Schell Games

[{"content":{"text":" One of the great things about working at a studio like Schell Games is that our lead\u00ader\u00adship encour\u00adages exper\u00adi\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtion. Artists drive each other with inspi\u00adra\u00adtion. Designers see potential. And engineers give us the tools to help us explore and create unique expe\u00adri\u00adences. Indie devs, this blog is for you. I hope in this post that you might hear some words of encour\u00adage\u00adment that will keep you motivated to keep creating, and to build those connec\u00adtions to other creators around you! "},"id":"0fb7e9f5-ca06-4aa1-b864-765b74539981","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h3","text":" WHY THE NEED FOR ARTISTIC EXPLO\u00adRATION ","customid":""},"id":"f3e0426c-6419-4b4f-92b6-19d4f450bb8c","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":" I feel incred\u00adibly lucky to work at a studio like Schell Games because my fellow devel\u00adopers and I are always encour\u00adaged to work on projects we are passionate about. This encour\u00adage\u00adment meant I was able to work on games like I Expect You to Die and watch Until You Fall grow from a Game Jam prototype to a finished project. These expe\u00adri\u00adences lead me to a period of intro\u00adspec\u00adtion and growth in the type of games I wanted to make. "},"id":"a5e36877-c81e-4c0a-a091-2c3863a35737","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/p5vsz8ofh8bumrp8"],"src":"","alt":"","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"66fde7ed-bfc1-4df1-b69b-76ad345db2d1","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"text":" I started to think about what I could do and the way I could channel the atmos\u00adphere I saw from my teammates to make something that expressed how I felt. I knew that there were people on Twitter and in various game dev commu\u00adni\u00adties who had similar expe\u00adri\u00adences. That was the catalyst to a complete change in how I viewed making games and expressing yourself in those games. "},"id":"bb079059-d315-49be-9bc1-2f49b30eaec6","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h3","text":" ARTIS\u00adTI\u00adCALLY AND CAREER-WISE, THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST FULFILLING TIME FOR ME YET ","customid":""},"id":"08bbb39c-9328-40c4-838b-1d01814df03a","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":" Artistic explo\u00adration is something that is incred\u00adibly important for everyone, but espe\u00adcially for artists. Without it, you might find yourself losing that creative drive that propels you forward. I know that every project I undertake allows me to explore something new and that is where the idea sparked. It\u2019s important to make things that you\u2019re passionate about, even if you\u2019re unsure about what that will look like. I always wanted to make char\u00adac\u00adters but was paralyzed by the complex\u00adi\u00adties that come along with making them. I bent the rules and made my first character how I wanted to and that resulted in many of my coworkers showing me how I could further break the rules and push what I was doing! They knew I was passionate about making char\u00adac\u00adters, and their encour\u00adage\u00adment kept supporting me even when I was unsure of myself. This continued to the point where now I\u2019m looking for people to help me on this project, and have built an audience of people who want to see what else I\u2019m working on! All because I allowed myself to explore the things that meant something to me. "},"id":"9494eea1-62be-4bb9-bc67-6337d9853c5f","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/zigl6xzmi6fdbrnq"],"src":"","alt":"","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"9cb7cd1d-b90d-42df-9616-bcfd244600c4","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"text":" One of the best things I ever did was start posting on Twitter. The #GameDev and #IndieDev Twitter tags are an absolute goldmine of creators building intensely beautiful games and art; it\u2019s the perfect place to find a community of artists that will engage with you and your artwork! Finding a good Discord server like the Bit Bridge Indies Discord server for Pitts\u00adburgh based game devel\u00adopers is a great way to build that community. Also, many cities have their own Inter\u00adna\u00adtional Game Devel\u00adopers Asso\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtion (IGDA) chapter ! It\u2019s so easy to be insular and work on things in a vacuum. I am still guilty of this! You have to find reasons to show off your projects and post often! Building this habit will be one of the most useful skills you develop. Only by seeing and expe\u00adri\u00adencing new things will you be able to build your voice. "},"id":"54acb7e9-ff34-49c8-b507-94e6e65f176b","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h3","text":" SOCIAL MEDIA HABITS \/\u200bTIPS I USE: ","customid":""},"id":"5457e744-0331-481f-8092-d9c7f060bf3c","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":" I already mentioned using Twitter hashtags to discover and post things that you make or find inspi\u00adra\u00adtional. There are so many tags and some are only active for a day, so it\u2019s helpful to keep an eye on what other game devel\u00adopers are trending. Note that these are also great to use on Mastodon and are gaining increasing traction on Bluesky, too! "},"id":"c7c862d0-597b-445a-bacb-ae1f1732b5c1","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"text":" #gamedev (Game Development), #indiedev (Independent Game Developer), #indiegame (Independent Game), #indiegames (Plural, often used interchangeably), #IndieGameDev (A slightly longer, more specific version) #WIP (Work In Progress) For showing any incomplete part of your project. Day-specific hashtags #MarketingMonday Posts related to game marketing strategies. #WishlistWednesday Call-to-action to ask users to add your game to their Steam\/platform wishlist #WIPWednesday Alternative to #WIP, specifically for Wednesday. #ThrowbackThursday Can be used to show old concepts or early versions. #FeedbackFriday Ask the community for comments and suggestions. #screenshotsaturday The most popular weekly tag. Show off a new screenshot, GIF, or short video of your game. #ScreenshotSunday Alternative to Saturday, good for visibility if you miss Saturday. "},"id":"8bd3a05e-ac05-45af-a71e-89470d49bf7b","isHidden":false,"type":"listBlock"},{"content":{"text":" Make sure that you also talk TO other devel\u00adopers in these social circles. Don\u2019t be a link spammer and just drop your tweet and run away. Talk to other devel\u00adopers, see what they\u2019re working on, give feedback if they\u2019re asking, and be a cool indi\u00advidual. Nobody wants to work with a know-it-all. I try and post something at least once a week so people don\u2019t forget about me. This can be hard to do and if you feel like it\u2019s too much pressure then don\u2019t push it too hard. Talk about what you\u2019re doing and why! People will be inter\u00adested in how you approached certain things or why you\u2019re doing things certain ways. Spreading that knowledge, espe\u00adcially if it\u2019s something unique will always attract people to the projects and work you post! Social media is a weird beast, and it can be fickle. The two most important things about social media usage for an artist I can tell you are: Followers do not mean success. If your post does not get the attention you want, that does not mean the thing you made is bad. Sometimes the post just went up at the wrong time of day for engage\u00adment. Don\u2019t get discour\u00adaged! "},"id":"38cf287d-4ae3-4f3a-a103-543835e3c2bb","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"},{"content":{"location":"kirby","image":["file:\/\/tgispswio5klkhap"],"src":"","alt":"","caption":"","link":"","ratio":"","crop":"false"},"id":"343b7419-decd-4cd0-8289-902395ad52ff","isHidden":false,"type":"imageBlock"},{"content":{"level":"h2","text":" WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU? ","customid":""},"id":"774bbba9-df4c-4ab1-82e6-cfdf42614f1d","isHidden":false,"type":"headingBlock"},{"content":{"text":" Many indie devel\u00adopers, artists, program\u00admers, and people in general want to show off the awesome things they\u2019re working on! When you first start inter\u00adacting with social media, it can be a real challenge to get the attention you\u2019re looking for. However, with the tips and advice above, you will soon find yourself building a demo\u00adgraphic who want to play your game or see the art that you\u2019re making. If you\u2019re just a fan of game devel\u00adop\u00adment and games in general, hop on Twitter and check out those hashtags, see what people are working on, and give them encour\u00adage\u00adment to keep on creating and being awesome. Thanks! "},"id":"a5f58e64-04e9-4095-82a7-f893b473739b","isHidden":false,"type":"textBlock"}]

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