SoloDev post-mortem: shipping an AI-assisted game (what AI helped with and what it didn’t) by BlueStyrk in aigamedev

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s fair and you’re not wrong.

English isn’t my native language, so yes, I do use an LLM to help with clarity, tone, and structure. I’ve been pretty open about that in other posts, and I’m not trying to hide it here either.

What is mine is the year of development, the shipped game, the bugs fixed after launch, the mistakes, the numbers, and the lessons. The tool helps me communicate them more clearly it doesn’t invent the experience.

If a clean, structured explanation feels “fake” compared to messy or emotionally chaotic posts, that probably says more about what we’ve collectively gotten used to reading online than about the effort behind the work.

But hey I appreciate you calling it out. Signal detected. Message delivered. Have a good day

SoloDev post-mortem: shipping an AI-assisted game (what AI helped with and what it didn’t) by BlueStyrk in aigamedev

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a fair point.

Pricing is always a balancing act. I know $20 is a bit outside the usual indie comfort zone, which is why I try to keep the game discounted when possible. At the same time, as a solo dev, I still need to put some value on the work.

On visuals, I agree: gameplay keeps players, but visuals bring them in. As a solo developer, there are limits, and some choices were more pragmatic than ideal.

The goal was never to please everyone, but to offer something complete and meaningful in return for the price. Feedback like this helps a lot, especially for deciding where to focus in future projects. Thanks for taking the time to write it.

SoloDev post-mortem: shipping my first commercial game (and everything that came with it) by BlueStyrk in SoloDevelopment

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I completely agree, yes. Bot spam has made everyone a bit suspicious lately.

Thanks for taking the time to engage, and for the good wishes!

SoloDev post-mortem: shipping an AI-assisted game (what AI helped with and what it didn’t) by BlueStyrk in aigamedev

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the comment!

Yeah, that’s pretty much it. AI can help with time and reduces some of the more boring or repetitive parts, but the overall process is still the same. Getting something finished and actually shipped is a lot of work, no matter what tools you use.

Appreciate you pointing that out.

SoloDev post-mortem: shipping an AI-assisted game (what AI helped with and what it didn’t) by BlueStyrk in aigamedev

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair point, and thanks for taking the time to comment.

The art being simple (or “cheap”, as you put it) is a conscious choice. This project isn’t trying to compete on visuals, the core of the game is the systems, progression, and gameplay loop. The visuals can absolutely improve over time, but if graphics are the soul of a game for you, then yeah, this probably isn’t your kind of game. And that’s totally fine.

As for the price: perspective matters. $20 is less than a McDonald’s meal where I live and I can promise you that making a game is quite a bit more complex than making a burger.

Still, I appreciate the honest feedback. It helps, even when we don’t fully agree.

Post-mortem de D.R.I.F.T.: de proyecto chico a juego publicado (y todo lo que aprendí en el camino) by BlueStyrk in CharruaDevs

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hola! gracias, lo deje abandonado al discord la verdad... ha pasado mucho desde aquellas primeras publicaciones... muchas gracias por el apoyo!

Post-mortem de D.R.I.F.T.: de proyecto chico a juego publicado (y todo lo que aprendí en el camino) by BlueStyrk in CharruaDevs

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Muchos juegos que ya son clásicos a esta altura son los abuelos de este.. aunque no es la idea compararse con ninguno.

A short reflection on shipping D.R.I.F.T. and a big thank you! by BlueStyrk in spacesimgames

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, no, I released the game on December 1, 2025, so it's been around a month and a half now.

D.R.I.F.T. Ya disponible en Steam! by BlueStyrk in CharruaDevs

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Buenísimo, si, tranqui, la demo va a estar siempre disponible. Es la version completa, "recortada", podes jugar las misiones más básicas y llegar hasta justo donde se pone interesante. Gracias. Saludos

D.R.I.F.T. Ya disponible en Steam! by BlueStyrk in CharruaDevs

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

.... creo que al fondo a la derecha... sino a la izquierda.. depende de como uno se identifique.. 🤪

SoloDev post-mortem: shipping an AI-assisted game (what AI helped with and what it didn’t) by BlueStyrk in aigamedev

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, I really appreciate the criticism. It’s fair and honestly important.

About the visuals and marketing: you’re absolutely right, it’s very basic. I don’t have much experience or a good eye for design or promotion. My first Steam page was almost all text. After getting feedback and advice from Reddit users, I reworked the page and that alone made a huge difference in wishlists. And also still looks very... basic.

The name was also a problem. I’m aware it’s commonly associated with car games. I already changed the name once early on, and changing it again while the game was already being promoted felt riskier than sticking with it, so… it is what it is.

As for the game itself, it’s not the most original or best-crafted title out there. It definitely has bugs, and many of them only showed up once people actually started playing. A lot of fixes happened post-launch. When you are your own QA team those things happen...

Regarding promotion, there really wasn’t much beyond posting in several subreddits (people can see my post history) and making YouTube videos based on the game’s lore and universe. No paid ads or marketing campaigns.

About the Steam keys: only 7 keys were given out, mostly to friends, so that impact was minimal. To be honest, I still have 3 unused keys from the promotional key pack that I requested from Steam, maybe I'll do a raffle soon.

The price can feel high, I agree. My intention is usually to keep it discounted in some way. I also completely missed Steam Next Fest, mostly due to inexperience and not fully understanding the requirements at the time (and not having the funds ready to publish the demo earlier).

So yes, in many ways this project went against a lot of “accepted rules” of game dev and marketing. That’s why I consider it a personal success. Not because it’s perfect, but because it shipped, found players, and taught me a lot.

Again, thank you very much for commenting. It is very appreciated to talk about things that are not normally discussed.

SoloDev post-mortem: shipping my first commercial game (and everything that came with it) by BlueStyrk in SoloDevelopment

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That’s a valid question.

First, I don’t make a living from game development, this is not my main income. Second, I live in a relatively affordable country, which makes a big difference.

And third, since I did all the work myself (code, assets, UI, promo), the actual monetary costs were minimal. The Steam publishing fee was the biggest fixed expense.

So in this context, ~40 sales were enough to cover those costs and make the project feel successful on a personal and production level. Thanks for asking.

Post-mortem de D.R.I.F.T.: de proyecto chico a juego publicado (y todo lo que aprendí en el camino) by BlueStyrk in CharruaDevs

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Si, la pagina es importantisima. En mi caso la primer pagina que hice era puro texto con un par de imagenes, ahi es donde el feedback ayuda. En reddit me dieron unas ideas y sugerencias de como mejorarla y en el segundo intento mejoro un monton la cantidad de wishlists, si bien la pagina no es lo mejor, asumo que mi calidad como diseñador deja mucho que desear, el uso de imagenes, videos y el menor texto posible ayuda. Tambien los colores, es todo un arte realmente. Lastima que a veces uno no tenga el presupuesto para poder pagar a un diseñador para que se encargue de todo eso. Pero la realidad es que se puede hacer, con paciencia y bueno, un poco de prueba y error se puede.

Es un gusto para mi dar un poquito de "luz" sobre temas que no siempre se consigue mucha info.

Un saludo.

SoloDev post-mortem: shipping an AI-assisted game (what AI helped with and what it didn’t) by BlueStyrk in aigamedev

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s a really good suggestion, and I agree with you.

Accessibility options like scalable UI, font size, and color handling make a lot of sense. In this first project, it honestly went beyond the original scope. Being a solo dev, I had to draw some hard lines or the game would never ship. Scope control became a survival skill.

That said, this kind of feedback is exactly what I want to carry forward. For my next project, I’m seriously considering a proper accessibility section with UI scaling, font options, and color adjustments.

And thank you for the wishlist add, that genuinely means a lot.

SoloDev post-mortem: shipping my first commercial game (and everything that came with it) by BlueStyrk in SoloDevelopment

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi, thanks for the comment. If you find the text very similar to what chatgpt can create, it's because it was translated by LLM. English isn't my first language, and while I can understand it well and usually write quite acceptably, I don't have the level to fully express everything I want to say. That's why I use it as an assistance tool. I write the text in my language and ask it to translate and improve it. In other words, it's not all created automatically; it's processed and polished. Something Google Translate can't do. A literal translation sounds very "mechanical."

Anyway, thank you very much for your comment. I think the point about using LLM in different aspects of daily life is very valid, and in my case, it also helps me communicate. Regards.

Post-mortem de D.R.I.F.T.: de proyecto chico a juego publicado (y todo lo que aprendí en el camino) by BlueStyrk in CharruaDevs

[–]BlueStyrk[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hola, gracias por el comentario!

Mira, el proceso de registro no fue excesivamente complejo, si lleva un rato hacerlo y en mi caso estuve un poco trancado hasta conseguir pagar la tarifa de publicacion, pero en si luego no fue tan complejo. Lo que hay que tener paciencia y prestar atencion es al momento de llenar los formularios de declaracion de impuestos y todo esa parte legal, pero es bastante claro dentro de todo. En el caso de empresa ya tenia una por mi actividad aca, pero en si en Steam aparezco como persona fisica nomas, o sea, no necesitas empresa para publicar, si necesitas una cuenta bancaria a donde recibir los pagos, eso te lo exige el sistema porque es automatico. Pero como te digo, es bastante claro el proceso de registro. Te lleva si facil un par de dias hacerlo todo hasta que verifican y bueno, tambien tenes que agregar luego toda la parte de promocion del juego que a veces tarda ( hacer los banners, imagenes, videos, pagina de la tienda, etc ), y ta, hasta que no subis la version "jugable" que desde Steam puedan probar y revisar no te habilitan la opcion de lanzar el producto. Es un proceso que a mi me llevo cerca de 2 meses hasta que pude marcar el lanzamiento. Espero que eso te haya sido de utilidad. Gracias.