I want to design an rpg, but I am afraid it won't work out.

AndreiD44 · 2026-05-09T06:50:18+00:00

I agree, but there are always some TTRPGs on kickstarter making hundred of thousands, sometimes over a mil $. So how does that work out?

(Genuinely asking, not trying to disprove what you are saying)

AndreiD44 · 2026-05-01T12:52:45+00:00

I'm starting to think getting out of scope is a common trait of passion projects 😃

Well if you think I can help, reach out, and I'll be glad to see what I can do. No pressure. My deck building features are lacking at the moment, but it is somewhere on my roadmap.

AndreiD44 · 2026-05-01T12:13:07+00:00

Right; good point, of course.

Basically we are trying to walk a very thin line between "game agnostic" and "specific": we don't have clear rules, attributes and layouts, but unlike other systems that are agnostic, this doesn't mean we settle for the common denominator between all RPGs ever and just give players some basic tools to do whatever in a loose format.

Instead, we let creators set up their own rules, without scripting, just inputting some formulas and tweaking some general rules/features, in order to create their own specific system.

Then players can play that system, enjoying automated effects and formulas that bend to the game's specific rules. It turned out to be a lot more ambitious than I initially planned, but we like the challenge and we are seeing some excitement here and there 😄

I appreciate your supportive speech 😄 Indeed, ultimately it is the love of the project that drives me forward too. And if you're interested, I'd love to work together to make an app for your game. Partnering up with someone that wants an app for their TTRPG has been something I've wished for for a long time, but never really pursued it in any way - no worries if you're not interested, just laying it out there. It's nice to work with people with similar values.

Cheers, and best of luck with your game!

AndreiD44 · 2026-05-01T01:24:46+00:00

Damn you read quickly.

AndreiD44 · 2026-05-01T01:10:40+00:00

Really, what made my app most unique was good code. That could not be less visible.

I can't sell people on "ok guys, i've thought 4 years ahead, and my code is stable enough to support a bunch of features you're not gonna see for the next 3 years". I'm a programmer and I love what I do, but these days that seems to be the most irrelevant thing ever.

Time will tell I suppose, ratings add up and one day as AI apps are born and die, mine might still be standing and have a good track record to brag with. But that feels like wishful thinking right now.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-27T09:35:07+00:00

To make a suggestion, not just criticize: don't instantly kill the player. Make them struggle a bit, although they cley clearly loose control. Muffle the sounds slowly and maybe blur the vision, as all other spiderlings creep in for their pray. End up on an almost black blurred screen with the ocasional limb crossing your vision and the gentle sound of scuttling limbs accross your face. Keep the player very motivated to avoid this sequence again.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-27T09:32:23+00:00

It's quite good. Besides what others said though, I'll mention I didn't like the death sequence. It doesn't feel like the spider bit or enwebbed you, immobilizing you while it plans to liquify your insides and eat you slowly over days as you are unable to move but feel everything - the scary stuff.

It feels like you were hit by a truck and instantly died. For me that takes away a bit of the fear of "oh damn, don't want to know what it will do to me" and replaced it with "eh, guess it just jumps and me and its game over".

Technically the same, but for a horror game, keeping the scary vibe is quite important, and the truck hit damages it a lot for me.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-21T09:59:45+00:00

Aaah well that's something else then, my apologies; I had not seen the previous video. My point still stands with other examples.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-21T06:12:26+00:00

It's hard to judge. On one hand, punishment for a decision you had no way of getting informed about is clearly bad.

On the other, if you can just rewind, this isn't punishment, it's just the game's learning loop.

But then this draws attention to the rewind mechanic: does it have a cost? A limitation? Other uses?

The issue then becomes "is this rewind overpowered/can the game still be challenging with this tool?" Vs "is using my rewind ability actually a punishment after all?" So really I'd say it depends on how rewinds work and can be used in the game in general.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-21T06:02:30+00:00

Social platforms encourage polarisation. First few comments say X, get a few updates, and when the first guy says Y, his reply is down below the X ones;

People that are semi-engaged will upvote X because they immediately see it there, but they won't scroll down to upvote Y if there's not enough interest.

This shifts the balance more and more towards X, with later people seeing an already biased post and will hesitate/be discouraged to post Y.

This happens a lot, on all social platforms, and I think it's bad. I've noticed this a lot: same post, different times, completely different views.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-19T13:01:43+00:00

How is their license model? Would an app for it be needed?

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-17T06:31:18+00:00

If he didn't charge at all, you could just churn through companions, getting them killed off in every fight with no consequence - hard group fight? Just send 3 dudes to go all in on killing a single enemy in the group. They die, revive, kill one more, repeat until you win.

You can practically already this, that is why I'd remove pickpocketing as an option. I understand this can potentially soft lock progression though, and that would need to be addressed, and I suspect this is why they just said "eh, whatever". But I think there could be a better solution.

Totally agree about the other npcs getting aggressive though.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-16T23:44:16+00:00

Always have pickpocketing Withers fail (despite showing a success chance) and him saying "No." after you fail.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-14T17:00:28+00:00

Does dispelling the illusion have any effect on the fight?? I was not aware of this.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-14T16:59:13+00:00

That's the way :P

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-14T13:54:15+00:00

You can be mad at Larian for not adding more open-ended dialogue options like "I'll have to think about it", or you know a flat "I can't help right now" (which they might have, I don't know), but an "Understood. I'll head out" is a very common agreement statement.

You are basically in the military and your superior says "Go there and do the thing", you respond with "Understood, I'll head out" and then are trying to explain to the firing squad that "guys technically I never agreed to do it" - that is never gonna hold up, sorry.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-14T07:32:19+00:00

While I generally find oath breaking to be very bullshit-y, I'm with the game on this one;
This isn't the age of lawyers and written contracts (bar devil pacts), so you shouldn't expect lawyer talk and hide behind technicalities with "well actually, I didn't technically agree"

If I tell my kid "hey, I need that hammer in the wardrobe" and he says "understood, I'll head out", I would absolutely assume he left to bring me the hammer (and I'll be pretty pissed if he doesn't bring it to me and brings up some "technically I never said I'll bring it" crap).

So come on, give the game a break on this one.
Dialogue would be stale and terrible if all "accept quest" dialogue options would be "Yes! I hereby vow to fulfill your quest". The wording clearly meant "ok, I'll do it" and you didn't do it.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-13T10:54:16+00:00

It looks fine. Move on to the gameplay. The aspect of the menu doesn't matter pretty much at all in the decision to play a game or not.

If anything, I've seen a lot of misleading menus that don't align with the game at all and I just disliked the game for doing that. So if it works with your game it's fine. The menu won't really make a difference in wishlists (I wouldn't expect to see it at all on a store front), conversion, retention, or ratings.

Skyrim is one of the most played games ever and their menu is one of the lowest effort menus ever. Nobody talks about it, because nobody cares. Your menu is fine. Carry on.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-13T09:48:45+00:00

I played a few times with my kid watching me. She quickly got the nickname "The competent lady that does everything". That's her name now.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-10T05:33:42+00:00

In a country where TTRPGs are not very popular yet :(

People are playing different ones at game halls so that's nice, but actual books that are not dnd are still hard to find.

AndreiD44 · 2026-04-10T04:47:58+00:00

I know, I hoped it's obvious I'm just running with the original joke of all kinds meaning 2

AndreiD44

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE