I remember my Sophomore year at my undergraduate university when, after a short hiatus, I started working on computer games. I would leave from class and head straight to the lab, sweating, tinkering and toying with my latest project until the wee hours of the morning.

At least once a month a random guy in the lab would ask me what I was doing. I'd smile like a happy grandparent and say, "Well, using Visual Basic, I'm making my own version of Zelda."

Assuming he knew what VB (or Zelda) was, he would either: a) laugh so hard that he had to leave (usually the non-game developer); b) tell me exactly WHY I couldn't do it WHILE I was doing it (the experienced game developer).

My grin would disappear like a shaken Etch-A-Sketch and, depending on the situation, I would explain the logic behind my actions.

What I failed to realize is that most people aren't interested in the logic of an action; most people are threatened by someone who does something differently. If I used the computer to check my email or to download porn it probably wouldn't have been questioned so severely.

Interestingly enough a year later I had a strong support base of people interested in helping me get my projects done. There were also other programmers who got into game development after they realized that they too could make games, at least partially through watching me.

Basically, a year later I was cool.

There are hundreds of articles on learning a certain language, optimizing code, organizing data. Those help people get through the knowledge barriers that would prevent people from making games.

I would argue that just as, if not more, important are the psychological barriers stopping people from game development. How do you justify to your significant other spending 30 hours in a week trying to make an alien ship go faster? Or using a sick day to create a new design document for your six-month freeware project?

The justification has to come from within. Even within our strong Internet community there are those who are negative against anything new or different or risky. Or worse, against anything not done by themselves.

Hopefully personal support networks and columns, like this one, will help you gain confidence within yourself as an indie game developer. Our hobby/profession is something to be proud of, and this is a pride every one of us should have, even if it takes everyone else years to respect our trade.

--
Written by Damon Brown.