Pixelate:Issue 15/Thinking Indie
From Allegro Wiki
Hello, and welcome to yet another Thinking Indie. Today I would simply like to remind you of something that many developers seem to have forgotten.
You are free.
I repeat:
YOU ARE FREE
You are not bound by rules, by conventions, by invisible forces. You are an artist. Your mind is free to go where it pleases, to create as you see fit. What you perceive to be problems, lack of resources, limitations: these are simply challenges to your creative ability, your ability to find new paths to get to the same ideas. When one is placed in front of you, do not endlessly waste your power trying to overcome an invincible enemy by sheer force - you will fail. There are other ways.
Clear your mind of the foolish rules that have been imposed upon it, release it from the dominion of other people's concepts of beauty, truth, and art. They are irrelevant. If you define your art by their rules, it will no longer be your art, it will be theirs.
Look for the essence of your game, your interactive story, your art - the name does not matter. The genre does not matter.
What matters is the idea.
Look for it, try to find a center. When you have done so, you can start building around it, modifying it to your heart's content. But be careful: do not let the building patterns of others convince you that there are things that you must do their way. This is your creation, and only you can build it correctly. Take a look: here are your tools, your bricks, your pieces. You can use all of them, freely, any way you like. And there are more tools than you can see, more tools than you have been taught about.
Open your mind to the possibilies: everything can be modified, changed, or created anew. There are no set rules. Others will tell you that there are certain elements that must be there, because it's that way in all other games - ignore them! This is a lie that will put fetters on your mind. Every element of a game's form can be altered. Everything can be part of the story, or the design, or both. Elements can be interwoven. Message boxes, menus, graphics, everything is at your disposal and can be used in any possible way. Every sprite, every function, every piece of code - they are yours, and you can use them in an infinity of ways.
You can do anything you want to.
You are free.
Jonas Kyratzes is a writer, game developer, and filmmaker. He currently lives in Germany, where he is slowly but surely losing his mind. He has now published more than thirty articles, but he still doesn't believe anyone actually reads them. Recently he released a new mind-bending freeware game called The Infinite Ocean. Check out his site at www.jonas-kyratzes.net, or do something useful with your time.
