I think we should all try to make a documentary and publish in youtube on what we are working on, what our dreams are as an indie. We can take short clips like 2-3 minute of individuals. This will also be excellent for marketing, just a thought.
@ahmed - I like that idea, there are some really cool projects brewing here. It would also be nice to have a site that catalogue all of the cool apps developed in Corona. I tend to purchase and quality Corona app to A. support the community B. Get inspired.
In order to make a joined video we need
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Introduction of developer
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his dreams and aspirations
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development process and technique and team
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A small demo of his game
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2-3 min per indie developer
It would have a personal touch to the struggles, and also mainly highlight people who are trying to build something fresh and new.
If we have 5 developers then it will be maybe a 10-15 minute short documentary, I can do the editing, depends on the response now.
@TanvirIndie That would be a good idea if the world was a perfect place, but alas it is not.
As it takes a lot of time for indie developers to transform a good idea into a full fledged product, the last thing one wants is to broadcast/showcase specs of apps in development, only to have copycats with better resources steal the idea before you can say “Hey! That looks very familiar!”
It is a good thing to keep our projects hidden from the public and only share with a chosen trusted few, until the app has been finalized and released. After that, all bets are off.
@greg brady - thanks for the link, I just downloaded Stellar Trek, nice work!
@anaqim - I hear what you are saying. Fear of copy farms has lead me to be very discerning about who I show my work to. My projects tend to be novel so secrecy is needed but for devs who are making more traditional apps (or hobby apps) - the video could be fun.
I totally agree with anaquim, but I was thinking from the angle of how Indie devs can get a bit of more exposure. We don’t have no money to spend in marketing, that was my major concern. But I totally agree, a novel idea can be quickly copied by someone out there and it will be extremely disappointing.
“There is no such thing as bad pubilicity”… Don King
It’s a great idea to do a video about Corona Indy dev’s, after all we’re quite a unique bunch!
As far as game demos go, you wouldn’t have to show the crown jewels of your development, just an idea of what you are up to…
It’s hard to crowdfund / generate interest if you keep your ideas too close to your chest.
Just my thoughts, Greg
Hi,
I’m solo and it is one hard trick pony to handle.
I might look for cooperation with others at some point.
I’ve worked in a partnership and it does make it easier, mostly, to keep the steam up.
Never used a publiser so cant tell.
Lastly, if you go solo, expect it to be a non profit hobby and interest that will cost you more than it generates.
For each success story there is a pile of exhaused indie developers that never make it, financially at least. 
Thanks for your feedback anaqim. I understand that the mobile game market is sort of flooded with games and it is hard to get your game the limelight it deserves. However I truly believe fresh content, different content, has a lot of value and can turn things around for a solo developer. So far I haven’t spent anything, but learning and learning. RPG game creation can be a daunting task for a solo dev.
Having a dedicated graphics artist on board would be a tremendous boost, and I suspect this is what limits most indie developers.
I’m currently working on a business app, partly due to this limitation, only to discover thats not neccessarily any easier :rolleyes:
Is there anyone else going solo ?
I’m working solo, but I do have an advantage of some kind: my day job is as a designer, and I do a lot of 3D work, so creating artwork is not as big of a challenge as it is for most.
My big learning curve was in coding. Artwork skills were already present. That being said, doing the artwork and coding and game design just means that your progress is sloooooow, especially when it’s not your day job.
I am into software testing, which is my day job. However at night I do coding which I find quite interesting, however I am missing the design/art skills. Relying mostly on free assets available.
I’m a solo dev as well…
For art (and sound), I rely on my limited skills, but I can modify the heck out of free assets.
While I am always open to collaboration, I’ve found over the years that the revenue is either very low, or non-existent. Due to the nature of the mobile market, it is very difficult to make any real money. anaqim is correct in stating that it is costing me more money than I make. I started developing games with the thought I am going to be rich and famous , but after a few years, I realized that it’s a hobby for me, and if I make some cash, it’s a benefit. I guess if I were to work on a team, I would prefer begin paid for my work, as opposed to sharing revenue.
For a couple of reasons, I never used a publisher and not sure I will.
Hope this helps,
–John
Since we’re on the topic, here’s some of my self-made game art:
https://www.behance.net/gallery/21548071/Stranded-The-Game
Even with the ability to create art, this is definitely just a hobby for me as well. In my opinion, there is no money to be made for indie developers with mobile apps, except for a tiny handful of apps each year. 99% of the market has been covered by the major game publishers, and Apple is more than happy to keep things this way and prevent indie devs from getting more exposure, as they make billions by keeping the major publishers at the center of attention.
p.s. If it’s any consolation to other posters here: having your own art does not making finishing projects succesfully much easier.
To be honest for me it is a bit of both hobby and a learning experience.
I have so far not spent a single dime on my project. For me I want to create something with free assets out there.
It would be good to have some money in the pocket, and can come handy.
The big publishers out there are sort of creating content which I would say is more of a commercial genre, which will sell quite good as thomas mentioned.
I think it is the responsibility of small indie dev communities to make content which is different and fresh and with a bit of luck can come out rich :). I see some light at the end of the tunnel, but the tunnel is long and tricky.
I coded a lot as a kid on C64/Amiga, then quit as my A-level computing course was so boring. Back then (1997) there weren’t all the great game engines that are around now, and PC gaming was only just getting going. You needed to be really bloody good to make a game good enough to sell, and those skills seemed mystical and unobtainable.
Up to this point I had only actually finished two games - a horse racing game in AMOS and a football game in qBASIC. I dipped back in a few years later and converted the football game to Visual Basic, and then didn’t do any more games programming until 2011 when I discovered Corona.
I embarked on a prolific period making simple quiz/action games and a number of them made some good money. We were quickly able to buy a bigger house, I turned part-time and with my skills developed enough (or so I thought) in 2014 I embarked on making Retro Football Boss. I had always dreamed of making a football management game and in September 2016 it was released on Steam Early Access.
From there, I’ve made quite a few mistakes.
After spending 3 months fixing critical bugs, I embarked on a complete re-write in Corona. I should have refactored the existing code base and kept iterating that way. Having spent 6-9 months on this progress was slow and dull, and I was also messing around with Unity and having a lot of fun with that. About a year ago I decided to port the game to Unity, as I was enjoying C# much more than Lua and the speed increases were significant.
With all my time spent developing it, I’ve had no time or energy left to play it myself (or any other games for that matter) and see if it’s actually any good, or do any marketing at all. I suppose it’s sold fairly well organically, but nowhere near enough to quit the day job completely.
My current thinking is:
The sequel is so vast in scale, I can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The scale is so vast it will have a global appeal and *could* sell well. But it could also flop.
It’s a truly unique football game. A similar baseball game, OOTP, is very successful.
I’m not enjoying making this game anymore.
I don’t want to throw four years’ work out of the window.
The data I’ve assembled for it is the most comprehensive in the world, and can’t be matched. It’s a shame if it never got used.
There’s a small band of people eagerly awaiting the sequel and helping me with data - I don’t want to let them down.
I don’t want to ‘waste’ the next two years when I could start something new, exciting and with more potential.
I’m 36 - I’ve got maybe one more big project left in me.
I have a lot of 7/10 ideas. Every time I think I have the ‘one’, it’s already been done.
My skills have reached the point where I could do something amazing like Prison Architect that millions want to play.
I think I’ve got it in me to make something on that scale, and should have done it by now. Why did I mess around from 16-30?
Maybe I should quit altogether and spend more spare time with my family, or on other hobbies.
I’ve earnt great money doing contract work, maybe I should do more of that and stop dreaming.
Making other people’s games isn’t nearly as rewarding.
I’m exhausted from doing the day-job and making games for the past seven years.
7 years is nothing when I compare with the 25-30 years it took my Dad to become a professional composer.
I’d love to find a group of developers/designers/evangelists to work with and share the burden, but where to look?
If I could get funding to work on it full-time and employ help, maybe I’d enjoy it again - it beats real work, and would leave space for other things.
I know that’s not the question you asked, but hey 
Nick_sherman : Good to hear you made a lot of money and were able to move to a bigger house! awesome well done!
So there is no light end of the tunnel 
?
I was thinking of why not we create a chat room for solo developers out there, not sure if there will be enough participants?
@thomas6 … your art looks excellent. And from posts of yours I have seen, you seem to have a good grasp of coding now! Congrats.
@nick_sherman C64_Amiga … you have to be as old as me (:
I actually did my first coding in C++, then I learned C# - XNA, then learned a little Visual-Basic all while working about 50+ hours a week in my day-job and raising a family… so it spanned many years, on and off.
Mostly I made simple tic-tac-toe level games, and then I did a really good re-make (IMHO) of ‘Lady Bug’, a Coleco game from back in the day. I did the remake for fun and as a learning process, since I could not market it legally, and had no knowledge or way to market it anyway. Most of that C++, C#, and VB (all self-taught) has faded from memory, but then I stumbled onto Corona/Lua and it was fairly easy to pickup and the mobile market provided opportunity for solo-indies to get their games to market; thus I started back coding then.
@ahmed_shahjada
A. solo … I modify and use free art and sounds I can find on internet, and I buy some of the art/sound assets wherever I can find them cheap.
B. I have probably 7 games right now that are all 60-90% complete that I need to finish before I would be able to co-op a project with anyone.
C. Have not used any publisher, or marketing service… but have been thinking about looking into that.
@cyberparkstudios : You have been developing 7 games in parallel? You intend to release them at the same time?