The video "The Best Indie Game Developer Communities [2022]" by Ask Gamedev provides an overview of the top game development communities for indie developers. It highlights various platforms and forums where developers can ask questions, share resources, and connect with fellow developers and enthusiasts.
The first community mentioned is the r/gamedev subreddit, which has over 700,000 members discussing various game development topics. Users can post questions, share resources and articles, and engage in discussions. Popular flairs include "Question," "Tutorial," and "Discussion."
Next is the r/IndieGames subreddit, where developers can promote their games, share updates, and get feedback. Popular flairs include "Need Feedback," "Devlog," and "Public Game Test."
Indie Game Developers (IGD) is a Facebook group with over 120,000 members, where developers can share resources, ask questions, and showcase their work. The group is known for its #screenshotsaturday hashtag, where developers post images or videos of their latest projects.
TIGSource (The Independent Games Source) is a forum founded by Jordan Magnuson and later taken over by Spelunky creator Derek Yu. The forum has four main sections: Community, Developer, Composer, and Player. It has been active for nearly 20 years and has seen the birth of many successful indie games.
Indie DB is a repository for assets, articles, devlogs, prototypes, demos, and full games created by community members. It also hosts a forum for developers to discuss various topics, participate in game jams, and seek job opportunities. The site hosts the annual Indie of the Year Awards, which has recognized successful titles such as Minecraft and Enter the Gungeon.
GameDev.net is a long-standing game development community that started in 1999. It hosts one of the largest game development blog repositories, covering topics such as machine learning NPCs, game dev digests, and code optimization.
Finally, the Game Development Stack Exchange is part of the larger Stack Exchange ecosystem, which focuses on Q&A for various topics. The Game Development section covers topics such as Unity, C#, OpenGL, C++, Java, 2D, XNA, collision-detection, libgdx, physics, Android, 3D, mathematics, shaders, game-design, and textures.
In conclusion, the video by Ask Gamedev highlights several valuable game development communities that indie developers can join to learn, share, and connect with like-minded individuals. These communities provide resources, knowledge, and support to help indie developers succeed in the game industry.
