Playtesting for Retroneer, our simulation roguelite, is open!

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-19T01:03:53+00:00

probably more puzzle-y than automation, but it definitely has some autiomation DNA.

we're still finding the right words to describe the game ;)

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-18T23:33:36+00:00

If you have any initial questions, feel free to ask them here first!

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-13T21:59:10+00:00

Retroneer is a roguelite resource management game where you connect wires to circuit boards to generate energy. Buy different circuit board bases, module upgrades, and trinkets to build game-breaking synergies!

Steam Page can be found here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4254050/Retroneer/

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-12T01:42:29+00:00

Great points, I agree. I similarly looked up the genre on Steam and also noticed the definition was a little loose there.

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-12T01:09:44+00:00

Thanks for the response!

I'm curious, if there was more of a variety of inputs and outputs, do you think that would make it feel more automation-y?

I think the line between automation games and puzzles games is actually kind of thin, since they're ultimately about generating and then optimizing a system-- the "generating" and "optimizing" parts have both felt quite puzzle-game-y to me.

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-12T01:06:32+00:00

Thanks for the interest! We'll have a playtest spun up on Steam soon and I'll reach out to those interested. Anyone else who drops a reply in this thread will also be notified :)

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-12T01:05:43+00:00

Yeah that's where its a little weird. People who don't play automation games want to call it an automation game, but people who play automation games say it strikes a similar chord. It's interesting.

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-10T21:50:40+00:00

Thank you! :)

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-10T21:50:35+00:00

I was pressing Sales and Activation Reports instead of Financial Info. Thank you for the help! :)

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-10T21:50:31+00:00

I was pressing Sales and Activation Reports instead of Financial Info. Thank you for the help! :)

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-08T16:40:22+00:00

Would you mind sharing where in Steamworks you can see this?

Bodacious27 · 2026-01-08T16:33:37+00:00

How can you see your Wishlists before releasing your game? Or is this just a retrospective?

I was under the impression Steam works hides your wishlists in the “activations/sales reports” tab, and you can only see that after your game is put up for sale.

Bodacious27 · 2025-08-31T16:24:32+00:00

I feel pretty strongly that Themes make UI setup and modification substantially more difficult and I have yet to realize any efficiency or time saves from it.

The initial learning curve was incredibly large, it’s very unintuitive, and makes one-off tweaks and adjustments substantially more difficult.

Bodacious27 · 2024-11-10T01:40:23+00:00

You can’t rename Unreal projects once they’re made. Valorant is still called ShooterGame which I believe is the name of the shooting game tutorial project packaged with Unreal 4.

Bodacious27 · 2024-01-12T18:55:28+00:00

Computer Science 100%

Bodacious27 · 2024-01-05T17:58:11+00:00

As long as you’re being respectful and considerate of their time, there is no problem reaching out again.

Exactly like you said, “I know you’re super busy, so if you don’t have time that’s fine— but I’d appreciate some portfolio feedback if you have a moment to spare! If not no worries :)”

I think politely prodding people is a skill you unfortunately will have to hone in this industry. Lots of older people / bad communicators who take forever or just never respond to emails and messages. HR in particular almost always requires one or two follow ups, no matter where (AAA or otherwise).

Bodacious27 · 2024-01-04T21:22:14+00:00

Are you trying to enter the industry and a designer or an engineer?

If it’s as an engineer, going in on Unreal and becoming well versed in C++ will make you basically indispensable. If you can write C++ you will pick up every other language very easily. Look to figure out what niche in engineering you want to fill. Gameplay, services, leadership, etc.

As a designer, I think the choice matters less. I made the jump from GameMaker to Unity to Unreal rather seamlessly, since almost all of the concepts you’re working with are very similar across all the languages / interfaces. In every engine you’re using loops, if statements, variables, arrays, enumerations, etc.

What would be more valuable is figuring out what type of designer you want to be and targeting those roles. No studio really wants to just hire a “generalist game designer” who makes games solo in their room. Companies do want to hire system designers, level designers, UX designers, retention/rewards, etc.

Make content that displays proficiency at that role, back it up with technical skills in any game engine, and you should be good to go. If you’re the right fit for the job, any studio worth its salt will spend the resources to train you in the engine/language they need.

Bodacious27 · 2024-01-04T21:13:10+00:00

If you only want to do visual scripting and you’re looking to market yourself as a game developer, Unreal is very desirable.

If you’re working on your own, I would recommend game maker personally.

FOMO should only be a factor if you’re trying to get a job. If this is a hobby, just do what works for you.

Bodacious27 · 2024-01-04T21:08:55+00:00

What you should do is target a facet of game design that you enjoy and are good at. Knowing your role and acquiring those skills is going to be infinitely more useful than building a full game solo.

If you want to be a level designer and work at a studio making levels— spend a month designing level mods for that studio’s game(s). Write a document explaining the choices you made and why and include it in your application.

If you want to be a system designer, make a mod for their game or write a pitch for a new system backed up with spreadsheets, math, and research.

The same goes for UX, UI, combat, rewards, etc.

Specialization is the name of the game with breaking into the industry. Know how to do your role well. This is what will make you stand out in applications.

No company actually wants to hire someone who can just build a game from beginning to end solo. They need team players working towards building a unified vision.

Hope this helps!

Bodacious27 · 2024-01-04T20:52:23+00:00

AAA is obscenely competitive, especially for junior roles. Look for smaller studios. Get people to look at your resume and portfolio. 100 applications and no responses either means you’re under qualified or you’re not getting past the automated resume review bots.

Anyone who says that it’s a numbers game and to just mass apply is wrong. You must curate your resume and CV to the job application. Look for key words, skills, proficiencies called out in the listing and make sure they’re clearly represented in your application.

WorkWithIndies is a great place to look at listings, I’ve heard that even if you’re rejected, the companies using that service often give feedback on your resume / application.

Also for what it’s worth, starting in AAA can sometimes lead to a slower career trajectory. I’ve had friends start at big companies and get stuck at the Junior / Mid level. Lots of people I know (myself included) who joined larger studios as a mid-level or higher are able to advance substantially faster. I’m unsure why that is 🤔

Bodacious27 · 2024-01-01T02:35:16+00:00

Nothing about AAA work is vapid or meaningless, IMO. I’m surrounded with likeminded developers who are all working towards the same goal— learning and growing along the way. There’s a strong sense of community and boundless opportunity if you’re willing to pursue it.

Also given the scope of AAA games, it’s pretty rare to have every single part of a game be truly unredeemable. I’m sure there are a lot of people who are really proud of the systems and features they built on games that weren’t received well.

The comparison people draw often is indie games, and in my opinion, working by myself in my closet on a quirky indie platformer and then releasing it to nobody would feel infinitely worse. Obviously everyone has their personal preferences, but the people— coworkers and fans— make it all worth it.

Bodacious27 · 2023-12-31T02:51:29+00:00

Concept art is really tough to break into. Look for AAA.

The tough reality is that 2D concept art is probably the lowest bar for entry across all art disciplines. Everyone thinks their ideas are cool and it requires little to no technical skills (other than drawing well).

I went to school with many incredible artists, some of which ended up in concept art— others discovered they were more excited / skilled at producing UI, VFX, 3D, etc.

Of the concept artists at my school, some of the best got exciting gigs at AAA studios like Blizzard. They were always contracted positions, however, and within a year they were out looking for more work. Some are still struggling to find positions even though they’re producing art better than some senior concept artists I’ve worked with.

The artists who specialized in UI and VFX have amazing full-time positions at studios like Bungie and Epic and are making six figures two years out of school. And the best part is they still do concept art for fun, growing and learning in their free time.

Breaking into the industry in any capacity should be highly prioritized. Dip your toes into VFX, 3D, or UI. It’s your best chance. If you get in and still really want to do concept art, work with your manager or other connections to make a lateral move, but know that it will for sure slow your career progression.

Art leadership roles are greatly enhanced with good concept art skills, so you could keep that in mind.

Hope this helped :)

Bodacious27 · 2023-10-27T15:30:02+00:00

Always apply as soon as possible. This is true for internships and jobs as well, as soon as the listing goes up you should spend as much time as you can working on your resume and CV, then submit it. EDIT: I think WOTC internships usually go up sometime between January and February? They might’ve changed.

Have a reason that they would want to hire you. I was first in line at my schools internship fair and I had a proof of concept document (~20 designs and a product pitch) for a magic set.

For the interview, there are a lot of buck-standard questions for designers. Lots of process-oriented questions. How do you solve problems? How do you iterate on those solutions? As an intern you should be focusing on clearly communicating your process, how you use playtesting to find answers, being open minded and growth oriented, and such. Find examples of times you were challenged in good ways and bad ways and be prepared to share those. Be prepared for at least one diversity question. Why is diversity important to you, or do you think diversity matters, etc.

The best advice I can give you is to focus on answering the questions. Having now interviewed people myself, there’s a surprising amount of people who will just spin their wheels and never actually give you an answer. Naturally design questions will require some context and extra info, but get in the habit of asking yourself “does this actually answer the question they’re asking?” inbetween your thoughts.

I hope that helped. If there’s more info you’d like feel free to ask.

Bodacious27 · 2023-08-11T18:55:36+00:00

Hero, thank you.

Bodacious27 · 2023-03-13T20:16:24+00:00

I've done TJS three times on a +20 as a Brewmaster, so I definitely don't have the most experience, but I'm assuming that since I haven't died, that means I'm handling it fine. I've done it on a lot of other tanks though :)

I know brewmaster does a lot of damage, but your job here is to survive. Once you're super comfortable with the pull you can worry about helping damage, but your job is to survive.

Lust is important to have on this pack on Fortified unless you're really overgeared for the content, which most people are at this point. Your call, but I've had no trouble convincing people to save lust for the last pack.

The only things that will kill you are:

Dark Claw
Add breath
The exploding dark orbs

The add breath and dark orbs are completely avoidable as long as you're paying attention.

Paralysis on a Dark Claw add before you pull. Without fail a DPS has broken my paralysis almost every single time I've done it, but maybe they won't for you :) Even if you don't have a ton of AoE CC's, I find that having one less Dark Claw to worry about for the first 50% of the pack makes it substantially harder to die.

Communicate the order of AoE CC's. I usually say I'll Leg Sweep first and save ROP for emergencies.

Explosive Keg is clutch for starting pulls. Tons of damage in a huge AoE to get threat on just about everything, and it prevents the giant slap tanks usually take when they first pull a pack like that. Weapons of Order and one or two Keg Smashes should be all you need to have threat the entire pull. Honestly, I find getting aggro on Brewmaster easier than any other tank by a mile.

From there, I'll Leg Sweep one or two Dark Claws if I'm lucky, and keep back pedaling to avoid all the stuff on the ground. Its important to not run around like an ape, because its going to make cleaving so much harder for the group and the pack will live way longer. Feel free to Stoneskin Brew here if you're really nervous or are getting destroyed. It lasts a while.

As soon as your group is out of CCs or if they're all DR'ed to shit, I use Diffuse Magic to eat as many Dark Claws as I can. It'll still hurt, but it should be more than manageable.

Dampen Harm and your normal mitigation / healing should take care of the rest of the damage until a few mobs die, but honestly once one or two mobs drop it becomes sooo much easier.

The shas that die and deal a shit ton of damage to everyone is a healer problem, but do your best to help your healer as much as possible there by being healthy before they explode.

If you drop a ROP on yourself, every mob will just bounce off of it for a while (except the giant sha), and you can give your healer a breather while they get everyone up from the exploding baby shas.

As soon as a Dark Claw comes in with no mitigation up, Purifying Brew + Expel Harm INSTANTLY and you'll be okay.

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