tips for an aspiring indie developer

[Reyold]

As an indie developer myself I think you're making the right start by running with Unity. It supports a variety of languages but you can effectively code in javascript (albeit with Unity's spin on it). This makes it very easy to jump in with relatively little research, although you will have to do your homework when it comes to complex ideas/creations.

So... what if you're totally new to programing or coding? Can the tutorials you mentioned help with that, is there a better place to learn about that in particular?

 

[Baldr]

Make games with tools you feel comfortable with. Don't let people tell you a piece of software is inferior. Be realistic, most independent games that are good come from people who've worked in the industry or created several games before their hit.

Go to school for game development, there are somethings you can't learn on your own or would take a long time. It more for networking with people, I have huge list of contacts who been in my shoes and know what may be the problem and I can help others, but they come back to me and say, "I also found out this..."

If you can't attend a program for regional or financial reasons, books are a great resource. Especially in design. You can find a lot tutorials for software online, but design books just have these bits of knowledge nuggets that just can't be found online.

Don't be discouraged, my first 3 months on the app store, my game didn't break 30 downloads. I thought it was a total failure, but things picked up and almost a year later I have close to 10,000 downloads.

Keep working on your game, I started designing my game I am about to release for Win Phone back in the summer of 2009. I keep pushing it and working on it. The original version was crappy looking, but it had a great concept. I'm very happy with it now. Just got to make sure all the bugs are out before it big public release.

 

[Jmp_man]

Why don't you check out some of the resources on this list:
http://www.pixelprospector.com/indie-resources/
PP has a lot of good things for Indie game devs.

Also check out TIGSource (If you haven't already)
http://www.tigsource.com

While you're at it check out this site also:
http://www.lostgarden.com/
It's a nice blog that focuses on game design theory.

I'm no game creator, but the best advice I can give to you is to have fun with it. Also don't be an ass people will respect you more if you listen and you're polite. Take criticism both good and bad in stride. (Don't obsess over your game as being your "Baby" and get pouty about it... we just want you to succeed.)

Finally as a bonus:
http://www.kloonigames.com/blog/postmortems/slimy-pete

PS: I know one of the above posts mentioned Extra Credits on Penny Arcade. You should check those guys out also. You might learn some interesting information.

Edit: PPS: Check out Stencyl as a design tool... might come in handy if you're looking to start off with a light flash/iOS game.
http://www.stencyl.com/

Edit2: Ya know? I dodn't expect to come back an update this. This is really more for the people viewing the thread, cause I'm sure you know this one also:
http://www.gamasutra.com/

 

[Weaver]

Accept right now that your first game just probably won't be very good.

I know it's cynical, but if you're learning to draw your first painting isn't going to be going into a gallery unless you're a lucky savant. Making peace with this, and still having the drive to do it, is the difference between you still making games a few years from now or not.

 

[IndieForever]

So... what if you're totally new to programing or coding? Can the tutorials you mentioned help with that, is there a better place to learn about that in particular?

Those tutorials are vast, and combine a huge amount of video tuition with other resources and exams - they take you from zero to hero if you follow them all, take your time and put the effort in. They assume zero knowledge of programming and teach you all the fundamentals of javascript/Unityscript to get you started. Once you have finished those, Unity themselves have a huge knowledge-base you can tap, as well as very active forums.

To finish the Walker Boys study program will probably take you about two to three months, part-time, at the end of which you'll be well placed to start your own creation.

Unity can be coded using Unityscript, C# and Boo with Unityscript being by by far the simplest to learn for a beginner.

Accept right now that your first game just probably won't be very good.

I know it's cynical, but if you're learning to draw your first painting isn't going to be going into a gallery unless you're a lucky savant. Making peace with this, and still having the drive to do it, is the difference between you still making games a few years from now or not.

This is very true and contains the best nugget of wisdom posted so far!