A Focus on Irish Games Developers - Gambrinous Games

Dav

Hello all,

This week I'd like you to meet Colm from Gambrinous. They're currently hard at work on The Guild of Dungeoneering. If you've ever played something like HeroQuest or AD&D or something like that, you'll instantly love Guild of Dungeoneering. Have a look at the vid below and see for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDyA7h50fjw

The game is available to buy right now should you so desire, you can even play it for free here.

Gambrinous: Colm

Hi everyone!

I'm Colm and I'm the (usually lone) developer behind Gambrinous. Right now I'm working on a game called Guild of Dungeoneering where I have in fact partnered with a super artist called Fred Mangan.



Since 2008 I've been trying to make games in my spare time, with the hope to transition to it full time once I had something good finished. Until last year I was basically failing at this. I have several abandoned projects from those first 5 years. See here

Last year I set up a 1GAM meetup group with a coworker where we followed the onegameamonth.com model of trying to finish ANY tiny game each month, and it was a huge success for me at least. I was finally able to actually finish some small games. It really broke me out of my pattern of giving up on what I was making. If anyone's interested there's a facebook group.

In October 2013 I decided to try and make something of 'sellable' quality again so I took my 1GAM project that I thought had the most promise and started building it out into a proper game. That's what has now become Guild of Dungeoneering.

In April 2014 I decided to give up my job (software development) and go fulltime on this. In April/May I was also able to get the game through Greenlight and approved for Steam.

I'm now taking part in an Enterprise Ireland programme called New Frontiers where they effectively pay me for 6 months to work on my startup idea, without taking equity. They also have a bunch of useful workshops and mentoring-style stuff.

So: who's got a question for me!

potatohead90

I have a few questions but not related to your game so I hope you don't get offended. I really want to start making games and somehow down the road make a living from it. I just don't know where to start. What computer language would you recommend to start me off and then where should I go from there? also did you study in college in this field?

I'd appreciate any reply back you can give, cheers mate

Gambrinous: Colm

potatohead90 wrote: »

I have a few questions but not related to your game so I hope you don't get offended. I really want to start making games and somehow down the road make a living from it. I just don't know where to start. What computer language would you recommend to start me off and then where should I go from there? also did you study in college in this field?

I'd appreciate any reply back you can give, cheers mate

Absolutely, there's no specific focus on my game at all.

I studied computer science in college (ICT in trinity) and then worked for 12 years as a web developer & software engineer. So generally my expertise is in programming, but I'm also doing a lot of work in game design & marketing right now, both of which I really enjoy.

What stage are you at in life? College? Generally speaking the two most important disciplines for creating games are programming & art, so I would say try and at least be able to do one of those a little bit. Since you are asking about languages I would say you are leaning towards programming?

As for languages I would say ANY language is good. As you become older you'll find most languages are similar and it's mostly about personal preference. I would say pick something and just make some games with it. It's never been easier to make games than now.

Have you been to any game jams? There's online ones like Ludum Dare, and Gamecraft organise some superb ones around Ireland. There's also 1GAM, so join the group and maybe come along to a meetup if you want to meet some likeminded folk.

I've personally been using AS3 plus the Flixel framework, which builds Flash movies (handily embeddable online), and I'm then using Adobe AIR to compile the flash movie into an installable game. This is very fast for me to work with and the main problems with it (lack of 3d for example) are not an issue for the games I make. That said I'm definitely going to try HaxeFlixel for my next game, as it looks like it will make much nicer native executables and is more actively supported than flash or flixel.

I've also seen Unity used to great effect in the 1GAM group. If you are going to try something in 3D I'd definitely start there (but it is also good for 2d, now).

potatohead90

Cheers for the quick reply. At the moment im about to start travelling for a year, I did photography for a couple of years but couldnt find a job after it so next year im going back to college to start a game development course either in carlow IT or ballyfermot college of further education. I am 23 so I reckon I still have time to change career paths.

There are soo many free online course that I've been looking at to do on my travels. if you know of any particular one that stands out by all means shoot it my way.

I'm more interested in the programming side because im brutal at art. I just started last week learning java script and I love it.

No I haven't been to any game jams, I really have just started seriously considering and working on this the last 3 weeks. I would feel a little uncomfortable going to anything like those at the moment until I knew what I was talking about and be able to understand people.

Again I appreciate the reply, its all a little mind boggling at the moment but im sure ill get my head around it and understand it better in a couple of weeks.

Good Luck with the game btw xD

Gambrinous: Colm

Enjoy your year of travels! Don't be too worried about doing a course while you are away, you'll have plenty of time for that when you get back.

Do try your hand at a game jam, they aren't at all intimidating. Every one I've been to has been inclusive & friendly. And nothing helps you learn more than taking part in one!

Gambrinous: Colm

Thought I'd share a little history on Guild of Dungeoneering. Here's what it looked like last October:



Animated:



I was using free art at that stage, and was sharing what you can see as a fully playable prototype. I think it's important if you are trying to find someone who'll partner with you like I was then to have something playable. It shows you are serious, have invested real time in the project, and have more than just an idea (which are almost worthless).

From that I was able to partner with an artist, based on profit share for the game. He quickly started producing art of this quality which has really helped the game stand out, I believe:

Fussgangerzone

First off, well done on getting into Greenlight and a Rock Paper Shotgun article. I think there's a healthy audience for this kind of game. Great art style as well. Questions:

1. Do you feel the advantage of project management habits from your previous career? I can imagine some advantages.
2. I notice that community development seems to be a really big part of getting indie titles out there, are you going in for that much yet, and if so how are you finding it?
3. Have you any multiplayer plans? Watching your videos, it looks like a shared-screen, turn-based two player experience could be good fun too.

Gambrinous: Colm

Fussgangerzone wrote: »

First off, well done on getting into Greenlight and a Rock Paper Shotgun article. I think there's a healthy audience for this kind of game. Great art style as well. Questions:

1. Do you feel the advantage of project management habits from your previous career? I can imagine some advantages.
2. I notice that community development seems to be a really big part of getting indie titles out there, are you going in for that much yet, and if so how are you finding it?
3. Have you any multiplayer plans? Watching your videos, it looks like a shared-screen, turn-based two player experience could be good fun too.

Great questions!

1. Fred is based in Australia and doing the art in his free time, so we're pretty async on art deliverables. I tend to have a backlog for him to work on plus a bunch of stuff done from him that I haven't used ingame yet, so generally we're not waiting on each other. This would change if the team was any bigger though. In my last job we were using elements of Agile - I would definitely go down this road if/when there's more than just me. For example daily 1min standup meetings plus say a fortnightly sprint (where you only specifically plan 2 weeks of development at a time).

2. I really, really believe that getting people to know about your game is the #1 obstacle to success for any game, indie or otherwise. The difference with the AAA titles is they tend to throw WADS of cash at the problem, wads that I certainly do not have. I spend I would say about one third of my time on outreach & marketing of one kind or another. For example I've been posting this Devlog thread on TIGSource from the very beginning and getting a lot of great feedback there as well as growing the audience for the game. It's a slow process and I believe you should start doing this right at the start of your development. I actually wrote up a marketing plan/guide at the beginning of this project that I've been pretty much sticking to.

3. It's down to scope and being able to finish the game with such a small team, so the answer is 'no, for now'. Going multiplayer would actually solve some of the design problems quite handily - eg you would be using your nasty monsters near the other player's dungeoneer etc etc. And like you said it would probably be a lot of fun. On the plus side, if the game does well that's the perfect kind of thing to work on for a sequel or update!

Fussgangerzone

Gambrinous: Colm wrote: »

2. I really, really believe that getting people to know about your game is the #1 obstacle to success for any game, indie or otherwise. The difference with the AAA titles is they tend to throw WADS of cash at the problem, wads that I certainly do not have. I spend I would say about one third of my time on outreach & marketing of one kind or another. For example I've been posting this Devlog thread on TIGSource from the very beginning and getting a lot of great feedback there as well as growing the audience for the game. It's a slow process and I believe you should start doing this right at the start of your development. I actually wrote up a marketing plan/guide at the beginning of this project that I've been pretty much sticking to.

Sounds pretty solid.

3. It's down to scope and being able to finish the game with such a small team, so the answer is 'no, for now'. Going multiplayer would actually solve some of the design problems quite handily - eg you would be using your nasty monsters near the other player's dungeoneer etc etc. And like you said it would probably be a lot of fun. On the plus side, if the game does well that's the perfect kind of thing to work on for a sequel or update!

Yeah, I'd say there's plenty to get right before you start adding stuff in. I remember a while ago Dan Marshall released Gun Monkeys, whcih was MP-only, and he said afterwards he wouldn't rely on mulitplayer for an indie title again. Too many empty lobbies.

I look forward to seeing the finished product. Break a leg!

ionapaul

Gambrinous: Colm wrote: »

2. I really, really believe that getting people to know about your game is the #1 obstacle to success for any game, indie or otherwise. The difference with the AAA titles is they tend to throw WADS of cash at the problem, wads that I certainly do not have. I spend I would say about one third of my time on outreach & marketing of one kind or another. For example I've been posting this Devlog thread on TIGSource from the very beginning and getting a lot of great feedback there as well as growing the audience for the game. It's a slow process and I believe you should start doing this right at the start of your development. I actually wrote up a marketing plan/guide at the beginning of this project that I've been pretty much sticking to.

Interesting stuff

I'm somewhat interested in getting into the gaming industry in some way at some point in my future (that's suitably vague enough to ensure that I feel no pressure!) but my skillset would be (copy)writing and digital marketing. I wonder if there is a place for a boutique content and marketing agency to help small game developers reach the market, maybe either on a fee basis or in exchange for equity or whatever?

I notice that in Ireland, and maybe worldwide, most small/indie game developers seem to cover their writing requirements without needing to hire a writer, while still looking for professional graphic artists rather than tackling those requirements themselves as well. This rankles a little as I work for a large organization where we've a team of full-time copywriters as well as a team of full-time designers, and the company would never dream of sending out a press release or building a webpage without asking someone like me to provide the copy; do you think that writing for games (as a unique and professional function) is something that is undervalued in smaller game developers?

Gambrinous: Colm

ionapaul wrote: »

do you think that writing for games (as a unique and professional function) is something that is undervalued in smaller game developers?

I think part of the problem is that it often falls into the game designer's lap, at least in smaller teams, to provide the writing for the game. Then there's the fact that many games have almost no writing or story elements at all - though perhaps this is out of necessity having no writer on the team!

That's just thinking about content within the game. Supporting content like press releases, game descriptions, marketing materials etc etc are all very important too

Gambrinous: Colm

Thought I'd mention Greenlight in case anyone's thinking about how hard/easy it would be to get your game onto Steam. The answer is it is far easier than ever, as since January this year they have vastly accelerated the number of games they accept onto Steam (via Greenlight). Apparantly they want to wind down Greenlight itself, but as of right now it's still the only way onto Steam unless you are a big gamedev or partner with a big publisher.

So in April I put Guild of Dungeoneering onto Greenlight at the same time as launching our trailer. I did a big press blitz to try and get some articles and traffic, using the trailer as the main carrot & the greenlight link as a bonus bit of content.

This side of it I found pretty hard and while we did really well in the end, getting greenlit after 35 days, it wasn't as great as I had been hoping and has taught me that getting press (and moreso, getting traffic/attention to your game) is far harder than you might think.

I wrote up the whole experience on my blog, for those interested.

CiaranMcCann

potatohead90 wrote: »

I have a few questions but not related to your game so I hope you don't get offended. I really want to start making games and somehow down the road make a living from it. I just don't know where to start. What computer language would you recommend to start me off and then where should I go from there? also did you study in college in this field?

I'd appreciate any reply back you can give, cheers mate

Just to add some input, if you're more interested in programming games I would highly recommend the IT Carlow games development course. I graduated from it last year and it was an amazing 4 years. You can checkout some of the games/projects I worked on while on the cource here ciaranmccann.me

If you have any other questions specifically about the course feel free to email me ciaran [at] flax.ie

P.S For starting out in game development, I would recommend messing around with Javascript and Canvas. Here are 100's of tutorials, like this one. Little out of date, but it still works. Very simple too. html5gamedev.samlancashire.com/making-a-simple-html5-canvas-game-part-1-moving-a-sprite/

Torakx

Hey Colm,
Thanks for taking some time to share your experience.
It's a great idea for a game.
Do you plan to add new mechanics later? Like turn based battles or unlockable characters as an example.


I found the blog article very useful thanks
When you emailed those games reviewers who didn't respond the first time, did you manage to get a rough count on how effective that second email was? Do you think there was a good enough response to be sure you should always follow up at least once more?


I'm very curious also to know what stage you were at with the game when you decided to go full time game dev and what exactly gave you an indication it was a good idea?
Or was it more of a leap of faith?

You mentioned Enterprise Ireland getting involved, but it sounds like this happened after you made that decision.
Mostly I am trying to gage the best time to make that leap.
Being unemployed leaves a lot of fear of losing the roof over my head, if I make that leap to selling games and it doesn't quite work. On the back to work schemes you get 12 months to 2 years IIRC and that's it for 5 years.
And you can't go back to social welfare after. That could be me homeless lol
So yeah, I am interested to hear how you made that decision and if you were under quite a lot of pressure to make it work. And how that experience was, if you are happy to share.
Maybe I am missing some essential things, I should be aware of covering, before considering this leap.

Oh, another question popped into my head while reading your marketing guide/plan.
When you first start out as a group with a team name. Do you think it's wise to publish these 1 month games under the team name?
Or might it be better to use a separate name so people don't search your group later and find a really fugly version of tetris with glitchy mechanics?!

Maybe the not so good test games through one group/team name and the ones that seem more likely to be appreciated with the main team/group name?

Gambrinous: Colm

Lots of great questions here. I'll try and address them all.

Torakx wrote: »

Hey Colm,
Thanks for taking some time to share your experience.
It's a great idea for a game.
Do you plan to add new mechanics later? Like turn based battles or unlockable characters as an example.

Absolutely! I've been focusing on the dungeon exploration side of the game as it's the repeatable loop and I'm still trying to make it 'fun' by itself. Once I have that solved (hoping to get most of the way there in the next month) I'll be expanding on the meta-game, the strategic side, where you run your Guild and can unlock new content to use in dungeon exploration. Like you suggest: new characters, new cards, new equipment etc etc etc.

I found the blog article very useful thanks
When you emailed those games reviewers who didn't respond the first time, did you manage to get a rough count on how effective that second email was? Do you think there was a good enough response to be sure you should always follow up at least once more?

Yep I had quite a few people respond to the 2nd mailing, it's absolutely worth doing. Of course be polite, but it's good to have a reminder. I'm sure several of them meant to follow up on the game, or something caught their eye in the first mail, so the 2nd was just a handy reminder. Lots more great info here.

I'm very curious also to know what stage you were at with the game when you decided to go full time game dev and what exactly gave you an indication it was a good idea?
Or was it more of a leap of faith?

You mentioned Enterprise Ireland getting involved, but it sounds like this happened after you made that decision.
Mostly I am trying to gage the best time to make that leap.
Being unemployed leaves a lot of fear of losing the roof over my head, if I make that leap to selling games and it doesn't quite work. On the back to work schemes you get 12 months to 2 years IIRC and that's it for 5 years.
And you can't go back to social welfare after. That could be me homeless lol
So yeah, I am interested to hear how you made that decision and if you were under quite a lot of pressure to make it work. And how that experience was, if you are happy to share.
Maybe I am missing some essential things, I should be aware of covering, before considering this leap.

There's definitely a bit of a leap of faith involved, for me. I'm pretty confident in the game, but there are no sureties, particularly with gaming where it's so hit-based. The situation for me is that we are now relying on my wife's income, and we are able to get by on it just about, which I guess is fortunate that we have that option. If everything goes wrong I'm also very confident I could get work programming again, though having made the leap I really hope it doesn't come to that!
The EI program (this one) is really great and is going to help a lot but as you noticed it wasn't essential for me: I had planned on being able to get by without something like this. Though without it I think it was likely I was going to have to do some freelancing for some extra cash. I'm not sure I would risk homelessness for this!! Have you tried doing this in your free time first? There's nothing stopping you making a prototype and then thinking about your options (including funding from the government or a publisher to secure an income).

Oh, another question popped into my head while reading your marketing guide/plan.
When you first start out as a group with a team name. Do you think it's wise to publish these 1 month games under the team name?
Or might it be better to use a separate name so people don't search your group later and find a really fugly version of tetris with glitchy mechanics?!

Maybe the not so good test games through one group/team name and the ones that seem more likely to be appreciated with the main team/group name?

Honestly I think it's best to just share what you make with the world. It doesn't matter if it's fugly. It shows progress and history. No one pops out of the ether and makes a hit game first time round.

Torakx

Thanks Colm
It's nice to hear of developers beginnings
And thanks for the extra links too.

Really that whole losing the roof over my head situation, only comes into play when I start to publish.
It's funny you get punished more for trying eh!
Well I am needed where I am right now to keep minimum wage down haha
I perform an important service for the guvment
Not to worry I plan to give this at least a few years to see if I have what it takes. In that time I can try get temp work somehow if I start to publish and need more support.
For right now, it's important for me to spend as much time as I enjoy(a lot of time) on learning and improving, setting myself up for marketing, managing a team, learning to code, improving 3d desgn etc etc
Never enough time in the day! I'm on a 36 hour run right now hehe

I started out doing Call of Duty zombie maps in my spare time, which lead me to a game development course last year. So I am on the right path I think for now.
I've been reading so much stuff, I can't remember if it was you that mentioned doing 1 game a month challenge, but i am aiming to eventually get to that stage, when I have enough of a library for basic mechanics to reuse.
I am in a team of two right now and we have a very long term game planned for our spare time and small 2d games for the short term now.
The small ones should get some quick experience publishing and also hopefully get a programmer interested in joining us.
The larger 3D game is too big for a programmer to want to jump in.

Maybe in the not so distant future I would consider investors or mentors like Enterprise Ireland.
They were in the NDRC? I did work experience there, but can't remember who was running the show at the time. It was a good experience though.

I think you're right about the team name and publishing.
There shouldn't be any shame in our pasts, it's what makes us who we are now, which is something we should be proud of.
I guess I was thinking from a customers/gamers perspective.
But even then, if you make a good game, it is a good game and that's all that will matter, regardless of the history...I think.

On that note, I will be passing your guide http://blog.gambrinous.com/2013/10/03/marketing-your-game-in-a-rush/
to friends and I think I will try and follow it as close as I can over the next few months to get the hang of it, while building up experience developing and that asset library.

I'd wish you the best of luck, but I don't think you will need it
Your game looks pretty solid and you seem to have enough experience and support to make that happen

Well ok, Best of Luck with Guild of Dungeoneering!

A quick question to keep the ball rolling...

If there was only two things you could go back to and do differently or take more seriously, what would they be?

Gambrinous: Colm

Sounds like you are doing the right thing alright, and best of luck to you too! I would recommend going along to one of Gamecraft's one day game jams by the way, I think it's amazing what you can produce in a day like that.

Torakx wrote: »

If there was only two things you could go back to and do differently or take more seriously, what would they be?

#1 would be to start this earlier, instead of 2008 when I was 28 I could have been trying to do this when I finished college at 22. I had the interest but not the inclination to actually work at it.

#2 would be to better spend my time by finishing and releasing smaller games at the beginning. I spent from 2008 to 2013 haphazardly working on two abandoned games that were way too big in scope (see the bottom of this page). Then in six months of 2013 as part of 1GAM I made a few tiny games that I am more proud of. I wish I had been doing that from the beginning! Grow your skills by starting small (and finishing the small), then go onto the big dream game when the time is right!

Kilgore__Trout

Hi Colm,

Thanks for dropping in to talk about your experiences. Guild of Dungeoneering looks like a very original concept that’s been well executed. I wish you well with it.

Mostly curious if you have any tips for boosting Greenlight traffic. I’m launching my first game tomorrow (not on Steam), but at the current rate, it will probably take a minimum of 9 months to get through Greenlight.

I’m hoping that the release-time press, the act of getting the game out there, and releasing a web version will give things a boost, but I suspect it may not reduce my time in purgatory by much as much as I’d like.

I read through your article on GL on reddit, and might try putting up some copies to win. Do you remember by any chance what group you ran the give away in? Any other recommendations?

Gambrinous: Colm

I wrote up everything I learnt about getting through Greenlight in this blog post. It includes a lot of the info from the reddit AMA so I suspect you've read everything there, but just in case.

The group I ran the giveaway with is called Who's Gaming Now?! and has transitioned to their own site because Valve shut down the Steam Group itself: http://whosgamingnow.com/

It's an easy way to get votes alright, but I would suggest trying Greenlight directly first and then look to that as a way of getting an extra boost. What's your game? Where are you launching?

Kilgore__Trout

Thanks, will check out the group, and read through your AMA again to see if I can pick up a few additional ideas.

Kilgore__Trout

My game is Deadstone, a 2d shooter with elements of tower defense and character development for windows.

The website is here: www.deadstonegame.com

Here's a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOTuXE03DTU

And a story trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIpzj00tVv8

Gambrinous: Colm

Kilgore__Trout wrote: »

Forgot to add, initially launching through Desura and my own store. Will also work with Shinyloot & probably Indie Game Stand too.

Just adding that from your PM. I'm presuming you have already set something up for payments on your own store, but if not definitely check out the Humble Widget. I've found them extremely easy to set up and friendly to deal with (and it gives you an easy intro to the Humble Store, too).

Just found your greenlight link too: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=259480653 (throw them a yesvote folks!)

Best of luck with your launch and congratulations on finishing!

Kilgore__Trout

Thanks Colm : ) Really appreciate the mention!

Daniel Aherne

For anyone interested in attending a big irish games convention head on over to our page and check out some of the events running there shall also be some indie devs at the con this year along with bigger company such as riot games and EA head on over to arcadecon.ie

Gambrinous: Colm

Daniel Aherne wrote: »

For anyone interested in attending a big irish games convention head on over to our page and check out some of the events running there shall also be some indie devs at the con this year along with bigger company such as riot games and EA head on over to arcadecon.ie

Actually I'll be attending to show Guild of Dungeoneering and take part in a panel called 'We Are Indie Games'. So if anyone's going this weekend come say hi to me.

Gambrinous: Colm

Just wanted to share a couple of useful regular Dublin events for prospective game makers. I'd suggest coming along to one of these to meet some likeminded people if you have an interest in gamedev.

Dublin 1GAM meetup: happens at the end of every month. The focus is on making games and sharing them with the group, but even if you don't make anything you are totally welcome to come along! Next one is Aug 1st in Against The Grain. We have a facebook group here if you want to hear about them: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1GAMdublin/

dubLUDO: happens a little irregularly. I think the next one might be in August some time, I think the date has not yet been picked. Last one was on June 7th. It's a bigger event than 1GAM, and a great one to go along to if you want to meet other gamedevs in Dublin. You are also welcome (indeed, encouraged) to bring along any game you are working on to get feedback on it from other devs. Also there's usually someone giving a talk on something interesting. Best way to know when it's happening is to join the IrishGameDev FB group.

Gambrinous: Colm

Thanks for the questions folks! If you ever want to reach me you can find me on twitter @gambrinous, or just drop me a mail: colm@gambrinous.com

:cool:

Xinkai

I had a chance to see this game in action last weekend at Arcadecon.

The aesthetic and charm of the game are second to none, simple gameplay that plays like a game of Munchkin, and it's most importantly, fun as hell.

Also Colm is a lovely bloke. Support him and this game.