Game Development is a community looking to foster and bring attention to the many efforts by people making games from arcade to tabletop and everything in between. There is so much going on in this aspect and yet it’s scattered among many different topics on Hive and often goes unseen.
I see Hive as the perfect place for people developing a game even if it is non-blockchain to come and share their experience, what they are working on, and pass on knowledge if possible to those interested in making their own game.
I have discovered in my own journey of sharing the making of a game that many either publicly or privately want to or are working on making a game themselves. Gaming, in general, has always had a lot of enthusiasm behind it on the Hive blockchain. A lot of passionate people involved in creating all kinds of content.
In my eyes, it just makes sense that if you are going make a game you should do so where you can build a community around it. The indie game scene these days is exploding with powerful tools doing the work that use to take dozens to hundreds of individuals. As a result, game developers are being empowered to do more with less in terms of time, manpower, and cost. They however struggle to get any attention to the masterpieces they create.
The indie game developer can create, innovate, and move quicker than the bigger and slower triple-A game studios that often take forever to catch up to current trends. Indie game developers have been leading the blockchain gaming revolution for quite some time now. All the way from solo indie developers to teams with dozens of individuals involved.
While there are many websites that game developers in blockchain and other types of games choose to share about making their games on. One place that often gets left under looked is Hive. With the powerful layer zero we have, that seems like something that can be addressed.
In the past, before there was a Hive I lead a gaming community. One effort of that community was rewarding gaming content. One sub-section of that was game development posts by indie developers that were earning next to nothing. Sadly most game developers that came to the blockchain did not last very long before they stopped posting.
Time again and again I noticed some amazing posts being shared on the blockchain from game developers to only be chased off. Many of these game developers were sharing their blogs over to the blockchain. As a result, certain individuals took actions that were seen by those developers as hostile to the point they lost interest and left.
Not to mention since these posts were hard to find they never got any engagement from the many different communities on the blockchain. Quite a lost opportunity in my mind for the blockchain as a whole to gain a bigger foothold in the game development world by getting the outside world more interested in our blockchain itself when they show up.
Many often talk about what can be done to renew the spirit and excitement about the future of the Hive. So many come up with frankly insane theories in how to increase the Hive price that it would require from the very foundation and up massive unwelcomed changes to be made.
Once you chuck out the more extreme thinking you often are left with thoughts that Hive needs more games. Hive is not a financially rich blockchain as of yet. Companies looking to spend 10’s of millions of dollars are looking elsewhere to set up shop, pour resources into, and develop a game. We are however very indie-friendly as we have seen already with a wide range of games on Hive.
How do you get more people talking about game development and perhaps making their own? The answer has always been community. Not to mention as is often the case, games pop up almost out of nowhere near completion. There are several games in development and yet those developers have as of yet to create a single post talking about them. More openness and discussion on the blockchain is clearly needed.
I have wanted to make this community for a while but I have come up with endless reasons of why not. I don’t have the time. I’m too busy with my own game and other projects. I lack experience in game development, and so on.
I have also asked far too many privately if they would finally start talking about their experience in game development, the game they are working on, and so forth. Crickets and excuses are what I get in return. Such as “oh it’s not a blockchain game so there is no reason to share it on Hive,” which is just silly thinking!
Not to mention many have asked other blockchain games to check out Hive or consider sharing their content here. With the lack of a community behind doing so, those asking usually get crickets back from those game developers as they don’t see why they should invest their time in doing so. You would think blockchain projects would seek out using blockchain solutions like Hive.
What Kind Of Posts Are Welcome?
Outside of the general wide gambit of game development, what is a typical post going to be in this community? There are so many different kinds of topics and posts it’s hard to name them all so here are just a few examples of topics that could be seen in the Game Development community.
- Worldbuilding
- Programming
- Art
- Animation
- Sound
- Game design
- Blockchain
- Software
- AI
- Prototyping
- Gameplay mechanics
- UI
- Lighting
- Storytelling
- Networking and servers
- Different phase of testing from alpha to expansions
- Advice
- Development resources
- And, much, much more
The main important takeaway of what is welcome is it’s something you have worked on in the past, or are working on in the present, or plan to work on in the future. It can also be you sharing general knowable and tricks you have picked over the years for those looking to get into game development.
Q And A
Here are some basic questions I have come up with and answers. I might add to this from time to time.
Q: Will you be making a community coin?
A: I have no plans at this time to do such. It’s quite hard and expensive to generate a lot of value around a coin in general. There are also many legal and other aspects to take into considerations that I am not equipped to handle at this point.
Q: Do you need to do anything to become a member and post in the community?
A: Any game developer considered in good standing on the blockchain is more than welcome to cross post game development content into the community. All you need is a Hive account.
Q: Why was my post shared in this community? I’m not a part of it.
The @GameDevHelper Hive account and others manually look for game development related content a few times a week and cross-posts it into the community regardless if you are a member of the community or not.
This helps keep content fresh and makes it easier for content discovery. It is one of our main goals to find and help get amazing game development content rewarded and more views.
Q: Will the Game Development community be a game publisher?
A: No, we do not have the resources or the understanding to pull something like that off at this time.
While it might be interesting one day if a game publisher(s) shows up and offers services within the community. I think with the general decentralized nature Hive enjoys in general most are not looking for something as centralized as that.
Q: Will you be helping projects?
A: It is my general hope over time many individuals will be here to offer some guidance but not to endlessly hold hands either. I will personally be spending some time helping out if and when I can.
The biggest help I see you can offer a fellow game developer is helping them stay motivated with a little encouragement over time. Game development is a time-consuming thing that requires daily and weekly commitment to doing if you ever want to make a game.
Q: Will you be providing any kind of financial assistance?
A: Outside of getting more votes and eyes on content that is more than likely as far as that will go.
You never know if an angel investor or other large stakeholders take an interest in projects being shared about in this community. I make no promises, however.
Q: Will you try and get more game developers on Hive?
A: Absolutely. I also know I’m not alone in that attempt in the past. There was just not a place for them to be or feel welcomed.
Q: How much time will you be spending on this?
A: I’ll personally be spending several hours a week on this time permitting. From cross-posting posts I find that fit the community, supporting content, and promoting the community among many other actives.
Q: What unique qualifications do you have to run such a community?
A: I wish I could say I had decades of experience being a game developer or something along those lines which I don’t. This is however Hive and there are far too many talkers than those who raise their hands to do something. While there are certainly more qualified public individuals they also have their plates full as it is. I would not dare expect them to take on an even heavier load. We need more people lifting.
I am now over a year into the development of my own game. In the past, I have set up and ran several private servers for friends to play different games on. I have also been involved in beta testing since Everquest when I was first invited to test out up and coming expansions before moving onto other games. I have had some minor roles doing odd things around game development that I might talk about at some point.
I also seem to be the person many mentions when it comes to game development discussions in several discords. Along with many people DMing me to pick my brain about this or that. It seems only fitting such future conversations are on the blockchain for others to partake in as well.
Q: Is there a discord?
A: Not at this time. While I can understand the usefulness of having one set up for sharing resources and people getting questions answered. That will require a fair amount of time to manage and will need some far more knowledgeable individuals than myself in such a discord for helping out.
Q: Is there a Twitter account?
Yes, efforts are being made to help promote Hive content outside of our bubble. I’m a strong believer that game developers need to work on their social media game to increase their player user base among other things.
The Game Development Twitter account.
Q: Are you looking for mods or other community roles to fill?
A: Yes, there will be several voluntary roles set up over time to help those who assist others stand out more within the community. More details will be worked out in the future.
Information
The content was written by @Enjar.
Find the Game Development community page here
