I entered the Russian indie gamedev world about a month ago. I've always wanted to make games, but for certain reasons was not able to start doing what I love until very recently.
And then, one day I had this urge: to find a programmer, write a design document and start the creation of my very first indie game. I went to the Gamedev section of 2ch.hk - the biggest russian anonymous imageboard. I thought - surely there are others like me! Each having a certain skill but lacking in other departments. For example, game design and management comes naturally to me, but I can't code, and I can't draw. Surely, I thought, there would be some people who can code and draw, but can't design for shit. It turned out, I was right about that. Partially.
I believe this is the right time to mention that all of my interactions with the Russian gamedev scene were limited to the /gd/ board of 2ch.hk. Of course, during the time I spent there I've learned a bit about other websites, studios and developers, but I believe that the population of 2ch on the whole represent the average people of my country between the ages of 15 to 30.
So, long story short, I created a thread on the /gd/ board. In it, I described my issue - that I had ideas but no way to implement them, and no money to hire programmers and artists, that I was looking for like-minded people who would like to band together and start creating a game. I offered half of the earnings to the guy who would join me. I hit "Submit" and waited.
The feedback was horrible.
Show us your design document!
Pfffft everyone has ideas! Ideas have no value!
Haha another dreamer! Go away!
Do you have money?
I'm a programmer with 10 years of experience. How much do you pay?
Suddenly, I felt like I was surrounded by a pack of some unseen ugly animals, all gnarling, barking, spitting venom at me. A horrible realisation struck me: those people had no idea, that it isn't always about money. That human beings can cooperate and achieve stuff together.
They were the perfect example of the ordinary russian - poor, cruel, mistrustful to everyone around them. No wonder 99% of them never achieve anything, in both gamedev and other fields!
But many of them would be more than happy to work for me if I paid them money.
Their defeatist attitude didn't draw me in. Amongst the idiotic and schizophrenic posts there was one that said: "Hey dude, I will message you as soon as I come home from work".
Long story short, he messaged me. The guy was a programmer, and he had previously had a few bad experiences with people from the internet with whom he tried to create a game.
As he explained to me, the guys he tried to work with were very enthusiastic at first, but their enthusiasm soon faded away, and they left.
Anyway, this is how I landed on gamedev planet. The atmospheric entry was rough, but it takes a way more thicker atmosphere to burn trough my shields ;-)
I will be posting more as we release our first very small and simple game and start making the second.
Cheers,
Templar.
P.S. Oh, and one more thing, guys. Ideas matter. Otherwise every lousy programmer could make games and sell them succesfully. Which is not the case.
P.P.S. Oh my! Just look at that shite!
I went to check out the hashtag #indiedev on twitter. What did I see? News, reviews, articles, upcoming releases.
Then I checked out the #инди hasthag which is the russian for "indie". What did I see? Hundreds upon hundreds of ads like "download free games here: www.someshittylink.com", "download torrent games: link", all of those messages from accounts without profile pictures.
Russia, huh. Disgusting.
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