How I Made A Video Game All By Myself

At 29, when Choo Bin Yong was trying to start an animation company with a friend and doing animated films online, he thought of doing a 3D game and began working on it on his own. 3 years later, he self-published the finished game on his own as well. Now that it’s been 6 months since then, we asked him why and how he did it all by himself. 

Q: Hi Choo! How did you end up as a game publisher and designer? Was it a lifelong dream or pure chance?  

Making games is something that I always wanted to do ever since I first saw a CGI cutscene from a video game but I started with pursuing 3D animation which later went to game development.  It was always a dream of mine to create a 3D game.

What certifications, training or experience does a person need to be qualified to be a publisher and designer of games, and how did you acquire those yourself?

I didn’t have any training or education in game development but is self-taught. I studied 3D animation in NAFA which helps with the creation part of the process but the things related to game design are mostly self-taught and through personal gaming experience.

You designed the video game, There Is No Tomorrow, all by yourself in 3 years and published it all on your own too. Why and how did you do that? 

It is my first 3D game so it’s something that I have to start on my own. It is difficult to find someone to work together with when there is no budget nor can I promise that the game will be financially successful. I think that making a game solo isn’t quite as difficult as people think because these days, game engine software is being modified to allow designers and artists to be able to use it to make games without much coding/programming knowledge.

Would it have been easier to sell the game to a publisher and hire collaborators to work on it?

The game development process took too long by which time when the game was almost finished, I felt that it was too late to approach a publisher. At the same time, I was also curious about whether self-publishing can be good. Also, I felt that it could be difficult to find a good publisher for my game.

Can you tell us a little about There Is No Tomorrow? What kind of game is it and what’s the end goal?

There Is No Tomorrow is a third-person adventure/action game. You play as a student who time-traveled into the future apocalyptic world. The main gameplay consists of stealth and action that either requires players to sneak past the enemy or to take them out. 

Which 3 aspects of creating There Is No Tomorrow were most difficult for you and which 3 aspects did you enjoy the most?

The cutscenes were tedious to make because most of them required character animations. The 2nd most difficult aspect is fixing the bugs and the third will be the game design. 

I enjoyed making the movement animations for the characters and AI because it feels satisfying to see them come ‘alive’. I also had fun with programming the AI and the combat system.

Which 3 objects/people were most useful for you when you were creating There Is No Tomorrow? And which place was most useful? 

I am using a plugin called ‘Playmaker’ for Unity that helps me with programming the game visually without the need to understand coding. 

Now that your game is at last out, how do you feel? 

I feel relieved that the game is finally out but also disappointed with how the game performed financially.

What has the response to your game been like? 

At the beginning of the launch, the response wasn’t good because of the bugs in the game and unpolished levels but eventually, they got patched up. 

What did you learn from creating a game all by yourself that you didn’t know before?

I learned everything from building a 3D game to selling a game online. Previously I was not knowledgeable about selling things online but with this game, I am starting to get some experience. One other thing I learned is to realistically manage the scale of my game so it is possible to finish it.

What advice do you have for those thinking of being indie game publishers and making and owning their own video games too? 

My advice is to start a project that you will be confident of finishing. So it means to understand the scale of your game and how realistic it is for you to finish it. I think most indie developers start off with their projects being too ambitious and end up failing to finish it.

What’s the best advice about game-making you’ve been given or heard, and what’s the worst? 

The best advice I heard is to prepare a list of journalists’/reviewers’ personal or business emails and to promote your game to them.

Lastly, what’s next for you and will you ever be open to collaborators? 

Right now I am developing a few games that are more focused on story and culture. 

I am already collaborating with a composer and a sound designer for my current project and will be open to more collaborators for my other projects.

Choo’s goal for the future is to make several successful games and launch them on different platforms such as Xbox and Switch. You can find out more about him on his website, koexstudio.wordpress.com or ask him questions about designing games solo using the comment box below.

More interviews with people who’ve made stuff here.

Photographs courtesy and copyright of Choo Bin Yong. Interviewer: Sy
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