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    Home Unlabelled I've hit over 4000 wishlists with my unreleased game. 11 months of slow wishlist gathering.

    I've hit over 4000 wishlists with my unreleased game. 11 months of slow wishlist gathering.

    March 30, 2021

    I've hit over 4000 wishlists with my unreleased game. 11 months of slow wishlist gathering.

    I've hit over 4000 wishlists with my unreleased game. 11 months of slow wishlist gathering.

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 03:13 AM PDT

    Introduction

    I'm working on my first game (Jupiter Moons: Mecha). I currently sit on 4028 wishlists!

    I jump the game dev train after working 15 years as a programmer in corporations. I got some decent savings and lots of programming experience but almost zero experience with actual gamedev.

    I worked almost exclusively with Java so I picked up Unity/C# as the best tool that matched my skills.

    Quick timeline:

    • I started working on first prototypes in Q4 2019.
    • January 2020 - I contracted an artist to create basic art and UI for the game.
    • May 2020 - basic trailer / teaser, screenshots, capsules are ready, steam pages is officially released.

    Initial plan

    Before I dive into gamedev I was reading a lot of articles, postmortems, and conference talks about how to start etc. Few things were dominant:

    • Do market research, find genre mix with potential for good median sales.
    • Have a hooky game idea.
    • Start marketing as early as possible.
    • Build community.

    I had no illusion that my first attempt on game dev would be very successful. It didn't have to be but I tried to maximize my chances by following the best advice out there.

    First I choose the game genre I felt confident that I could design well, something I play a lot: deckbuilder&card battler. Did a bunch of market research, turns out the genre had pretty decent median revenue. Market research also helped with finding hooky game idea.

    Most card battlers (like 99%) are set in some fantasy world, so my hook was to create Mecha card battler, Battletech mixed with Slay the Spire.

    I set my self 3 goals:

    • Start marketing ASAP - to learn how to do it and to test if my ideas were actually hooky.
    • Setup Steam page.
    • Create playable alpha.

    I manage to achieve all those in 16 months by finally publishing a demo during the steam February festival.

    Marketing

    I set up a bunch of social media and I'm regularly posting only on: twitter, reddit, facebook.

    I also have a discord server, newsletter and I'm posting blogs on the Steam page to keep up with the community.

    Twitter - excellent B2B platform, you can get noticed by publishers, streamers, youtubers. Other devs share very useful information like articles or conferences. Noticeable successes that probably came from twitter:

    • Video feature in Best Indie Games.
    • Video feature in GameDevHQ
    • Gamespot article.

    Reddit: I didn't get a viral post or anything like that. I'm still learning how Reddit works. Reddit is one of the top sources for external traffic to my steam page. Excellent tool if you manage to create a good post - which I'm yet to make :)

    Facebook: It's ok-ish but probably focusing on other social media channels would be better.

    Steam: Steam is a shop but also a social media platform. All those friends recommendations, what friends wishlist etc. Being active on Steam, writing dev diaries, etc. is important to look like a professional game developer in eyes of players.

    Steam demo festival - single best marketing tool for indie devs. It almost doubled my wishlists.

    Discord: There are a bunch of game dev communities on discord. Great source of feedback, networking, and neat finds.

    Visit to steam page

    I have a total of 41877 steam page visits (from nonbots) and 4028 wishlists so lifetime visit to wishlist conversion is 9.6%.

    External source visits: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UXtz9LAgVR4ROZG8lsiOoTyu7tEVP3QR/view?usp=sharing

    3010 external visits with reddit: 787 being on top, twitter: 677. Lots of people googled the game as well: 748.

    Unfortunately most dominant source of visits is direct navigation, where Steam can't find source: 17528. This can also include Reddit or other social media, press articles, etc.

    Total visits that can be directly attributed to steam discoverability is 21339 (around half of total visits)

    It's probably safe to assume that around 30%-40% of visits (and probably wishlists) are because of my marketing efforts.

    Visits over time:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UZ02RPGDb2b3y8DTjxbEuyVSjamRNwJ4/view?usp=sharing

    Wishlists

    In the beginning, my Steam page wasn't very good, it's still isn't as good as I would like but I'm pretty happy with the results. Every month I'm trying to update something: refresh screenshots, review tags, new capsule.

    Overall things speed up after I manage to release the demo. This was a big opportunity to create much better content for the Steam page: a new trailer and screenshots.

    Actual chart with spikes labels:

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/1U_U7gccIciDXv0UE7XUyTz3XZyLJY0w4/view?usp=sharing

    After the Steam festival things speed up, my daily average gain is higher. I think my Steam page got few points with Steam algorithms and is shown more.

    Also 2 big streamers played my demo which probably is still providing new wishlists & visits:

    • Wanderbots
    • Celerity

    Resources

    Blogs and communities that helped and still helping me with gamedev & marketing:

    If you have any questions I'm happy to answer.

    submitted by /u/tanku2222
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    The source code for Koi Farm, my koi breeding game, is now publicly available on GitHub

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 05:47 AM PDT

    Releasing a game in 9 months: a postmortem by the numbers

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 06:55 AM PDT

    (long post, sorry)

    Just over a year ago, I started working on The Dungeon Beneath - a "roguelite autobattler" that mixes elements of Slay the Spire, Hearthstone's Battlegrounds, and just a touch of Into the Breach. The game was released Oct 23rd, 2020.

    By the numbers, here's how it has gone so far:

    • $49,047 generated (that's gross, so the revenue is considerably less)
    • 3,648 copies sold
    • 249 copies given away
    • Average time played of 10 hours 49 minutes (median of 5 hours 16 minutes)
    • Very Positive (as of writing this it's hovering at 80%)
    • 4,666,024 impressions on steam
    • 7 free updates
    • 258 days from start to launch (~9 months)
    • 157 days since launch (~5 months)
    • ~1200 wishlists at launch
    • 205 youtube videos from fans & influencers

    So was it a success?

    My original goal was to do a crash-course in indie development by developing and releasing a game on steam. Additionally, I wanted to ensure that the development was financially stable (i.e. I didn't want to lose a ton of money).

    This "financially-stable" clause had ramifications for just about every part of the development process. Here's what it meant in practice:

    • I was a solo-dev. Hiring people is expensive and can (in some cases) slow down development.
    • A strict nine month deadline from development to release. This was definitely a tight deadline - but without a deadline, game development can stretch on endlessly. Nine months meant that I had to keep scope creep to an absolute minimum.
    • Designing a game around premade assets. I'm not an artist, so I decided to use the absolutely lovely Oryx Labs sprites. This, of course, influenced the art direction - but also the design of characters, environments, enemies, items, and more. In many ways, The Dungeon Beneath was made for these sprites, rather than the other way around. (I did end up making a lot of custom sprites in the end after discovering that I really like making pixel art!)
    • An extremely constrained scope. Figuring out what I could build in nine months was a challenge. A lot of features got cut but I've been able to slowly add those features in after the release. (In some ways this has been a nicer approach as I've been able to prioritize features with player feedback.)
    • Using Unity. Is Unity the best engine for this kind of game? Maybe. But it's definitely the engine I have the most experience with. To hit a nine-month deadline, I needed to use tools I was familiar with.

    So… was it a success? For me, it definitely was. I have learned a ton about the indie dev process without bankrupting myself. The Dungeon Beneath isn't an indie superstar - but that was never the original goal.

    What it required and what it cost

    I officially started on the project in February 2020. I want to make this clear - when I started, I was in a privileged position to make this game. I had:

    • A healthy amount of savings plus opportunities to do freelance work on the side.
    • Six years of game dev experience at a number of companies as a game designer, plus experience working with Unity.
    • A partner that supported the process. I cannot stress how important this is!
    • A country with free healthcare.

    In my opinion, "zero cost" development is a myth. Games are extremely expensive to make - even if you're only paying with your time. That said, I wanted to keep development costs as low as possible. I didn't keep a strict tally of expenses or the hours I put in, but here's a rough breakdown of the costs:

    • ~$100 on assets.
    • ~$600 on ads for the game, including a Woovit subscription. I'll get into this more in the next section.
    • 3 months of working 3-4 days a week on the game. When starting the project, I was working freelance a few days a week on other projects.
    • 6 months of full-time work. This was the bulk of the development work.
    • 6 months of casual work on the game (some nights and weekends). After the launch, I started working full-time on a different project; however, I've put in a number of extra hours to keep releasing updates for the game.

    How I marketed it

    This was definitely the aspect of development that I was least comfortable with, so I tried a little bit of everything:

    • Social media. I tried to build a presence on both twitter and reddit. I didn't see a ton of engagement with either - but I'm also not great with social media. I still keep a small presence on twitter.
    • Buying ads. Again, I tried ads on both twitter and reddit. Twitter performed terribly, while Reddit got around 770 click-throughs for ~$430 over a couple campaigns. These campaigns were run during other promotions, so it's hard to tell how many click-throughs turned into sales or wishlists. Someone who's more knowledgeable about marketing could probably tell me whether this was worth it.
    • Releasing a demo as part of Steam's Fall Festival. I know this did very well for some devs - but I didn't see much engagement or wishlists from this.
    • Setting up a mailing list. I pushed this a lot before the game was released but it's been less relevant since. Likely I'm under-using the mailing list. I know Chris Zukowski is big on mailing lists.
    • Contacting content creators. This was (and is) the game's lifeline.

    By far the thing that works best for The Dungeon Beneath is contacting content creators (primarily Youtube but also Twitch). My personal philosophy is that no content creator is too small. Unlike a AAA blockbuster, very few creators are likely to organically buy the game, so giving out tons of review copies isn't likely to cannibalize sales (so long as you avoid key resellers). As long as a content creator looks to have a legitimate interest in the game, I give out a copy. Plus, I just want to see more people playing the game!

    Here's how I reached out to content creators:

    • Keymailer. Generally I've been unimpressed with Keymailer's performance. I gave out 47 keys but only 9 creators played the game and even fewer made videos. However, I didn't try the premium features - but with this performance, I definitely wasn't encouraged to!
    • Woovit. Woovit has performed fairly well. Using their premium features, I was able to connect with 95 content creators, producing a total of 69 videos (nice). I highly recommend their search feature to look for content creators who cover similar games.
    • Email. My final approach was sending out steam keys via email. I sent out 59 emails to a curated list of Youtube channels and was covered by 15 of them. HOWEVER, this also got the game covered by two large influencers: Link, other Link. Getting covered by SplatterCatGaming ended up accounting for about 15-20% of the total sales!

    A side note: after launching the game I started receiving tons of emails trying to scam steam keys to resell them. For fun, I've started tracking the emails - currently at 67 scam emails!

    Another side note: I have to give a special shout-out to a fan who has made a 66-part series on our game. This is truly humbling. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUgndsQaNpY

    A final side note: It's such a joy to watch people play your game. Sure, it's also useful from a design-perspective - but it's such a nice feeling to see people interacting with your game. This has fueled 100% of my post-launch motivation.

    What worked

    • Genre. I got lucky that "turn-based strategy / autobattler / roguelike" was a genre that I wanted to pursue - as each of those genres are fairly hot right now. (Maybe we're already over the hump for autobattlers though?) For anyone starting a new game, I'd recommend taking a peak at Game-Stat's revenue estimates for different steam tags.
    • Focusing on youtube coverage. This was my first foray into marketing a game, so I wasn't sure on what would work. As mentioned above, youtube creators ended up being the most effective way for me to reach new fans. The Dungeon Beneath doesn't lend itself to exciting images or gifs - so perhaps if the game was more "meme-able" it would have done better on reddit or twitter.
    • Regular updates. The Dungeon Beneath is beyond the high end of Jark Birkett's estimate for Week 1 sales vs. Year 1 sales. This is in part due to coverage by some large influencers post-launch. However, I also credit the game's regular updates - about once per month. These updates result in spikes in daily users, as well as renewed interest from content creators.
    • Using premade assets. As I said above, the game uses sprites from Oryx Design Labs. I used these as a base, adapting them to fit the needs of the game. This was a bit of a mixed bag - but was definitely the correct choice for me. My other options were hiring an artist (expensive) or doing the art myself (not feasible). The upsides: this made it way faster and cheaper to develop the game. Plus the game looks pretty good! The downsides: at least two streamers mentioned they were hesitant about covering the game as they recognized the assets. Also a handful of players were confused to see the assets in other games.

    What didn't work

    • Balancing. I launched a closed beta in September for The Dungeon Beneath, about a month before the game was released. However, due to issues with the game's analytics I only got a limited amount of useful feedback. When the game launched, there were a lot of complaints about the balancing. Today, after tons of balance tweaks, the game's in a much better spot - but this mistake definitely hurt our reviews.
    • Little following before launch. I had a hard time building a following before the game launched. Again, the tight deadlines limited how much time and effort I could spend marketing the game. The game only had ~1200 wishlists at launch, which made for a lacklustre launch (just 390 copies in the first week).
    • Not doing early access. I had heard warnings that launching into early access can reduce your visibility and sales at launch - but my first week sales were pretty low so there wasn't much to lose in hindsight. We did an "early-access" style launch (meaning the game didn't have tons of content at launch) with the intention to continue providing free updates for the game after it's launch. However, without the "early access" tag, this intention wasn't clear to players. Among the negative reviews, the lack of content was a common factor.
    • No localization so far. This has likely hurt sales significantly. The game is set up to be easily localized - but I haven't pursued this, in favor of keeping development times low. I can't conclusively say that this was a bad call… but this was probably a bad call. (I still want to provide localization in the future!)
    • Not creating a community space. I worried about sinking too much time into creating and running a discord server. However, in hindsight, having a place for fans to congregate would have been great. It's not too late to start a discord - but I've likely missed a ton of players.

    I'll stop here to make sure this doesn't turn into a novel - but if you have questions, throw them in the comments!

    submitted by /u/PuzzleBoxGames
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    GOD it feels good to fix bugs on your own

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 10:55 AM PDT

    I've been learning myself gameDev for about 9 months now, and I finally feel like I know enough to be able to build systems and fix bugs on my own. No copy-pasting tutorials, no desperate forum posts, just good-'ol-fashioned "I-finally-know-what-I'm-doing."

    This ain't a real serious post and it might get taken down, so I'll see you all in Valhalla as I'm dining with the other cool kids of game development. o7

    submitted by /u/AoutoCooper
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    Should I go with OpenGL or use a Game Engine

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 11:30 AM PDT

    Hello, I'm thinking in starting a game, in 3d, something along the lines of Final Fantasy Tactics. I know the basics of OpenGL in C++, but I'm also familiar with Unity and Unreal.

    What do you guys think? Should I start developing it in OpenGL or use a Game Engine?

    submitted by /u/ghoststar_redd
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    I made a game because I really want to play it - five years later it finally happened :)

    Posted: 29 Mar 2021 12:56 PM PDT

    For many of us, the reasons we get into gamedev is that we really want to play a certain game, which doesn't exist, so we toil away at it for months and years to create it.

    Five years ago I really wanted to play a 3D, topdown, twin-stick shooting game that has some roleplaying, survival, and stealth aspect. I tried several games, like Desperados, American Fugitive, How to Survive, and even the old school Commandos, but didn't scratch my itch.

    I really love the "isometric" aesthetic, like all the screenshots in this timeless post:

    https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/just-what-is-isometric.69829/

    I just kept staring at these pretty pictures and wished I could just make a game like that myself. I particularly like the looks of Dead Horde, but unfortunately the gameplay was crude and very repetitive.

    So in 2015 I set out to make a game that looks like Dead Horde but plays like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - a game I loved almost to the point of worshiping. The whole journey till now was a rollercoaster ride, filled with moments of excitement, boredom, despair, disappointment in myself, but above all, the joy of creation, and the joy of watching other people suffersolve the challenges I designed and placed in the game. Of course, doing this project entirely on my own was a huge challenge on its own, and after the birth of my second child and the struggling with self-doubt, I took a two-year break from it. Then some miracle happened, and I regained the courage to get back on the project. And now, I'm at the polishing stage and ready to release the game ASAP when it's fully polished.

    What's really funny is, today I just finished polishing (and feature-creeping) the stealth aspect of the game, and decided to record a video. In doing so, I actually for the first time played my game without crutches. I felt my heart beating out of my chest when I made a mistake and got caught by the guards, and gave the sigh of relief after I escaped from the enemy headquarters, the experience very similar to when I played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Even more so, when the AI didn't behave the way I expected them to. Now I can happily claim that I was immersed in the game I created on my own. That's pretty cool, because I was worried that I would be too bored of it because I already know the game plays out (which turned out to be false, lol).

    That's it - just wanted to share a moment of joy as we all continue to toil away at our own dream game :)

    submitted by /u/Rotorist
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    A short and sweet tutorial on turning a 3D Blender animation into a UI element in Unreal

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 11:10 AM PDT

    I have a question pertaining to setting up a Steamworks account

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 11:07 AM PDT

    Is it bad practice to set up a Steamworks account for your company using a personal Steam account? I tried doing this, and realized I maybe should have created a brand new Steam account for my company, and used THAT to set up the Steamworks account. Any advice?

    submitted by /u/dmetcalfe94
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    Great tutorial on making Isometric Tiles and Tilemaps

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 05:05 AM PDT

    I found some footage of our original prototype - I was shocked at how much made it into the final game, so I made a little video.

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 01:40 PM PDT

    Urgent help needed, how to handle multiple rotations (at once) using Unity's rigidbodies

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 11:55 AM PDT

    Hello everyone! Here is the issue:

    Before I found out that colliders don't work when using transform changing code rather than using physics and altering the rigidbody instead, I had a quadrupedal creature that had a couple of rotations going on on it at once:
    1) Input from the player, that would rotate it along its local y axis (rotating left or right)

    body.transform.Rotate(Vector3.up);
    2) Rotation according to its feet, that would create a vector from a square of raycasts, pointed down at the creature's feet and then according to their current location, create an up vector for the body to match itself to.

    Physics.Raycast(arrayOfVectors[2] + Vector3.up, Vector3.down, out lr, 100f, maskForRaycast);

    Physics.Raycast(arrayOfVectors[3] + Vector3.up, Vector3.down, out rr, 100f, maskForRaycast);

    Physics.Raycast(arrayOfVectors[1] + Vector3.up, Vector3.down, out lf, 100f, maskForRaycast);

    Physics.Raycast(arrayOfVectors[0] + Vector3.up, Vector3.down, out rf, 100f, maskForRaycast);

    upDir = (Vector3.Cross(rr.point - Vector3.up, lr.point - Vector3.up) +

    Vector3.Cross(lr.point - Vector3.up, lf.point - Vector3.up) +

    Vector3.Cross(lf.point - Vector3.up, rf.point - Vector3.up) +

    Vector3.Cross(rf.point - Vector3.up, rr.point - Vector3.up)

    ).normalized;

    Debug.DrawRay(rr.point, Vector3.up);

    Debug.DrawRay(lr.point, Vector3.up);

    Debug.DrawRay(lf.point, Vector3.up);

    Debug.DrawRay(rf.point, Vector3.up);

    //upDir = new Vector3(bodyUpX, upDir.y, upDir.z);

    objectToRotate.transform.up = upDir;

    ​

    float tempX = objectToRotate.transform.localEulerAngles.x;

    float tempZ = objectToRotate.transform.localEulerAngles.z;

    objectToRotate.transform.localEulerAngles = new Vector3(tempX, yOfBody, tempZ);

    ​

    body.transform.localEulerAngles = new Vector3(0f, body.transform.localEulerAngles.y, 0f);

    Vector3 upDirection = Vector3.up * rotateSpeed;

    upDirection = upDirection.normalized;

    objectToRotate.transform.rotation = Quaternion.LookRotation(body.transform.forward, upDir);

    3) and finally rotation when it would jump, which would basically just reset its x and z axis to 0 when jumping (basically it straightens itself out

    Something along the lines of this kind of rotation (I deleted the code, which i super regret), but basically it would rotate back to a new direction = vector3( 0, bodytransform.forward and 0)

    body.transform.Rotate(newdirection);

    When changing its transform all these separate rotations would handle fine. But I have no idea how to do these using physics, and while I can get one or two working separately, when I try and do them together it falls apart into a mess of limbs and forces that don't work with each other.

    SO here are my questions:
    1) my first question is how do I properly combine rotations, and if it isn't the way to handle it how do I get the same result? For example, to make my left right, forward back movement with WASD work, I changed transform.translate into taking input from multiple vectors, combining said vectors into a single vector, and then using r.moveposition(rb.transform.position + combinedVector). This does NOT seem to work for Quaternions, when combining both my right and left rotation inputs for quaternions, before feeding it into rb.Moverotation, instead of cancelling out like it did with transform.rotate it instead goes crazy.

    2) When rotating on player input, the way I was using would rotate it at a constant speed, and then stop. How do I emulate this with physics? I have used rb.MoveRotation to get the same effect, but when combining inputs from both sides as stated before (via multiplying two quaternions with each other before rb.moverotation on combined quaternion) it goes nuts and makes the body go wild

    3) How do I use the rigidbody rotations to rotate to a specific vector like for the second/third type of rotation I mentioned above? Is it even possible? If so how?

    Thank you I know its a lot, but I'm on a deadline and all my work has gone to waste as no colliders work .(i never ran into the issue when testing because I didn't use walls which in hindsight was really dumb of me)

    submitted by /u/Onerandomchicken
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    What to focus/improve on?

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 10:51 AM PDT

    Hi I'm a university student studying computer science. I really want to end up programming at a game company one day, that's the goal anyways. I want to make myself stand out as I'm hoping next summer to get an internship at a game company. I'm wondering what kinds of things I can work on to continue improving and increase my chances of even getting an interview. Currently I know a bit about C/C++, Java, Python, next semester I'll be taking 3D Game Programming, Linear Algebra, Data Structures, and a course on the principles of Software Design (how to work on larger projects in groups, how to manage them, good and bad practices, etc.), and the semester afterwards I plan to take AI Programming, Operating Systems, Advanced 3D Game Programming, and Security in Computing. I plan to keep working in C++ and learn more of it so I can become very proficient in it, for instance my final project this semester I can choose any language between C/C++ and Java and I'm going to do C++. I've done a bit of work in Unreal Engine, I know how to build a scene with landscape tools/materials (not a pretty scene, I'm no artist), post process effects, how to build landscape materials and paint, etc., though I haven't messed with coding in Unreal as my professors have told me that the C++ there is different and I should become really good at C++ on it's own before I move on to programming C++ in Unreal. I know I have a lot to learn, and that over the coming year I will be learning a lot more, I just also feel like I could be doing more. Any suggestions?

    submitted by /u/Vilified_D
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    Looking for a tutorial or help generating random characters

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 11:05 AM PDT

    Hi everybody I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction of where to find info on this topic.

    My goal is to generate 10,000 random unique characters using 4 categories of variables with 10 possibilities in each variable (please let me know if my math is wrong here). These characters are just going to be still 2d images, so there's no need to make multiple models for each character. for example, 10 base bodies, 10 hats, 10 shirts, 10 different facial expressions, all put together at random to make 10,000 unique characters.

    What would be the best program to do this in (free please) and/or what is a resource I can use to learn how to do this. Some basic googling and searching on YouTube didn't reveal anything to me, I'm not sure I'm searching for the right terms.

    Some more details; I myself am going to generate the 10,000 random characters, they aren't going into a game engine to be generated by a player or anything like that. I just need some jpeg files of them or whichever file type would work best for this purpose.

    I have no coding/programming knowledge

    Thank you kindly and have a good day

    submitted by /u/ddpulverizzer
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    Common Practice for FPS map creation?

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 01:13 PM PDT

    Hi I was wondering what people in the industry generally do as the standard for map creation. I have heard many different things including making the map completely in Maya or Blender and importing it (Issue is no textures or lighting comes over), I have heard people make individual things in blender like building 1, street light, import them as prefabs and assemble map in Unity if the engine you use. For the sake of this I use Unity. So I would like to hear what generally the standard is!

    submitted by /u/404Developer
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    game mechanic input/advice?

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 01:03 PM PDT

    Hullo!

    ​

    I've been toying with a game for a little bit now and I am becoming increasingly less convinced of my game mechanics, so I wanted to see if I could get any advice on what direction I might move in next.

    ​

    I played Undertale a couple of years ago and really fell in love with it. I liked the jrpg + bullet hell combination. I wanted to take a similar path and have a jrpg + platformer combination where battles would be a platforming exercise. I really like jrpgs and platforming games so I wanted to see if I could combine the two.

    ​

    My idea was that in a battle I would have "checkpoints" that the player could touch, and once touched they would get a menu like in a turn-based battle system where they could choose to attack/use an item/etc. As I started to try to implement this I figured out that one of two things will happen with attacks:

    ​

    1. If upon selecting an attack the enemy is struck automatically it makes the platforming just complex dodging.
    2. If upon selecting an attack it arms the player with an attack but they still need to get close to the baddy to deploy it then I'm doing a megaman style fight.

    ​

    With that all said I'm realizing that I wouldn't be incorporating what I really like about about platformers. When I think of a platformer I think Celeste or Super Meat Boy.

    ​

    I'm thinking I need to come up with another mechanic for my battle scenes. I still want something that requires some dexterity and hand/eye coordination, but I'm not at all married to be being platforming. Referencing Undertale again, the bullet hell aspect of it satisfied the "dynamic" aspect I am looking for.

    ​

    Anyone have some games I can check out for inspiration? Maybe some general ideas/input? Is there maybe a more intelligent question I should be asking?

    submitted by /u/pickelade
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    What is the proper way to ask people to wishlist your game on Steam?

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 10:50 AM PDT

    I'm working on the final assets to launch my games Steam page and wondering if there are any valuable steps anyone would recommend for the day the Steam page itself goes live as well as the days/weeks/months after and what is a good way to ask people to wishlist the game without coming off as spamming or begging.

    The game itself is pretty niche, so want to find those that it would appeal to instead of a very broad group.

    Hope that makes some sense, would love to hear from others that have done well launching a Steam page and driving traffic to it.

    submitted by /u/Genetix_307
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    Introduction to memory allocators and arenas

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 10:33 AM PDT

    Free pixel art train pack for commercial and non-commercial use

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 10:30 AM PDT

    Free pixel art trains. Containing a front carriage middle section and a back carriage.

    There are two track types included.

    You can use the asset pack for commercial and non-commercial use credit being optional.

    https://ellis-james-games-studios.itch.io/pixel-art-trains

    Updates on all the packs i create: https://discord.gg/zaD9mRQQ

    submitted by /u/GoodInkAdvert
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    Is there any swedish game developers here?

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 04:11 PM PDT

    Me and a friend have started with a short indie horror game and me and my friend is looking If there is anyone here that is also from sweden that is interested, we have no money nor a game company so we will have to cut The money we earn on it as good as we can with you

    If this is not okay to post please reach out and Tell me how i should proceed with this request

    submitted by /u/gadden420
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    Questions about publishing to Google Play Story

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 03:44 PM PDT

    Hey everyone,

    For my degree research project this year I've made a game with Unity with the intent of researching how gamification can enhance teaching music theory with a thesis on the findings. I'll have it finished by the end of next week and I need to get people to play it so I was hoping to get it on Google Play to direct people there. I've read up on the process of publishing on Google play but just wanted to get my facts straight in advance - in the experience of people on here, how long does it usually take for the game to go live? Are there any issues/reasons people have experienced that delay it or stop it from being published I should look out for? And would directing people to a survey (likely on Google Forms) to answer questions on their experience with the game for my research be an issue for having it published? Thank you!

    submitted by /u/ryanjeffares
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    This is a useful video if you’re developing a platforming game. It breaks down what makes Mario’s jump so special.

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 03:34 PM PDT

    I'm going to have to pay for artwork, a few questions here for those more experienced than myself.

    Posted: 29 Mar 2021 08:33 PM PDT

    Hey everyone, I'm a solo dev working on a game in my spare time, I've unfortunately come to the conclusion that I'm terrible at game art and going to have to pay someone to do it for me. I'm going to need about 200-ish still photos with relatively minor attention to detail, all cel shaded but not too serious. so my questions are -

    1) what is the best place to look for someone to put this together?

    2) what should I be expected to pay for this. I have the money but I'd obviously like to get the lowest price.

    3) Just so I'm sure, there is no easy way for someone who has the artistic ability of a doorknob to do this, is there?

    submitted by /u/SayNoToStim
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    Publishing??

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 03:02 PM PDT

    Hello. When I make a game , where should I put it for people to playtest it? And what about publishing it?

    submitted by /u/PhoenixBurner1
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    Examples of old games being reimplemented from scratch by fans?

    Posted: 30 Mar 2021 02:35 PM PDT

    I've always thought it would be a fun project to take, say, an NES game and try to recreate it as closely as possible using the modern game development tools of my choice. Does anyone know of any existing examples of that kind of project that I could look at for inspiration?

    submitted by /u/songdon
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