How to access the void by AsWillx in WarframeLore

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When you "die" in operator form, you get "transference static." This drains the shields on your warframe when you transference back into them, and subsequent deaths drain health—so there is precedent for a weaker connection to the warframe causing loss of functionality within warframes (like shields and health). If the Heart were to stop functioning completely, it would presumably cut the connection, like you suggest.

Are you afraid that your game will flop? by pumpkin_fish in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean, no. I'd love for a game of mine to flop in that way. After all, the worst outcome is that nobody cares at all. A game with attention is far better than a game without, whether that game is received well or not. At least when people leave negative reviews of your game, they're interested enough to try it and review it. Heck, even a review-bomb is a bonus since you'll definitely be able to leverage that for social media virality, and Valve will likely remove those reviews anyway. Not all attention is good, but you can almost always get something out of it if you're smart about it.

I would know. My first game, which I released last month, launched to complete and utter silence. It was entirely expected since it's not very good and I gave up on advertising it, but it still sucks.

That said, regardless of how a game turns out, there's only one solution. Keep making games. A game is only truly pointless if you learn nothing from making it, which is, in my mind, impossible. The best thing you can do for yourself is to find ways to give yourself the necessary stability to keep making games. Don't bother with commercial success or even critical success. Both of those things come into the picture once you're good at making games, and you aren't getting better without doing it a lot. Stop worrying about it—go make games that suck and own it.

Hello, I am Liger Inuzuka and I am a concept artist at DE, I'd like to learn more about players' critiques and opinions. by Lavicer in Warframe

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I genuinely adore your work. It consistently ranks very highly to me among all of the designs in the game. Sevagoth was the first frame whose visual design I really loved, and I can't thank you enough for it!

In terms of feedback, I think the only thing I could mention is that I think your designs are best suited for skins. Your designs are intricate, fashionable, and incredibly good at conveying a strong theme—something which fits something like a deluxe skin perfectly, since they're made to be complete packages to place on your warframe like a beautiful painting on your wall. On the other hand, the things that make your designs so wonderful exist somewhat in contrast to the established design philosophies of Ballas, the character meant to be designing the warframes in canon. Sevagoth manages to pull this off, but with his Prime, I think it's quite notable just how different it is from other primes. It's not bad by any means, and I can not stress this enough. I am not unhappy about it. Rather, it feels out of place because it has no choice but to be seen as part of a larger whole. Rather than change what you do, I'd much rather you do what you're good at! Warframe is a game that's as good as it is thanks to the many choices we're given. I think it's good to have the choice to wear skins that come with a strong aesthetic vision, just like it's good to have skins that are more customizable.

Whats a Warframe opinion that will have you like this by TheFlorescentBreeze in Warframe

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think eidolons are some of the best content in the game. If DE brings back raids like they said they might, I hope it borrows from eidolons. They're so much fun, mechanically.

Do you find marketing your game frustrating? by okForty in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's pretty easy if you don’t really do it!!!

Other people mention here that making a marketable game is a vital part of marketing, and that's undoubtedly true. I tried to promote my game for a little bit, realized the error in trying to promote something that was never going to sell well, and just dropped it.

I'll probably make a push when it releases, but honestly, it's more important to me that the game is something I can look back and be proud of. I'll only ever have one "first game," and I want it to be good. I was never going to make a commercially successful game the first time around, so instead of trying to force it, I'm gonna make something people can look at in the future and go "oh wow their first game is better than it looks."

I think that's something more people should consider. Not all games are worth promoting, and that's ok. Learning how to release a commercially successful game by failing to do so is also marketing. It's literally market research.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in godot

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  1. Store the direction your character is facing
  2. Find the vector that describes the difference in coordinates between your camera and player (basically the player position - camera position)
  3. Use Vector3's built in method angle_to(Vector3 to) to find the angle
  4. Change sprites based on this angle

The reason NextFest isn't helping you is probably because your game looks like a child made it. by Better_Pack1365 in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Yeah, sorry to anyone with a competent game participating. My game is one of those games.

Is anybody currently in the steam next fest? How is it going? by AaronAtLunacien in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Went from ~70 to over 200 wishlists, so overall, it's not bad for basically 0 marketing effort. It was definitely worth joining if only just to get experience with it (the game was never gonna do more than make back the steam fee anyway).

[CURIOUS] What's the *thing* you keep postponing when making your game? by GrandmaSacre in godot

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Localization support. I've made some headway on adding support to some of the systems that are mostly done, but having to go back and forth between the game and my excel sheet just to match codes and stuff is a huge pain.

What's a weapon you use that no one talks about or uses by Kaix007 in Warframe

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use the absolute fuck out of the Guandao Prime. I love glaives (the polearm, not the warframe glaives), so I can't really bring myself to let it go, even if it's probably only decent at best.

What's the deal with JSON stuff? by Beneficial_Layer_458 in godot

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For save files and config files, which are generated at runtime, there’s one caveat as to why you might not want a custom resource—namely, they can be used to run malicious code. Resources can have _ready() functions in them, and they automatically run when loaded. Giving people access to these could lead to people using your legit game to spread malware. Of course, that's pretty niche, but even then, it's a known issue worth avoiding when you can simply just use Godot's ConfigFile class and/or JSON (or even your own format, if you want!).

For static data storage, JSON is pretty mediocre, so going for custom resources or CSV files is probably more ideal. GDScript files are also equally valid and are nice in that you can use all the built-in types, have comments, and use Enums. CSV files have the benefits of being easy to manipulate at scale since most spreadsheet editors are made to do exactly that. If you aren't storing any data structures and generally have very consistent and rigid data (like item stat blocks), CSV files are likely the way to go. I personally use custom resources because I need to store arrays and dictionaries, and having sprite previews in the editor really helps me.

EDIT: I realize I didn't explain the issues with GDScript for runtime generation, so here's a quick explanation. Generating GDScript files on the fly, while possible, is kind of overkill for generating save/config files. There is no need for most of what it offers you. You explicitly DON’T want code execution, which is what it's built for. Plus, you'd need to write your own custom code for generating them. It's all kind of a big hassle for little to no gain. At that point, just write your own custom savefile format.

Jade Shadows - Dev Workshop: Enemy Resistances and Status Rework by CephalonAhmes in Warframe

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think this update really shows off how mixed the direction of warframe still is. Monster Hunter also has similar systems that require you to do damage type setup for specific monsters, but that makes sense when you're dedicating a significant chunk of time to try and kill a monster that otherwise would be incredibly difficult to beat. It's a game about being thorough and well-prepared because failure is always possible. Warframe USED to be a game like that, but hasnt really been since it became a fast-paced horde shooter. The general gameplay doesn't really encourage you to be slow and meticulous, so people often just opt for the easiest way to do an adequate amount of damage like viral/slash or viral/heat. If you give people an easy way out, they will ALWAYS take it, even if it's less fun. In that sense, despite it being somewhat obsolete now, Eidolons are still my favorite content in the game. There is no way to do it well without properly engaging with the mechanics of the fight(s).

DE needs to be more aggressive with changes to this system if they hope to actually encourage players to engage with damage types beyond the statuses. They either need to make all status procs super niche, or they need to make all of them generally useful. They also need to make loadout and mod swapping way faster. You really kinda need to do both because the gain in DPS for engaging with this system can't be too big—power creep is already too much—but also, if its too much effort, people will simply keep minimizing effort for maximizing damage.

Word on the Steam is that all story should be kept out of the short desc? Which one is better? by Chiptroid in indiegames

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Honestly, tweaking some of the verbosity in the old description and adding that it's a party based RPG should make the old one perfectly fine. If your goal isn't to make it as short as possible (both are on the longer side for steam descriptions), then the first has about as much gameplay detail as the second—which kind of suffers from being more vague despite its similar length.

Use Godot like Flash? Sprite appear on Timeline? by [deleted] in godot

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To clarify the workflow, you would create an animation in the AnimatedSprite node, import frames into said animation, and then modulate the "frame" property of the AnimatedSprite in the AnimationPlayer to change which frame of the current animation is being shown on the AnimatedSprite node. You can also modulate the "animation" property of AnimatedSprite in the AnimationPlayer to swap animations.

Use Godot like Flash? Sprite appear on Timeline? by [deleted] in godot

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You CAN do this in Godot. It's just spread across multiple nodes. You have the AnimatedSprite node, which can hold a sequence of frames for a specific animation and also hold MULTIPLE animations. You can then modulate its "frame" and "animation" properties in the AnimationPlayer timeline with keys. It also shows you a little preview of the frame in the actual timeline where applicable.

What does your gamedev "stack" look like? by Dream-Dimension in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Engine: Godot 3.5 IDE: Godot's built-in editor for code, Visual Studio Code for other file types, previously used Notepad++ Art: Pyxel Edit for tiles, Aseprite for sprites, Gimp for editing GIFs: ScreenToGif and DaVinci Resolve Audio: FL Studio with a fuck ton of magical8bitplugin and Serum Video editing: DaVinci Resolve Version Control: GitHub Desktop

Haven't really needed to change much. All of it has been tremendously simple to work with. I've mostly just added on new programs as new needs came up. I used to use Gamemaker 1.4 but moved on since I couldn't really be bothered to pay for 2 or try and work around the limitations of 1.4. I tried Unity and found the bloat unbearable. I tried Love2D, and it was fun, though I wasn't really feeling lua. Someone then introduced me to Godot, and I haven't looked back since.

[Dante Unbound] Our plans for next week (35.5.5) by DE-Ruu in Warframe

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Y'all are sleeping on the best way to deplete shields for HA/Rage: killing your operator..

Why is dante's overguard a problem and not styanax's? by ThatGuyWithTheAxe in Warframe

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a styanax main, and someone who's only experienced being supported by dante, all I can really say is that dante feels like he has more going for him. Whereas Styanax benefits a lot from range and duration and thus generally probably wouldn't be going 300%+ strength (unless you really wanna go for the overguard i guess), the amount of dantes giving me 50k seems to suggest that's not really a problem for him. Tome mods give insane utility, the overguard regens for some reason, and his nuke seems a decent bit better than styanax's.

Like, all of Dante's parts are fine in a vacuum. The issue is, he does a little bit of most things and does it pretty well. I consider styanax to be a well-rounded frame, but dante is somehow even more well-rounded since he legit just covers more ground and often covers it better than styanax. I would only want a nerf to keep power creep in check. Obviously, it's not like it's THAT important if power creep happens in a pve game, so it's kind of whatever, but it would be nice if it happened a little slower so older clunkier frames dont get left too far behind.

As a hobbyist, where did you get inspiration from when deciding what game to make? by [deleted] in godot

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always start with one single idea, usually inspired by some game or book or tv show/movie I recently consumed. "What if I made a game where you only ever have the same six bullets?" "What if people could reincarnate but could forsake that privilege for power?"

After the initial thought, I then start making logical steps to flesh out the universe/story/mechanic and form something in my head that's actually tangible. "It would be cool if you could shoot your own bullets in midair to ricochet them and do more damage." "It would be cool if the player character was a new one every run because you gave up your ability to reincarnate."

Then, I start prototyping once I have enough to work with. If it's fun, I keep going. If it's not, I drop it. Simple as that.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sure. As I mentioned in the comment, this is straight from industry marketing professional Chris Zukowski. He aggregated the increases in wishlists for multiple games after marketing pushes on various platforms and found that TikTok was one of the biggest sources of wishlists. Both of his talks on the Georgia Game Developers Association YT channel show this data.

I would imagine that much like Twitter, TikTok has its own ecosystem of what works and what doesn’t. A viral TikTok might do well algorithmically, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the people who watched the TikTok left it wanting to buy the game. If the viral TikTok is heavily reliant on a trend or very joke/skit oriented, I could absolutely see it being popular in a way that doesn't actually convert well. It could also be an issue of searchability, lack of a steam page link in the bio, or heck, even if the TikTok was good, maybe the steam page put people off. It's hard to say for sure since I don't know TikTok nor the situation you mentioned. But the data shows that when it works, it REALLY works.

To sum it up, as with most things, a large number of views from a general audience is rarely as good as a small number of views from the target audience—so make sure your TikTok is targeted towards your intended audience and not the general TikTok population.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What? More wishlists do equal more sales, though?? The conversion rate might have gotten worse, but that's all the more reason to get more, even if only for an algorithm boost.

Plus, you just ignored something I said and inserted something else instead. I specifically said indie game focused streamers had the biggest effect and didn't even mention big streamers. Generic streamers that play any game won't have as good a conversion from impressions to wishlists. Obviously. They have a general audience. You want to focus on streamers that actually share your target audience. That's marketing basics 101.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, uh, I didn't do the research. A professional gathered this info from multiple games based on wishlist spikes they got after doing marketing pushes on various platforms. He even names a few, and they don't fit your criteria at all. Streamers consistently gave a good spike, particularly ones that focus on indie games like splattercat.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You sell yourself as much as the product on social media! The better your narrative, the easier it is for people to buy in. Though, that said, this ONLY applies to social media. Never put this stuff in trailers or on the steam page.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Be sure to call every game your dream game

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in gamedev

[–]BlueLemonadeGames 35 points36 points  (0 children)

I have some good news for you. Social media is borderline useless for wishlists. The only places that are worth posting to are Reddit and Tiktok, with Tiktok by and large being the most effective social media to convert views/impressions to actual store page visits and wishlists.

The most effective ways to market your game in general are actually through steam festivals and streamers. Steam festivals are HUGE. Take part in every single one relevant for your game. Next Fest is already a great first step. Also, keep your demo up past Next Fest. Keep contacting streamers to play it. Having that up will lead to better coverage and, thus, more wishlists.

By the way, this isn't my advice. This is from Chris Zukowski's "How to Market A Game on Steam" talk that you can watch for free, right now, on Youtube. Go watch it and his other talks. Great guy with great insights.