Building video games has never been a simple task, especially considering how complex and innovative virtual reality is. Without the right skills, resources, and tools, it can be nearly impossible to tackle. However, you can have a brilliant idea for a game if you consider it carefully.
We sat down to hear his journey as a solo game developer and his story, alone, in order to get his secrets and advice. Cosmodread, his first title, has approximately 25,000 players on Steam. Dreadhalls, on the other hand, sold over 250,000 units worldwide and hit over 60,000 concurrent viewers on Twitch. It is worth noting that Sergio Hidalgo, as a lone studio-man, surpasses his highest achievement of around 80,000 units with Team Fortress 2.
This is his statement.
“I always wanted to make games – I even did small projects when I was a teen and carried on while studying computer science. But I didn’t enter the industry professionally until 2007, where I worked at a couple of small studios as a gameplay programmer. And I always had a side project on the go.”
It can be tricky to balance the game completely on your own, while also managing your personal life, friends, hobbies, and work. Sergio’s full-time job ate into his personal time and energy.
“One of my coworkers brought in their Oculus Rift DK1 one day. I loved it, and immediately ordered one for myself. And the timing was perfect. I just happened to start my vacation, which gave me enough time to experiment with it.
“Oculus was also running a game jam at the time, which I entered. And that resulted in the first prototype of Dreadhalls. It thankfully gained enough attention when I released it for free that I realized I could keep working on it and turn it into a full game. And so, I quit my job, and created White Door Games.”
There was never a definitive blueprint from the beginning. Occasionally, it’s about pursuing your instincts and what brings you pleasure.
2. You don’t have to start from scratch
Being a solo developer means you have very few resources at hand, so you need to be clever and use them wisely.
“Dreadhalls was the first VR game I made as White Door Games. It came from a project I had worked on when I was younger. A 2D, top-down stealth dungeon crawler. The player had no weapons, and had to sneak around to avoid detection.”
“So I had a game there. A good idea that I knew worked. I just had to translate it to a 3D environment. And when I played it in a VR headset, I realized just how scary it was. And I could use that to my advantage. I focused on the horror aspect to make it more engaging, and it pretty much designed itself after that. Just by asking, ‘what would make this scarier?’”
3. Build on your strengths
Proceed from that point onwards and adhere to your areas of expertise, ensuring it is advantageous. For you, the identical perils encountered by a production company with a staff, financial resources, and time are magnified by ten. However, it is not necessary for you to undertake risks.
“I learned a lot from making Dreadhalls and all the feedback I got from players. And a lot of those lessons I carried over to my second game, Cosmodread. It’s another dungeoneering game at heart. But this time, I focused much more on the interactions and gameplay. I especially focused on having interactions that meshed well with hand-tracked controllers.”
More people are getting involved in Engaged – limited resources are being used to combat in-game elements like – Sergio’s first game, Dreadhalls, didn’t have interactions with layered and new concepts for his second title, so he is stuck with his guns.
4. Understand the tech’s limitations
The extent of what you can accomplish is restricted, therefore there are constraints to the technology. However, virtual reality is still in the early stages, and this is particularly accurate as technology is constantly advancing.
“Developing Dreadhalls was a challenge in itself. VR was in its early stages, so the platform was unstable. It’s progressed a lot, but there are still a lot of technical challenges. For example, the Oculus Quest is technically a mobile device, and so has limited power. It definitely puts a restraint on graphics, CPU use and stuff like that.”
Understanding the limitations of your work is important, as there could be more challenges or issues to face besides just the game or challenges being well run.
5. Put more focus on your design
“One of the biggest differences between VR and other devices was how similar to real-life VR is. And you need to have so much more thought when designing interactions for weapons and other gameplay elements. It’s much closer to real-life design than with more traditional games.”
When comparing mobile, console, and PC gaming to virtual reality, it is remarkable how immersive these games are. Furthermore, a negative encounter in VR can greatly discourage your players.
“You need to take into account things like ergonomics and hand placement. Items and weapons should be comfortable to use, and not put too much strain on the player and break their experience.”
“You even need to think about their height. If your environment doesn’t work for a taller or shorter person, or say an item is out of reach with a player with shorter arms, then you’re potentially alienating a big chunk of your player base. inclusivity is so important for VR. You should design for every body type, not just yourself.”
6. Get to know the VR market
“The VR market seems to exist as a separate entity from the main console and PC games. Especially with press outlets. Many traditional game websites simply won’t cover VR games at all, or only cover the major titles.”
Despite the fact that it has been around for a long time, gaming has evolved in various forms and continues to grow in popularity and scale. However, the VR market could potentially decline due to its unique characteristics.
“So I try to target the few websites that specialize in VR content, plus social networks where the VR community gets its news from. The main storefronts (such as the Quest’s) are, of course, critical. So make sure you have a captivating trailer and gameplay footage.”
7. Don’t underestimate the power of your community
“When I launched Dreadhalls VR, I already had a nice following. I released a free early access version, which earned its place in the VR community. Streamers picked it up and created content around it, which gave me plenty of free publicity. When I finally released the full paid game, I had a lovely following to reach out to.”
Releasing a free version of your title can help you get the hype you need to climb the charts. However, it is harder to get the word out and start, so you may have to wait longer. It’s easy to be secretive and wait to start talking about your game.
8. Figure out what you want to track early on
“I would say if you’re thinking about analytics, then make sure you try and track anything to do with the player’s comfort. So which locomotion options your players prefer, how they use the controls, if they prefer sitting or standing. Anything to make their experience better and more immersive.”
Sergio went to get any information he can say about titles that can help influence his decisions. It’s not just about listening to your game’s metrics, but you want to say it
“I use the data from the different stores, which helped me figure out what languages to localize my game to, what promotions to apply, etc… But there’s also a lot to be said for listening to the players directly. Read reviews, watch gameplay videos by content creators, and listen to what they’re saying online.”
9. Make your games immersive and interactive
Make it special, you want to so disconnected from reality, entering a new world, there are your players, unlike any other platform.
“Focus on interactions. Encourage your players to manipulate the world around them. I used to believe a VR headset was like a teleportation machine, where it could take the player to a completely different world – and that you should focus on designing that place. But that’s just an incomplete idea.”
“The first thing your player will do is interact with the world in some way,” he added. “Whether that be by picking up objects or trying to open doors and so on. So you’ll want to support those natural interactions, and make the world feel more real. Reward their curiosity, surprise them, and make the whole experience more immersive.”
10. Give yourself some structure
“You need some structure if you’re working alone. You need to find some way to hold yourself accountable and try not to get distracted or demotivated. As you don’t have a team that relies on you, it’s much easier to procrastinate.”
Sergio emphasizes that it is crucial to prioritize and focus on tasks that you truly need to know how to do, rather than spending time on unimportant ones. This is only the first part of the structure.
“It’s very easy to fall into the trap of ‘productive procrastination’, where you spend a huge chunk of time on very specific features just because you enjoy working on them. You can end up ignoring more important parts of your game. You feel productive, but you’re actually wasting your most precious resource: time.
“Keep in mind, being a solo dev doesn’t mean you’re completely alone. Find someone you trust to bounce ideas off, or even just chat about your work. A fresh perspective always helps.”
11. Keep an ideas journal
Referring back to a journal of ideas means always having a place to go back to, whether you’re starting a new project or need fresh ideas for the one you’re buried in. Sergio’s last piece of advice is all about saving your ideas.
“Lastly, never throw away an idea. I have a long backlog of game ideas and concepts. Even ideas for environment settings and other design elements that come from random inspiration. This could be from other games, films, books, to simply just browsing artwork on websites like ArtStation.
“It’s good to have a gameplay-first approach. I always prototype the core gameplay first, and then tackle the environment, background story and all those other elements later. Cosmodread was supposed to take place in a suburban home. But I later switched it to a sci-fi setting, since it was a much better framework for some of the gameplay interactions I found interesting (like using battery cells to power rooms).”
There are plenty of opportunities to learn from these two titles and get help with your creative ideas. If you have a spare moment, make sure to check out Sergio’s games Dreadhalls and Cosmodread.