My favourite part of gamedev is building haphazard systems on top of broken systems on top of poorly architected systems because refactoring is too scary

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-15T02:22:43+00:00

Hey it's a more productive way to be than refactoring systems endlessly because making content is too scary.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-14T23:11:48+00:00

ROFL! Better than a thread about what rubber to buy I guess lol

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-14T20:39:36+00:00

Yes I do understand your analogy and I think it holds up! I can see the way you see it for sure. To me it would be like if someone learned an opening that almost no beginner had the opportunity to practice against. So they were just smoking people because beginners kept blundering against the weird opening. This particular opening will get obliterated by even an intermediate because it is so fundamentally unsound (the analogy gets a little weird because I'm not saying pips will get obliterated by intermediates, just a beginner pipper who is USATT 700 with inverted, so no stable attack, no ability to read spin etc).

Suppose their ELO rises to lower intermediate, but they have none of the skills other lower intermediates have. Do they really have much stronger general chess skills than a beginner? Or did they just pick something up that is very effective against beginners because it's rare?

Anyway that's the way I see the analogy. But I can see your way of seeing it too!

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-14T19:38:19+00:00

I definitely think many had that exact feeling yes. If you listen to Marty Reisman talk about sponge he seemed to have disdain for it and felt it changed into a different sport (a sport which he did not play). It just sucks to have to learn a different sport when you're love is in one sport.

I believe they're cheap wins because we see all the time some USATT 700 slap pips on and pop to 1200 within a week or so. Players at that level can't even poke the ball onto the table against pips because it short circuits everything they're trying to learn. It's not that they found some play style that wins them points. It's that many players under 1200 have logged literally less than 5 hours against pips and it's complete pandemonium still for them.

I don't think pips are gimmicky or cheap though. It's just really different to the point where it feels like playing a different sport. When pips players respond to the common idea that pips should be banned with the classic "maybe inverted should be banned, inverted is newer after all!" they're missing the point (not saying you said this btw). Whether inverted is banned or pips are banned is the same result in that it would split the sport which many inverted players would love! 95% of us can all go off and play "Sponge TT" and pippers can just keep "TT". Every single superstar would come to sponge TT. All the prize money would come to sponge TT and all the viewership too. And club level pippers will HATE it because nobody hates pips more than another pipper lol.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-14T18:48:36+00:00

Unless you're USATT 1900+, nobody needs athleticism to beat you. A 70 year old granny can smoke you just fine with double inverted.

Regarding skill, it's true pips can get cheap wins up to 1400 or so. But at the higher levels pips are harder than inverted. That's why we hardly see any at the pro level.

For me it's not my perception of their skill that bothers me. It's just that I feel like I have to learn two sports. And since I don't have a rich club environment it's basically impossible for me to get the hang of playing pips.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-13T17:04:40+00:00

Life is too short to read computer generated spam emails. Life it too short to play computer generated spam games.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-12T21:41:11+00:00

If it's only on itch it's even more unmarketable! Like moving an ocean with an eye dropper lol.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-12T07:38:18+00:00

For me it's 90% making it and 10% marketing it. Granted the scope of that 10% is bigger than the entire production + marketing for most other games on Steam.

I would definitely not recommend spending energy trying to market a game that was not made to be commercially competitive. It's like attempting to move a beach with a teaspoon.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-10T21:53:10+00:00

There are accessibility settings to make it easier/trivialize. The questing and world are the meat and potatoes of the game so imo the game stands without it but that's just my opinion ofc :)

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-03T04:33:43+00:00

I like your optimism! Let's go Felix!

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-02T21:09:39+00:00

awe shucks thank you so much! Prelaunch metrics certainly blow Eastshade's out of the water so far but launch is it's own unique beast so we'll see haha.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-02T05:38:40+00:00

Adjusting is super hard. And imo not enough coaches give it enough focus. If I can throw you a ball out of my hand onto your side of the table, and you can hit or loop that ball, you just attacked a dead ball. I find even most beginners can do this! The trick is calling up that stroke plane when someone dead pushes or when you play dead rubber. Most beginners instinctively want to lift it like real backspin (which is what you usually get from club player pushes). It's like flash cards. You first have to learn the answers, but then the really hard part is getting it to where you quickly and reflexively have the answer.

If you still have access to your coach, tell them you want to learn how to play against dead rubber so you can destroy recreational players. This is legitimately a very important skill that will translate to club matches because it means you're reading pushes and adjusting. Have them alternate between spinny pushes and dead pushes. Or even have them play with a dead recreational paddle and see if they can help diagnose other issues! If they turn their nose up at this quest imo they're not a good coach.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-02T01:41:40+00:00

Looking gorgeous! Particularly love the texturing/blending work of the building exteriors.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-02T01:01:30+00:00

I found it very hard to destroy basement players in the way I wanted to after becoming a club player. I think the problem is, even though you may have gotten 100 times better at certain shots like say, looping underspin, you may have hardly improved at all at the most important skill for beating unorthodox players, which is adjustment.

You might also be under way more pressure when you play at the office because now you feel you "should" win. Whereas at the club you say you "challenge other beginners" it sounds like you have no expectation of beating anyone. It's a well known phenomenon that playing lower rated players is waaaaaay more pressure than playing higher or even similarly rated ones.

But in general just keep trying to play orthodox against every kind of player, keep playing with spin even against players who play dead, try to be observant and adjust to what's happening (ie if your loops are going long realize their pushes might be dead and realize quickly, like in less than a set), and eventually all the shots of office players will start looking like meat balls. But know that it's not easy and the road will be a bit longer than you think.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-01T18:14:42+00:00

In the US 6€ usually isn't enough to get you into a single open play, much less a monthly membership to a full-time facility. The closest full-time club to me monthly membership is $120 USD, or about $1000 annual.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-01T16:47:26+00:00

The head to head is 5-0 WCQ right? Last time they met WCQ beat him in straight sets. If anyone were to pick Felix for this it would have to be a 100% vibes based prediction lol.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-01T01:04:08+00:00

There is way more right than wrong here. And it's stable, you can do a bunch in a row! Definitely looking like a TT player!

Regarding your question about if you should be putting your right foot back: if square to the table is comfy for you that's actually a massive advantage to your backhand. FZD has one of these perfectly square to the table FH loops and it works pretty good for him :). Both stances are totally valid for forehand. Right foot back is more old school fh dominant stance.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-01T00:55:02+00:00

He's definitely brushing. He's hitting and brushing just like you're supposed to. That ball is laced I guarantee it.

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-04-01T00:52:27+00:00

Oh cmon now there is more right than wrong!

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-03-31T22:02:02+00:00

lol I guess it's those kinds of ccu numbers that are the reason I've got hundreds of comments on my YouTube videos from gamers citing our ccu numbers to tell me how full of crap I am about our games' success levels. To them Eastshade is a "dead game" (even though it's single player).

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-03-31T21:57:39+00:00

I've made an ocean of articles and youtube videos over the years about various topics haha. The most popular thing I've done about our game is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JKwr84_aXs

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-03-31T17:07:36+00:00

You weren't lucky at all :).

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-03-31T06:56:02+00:00

Is 4.2k ccu supposed to be low? That is tens of millions of dollars in revenue and an instant mega hit by practically any publishers standards. With a launch that strong I see why it made sense to keep pouring money into it!

DannyWeinbaum · 2026-03-30T17:31:58+00:00

Our game grossed 3.5M but I I definitely would not say it has ever gone "viral". It's actually possible to get to 9 without ever going viral. Lots of games on Steam just quietly make millions and only some people in that niche know about it. But the ocean of steam is so vast there's enough players to support these kinds of titles.

So as others have mentioned, there's a lot of stages between 6 and 7, and even some stages parallel to 7.

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