I've tried a few Game Jams but have yet to finish a game in time for one.

I have an idea for a game that I've wanted to try making for a couple of years now and I like to read dev blogs about people's process and progress.

I'm wondering if it would be to early to start one or not. I also have no idea where I should start one.

I would love to hear from anyone that has one.

• What worked and what didn't work with setting one up?
• How did you decide what to include or leave out of your blogs?
• How do you promote your blog, what worked and what hasn't?
• How often should you post to a dev blog?
• What ways work to engage people with your blog?

I would really like to hear about all of the pros and cons.

I feel like it could help hold me accountable and keep working on a game to completion.

Thank you for any responses.

As a bonus any good places to learn to draw pixel art would be a great help too. I'm embarrassed by my art skills.

On a tangentially related note, I don't believe in “should.” I believe in “what works for you.”

I started a devblog when I had -something- to show. It was bare-bones and only a mechanic in action, but it was something about which I could say, “I made this.” Going back to what you said, though, it was a Crossing The Rubicon moment for me wherein I finally convinced myself I was going to finish it or die trying (so to speak).

Whether a devblog is “worth it” depends on what you're trying to achieve with it. Mine doubles as my advertisement campaign, and I've been content with the results, thus far. That also mean that I -have- to get one out every week in order to appease youtube's algorithm, but as of late, I've felt more happy that I can do it than pressured that I "need" to do it.

@Lendrigan Games Thanks for the reply! I went through and watched all of your videos you've posted in the link from your signature. If you don't mind me asking a few more questions, I've got a couple in regard to using YouTube for a dev blog.

What do you like about using YouTube for your dev blog? Is there anything that YouTube doesn't let you do that it wish it did?

How involved is putting together a dev blog in video form? Would you mind walking me through your process?

I'm curious because I have a teeny tiny amount of experience editing videos. I've recorded my self using OBS and edited the clips, mostly just cutting and splicing sections together, using Kdenlive.

I enjoyed your ramble about the roguelike vs roguelite. It was in that video that I first noticed the message when you walked over items or the arrow to go down to the next floor on the bottom right of the screen. I'd like to hear a ramble about Castle of the Winds that you mentioned. I hadn't heard of that roguelike before and read over the wikipedia page for it.

I'm curious how you handled items dropping in the same place. Does ‘G’ pick up all of the items at once or one at a time? Also the sliding from spot to spot does like nicer than popping from place to place.

What do you like about using YouTube for your dev blog? Is there anything that YouTube doesn't let you do that it wish it did?

I honestly can't think of anything in regards to liking/disliking youtube. It's a place to court customers, so I play by its rules, more or less (the litany of quirks for pleasing The Algorithm is an entire discussion unto itself). From there, I share the video to other places where I'm courting customers, namely Minds, Facebook, Gab, Dicord, and Twitter.
I wish my devblogs got more views, but that's a Me problem, not a Youtube one.

How involved is putting together a dev blog in video form? Would you mind walking me through your process?

I'm curious because I have a teeny tiny amount of experience editing videos. I've recorded my self using OBS and edited the clips, mostly just cutting and splicing sections together, using Kdenlive.

It's after-thought levels of involved. Monday through Saturday, I'm working on the game. If I have decent progress by then and a ramble topic, I work on that on Sunday and maybe even put everything together for the devblog. Usually, though, I'm still working on “one last thing” come Monday, so I just scramble it all together that morning or afternoon.
Here's the process for making the video.
- Run Audacity and read my script/s (I write separate ones for the progress updates and the rambles), trying my best to do each in one take so I can just snip the beginning and end. Export as MP3
- Open OBS and capture footage of playing the game, not recording any sound.
- Open Filmora 9 (I use it because it offers a Lifetime Subscription option that's practically as close to a flat purchase as I need), throw in the MP3, footage, and pre-prepared overlays. Crop & Zoom footage. It's not a perfect 16:9 ratio because it's a fullscreen, bordered window, but I'm not interested in figuring out how to manually resize a borderless one while it's running. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Locate update/ramble transition if needed. Snip the footage underneath the end-card. Export.

I enjoyed your ramble about the roguelike vs roguelite. It was in that video that I first noticed the message when you walked over items or the arrow to go down to the next floor on the bottom right of the screen. I'd like to hear a ramble about Castle of the Winds that you mentioned. I hadn't heard of that roguelike before and read over the wikipedia page for it.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm hesitant to do a straight CotW ramble because I don't know if I can make boot-licking interesting. I'll mention it more in my upcoming channel trailer, though.

I'm curious how you handled items dropping in the same place. Does ‘G’ pick up all of the items at once or one at a time? Also the sliding from spot to spot does like nicer than popping from place to place.

Practically speaking, it's not really “dropped items” so much as image files slapped onto the floor tile. Currently, G collects all of the listed items. At some point, I'll make a separate window for collecting items individually.