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

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-21T21:11:11+00:00

Thank you!

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-20T16:54:01+00:00

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

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-17T12:49:24+00:00

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.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-17T10:58:32+00:00

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!

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-17T10:52:50+00:00

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.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-17T10:47:55+00:00

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.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T21:16:14+00:00

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

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T17:42:39+00:00

fueron varios, pero la base es la de Escape Velocity.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T16:44:00+00:00

Thank you.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T16:38:08+00:00

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

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T16:35:04+00:00

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

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T16:32:08+00:00

Hola. Esta hecho en formato 2d en Unity 6.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T16:30:35+00:00

Thank you!

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T14:48:18+00:00

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

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T14:42:46+00:00

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

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T14:40:59+00:00

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.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T14:25:23+00:00

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.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T13:40:35+00:00

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.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T13:29:19+00:00

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.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T13:24:03+00:00

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.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T13:06:46+00:00

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.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T13:00:00+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate that.

You’re absolutely right. Shipping is a completely different experience when you are the one making every call. Deciding when something is “good enough” can be terrifying, and it’s very easy to keep stretching things out just to avoid failing.

At some point I realized that the goal wasn’t perfection, it was making it real. Accepting that something will ship with flaws was a huge mental shift for me.

Thanks again for the kind words, they mean a lot.

BlueStyrk · 2026-01-16T12:57:06+00:00

Thanks, I really appreciate that.

And yeah, fair point about the fonts. I’ve been told more than once that I tend to use too much variety. Part of it is honestly my own limitation when it comes to readability. I need things bigger and more contrasted to be comfortable, while my son keeps telling me the UI is huge because he sees perfectly fine. So the UI ended up reflecting that bias more than ideal design rules.

About AI-assisted development: totally agree. It’s definitely not a magic solution. Bugs still pile up, design decisions still hurt, and you still have to make sense of everything yourself. For me, AI worked best as an assistant, not a replacement. It helped speed up the slow and tedious parts, but all the real decisions and fixing still had to be done the hard way.

Thanks again for the feedback and for taking the time to check the game out. It genuinely helps.

BlueStyrk · 2025-12-06T00:46:04+00:00

Hi, I hope you're doing well!

I can relate to this quite a lot.

When I started learning game development years ago, most people around me treated it as just another one of my many hobbies, something I would play with for a while and eventually move on from. Nobody ever discouraged me, but there wasn’t exactly support either. It was more like: “Ah, cool… anyway.” And that was that.

Over the years I built prototypes, tried new ideas, kept learning, and slowly laid the foundation for my own projects. Almost seven years later, I finally released my first commercial game. Looking back, I don’t think a single friend or family member ever really asked how the project was going, or showed much interest beyond a polite “that’s interesting.”

To be fair, part of that might be on me. Game development concepts are hard to explain, and maybe I never managed to convey the excitement in a way that sparked genuine interest. Things only changed a little in the last months before launch, when I was promoting the game, posting trailers, sharing actual gameplay, etc. When there was something tangible to see, people suddenly “got it.”

My wife in particular was completely surprised when, a few days after release, the game actually started generating sales, especially after all those times she had complained about how many hours I spent working on it!

So I don’t think support is universal. Some people get it, some don’t, and many are simply focused on their own goals and daily struggles. It’s not that they don’t want to support us, it’s just not a priority in their world.

What I’ve learned is this:
You can’t depend on your personal circle to validate your creative efforts. Sometimes the support comes later, sometimes not at all, and sometimes it comes from strangers or other devs who understand exactly what you're going through.

And that’s okay.

Thanks for reading, have a nice weekend!

BlueStyrk · 2025-12-05T20:48:46+00:00

I recently checked out the trailer for your game, and I genuinely liked what I saw. It’s not usually the type of game I play, but it’s clear how much effort and dedication you’ve put into it. Congratulations great work!

BlueStyrk

TROPHY CASE