One thing I know from my actual job is it’s important to define your social space. Early in your development you may not have a game or much of anything to show. Use this time to define your social media presence. You may not have much to show and in some cases you may not use every platform but prepare them anyway. Let’s face it these are things you’re going to need.
Start with a Name
To get the ball rolling come up with a name. Maybe you just want to use your own name, or prepare a new business name. My original plan was to go with d24inc. I have set d24inc as my my umbrella company, in the event I get overly successful and branch out (getting WAY ahead of myself here). Quickly I settled on D24 Indie Games as my company brand name as it gave a little more identity to what I was planning to do. This is commonly referred as the “fake it ’til you make it” step. More importantly it gives you credibility with yourself. You’re doing this and you know it so get to it!
The next step is to find a place to start. Maybe its a Facebook Page like D24 Indie Games, or simply just an Instagram or Twitter account. Start sending invitations as soon as you’re ready. Start with your friends, because you can let yourself down, but you can’t let your friends down. This step really gives you that feeling of “ok I’m doing this, for better or worse”.
Develop your website early on as well. Even if it’s a basic website make sure you capture your domain name and get something on the web. You may want to get yourself a hosting package from some place like GoDaddy. In this way you can have an easy way to create multiple websites if needed. You may want one for yourself, your company and maybe even individual games. Use something like WordPress or code it yourself but keep it professional.
I’ve got my Social Space, now what?
You’ll now have a voice to tell people what you are doing. You can use your social space to show progress, no matter how small. Over time you can build a voice and promotion for your project, and not be forced to do it in a month. Over time this will be your credibility as well because people can see your progress.
Your work won’t be over however, not by a long shot. Keep adjusting your social space as you develop your projects. Make announcements and show off your game(s). Overtime you may also want to expand your social space. Get your game on itch.io, start a Discord or a Reddit and stream your game on Twitch or YouTube.
One thing I am extremely happy to have learned even this early was how to use GitHub. If you’re like me and had no clue, this great course from GameDev.tv will help. Git is a great place to build your resume and also back up your projects. It’s great to have Git in my toolbox this early in my game development days.
