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    Home Unlabelled My game got to "Overwhelmingly Positive" on Steam!

    My game got to "Overwhelmingly Positive" on Steam!

    April 05, 2021

    My game got to "Overwhelmingly Positive" on Steam!

    My game got to "Overwhelmingly Positive" on Steam!

    Posted: 04 Apr 2021 11:33 PM PDT

    It was short lived -- only lasted a few hours at most, but I managed to get a picture of it before it dropped down!

    Since I can't post the pic, I'll just tell you that at that moment it was at exactly 95%, with 531 ratings.

    Just wanted to share, it doesn't really mean much all in all -- it's in a small niche genre, so only people likely to enjoy this kind of game ever find it, so it's not entirely indicative of future success -- but it does mean a lot to me! I've been on steam since I was a pre-teen over 10 years ago, so to finally see a good rating for my own game was pretty cool :D

    More info about the game:

    • It's a free-to-play MMO game, so this is NOWHERE NEAR as impressive as a paid game getting overwhelmingly positive! If you search steam for free-to-play right now, you'll see which one it is.
    • The current "Review:Install" ratio (usually 50:1 for Paid games, and I've heard 100:1 for free-to-play games) is approx 42:1. This low number is probably due to my having a current fanbase -- my discord is at ~40K members and I'm a solo dev, the latter of which I personally think helps a fair amount for this sort of thing as people resonate far more with an individual than a group. I do expect this ratio to trend more toward 100:1 over time.
    • Comparing to, say, a $10 game, that might get most of its sales at 50% off (so $5 per copy), 500 ratings would generally equate to 25,000 sales, or $125,000. My game has made nowhere near this much... like really nowhere near it (more than a few %, but also not much more lol), and I can confidently say that the game will never make anything even remotely close to $125K per 500 ratings. I felt this was worth mentioning as a reference point for those curious about what ratings mean for a F2P game in terms of money. I suspect this differs wildly in f2p from game to game based on the few articles I have read.
    • I streamed for 13hr on the day of release to a peak viewership of 2,250 people at once, and was able to meet 24.9% of players by the end of the day (I put in a secret achievement that requires you to see me in game, which is how I know this number). Twitch says about 89% of this viewership came from my own community, as I streamed to Twitch only, rather than both Twitch and Steam Storepage (which would have resulting in more organic viewers). If you're wondering if the stream affected the review numbers, I suspect it did not for the following reason: since the viewership was almost entirely from my community, I'd assume those planning on rating would have done so without a stream, and those who weren't going to rate/forgot/didn't feel like it weren't ever going to be persuaded to do so by the stream, especially since I was WAY too scared to even mention/think about the ratings that close after release (and doing so would definitely violate Steam ToS).
    • Personal Info (feel free to skip this!): I do make enough for this to be my job, although whether "you" could live off of this amount depends on where you live. It is not the most secure job in the world and I do work 7 days a week still (and have been since I tried to 'make it' 3 years ago while still in University. I don't spend time with friends/family very often, and I still don't feel as though my future is set enough to start working 5 days a week). It's also worth nothing that this is not my first game, although it is my first game on Steam. I have many things to say about what it's like to be a game developer making their living from the games themselves, but I'll leave those thoughts for the comments/future posts. Also, absolutely no disrespect intended to the amazing devs here who make much of their money from outside their games; on the contrary, I follow many of them eagerly and find their skill sets much more unique than my own! I only mention this because I'm increasingly fascinated by the breadth of 'gamedev' careers that I never knew existed, from Udemy/personality folks to youtubers to AAA industry devs to indie indie, and I wanted to specify that I'm in none of those 4 groups -- I'm in the 5th category called 'loser who has to make f2p games' haha :D
    • I'm happy to answer any questions! I've enjoyed reading posts/QnA from other devs here over the last few months, and I'm more than happy to be next in line!
    submitted by /u/Doge_McLol
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    Free download of public domain paintings, posters and illustrations

    Posted: 04 Apr 2021 10:46 PM PDT

    Fixed a Multi-Threading bug in my custom engine

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 12:22 PM PDT

    Hey guys,

    I had a major bug in my engine that caused my skeletal animations to freak out. I couldn't figure it out for over 6 months. Of course It was something stupid, like it always is (hind sight is 20/20 and all that). I finally fixed it and I feel fantastic!

    https://reddit.com/link/mksljh/video/un8z8mfqner61/player

    submitted by /u/STREGAsGate
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    White kind of internships should I pursue for a Game Dev career?

    Posted: 04 Apr 2021 05:57 PM PDT

    Hello Everyone

    I'm currently an Undergrad student studying in Computer Science. I'm on the lookout for internship to do over the summer, but wonder what kind of work I should pursue.

    The most obvious choice would be one such as "game programming", but being a foreign student really limits my options, so I have to look for alternatives.

    Maybe Software Development? Software Engineering?

    I wish I could be more specific on the topic, but I've never done any formal work before nor have I produced a complete game before (played around with Unity a bit, but that's pretty much it).

    Hopefully, I'll find one that teaches me plenty of knowledge applicable to game development, among other things.

    submitted by /u/DatGameh
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    How important is cache-friendliness when dealing with a small number of entities?

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 08:33 AM PDT

    I'm working on a puzzle platformer thing, in the style of Blackthorne or Flashback where levels are divided into fairly-discrete single-screen areas.

    I'm drawn towards using something ECS-ish because the object composability would be useful for a few things I'm trying to do, and in general it just feels like a more natural way of structuring my code.

    However, I'm not planning on having that many entities per area -- ballpark estimate, there'd generally be around eight per screen; and then immediately adjacent screens might also have some additional, minimal updates run.

    Does going out of my way to be cache-friendly with how I store my components, if I'm only doing major updates on < 10 entities per frame, really get me anything?

    I'm assuming that, since there aren't many of them, all of the relevant data's going to end up in the cache anyway (unless I go out of my way to be cache-hostile, which I'm... not); the systems/update sub-loops/whatever aren't going to be looking at the same subset of data long enough before doing something else anyway; and even if I have some really bad scenario where I'm getting a cache miss every couple of entities, I don't have enough actively updating entities for it to start adding up.

    submitted by /u/HamGears
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    Godot Tutorial: 2D Lighting and Day&Night cycle in under 5 minutes!

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 04:32 AM PDT

    Easy way to create a press kit for your game

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:00 AM PDT

    Hello guys! As Indie game developer I need app for promotion my game and I didn`t find it. But I developed it. So If you need it you can use absolutely free https://press-kit.io

    submitted by /u/PlitkaGames
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    How much work do Visual novels take on the programming side?

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:19 AM PDT

    I'm a writer with a lot of interactive stories in mind, but I have no programming experience what so ever, I'm currently trying to write the plot of a murder mistery, that I'd love to be a visual novel (sorta like danganronpa and other games with a lot of dialogue and some choices)

    And I don't think I have the guts to start programing, how hard are games like these to make? like, if I were to hire a programmer, and I already had the story and the game art, how expensive would it be?

    Or, if I did try to learn game development, how long would it take for me to make a game like that?

    submitted by /u/MakiceHit
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    free software or opensource ai for lifelike npcs in *rpg

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 11:30 AM PDT

    Hello,

    I'm trying to find out if some devs have started building an opensource or free software AI to make as close to possible as "natural" npcs (for ex similar to radiant AI, but that can be fixed and enhanced little by little by the community until it gets really good), that one could then "plug" into their own rpg (mmorpg, crpg, etc) developpement?

    I think it could be an interresting project, at the very least.

    Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I tap into Reddit's knowledge base: are there projects already underway? And which ones are promising (ie, seems extensible enough and already sensible enough to make realistic NPCs living in a city and/or countryside feel "lifelike")

    So far my (usually good) Google-Fu has left me wanting (I find a lot of pages related to AI in general, but not about an AI opensource/free software project to make lifelike npcs)

    submitted by /u/EdhelDil
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    What is the best way to spread the word about your upcoming game?

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 08:32 AM PDT

    I'm currently working on a satire/horror game I plan to release hopefully next year and I was thinking of ways to build up the community for the game. I'm strong believer that your fans are the most important part of your game, because without your fans you don't have the hype, support, and amazing community that sticks by your side and makes these dreams of making an amazing game a reality.

    While I'm not far enough in to make a gameplay trailer (I have made a teaser and a regular trailer), I was told demos would work. So I have started to try and piece together how I would make a demo for this game, because it would make more people interested. I also have an Instagram page I have been posting on to support the game and it's work.

    What recommendations do you guys have for how to build up a community for the game? What have you done that's worked? What advice have you been given? I want to hear it all!

    submitted by /u/-HANGINTHERE-
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    Pixel Art

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 09:28 AM PDT

    I want to start making a 2d platformer game with a retro style look to it. I've decided on a 12 colour palette and i'm guessing i should stick to this palette for all my sprites and every part of the levels. I'm just wondering with the limited 12 colours how do you prevent your character from blending into the background sometimes? especially if the majority of my tiles/sprites are gonna be small (16x16 or smaller). would it just be the black outline that makes the player standout when the player colours match the backgrounds? this is my first time working with pixel art (or any art really) and I just thought this may be a potential problem for me. Thanks

    submitted by /u/genderless_greenfish
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    What is the normal rejection rate for a Junior Technical Animator(Rigger)

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 01:01 PM PDT

    I'm graduating collage soon and I've been applying for jobs to gaming companies as a rigger. I was wondering what is the normal amount of rejections one will get before landing a job as a tech artist. I very much have done a lot to create a good portfolio to apply for jobs, but I've been wondering if I'm good enough yet to get hired? I guess I'm wondering if I'm getting rejected cause that's part of the process or is it cause I.... ya know suck.

    submitted by /u/MrGetMebodied
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    Frame perfect game mechanics

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 03:54 AM PDT

    Recently our small dev team found a bug that's frame perfect, it's super precise. The first jump is the normal one. The second is the bugged one. Another test
    In one frame, you need to land on the ground and hit the E (dive/dash) button, that way you get the jumping velocity + diving velocity as well.

     

    How does the dive mechanic work?
    There are two modes, one that triggers in air, and one on the ground.
    The one in air gives player 100 forward velocity.
    The other one on the ground gives player 170 up velocity, and 140 forward velocity.

     

    Now here's the catch, if the player perfectly times the input, he could get around 340 up velocity, jumping and diving on the same frame. This is a super niche "tech" mechanic, which we might actually want to keep in the game.

     

    There are two problems we thought of:
    1. Player will be able to get to high places they shouldn't be able to. Which would force us to make invisible walls, etc. Not ideal.
    2. Players with lower fps will have an easier time performing the glitch, since their timing will be 1/60, instead of current max 1/144.

     

    Possible solutions:
    1. Make the height of the dive a bit lower if the trick occurs, that way the trick will be balanced. (Done)
    2. Make the ground check be always 60 fps based (hard to do with our current movement code)

     

    Some game info: It will be a movement-based face-paced bunny hop tag game. Basically schoolyard tag but gamified.

     

    So here comes my question that might spark some discussions. Should such tricks/bugs/tech be kept in movement based games?
    Mirrors edge "kick boost"(?) is similar. When You kick in the air, there's a small time-window when you will be able to jump from an invisible "platform" you've made under yourself with that kick. And the devs didn't patch it out (? Don't quote me on that)
    I'm 80% sure we'll be keeping this bug, but wanted to hear some thoughts from others.

     

    TL;DR Frame perfect dive+jump (frame dependent), gives "unfair" advantage over casual players. Raises the skill ceiling a lot.

    Edit: The two videos up there don't represent the Y (up) velocity I want to have in the game. It will be 1/3 of that instead.

    submitted by /u/Chilluminatler
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    Modding SteamInput/Controller Support for non Steam Game

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 12:31 PM PDT

    Today I wondered if it would be possible to add Steam Input support to non steam games through modding if you can create a script which loads the steam input dll and then e.g. switches Steam Controller Action Sets. But I never worked with the Steam Input API before. Maybe anybody here has some experience with it and can tell me if this could work or if the game has to be on steam?

    submitted by /u/darman96
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    How much did you pay for licensing your music? What is reasonable cost?

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 12:28 PM PDT

    Hello! So I'm at a point where I need to start thinking about this kind of stuff. There was music label I was interested, but they offered license for $50 USD per minute, which seems like a lot! Or maybe I think that way because I'm poor. The label have 4,600 followers on twitter. What is reasonable cost and is bargaining a common thing to do?

    submitted by /u/Funzies-uwu
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    Legal implications of recreating a game on YouTube?

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 12:22 PM PDT

    A lot of popular game dev videos recently have titles like "I recreated Doom in unity!" I was thinking of doing something similar to bring attention to the game I'm working on. But I would be making a game that's similar in order to reuse assets I would make for the video. Would this open me up to any issues in the future if my game was deemed too similar to existing IP, or had inspiration/similarities?

    submitted by /u/TheOldManInTheSea
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    Is it weird to put "looking for work / internship" on tw bio?

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 12:13 PM PDT

    cause I feel like its: hey im desperate I want ANYTHING ANY OPPORTUNITY PLEASE I WANT TO EAT.

    Maybe "for hire" is better? Idk.

    submitted by /u/SergioOwls
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    Architectural Designer Creates a Pixel Art Town

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 08:26 AM PDT

    Mature Content Question

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 12:09 PM PDT

    I'm ramping up to post my first thing on Steam and questioning some content. Imagine Chrono Trigger / SNES graphics - there are two questionable pieces:

    • Pixel person with legs ripped off / guts hanging out.

    • Head of pixel person in pool of blood.

    • Not animated / you don't see these things happen.

    I kept the rest in the Teen category. Do you think that qualifies as mature content? It's graphic, but everything I'm seeing points to the frequency of exposure, which I don't have. Any insight is appreciated!

    submitted by /u/jiraphic
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    Looking for 3D Animation For Video Game Collage in Canada

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 11:22 AM PDT

    Hello, I'm a college student Living In Iran. currently, I'm Studying Computer Engineering But I'm looking to get Student Visa to Go to Canada and Study 3D animation mainly for Video game Design. Can you Recommend me any colleges that have that Kind of Program? and do the Programs involve Coding in any Kind?

    Some Sample of my work : (I know it's not that good, but I'm really interested in the Video game Animation Work)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF0dQTvXvYA

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOf4uWvrFAI

    submitted by /u/AliArab1227
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    C# - Beginners Guide to If statements - part of a new intro to programming series.

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 11:07 AM PDT

    Active Ragdolls; What Are They And How They Work

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:00 AM PDT

    Building a community for your game - before/after release? or not at all?

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 09:35 AM PDT

    Hello all!

    First I'd like to thank everyone for the incredible support for my pervious post.

    I'm days before launching my first indie game on Steam. I hear everywhere that you have to have a strong community before launch, that you have to have at least 1k wishlists and so on.

    I'm no expert, but I have to ask ... why? If you really want to create a community, isn't that easier to do for a game that is already out there and can be experienced? Especially after a demo version is out.

    I saw many releases where the sales really picked up a month or two after the launch, regardless of the community around them. Also, is the energy and time required to create and maintain a community pays off? Even for a 5$ indie game?

    I'll be glad to hear any opinions and thoughts on this matter. Thanks!

    submitted by /u/StarstrikeStudios
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    Best beginner model maker?

    Posted: 05 Apr 2021 09:26 AM PDT

    Hey so y'all convinced me to start working on a project that is all of my own, but I am new to modeling and need to get those done first. What would be the best option for me to use, also I would prefer it to be free but if I need to save up to buy something I can live with it.

    submitted by /u/Hellofromfbi
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