> It's also rare you have a game that is allowed to improve the way Minecraft, Factorio, or Stardew Valley have
Honestly I think this is the hardest thing, I've spent a bit of time now trying to look at how indie works, including building out a small team to put something together and you either need to get funding, or it's pretty gruelling.
You can build something small slow and steady, but you've got to luck out and hit the zeitgeist if you don't want your project to collapse for a lack of money.
Or you have to have someone support you, I mean Stardew Valley famously was building for 4 years before they released, with his partner supporting him, that's a huge survivorship bias.
Project Zomboid is another game that comes to mind that's been being built for a long time for a dedicated community. However they managed to get a paid prototype out early, even though they had cash issues and a fair bit of bad luck.
Not sure what the story behind Factorio is come to think about it.
Honestly I think this is the hardest thing, I've spent a bit of time now trying to look at how indie works, including building out a small team to put something together and you either need to get funding, or it's pretty gruelling.
You can build something small slow and steady, but you've got to luck out and hit the zeitgeist if you don't want your project to collapse for a lack of money.
Or you have to have someone support you, I mean Stardew Valley famously was building for 4 years before they released, with his partner supporting him, that's a huge survivorship bias.
Project Zomboid is another game that comes to mind that's been being built for a long time for a dedicated community. However they managed to get a paid prototype out early, even though they had cash issues and a fair bit of bad luck.
Not sure what the story behind Factorio is come to think about it.