Hey guys! So I'm beginning work on a small demo that I'm tentatively calling Project Melancholy. Because I'm a 3D artist with no previous programming experience, this will be a great chance for me to learn a lot of disciplines outside of my own work.

One thing I've always admired are the devs on Twitter (#gamedev, #indiedev, etc) and other social media sites who very regularly post updates (no matter how small) and engage with the community through them. It's totally inspired me to want to do the same throughout the development process of this current project! I totally have no problem with being transparent on where I am in the project, or what I've been working on that day/week/month.

My can of worms question is: At what point is it smart to begin posting development updates on social media? Should a project be at a minimum point before putting your games idea out there?

i try to only post things when im sure its from a project i intend to finish. i do falter on this (because its really hard to tell what you will/won't finish) but thats my general guideline

I think it's really about when you feel you have enough to share. For example, if you're at a proof of concept stage, there might not be enough yet to really start building an audience. I generally say if you have at least a playable demo, get the game out there. Talk about it, meet people who are interested in it, and start creating your fanbase :)

Soon as you have something playable that gives a sense of what the game will be like.

When I first started making games I thought that sharing information about the development of a project wasn't all that important but I have come to realize that it's essential for the process itself. You push yourself to get something done in time for screenshotsaturday and when you are finally done those folks that followed along with you help you in that initial release of your game / demo etc. Sharing makes the project more enjoyable so finishing it is more likely .

As you are primarly a 3D artist, you'll have it easy to regularly post on social medias, post screenshots of characters/objects/scenes. Of course it should be for a project you know you will finish, then you can even start posting early drafts and such...

I am not the kind of the developer that posts tons of updates, if at all. So take what I say with a grain of salt. But I think you should start when you know where the project is going, and you have a fair idea of how the final product is going to look and play, which is not as obvious as it may seem. I've started plenty of creative projects expecting to get something, and in the end get something completely different from what the original idea suggested me.

I mentioned on a different post how being transparent helps me work flow and keeps me motivated to work. If it helps, you might also want to look at #screenshotsaturday.