Independent game developer Rocco Bowling has posted a postmortem (or a looking back at the development process of a game) of his most recent title Solace, found on the iDevGames website. Though Bowling's earlier efforts were given postmortems, Solace is the first commercially-distributed game (thanks to Freeverse Software) to recieve one. The article covers what went right in the development process, what went wrong, how the independent to published process went, and more. Here's a sneak peak:

The point of the story here is that if you have an "in" (i.e. you know someone already in the correct position to give you a hand along), then the road is much easier. However, simply knowing someone doesn't guarantee getting published. Having a good public track record is crucial! Being able to approach a publisher with "this is what I've done already, this is what I'm doing next" is important. The longer and more successful your virtual resume is, the greater the chance a small to medium size publisher will take you on. This is one reason why iDevGames' uDevGame contest is such an excellent venue for independent game developers. You get to create a game, which the iDevGames community will readily provide feedback on, allowing you to make that game even better. Then if you're lucky you may win, allowing you to say something like "Winner of the Best Polish Category". But even if you don't, it is one more public example of your work which a publisher can use to get to know you. If you enter the next four uDevGame contests, that's four publicly released titles that'll back up your claim that your next title should be published.

Solace Postmortem

Solace

iDevGames (add to watch list)

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