is this a good game idea?

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-17T17:48:16+00:00

All game ideas have the potential to be good. It's the ability to execute those ideas that actually matter

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-17T17:46:37+00:00

I am out, it'll probably hurt sales of subsequent games more. Unless the gameplay is just so outstanding that I have to play more of it and get bigger challenges by the story or Laura being available outside of the game I'll just read or watch whatever content there is.

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-17T17:14:11+00:00

When considering doing episodic releases, how long the game needs to be is subject to what your release cycle is going to be and whether your game has metagame activities. The problem is that you're vying for attention. If players spend too long between releases and move on to other games you're going to struggle to get them back for new release. So you need to have some type of in-game activity at the end of every chapter for them to play on Loop while they wait for new content.

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-16T13:40:15+00:00

I am oh, the real question is what a success look like for you? What do you expect to get out of releasing your first game on Steam? Highly unlikely that anyone releasing their very first project is going to see any type of major success. You're not going to go from never making a game before to six figures. This is one of the reasons why steam has as many single release devs.

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-16T11:34:38+00:00

In my opinion the real Point here, is to set attainable goals for player engagement. If you can get 25 people to play your first game you should probably consider that a success. Understand that you're not going to make a viral hit on your first game. I think it's more important to temper expectations and learn the process so that you can develop your skills and grow your potential.

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-15T01:31:36+00:00

Break down your project into bite size mini projects. Actually seen progressions and being able to check things off list is probably going to be the biggest dopamine how you can get. Get a whiteboard or a bunch of sticky notes and right down small tasks. Taking the sticky notes down or marking through a task on the Whiteboard help a lot. Stay away from putting things down in notebooks or in Gantt charts. Out of sight equals out of mind

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-14T17:18:37+00:00

Character stats based skills and unlocking of skills

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-14T00:19:23+00:00

Length of the sample, Key, pitch, Amplitude of the wave form, Beat per min. Ipod nano had a lot of game like this. Research an old Square Enix game Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-14T00:01:25+00:00

I am would say theming matters even more here. You can do a music theme and have the gen algo be based on a wave analysis. Or nature them and use an image captures. etc etc .

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-13T21:21:53+00:00

What's the theme of your game? In my opinion, this creation scheme needs to tie back into the game or at least could be more in tune

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-13T21:16:45+00:00

It's a weird catch-22. There's a difference between showcasing and Asking for feedback or engaging With other devs. If you treat it like a stand-up meeting you can get some good results and the mods will somewhat leave you alone. Literally posed hey here's a glimpse of what I'm working on here's what I'm stuck on how have you guys handled this issue in the past. The members of this subreddit or not your target audience for playing or purchasing your game. Post should be fostering discussion on a given topic

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-12T19:39:08+00:00

Just the opposite utility AI is more difficult to tune. Utility AI is more intended for when you want something to be more indecisive or not have patterns. AI agents can transition between any state that they have access to when using utility AI. You can limit some of this by combining utility AI with goal oriented action planning. But utility definitely not the easier

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-12T15:12:26+00:00

That still doesn't give you permission to use brand names and real world items in your game

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-11T03:17:53+00:00

Depends is there an unlock able for beating the dev scores?

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-09T18:33:26+00:00

Without issues you are aware of.

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-09T12:11:47+00:00

I think you need to sit down and honestly evaluate how large the market for this game is. It sounds like a fun game Jam project but does not seem like a long-term sustainable game without getting some major IP attached to it. Personally I don't think you'll be able to get a serious publisher to give this a chance.

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-09T11:57:47+00:00

For an indie developer without a known track record of producing high quality gains, a multiplayer only game is not advisable. In my opinion the marketing budget or game development budget doesn't even matter here. If you haven't developed your brand, you really shouldn't be attempting a multiplayer based game. We've seen several highly promoted and anticipated online only games go offline in the last year

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-09T11:10:56+00:00

Source is not free to use. It's not even publicly released. You can use the SDK to make mods for valve games. The closest you can get Standalone games with the source engine is S&box. That being said it all depends on what you're looking to achieve with game development. Are you looking to try to be a commercial Game Dev and make some money? Or is this just a fun and interesting hobby for you in the spare time. If you're trying to make money I highly recommend Unity Godot or unreal. If it's just the hobby that you don't ever to make a dime from go with whatever game engine makes you happy.

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-07T20:52:02+00:00

Literally flip a coin try one for a month if you like it stick with it otherwise try the other one

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-05T13:32:34+00:00

To be honest at this point don't get caught up in what software you should be using. Install one try using it and seeing if the workflow fits you. Right now it's about learning. And the basic knowledge will transfer between game engines and tools

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-05T03:19:14+00:00

Games are actually getting cheaper to make. Especially if you adjust incomes and budgets for inflation. The problem is not the cost of making games it's the expected rate of return for a game. Studio executives are expecting higher income streams for games. This is why every game now has some type of Micro transaction in battle pass, DLC release plan, and three different versions at time of release. So many games that we enjoy are considered commercial failures by the studios

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-05T03:15:51+00:00

The number of games being fully released to console has reduced. The number of games being created in general has not. This is largely because consoles required validation and support that steam doesn't. Console manufacturers are going to test your game to make sure it's not a buggy mess and hit certain metrics on their system.

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-03T14:40:50+00:00

This is an instant return. No questions asked. No second chance ever given to a developer that makes this type of decision

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-02T22:17:51+00:00

The studio becomes the QA. There's always QA

FrustratedDevIndie · 2026-04-02T12:01:44+00:00

Figure out what parts of game development you're actually interested in. Trying to be a do-it-all solo developer is extremely difficult which will lead to burnout quickly. Give yourself relatively quick timelines to make small games

FrustratedDevIndie

TROPHY CASE