Making $ when making games

Aside from 'get a job'? Sorry. Not to be a crass, but I'm not understanding what you mean exactly.

I mean something like fixing people's computer problems or doing web sites for people. Just interested to see if any1 makes a living without having a full-time job.

You can make a living doing web contracting but that ends up being a full-time job if you want to make enough to live on. So get a job and code in your off hours, or get a job in games and do your game coding as a job. Either way making enough money generally either entails a full-time job or crime... =)

-me

OP wrote:

>>I've finished Uni, i'm wondering has any1 any suggestions for making money while at the same time being able to make my game?
>Just interested to see if any1 makes a living without having a full-time job.

Why? It's harder to earn enough money without going the job route, and it'll make it harder for you to get a game job later, if you don't have any job experience. The game biz is team-oriented, why are you reluctant to get into a team environment?

I am working as part-time application programmer 24h/week. This pays my bills and leaves me enough time to write games.
The trick is: cut down your expenses.

Cutting expenses - Amen to that.

Going self employed *in certain situations* can help - as a business you can get accounts at wholesalers, and do your general supply shopping there. It can save a bit. In the UK, you can dodge a hell of a lot of National Insurance (if you don't care about a pension, and we can all see where *that*'s going) and Tax by accounting for things in the correct way. Switch to budget products, and you'll save a few more quid.

The problem with being self employed though, is that you *do* need to devote time to running your business (keeping clients sweet so you get repeat business).

But straight out of uni, the best thing to do is to clear your debts as fast as you possibly can. The time this saves later (when you've pottered with stuff to learn it and now need to seriously apply it) is invaluable. I'd advise that you get a full time job (as high paying as you can get which probably rules out the games industry (at least in the UK)) and nail those debts. You can then quit and get a part-time job (or cut your hours if you can) and concentrate more on development. You need to be able to subsist (not go further into debt) on your income. Do explore every possible benefit, and grant you can qualify for. Don't take loans. Loans are for people with serious turnover.

You'll be surprised how serious doing this will make you about your idea for a game (if you're trying to be commercial with it) - giving up a stable, salaried position is not appealing when you get used to the income. You'll start to think like a manager - how can I sell this, what do I need to charge for each, and how many to break even on the time I've put in? What additional tools do I need to do a particular job? If you're going to be working with a team, your expectations of them will go up - and you won't be recruiting just anyone who wants to help.

So:
1) Get a job. Make some money. Stabilise your finances - clear debts!
2) Continue practicing / learning and non-technical designing (not serious development) while working.
3) When everything's stable and you can subsist on less money, cut hours.
4) Recruit team - by now you should have a fairly solid design, and a good idea of what you need to achieve it.
5) Develop the product part time - perhaps you can arrange things so you can work full time (I managed it!).
6) Launch the product, see if it goes! Self publishing the first few games you do is a good way of building a proven product range. Publishers and investors will look at you more seriously if you have good products out already.

Good luck!

When I worked during my work placement year I was wrecked tired. Coming home & programming after working on a computer all day didn't appeal to me. So if I get another job the same will happen & I'll not get to make my game.

_winterdyne_ I think your right. I should clear my student loan. I never thought of that lol.

Thanks for the advice guys!

It's the ultimate dilemma every indie developer faces at one point: quit your job or don't get your games done. I chose the former which obviously got me into a lot of trouble (eventually leading to not getting done after all because it's hard to program when they cut your electricity down). Never walk away from your job if you can't make a solid living off games. Amen.

Learn to wait tables really well. Then give up your weekends. You can easily pull in $1000/week by working all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (12 hours/day maybe) at a busy restaurant once you get some experience at slower places. Then you have four days completely to yourself.

Don't think that you can work full time and program in your spare time. You might be able to manage for a few months but you'll drain your creativity very quickly. You will be programming 16 hours a day and that will leave no time for anything else.

I used to program a lot as a hobby, but I got a job in web development and now I will rarely touch the computer when I am not working. I got lucky as I am now in a position where I manage my own project, so essentially I am my own boss, but I also get paid for it.

If you are really dedicated to pursuing games then consider looking for contract jobs. Pick up three month contracts and then between each one set aside a month or two where you take a break and pursue your own thing.