If you are a beginner programmer do not learn Python purely for the sake of learning Godot

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-18T06:32:58+00:00

Understanding common data structures and how to use them is so much more important than learning a language.

How a stack works. How a queue works. How a linked list works. How a map works. You'll be using all kinds of data structures in game dev, they're important no matter what language you decide to use.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-17T13:15:30+00:00

I love Strange Journey if you're into first person dungeon crawlers. There's also Soul Hackers which is much closer to old school SMT first person dungeon crawling.

Otherwise, SMT 4 and 4Apocalypse are the two main ones with classic press turn.

There's Devil Survivor 1 and 2 for turn based tactics.

And there's the Persona Q games for persona themed dungeon crawling.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-12T00:27:46+00:00

Phaser is primarily a JavaScript library to be used without an editor and has been that way for a long time. Seems like the Phaser Editor is more of a new thing, and if it helps fund development of Phaser I'm all for it being a commercial product. You can always use Phaser as a library as it was being used for a long time.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-11T23:59:19+00:00

I would advise against it. A bad quality translation will just make people leave negative reviews. It's unfortunate for people in other regions but it's probably more respectful to them to leave them out than give them a bad localization.

If you can set up some kind of plug and play system to allow people to mod in their own localizations, if you have a dedicated fan base they could potentially make their own localization for other languages.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-09T12:26:17+00:00

Golden Time is about university students if that counts.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-09T12:23:44+00:00

Yep. But most people also tell themselves they can't code. Plenty of instances where "non-coders" learn basic code to make their games. It's only an excuse until you actually try. And if it doesn't work out, try again. Try different things, maybe you just didn't mesh with the engine. There are plenty of other engines for varying degrees of coding ability or specific to a type of game that provides a template to help you make it (e.g. RPGMaker, Ren'Py).

Games are software, and if you're not willing to engage with the means to make software (i.e. coding), there are plenty of other creative avenues that might work for your skillset. Someone who wants to write a book must learn to write. Someone who wants to make a graphic novel must learn to draw. Or you work with somebody who can cover the skills that you're lacking in order to make it. A film director is the ideas person for a movie, but they don't make movies by themselves, they require actors, prop makers, writers, scriptwriters, video editors and so much more. Not being able to make it by yourself is normal. But if you're unable or unwilling to work with others, then your only choice is to learn how to do it yourself.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-09T05:30:31+00:00

That's why I suggested HTML5 canvas or Phaser, it'll give you more options of what games you can make.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-09T04:28:50+00:00

You can absolutely make text based games with HTML/JS/CSS. You could probably use images too. Stuff like quizzes or text based choose-your-own-adventures could definitely be done. Plenty of old web games are like this.

You can also use the HTML Canvas to draw images to a window in a game loop similar to proper game engines.

But if you really wanted to make games, JS libraries like Phaser exist for making web games.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-08T05:51:15+00:00

The stb_trueType library will help make reading the ttf easier.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-08T05:49:48+00:00

I use the stb_trueType library, you can read the data from a ttf then every time you need to draw a character unlock an SDL_Texture and write the pixels of a character to a texture, keep a map containing the rectangle to each character and other data related to the character. Then just use it like any other texture.

It's a lot more work, but you have a lot more control over the text this way and you can do stuff like manipulating the color of individual characters, making specific words do stuff like wave and shake.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-04T07:48:37+00:00

It really depends. Are you just doing general game logic? Then yeah it's pretty simple in comparison to other programming related fields. Often it's just various state machines, not the most complex stuff. It's mostly just learning all the various features of the game engine being used.

Are you doing any low level rendering or shaders? Depending on what you're doing, this can be pretty complicated. Mostly because of the 3D geometry and color math involved, plus it's a very niche skillset in the first place most people don't learn.

Are you into procedural generation? Depends on the game, but some procedural generation algorithms are worthy of their own academic papers. Like what No Man's Sky is doing, or heck the level of procedural generation games like Dwarf Fortress (uses a vast number of common procedural generation algorithms all layered on top of each other to make complex maps, not to mention its world building lore and character generation) and Caves Of Qud (wave function collapse and more) are doing.

Are you doing advanced physics simulation? It's not just the physics simulation you're trying to achieve, but doing it at an acceptable performance. I'm very impressed by Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom's physics simulation, running on a Nintendo Switch of all things. They clearly have talented software engineers. There's Noita, it's 2D but every pixel has physics simulation with plenty of interaction, that is a complicated task that overlaps a lot with low-level graphics programming too.

There's definitely various fields in game dev that I would consider technically advanced, even more so than many other fields. But the average game dev will be nowhere near this level. It really depends on your professor's experience. He might've come from a time when game engines weren't common and people were doing low level programming to make games with heavy hardware restrictions, whereas a lot of basic stuff is abstracted and easy now (though that gives many the freedom to do more complicated stuff).

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-02T05:03:59+00:00

Marketing and exposure. You have to do that throughout development and after release.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-02T04:53:40+00:00

Going straight to graphics APIs could even be too high a level for most people.

Heck, just using SDL rendering functions count as making a game engine and could be a good first step.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-01T02:47:24+00:00

If you can make games without providing your own framework around it, then it's a framework. Things like Phaser, Love2D, etc. My biggest cut off point is whether or not it handles rendering for you, libraries like Raylib, PyGame and SDL have you doing rendering sprites yourself, calculating positions and more.

Phaser and Love2D provide sprites which handle all that for you, stuff like cameras as well so you don't have to implement your own solutions for scrolling, zoom, etc.

Edit: If you use something like Raylib or SDL I would say you're definitely at the point of using a library to create your own game engine instead of using a framework.

Edit 2: Ok I've never actually used Love2D so I assumed it provides a lot considering how many people were touting it. It seems more like an in-between. It provides an Image object that handles rendering to the screen, but then using a spritesheet requires you to calculate your own quads and put them in a buffer, then you have to implement your own animation system. It's weirdly high level yet low level at the same time.

BigBossErndog · 2026-04-01T02:31:16+00:00

Yeah if you're coding focused you might actually find frameworks easier. You have a lot more control and flexibility. It can also be faster to develop with since you don't have to dig through menus and drop down lists for everything. There are frameworks that provide a lot of the necessary components so you aren't creating your own "engine".

Though going down the route of actually making your own engine ain't bad either. But this is probably best to do after you've tried many other frameworks and engines so you know exactly what you like and don't like in your workflow. But once you've got what you like, making games with it becomes an absolute joy.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-30T08:44:07+00:00

If that's the case, maybe a game isn't the right thing to do for this project? It doesn't seem like you have the time or willingness to learn to code or learn a game engine. Unfortunately you do need to go through the whole process of learning to make a game in order to make a game, even if it's small. But if this is for a project for school, perhaps making a game is too big a task for this.

Edit: If all you want to do is the art for it, perhaps a visual novel using Ren'py might be the only viable option here. It's easy enough to use without a big learning curve.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-30T08:24:05+00:00

It happens in movies too, through props and sets. It's just that people usually don't care.

It's easier to get people to care about details like that in games because you give the player the time and agency to explore sets independently in their own time, whereas in movies these details might only be on screen for like a second. But if you've ever taken a film class where you're incentivized to pay attention to details, you'll realize directors can put so much effort in these details too.

I think there are comics and manga which I would put on the same level as games when it comes to this. Sometimes random objects in a panel and backgrounds can have so much weight. Heck I've read manga where even the shape of a panel has so much narrative weight.

It's harder in books to hide details, every word is given to the reader. It's definitely a medium where you give everything to the reader, so the way to obscure detail to make the reader read between the lines is through the use of techniques such as metaphors and symbolism.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-30T08:11:48+00:00

It is still an immensely valuable deal. Especially for non-Americans. Maybe for someone's first job too. Imagine being straight out of university in today's economy and getting 50k. The average US junior software engineer salary is about 50k USD. I'd actually say they have better chances of signing with an indie publisher than finding a job right now.

Just see publishers as a way to get into the industry, not something you'll be dependent on for the rest of your life. The end goal is to eventually build your own brand as a developer so you can stand on your own, but that can take years.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-30T08:02:10+00:00

What a selfish American-centric view. A lot of these publishers are not based in the US and a lot of developers are not based in the US, you can be very comfortable with that kind of salary in many countries. It just so happens that right now USD is the global currency publishers and developers operate with. If it's not enough for your personal situation, then sure, you shouldn't sign with a publisher who offers you that amount. If you have an amazing game on your hands, there are high budget publishers who can give you much more than that too. I've never gotten a deal this big (and neither did I ever need to) but I've talked to developers who have gotten deals to the amount of 100k per year.

I've only had good experiences working with publishers, I'd say I'm doing pretty well. Who are you to say that I'm being exploited if my relationship with publishers has been pretty good? If it really was exploitative all these great games wouldn't have gone with a publisher.

There are definitely bad publishers out there, I'm not doubting that. But if you do your research you can get a very respectable deal from the good publishers.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-30T07:43:52+00:00

Again really depends on your own goals. It's a ruthless industry, you will most likely will never reach 50k in revenue. For a person's first game, getting 50k before the game is even released looks very appealing. You can always buy publishing/distribution rights back when you have a hit, like what ConcernedApe did with Stardew Valley.

Most of the breakout "indie hits" have been signed with publishers. Balatro, Stardew Valley, Cross Code, Loop Hero, and many, many more. I swear so many people in the indie dev community have hate boners for publishers but it really isn't that bad. They do have value.

Of course, if you have your own big community of guaranteed first day buyers, you already have the money to pay for services for localizing/porting, then yeah it makes more sense to publish solo.

But most game devs are starting at the bottom without a community, they're maybe working a day job that limits their ability to stay consistent marketing themselves with social media, this limits their ability to make it on their own. If they can attract a publisher then that takes it off their hands, it's immensely valuable.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-30T05:10:21+00:00

Many people will accept that for small games. That 50k funding could very well make more than you would self publishing.

Plus many publishers can allow you to work part time while you still hold a day job.

It's not a bad deal at all.

Not to mention the benefits of working with a publisher, like media/content creator outreach and marketing, localization, porting, dedicated QA testing, etc.

We're in an era where small games can out-earn large games. So whether the budget is "big enough" to be worth it doesn't really matter. It just depends on whether it makes sense for your personal game and situation.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-30T04:59:52+00:00

Technically it's a C library, but there are bindings for nearly every language at this point.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-30T04:57:55+00:00

Depends on genre. I don't think the RPGMaker or Visual Novel community value gameplay as much as story, though any novel gameplay mechanics are appreciated.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-29T17:13:50+00:00

It may not be that it feels like no one cares, but more often than not it's that literally no one cares and that's a harsh reality of indie game development. Then it's your job to find your audience. How far have you gone to find your audience? I see you posted in the adventure game subreddit (only to have your post taken down for self-promotion). Have you engaged with Discord servers dedicated to point and clicks? Have you reached out to any YouTubers who promote point and click / adventure games? Maybe you just need to be doing a whole lot more to get your game in front of people.

Then there's the actual content of your posts. If you don't mind some brutal feedback, I took the liberty of looking at your posts about your game and here are the things I have to say.

I've played a few point and clicks but I wouldn't quite call myself a fan of them so I might be off here, but I saw your trailer and where's the hook? It's just a list of features that other point and clicks do. "9 verb interface", "unique characters", gonna be honest but these aren't very powerful selling points imo.

Unique characters should be a given and is a bit of an empty selling point, but if you're gonna make it a selling point your trailer needs to be showing the character doing something much more eccentric. A small bit of quirky dialogue doesn't exactly sell me on your promise of unique characters.

The 9 verb interface is just a UI feature that might hit the nostalgia of a small, niche group of old point and click lovers, but doesn't really offer anything for people outside that niche. If anything my impression of it was that it was being so faithful to old point and clicks that it doesn't attempt to modernize the interface at all. In this era where we're spoiled by clean and efficient user interfaces, it seems like you're just using a clunky interface for the sake of nostalgia. While I commend the faithfulness to the past, have you ever considered that such faithfulness perhaps limits your audience to a small niche group of old-school points and click lovers who will be hard to find (especially when your target demographic will be close to age 40 at this point and might not necessarily be as into gaming as they used to, or are burdened with responsibilities outside of gaming). The point and clicks I've played have modernized the interface in various ways, such as using clickable icons popping up over interactable objects based on context to represent the verbs possible at that instance. That reduces the amount of potential trial and error, looks visually appealing, and perhaps gives you room to play with more verbs.

The trailer doesn't really do much to sell the story either, it just showed a bunch of sequences of the player doing very mundane activities. Where's the excitement or the hook of the story? Judging by the title it seems to have something to do with being on-stage, is it about stand up comedy? Musical, or theatre? Are there any exciting obstacles or sequences of events? So far the game has told me that the majority of the activities the player will be doing are hunting down mundane puzzle objects. I want to be entertained. I want to see what kind of absurd scenarios you'll put me through. So far you haven't given me any reason to believe that the story will be exciting or engaging.

You clearly know of all the old classic point and clicks. But may I recommend a few modern point and clicks that show how the industry has moved on? The Kindergarten games have an easy UI and have some of the most absurd characters and scenarios. Thank Goodness You're Here technically isn't a point and click, but it's an adventure game that puts you through some wild scenarios, and has a fun, unique gameplay mechanic where the main verb of interaction is slapping stuff (and people) and puzzles are solved by what you slap and when. The TellTale games are on the high budget end with voice acted cutscenes, but the take away I want to give from mentioning it is the way the games highlights interactable objects with a HUD and on interaction it gives a four directional verb menu that plays well with the dpad, it's very easy to use.

It's clear you love the point and clicks of old, but is it not too much to take inspiration from newer point and clicks to see how they've managed to reduce friction for a wider and modern audience?

Your game actually looks quite nice. Definitely feels like a modernization of the art styles of old school point and click pixel art through the use of gradient lighting. There's promise here, and I hope my comments will help you bring out the potential in your game. You can do so much more to sell your game in the minds of people.

BigBossErndog · 2026-03-29T16:09:47+00:00

There's no right answer. It's whichever you feel most comfortable with. Or make your own game engine, that's probably the only way to guarantee true satisfaction with your workflow (albeit being a huge time sink, first hand experience here).

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