Getting Started With Freelance Game Development using GDevelop
Bloomzeye
Posted
Welcome to another guest blog post! Today, game creator Bloomzeye will share their experience with getting started on freelance game development, and why they chose GDevelop to make their first client-commissioned game. Bloomzeye, take it away!
I’m Bloomzeye, and I use GDevelop to make personalized, custom-made pixel art video games! I recently completed my first commissioned video game, and using GDevelop to make a client game was the best choice for me.
Share Your Work!
I went to a local pitch night and shared a video game I made for my sister’s birthday, based on her artwork. Someone from that event reached out to me to make a game as a birthday gift for their friend, and that taught me that doing what you love for people you love doing it for can draw others to you.
Discovering GDevelop
I discovered GDevelop through a Youtube video by the game developer Goodgis. When I first used the engine, I found a world of possibilities.
I’ve been making games for two years, and using GDevelop’s visual scripting workflow has taken a huge weight off trying to program with pure code. Now, I can focus on my favorite part of development like art, animation, design, and storytelling.
GDevelop was comfortable for me to understand and get started as I quickly placed things in the scene, instantly previewed my game, and debugged those computer critters.
Pre-Built Extensions, Code, And Saving Time
The growing list of ready-to-use extensions, events, and community-shared code helped me get my game going.
I often use the Yarn Spinner Dialogue System integration (as used in the game Night in the Woods). I used Yarn to set up dialogues, quests, and control parts of the gameplay without leaving the engine.
From player behavior, health, camera, and more, GDevelop’s extensions and integrations were a major time-saver with my commission. You can still make your own extensions in-engine, but my brain power is reserved for colors and shapes!
Time Management
I only had about three weeks to make my client’s game, but really two weeks to actually build the game in the engine. Quickly getting a working prototype together was vital to staying on schedule.
I didn’t know how much time exporting the game would add up, but exporting games is pretty straightforward in the engine. I exported an HTML5 build, uploaded it to itch.io, and sent my client a link to play the game.
When it comes to your workflow, it’s great to figure out your pipeline to keep your development flowing. I use resources like Trello (organizing tasks and goals), Dubsado (a CRM software), and my good ol’ notes app to stay on schedule.
Documentation and Community Help
I like how GDevelop’s documentation is written and how the abundance of game templates and examples are available.
I’m a visual learner, so having official and community-made video tutorials helped me through my development. I think it’s great to have various forms of instructions because everyone learns and understands differently.
When I become stuck in my code logic and not even sleeping on it helps, I reach out to the GDevelop community on Discord or the forum.
Thankfully, most folks there are more knowledgeable than me in programming, and it’s nice to talk through my programming issues with others, even if my bugs aren't immediately solved.
Wrapping up
Even though I could have eventually made my first commissioned video game in another engine, I’m glad I found GDevelop with its workflow and extensions, and connected with some of the folks in this community.
To all my GDevers out there, I wish you the best in your game dev pursuts, and stay creative!
If you wanna check out my games and pixel art, you can find my portfolio and commission info here, find me on Twitter as @bloomzeye, and keep up with my game dev adventures on my Youtube channel.