厌Twitter或Facebook。

29.网络非常重要。

30.不要认为任何与你交谈的人是不重要的，任何人都有自己的价值。

31.不要无礼地对待任何人。

32.永远不要自断退路。

33.金钱并没有罪，你总是需要它。

34.你不应该为了金钱而牺牲创造性和想象力。

35.你需要努力平衡想象力与金钱。

36.你需要一直一直学习。

37.总是有些人更善于做某事。

38.你将会出现妒忌心理，这也是你需要解决的问题。

39.永远不要去怨恨什么，这不值得你去消耗任何精力。

40.你不需要对任何争议作出回应。

41.人们总是会为了达到自己的目的去利用你。

42.这些人也仍可以做你的朋友，他们只是认为你具有价值而已。

43.家人也能够帮助你，即使他们并不懂游戏。

44.与当地的游戏开发社区保持联系，你将能在此交到朋友并学到一些东西。

45.不管你获得了多大的成功，你都应该在别人有需求的时候主动帮助他们。

46.始终牢记所有人都是从最底端开始的。

47.AAA级游戏并不是没有灵魂的内容，制作这些内容的人和你一样充满激情。

48.发行商并不邪恶，甚至大多数发行商都很优秀。

49.甚至连最大的发行商也会尽自己的所能，但是一些大公司通常都拥有较为不便的交流结构。

50.有可能的话最好多参加一些活动，即使只是一些当地的小活动。

51.如果你制作的是PC游戏的话你总会想在Steam上销售游戏（游戏邦注：因为这是你的99%潜在市场）。

52.但同时你也要将游戏带到一些较小的平台（如Itch.io，GoG等等）。

53.我并不是很了解主机市场，不好意思。

54.如果有人愿意告诉你的话，你就应该联系他们并请求他们的帮助。

55.如果有人未回复你的电子邮件，那可能是因为他们还未看到，因为他们的电子邮箱有太多邮件。

56.你一定要继续发邮件，但也不要让人感到厌烦。

57.如果你与尝试着联系的人建立了某种关系，这时候社交媒体便是最佳交流工具，然后才是电子邮件。

58.对于任何项目，一开始都不需要太多人。

59.缩小团队规模是你始终都想避免的情况，所以扩大团队规模将是更好的选择。

60.着眼于身边任何能够带给自己灵感的东西，不要只关注于其它游戏。

61.灵感总是会在任何时间任何地方出现，你需要想办法将其记录下来。

62.尽管可能没人喜欢，但是游戏设计文件真的很重要。

63.你希望团队中的某些人能够关注于业务事宜。而这个人同时也可以是开发者。

64.你需要真正关注于市场营销。

65.你需要尽早去营销你的游戏。

66.记得所有内容都将出现在网上并待在网上。

67.你总是需要对自己（在网上）所说的一切负责。甚至是在你难过，喝醉或生病的时候说的话。

68.有些人总是会尝试着攻击你的弱点。

69.再一次的，这些人也不值得你去关注。

70.尝试着从他们所说的事中学到些什么，因为任何事情的背后总是隐藏着真相。

71.如果你真的想要引起别人的关注的话你可以选择打电话。

72.仔细检查你所发布的文本内容的语法。

73.也许某些策略在昨天是有用的，但在明天可能就没用了。

74.总是保持创造性，不要去复制别人的作品。

75.总是仔细阅读任何需要你签名的内容，不理解的话就大胆地提问。

76.在接触记者时，应该仔细思考自己想要分享什么故事。

77.“我只是想要制作有趣的游戏”并不是个好故事。

78.避免使用创新，吸引人，独特等流行词去描述自己的游戏。

79.跳脱框架去思考如何从游戏中获得盈利。

80.创造多人游戏总是很有趣，但当你开始这么做时你却会发现这也是很难销售的游戏。

81.获得奖励是好事，但通常情况下给予你奖励的人不一定会购买你的游戏。

82.尽管奖励不能用来销售游戏，但是它们却能够帮助你获得更多媒体曝光。

83.媒体关注自然很棒，但真正推动游戏成功的还是那些能向朋友宣传你的游戏的人。

84.不要因为害羞而不敢向一些较小的网站/YouTuber/Streamer呈现自己的游戏副本。

85.如果你能够说服两个人去购买你的游戏，你便能够赚到比成本还多的钱。

86.不要因为对方是你的朋友而购买游戏，而要因为你想要玩游戏而去购买游戏。

87.因为如果你这么做了，其他“朋友”也会期待能够获得这种待遇（即期待着你会购买他们的游戏）。

88.现在，如果你的游戏已经处于Greenlight状态好几个月，那就说明它还不够优秀。

89.这并不意味着你的游戏不好，只是你需要再回到绘图板上而已。

90.如果你的游戏在经过前几周的开发后还不够有趣，那它可能永远都不会变得有趣。

91.这时候你应该抛弃原有的游戏理念并尝试一些全新的内容，而不是反复去修改它。机会永远都不会等着时间。

92.你所雇佣的每个人都需要你去花钱。甚至当你们执行的是收入共享政策时。

93.不要忘记花些时间去满足自己除游戏以外的兴趣爱好。

94.不要将所有时间都投入在一个项目上，如此你便会很快失去兴趣。要适当地休息。

95.不要害怕投钱，这些钱的投入最终都是值得的。

96.无论如何都要避免欠债。

97.如果有人给予你承诺，请勇敢地在他们忘记承诺的时候提醒他们。

98.不要害怕提供现金支持。

99.对于玩家来说一款优秀的游戏总是有意义和价值、。

100.而做到这点的最简单的方法便是确保你的游戏是“有趣的”。

101.如果你失去了动力，你便可以先退后一步并提醒自己为什么要做这件事。

102.团队中总是会出现争吵，这没关系。你只需要确保这种争吵是关于一些重要的事便可。

103.确保能够真正倾听团队成员们所关心的事。

104.永远都不能忘记任何成功都是整个团队的功劳。

105.当有人希望得到你的反馈时，不要害怕给予批评，并且需要确保给予具有建设性的意见。

106.当你指出一个问题时，你也需要考虑一些可能的解决方法。

107.你需要同时为自己的成功与失败负责。

108.关于任何问题你永远都不是最独特的那个，有些人可能已经遭遇过同样的问题了。

109.在面对公众或进行演讲的时候尽可能表现得自然。

110.“不”并不一定意味着“永不”。

111.提交你的游戏去参与一些竞争性活动。

112.记得制作游戏是为了给别人玩。不要害怕别人会在你的游戏中遭遇失败。

113.有些玩家可能会比较笨，所以在设计游戏的时候你需要记得这点。

114.但是千万别期待着玩家都很笨，你应该认真地面对他们。

115.当你尝试着去推广游戏时，不要害怕受挫，你应该坚持不懈。

116.测试游戏并不断进行迭代。

117.在测试的同时不断收集数据，同时也要重视自己的直觉。

118.如果你觉得某个不错的报价是真的，那它可能就是真的。

119.任何经验之谈往往都不会有错。

120.但是你的经历往往都与别人不同。

121.不要为了加入对话而撒谎。

122.不要因为不知道某些内容而不敢承认。

123.让一个人负责PR工作并相信他能够做出正确的决定。

124.你将在某个时候发行游戏，即使那时候你还未100%满意游戏。

125.永远不要放弃！

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转发，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

125 Things I Learned While Developing Games

- Steven Honders

First I’ll provide some context by introducing myself. I’m a 4th year student/graduate from the HKU in the Netherlands. During my time there I’ve created several games with the aim to release them. Not all were published, for several reasons.
The last two years I spent working within my own company (Speelbaars) and we were supported by school on our debut title ‘Lumini’. I’m not that good at making constructive stories, so I’ll provide you with a handy bullet-list about stuff I’ve learned over the past few years.

1) Don’t think about making a game, start MAKING a game.

2) Don’t talk about ideas, show ideas (prototype!).

3) Don’t try to do everything by yourself.

4) Learn something about every part of development (programming, design, art, business).

5) Trust the people you work with,

6) But still get your contracts done in time.

7) Plan ahead, especially for longer projects.

8) Don’t be afraid to ask for help, information or feedback.

9) Don’t be afraid to kill your darlings, omitting is the art of creating.

10) Learn what a ‘minimal viable product’ is and means.

11) Make mistakes and learn from them.

12) You can’t prevent every mistake, you will make them, accept that.

13) Don’t panic; there is always a solution.

14) Make a game for your audience, not for yourself.

15) You won’t reach your potential by staying in your comfort-zone.

16) You’re competing with thousands of developers for the same spotlight.

17) Don’t let this scare you.

18) Not everyone will like your game, that doesn’t mean it’s bad.

19) There will always be people that will like your game, you just need to find them.

20) Almost everyone you meet in person will tell you they like your game, even if they don’t.

21) You (probably) won’t get rich by making games.

22) You (probably) won’t get famous by making games.

23) Your games will have an impact on someones life.

24) Don’t let others discourage you.

25) Be realistic about your future.

26) You will have to talk to others a lot!

27) You’ll have to do the social media thing.

28) No matter how much you hate Twitter or Facebook

29) Networking is important.

30) Don’t dismiss anyone you talk to as unimportant, everyone has value.

31) Never be rude to anyone.

32) NEVER EVER(!) burn bridges.

33) Money isn’t evil, you’ll need it.

34) You don’t have to sacrifice creativity or vision for money.

35) You will struggle with the balance between vision and money.

36) You’re never done learning, about anything.

37) There will always be people that are better at something.

38) You’ll get jealous, but will have to deal with it.

39) Never bare a grudge, it’s not worth your energy.

40) Responding to trolls isn’t worth your time.

41) People will try to use you for their own gain.

42) Those people can still be your friends, they just think you offer value as well.

43) Your family can help you, even if they don’t understand games.

44) Make contact with your local gamedev scene, you’ll make friends and learn stuff.

45) Always try to help others when they ask, no matter how successful you’ve become.

46) Remember that everyone started at the bottom.

47) AAA isn’t soulless, people making them are just as passionate as you are.

48) Publishers aren’t evil, most of them are awesome.

49) Even the biggest publishers do their best, but big companies have a bad communication structure in general.

50) Go to events if you can, even if they’re just local and small.

51) You do want to sell your game on Steam if it’s for PC (it’s 99% of your potential market).

52) But also sell it at smaller platforms (Itch.io, GoG, etc).

53) I don’t know much about console markets, sorry :’) (But you do remember tip nr.right?).

54) If someone tells you, you can always contact them for help, they probably mean it.

55) If people don’t respond to your e-mail they probably haven’t read it, because their inbox is flooded.

56) Don’t be afraid to send a follow-up e-mail, but don’t be ‘that guy’.

57) If you’ve got some kind of relationship (IRL, Online, etc) with the person you try to contact, social media is a better option then e-mail in general.

58) Always start with the least amount of necessary people on a project.

59) Down scaling a team is something you want to avoid, up scaling is always an option if needed.

60) Look at everything around you for inspiration, don’t be stuck at just looking at other games.

61) Inspiration can come at anytime and anywhere, always have a way of writing it down.

62) Game design documentation is necessary, no one likes it though.

63) You’ll need someone in your team with a business focus. That person can still be a dev.

64) Marketing will need your full attention.

65) You’ll need to market your game as early as possible

66) Remember that everything that goes online, stays online though.

67) You’re always responsible for what you say (online). Even when sad, drunk, sick or whatever.

68) Some people will try to attack you on your weaknesses.

69) Again, those people aren’t worth your attention.

70) Do try to learn something from what they say, there is always some truth behind everything.

71) You can also call a person if you really need their attention.

72) Grammar check any text that you publish.

73) Strategies that worked yesterday, won’t necessarily work tomorrow.

74) Always be original, don’t copy other people’s work.

75) Always read stuff that you need to sign with a signature, ask if you don’t understand something.

76) When approaching journalists, think about what story you want to tell.

77) ‘I just want to make fun games’ isn’t a great story

78) Avoid the use of buzzwords like innovative, immersive, unique, etc as a way to describe your game.

79) Think outside the box when monetizing your game.

80) Multiplayer games are fun to make, but really hard to sell when you’re just starting.

81) Winning awards is nice, but generally awarded by people that will not buy your game.

82) Although awards won’t sell your game, they do give you exposure with media.

83) Media attention is great, but what really makes you game successful is people telling their friends about it.

84) Don’t shy away from giving away free copies of your game, even to smaller sites/ youtubers/ streamers.

85) If one free key convinces two people to buy the game, you make more money than it cost you.

86) Don’t buy games from friends, because they’re your friends, buy the game because you want to play it.

87) The reason for this is that if you do, other ‘friends’ will expect the same treatment.

88) Nowadays, if your game is stuck on Greenlight for more then a month, it’s just not good enough.

89) This doesn’t mean it isn’t good, you just need to go back to the drawing board.

90) If your game isn’t remotely fun after the first few weeks of development, it probably won’t be anytime soon.

91) Ditch that concept and start something new, instead of trying to fix it. Chances are it’ll never be worth the time investment.

92) Every person you hire will cost you money. Even when it’s a revenue share.

93) Don’t forget to spend time on hobbies outside of gaming.

94) Don’t spend all your time on a project, you’ll lose motivation faster. Take breaks.

95) Don’t be afraid to invest money, it’ll be worth it in the end.

96) Avoid going into debt at all costs.

97) If someone promised you something, don’t be afraid to remind them of that promise.

98) Don’t be afraid to cash in favors.

99) A good game has meaning and value for a player.

100) The easiest way to accomplish this is to make your game ‘fun’.

101) If you lose motivation, and you will at some point, take a step back and remind yourself why you’re doing this.

102) Fights will happen in a team and that’s OK. Just be sure it’s about something important in the game.

103) Also be sure to really listen to concerns that people have in your team, even if you don’t share them.

104) In general, never forget it’s a team effort.

105) Never hold back critique when someone asks you for feedback, but let it be constructive.

106) When pointing out a problem, be sure to consider possible solutions.

107) You’re responsible for your own successes and failures alike.

108) You’re never unique in your problems, someone already dealt with them somewhere.

109) Get comfortable with presenting in front of a crowd and public speaking.

110) ‘No’ doesn’t necessarily mean ‘Never’.

111) Submit your game to competitions and selection procedures for events.

112) Remember that games are made to be played by people. Don’t be afraid to let someone fail at your game.

113) Some of your players will be idiots, design your game remembering this fact.

114) But never expect your players to be stupid, always take them seriously.

115) Never be discouraged when trying to get your game noticed, keep pounding on that door till it opens.

116) Playtest your game and iterate a lot on it.

117) Collect data while playtesting, but don’t forget to follow your gut feeling as well.

118) If an offer sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

119) When you’re speaking from experience you’re never wrong.

120) But your experiences don’t have to be the same as someone else’s.

121) Never lie just to fit in or be part of a conversation.

122) Don’t be afraid to admit that you don’t know something.

123) Have one person be responsible for the PR and trust them to make the right decision.

124) You’ll have to release your game at some point, even if that means you’re not 100% satisfied.

125) Never give up!

Some of these might not be clear enough, if you want me to elaborate on some of these points don’t hesitate to contact me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ithunn) or send me an e-mail (steven[at]speelbaars[dot]com). Really, don’t be afraid to ask .

If you don’t agree with me, please let me know why, so we can learn from your point of view as well.（source：gamecareerguide）