@glassbottommeg I think maybe don’t call it solo; people (including potential customers) can easily get a bad impression if you say that and then they find out others contributed, not knowing your reasons. Maybe just call yourself the creator or director (or auteur 😉) of the game, that tends to imply others contributed but that you’re the one person to talk to. Maybe even put your name on the front, it worked for Jordan Mechner and Archer McClean 😜
@radiofreelunch it's been my policy to say "we" for the last decade even though I'm the only full timer, yep! My thing has always been, folks don't gotta be full time to be afforded the identity of "team".
Just seemed worth checking if norms had changed heh.
@radiofreelunch oh yes, obviously- not sure why anyone thought I meant shorting people out of the credits, heh. Even the other devs who state Solo Dev end up with long credits. That's why I asked in fact.
@glassbottommeg Definitely recommend against the single creator thing. I get a lot of emails saying "solo dev" and the more I see the less I trust them. I've got an entire rant stored up about it that I'll spare you, but the short version is it's probably best to be the studio head and let the rest remain undefined.
@Jamesac68 ah hah, so it IS getting played out already. That makes sense! Because, yeah. I squint at most of these and it's like, huh, those suuuuure are some long credits for solo dev.
There's a lot of marketing value in the solo auteur even when they're not so very solo. It's not Civilisation, it's Sid Meier's Civilization. As long as the people involved don't mind, or even prefer, to be behind the curtain then I think it's fine and probably useful to make yourself the face of the game. You could always just skirt the problem and never claim to be solo but never correct anyone else for saying you are. Is a lie by omission really a lie?
@tacitus I suppose having anchored myself as "Glass Bottom Games" sort of shoots me in the foot in this regard, since otherwise, yeah, that'd be an obvious dodge. Hrm.
Though that's how it goes I guess. Either you die as a young studio, or survive long enough to have the concept of a "studio" become antiquated, lol.
@glassbottommeg
My tagline seems to have become "Aetheric Games is a tiny indie studio in Edinburgh, Scotland" sometimes followed by "consisting of Nick Bell and collaborators."
I try not to call myself solo, partly because I'm talking to young folks a lot and trying to get them to collaborate and acclimatise to teamwork.
But also, I like to have a label that's exactly one step away from me personally. Sometimes, I feel like being the front, but sometimes Aetheric is [closed for business].
@glassbottommeg for me I usually credit myself primarily “Game by Sophie, Music by XYZ.”
If your partner doesn’t want exposure you can credit them with an initial or even an X.
Personally I call myself a solo developer, but I’d never say a game was made by one person unless it really was just me.
I get that you probably do more press than I do though, so you need concise and clear messaging, not sure I can help with that as concise and clear isn’t my thing… I mean, look at this toot lol.
@glassbottommeg I think there's a big difference between "don't expose to public visibility" and "remove credit" so I think it looks better to say something like "a team of two."
@glassbottommeg I think it's fine to say "This is a Megan Fox game" and tank the annoying aspects of the fame involved.
As long as you're not claiming you made everything yourself without any input from others because you're just that badass. Those Guys are the problem, ya know?
@glassbottommeg Why not just say it's made by you "studio"? Maybe your partner could use a pseudo?
Just my two cents but personally I would not be comfortable with taking credits for things I haven't done, even if it's stock music or assets, let alone my partner's work.
I've avoided it in the past because I also don't like minimizing the input of my musician. But a whole lot of solo devs shrug that off too and treat music like a pay-for commodity?
Feels a bit like how "Souls" means something very different from what the words say at this point, or how "indie" has been distended, heh.
@glassbottommeg Throw in a couple really obvious stock assets so you can truthfully say it's not solo but imply the assets are what you're referencing instead of your anonymous partner/collaborator? (half-kidding half not)
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