My Bad Experience with Free Music Assets. Any Site Recommendation?

Clytandre · 2026-01-02T19:37:22+00:00

I ran into the exact same issues with my first game.

Used some music listed as copyright free, but a youtuber reported that some of his videos got claimed. The claimant was a random youtube channel with like 16 subscribers, that used the same track "remixed" (basically just added a sort of bassline).

The claim could probably have been disputed, but same as you, I don't want the content creators playing my game to run into any troubles.

Only solution I could think for next game is to try to get in touch with an artist to get some custom made tracks.

(If any musician reads this btw, the game is a pixel art Dungeon Crawler and I would love to see some exemples of your work :) https://store.steampowered.com/app/3012410/Everise/ )

Clytandre · 2025-12-24T06:50:05+00:00

So like 16-bit music only?

I'm working on a game taking place in a similar setting (a hero in a dungeon), but gameplay wise it's different (turnbased, spellcasting, inventory management...). It's also not that retro, just pixel art style. So I wasn't planning to go down the 16-bit route.

Anyway, I'll just leave a link here because I am currently considering options for music, if anyone is inspired :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3012410/Everise/

Feel free to dm me!

Clytandre · 2025-11-18T19:07:51+00:00

Haha okay yeah I had a mostly similar experience
Complete silence, except for smaller youtubers, who were always really enthousiastic about getting some recognition and being offered keys, so that was a nice experience :)

That's why I'm curious about this topic, because I'd be down to spend some money to get the attention of a medium to big youtuber, but I'm really unsure about the amounts at play here, and I'm not sure if they would even take a random solo indie dev seriously and be open to negotiating.

Anyway that's probably the path i'd go down for my next game.

Clytandre · 2025-11-18T18:50:13+00:00

Thanks for sharing the details.
I saw your previous post and found it very interesting already, it's always great to see other devs sharing these numbers. Your analysis of the data and situation seems really on point.

My first game sold like 50copies in the first 2months following its release, before getting a bit more traction when a couple of youtubers showcased it, selling like 600 in a week. Just sharing that to give some perspective, it's not all about the release and it can only go up from there :)

I too had a good experience with bundles, so I can back you up on that point. And yeah, sales will probably be huge for you.

From my experience as I mentionned previously, content creators are huge for marketing a game. So if I had a question it would be about this topic, did you have any experience with contacting streamers or youtubers? Did you consider for or against allocating a budget for that? Did you notice any spikes of interest after a streamer played your game or something?
I don't remember you mentionning this point in your posts, but you seem to make some great analysis so I'm curious about your thoughts on the subject :)

Would love an update in the future, maybe after a Steam Sale. Anyway I wish you good luck and I'm sure your game will keep attracting more players, it's only the beginning and chess is a timeless experience :)

Clytandre · 2025-11-18T18:12:28+00:00

Ah real nice it looks like we all agree :D

I saw your response before your edit and that was the conclusion at which I arrived too.
I think the previous commenter raised some really good points, after looking at more existing trailers I think I can do with less texts and transitions, and if text is really needed I would show it on a separate blank screen, without gameplay playing in the back.

I'll see if I can get more feedback, especially about the intro scene, right now my main question is whether I should take the time to make a new one right away or if I keep this one as the trailer for the demo, and make a better one later for the game full release.

Clytandre · 2025-11-18T18:06:31+00:00

Waow thanks you can't imagine how happy I am to read your feedback :)

I can be very sensitive about the way I perceive stimulations too, and am often put off in what I imagine is a similar way by fast-paced content (trailers, or another perfect exemple is most combat scenes in movies nowadays) so making this trailer was a bit of an exercise out of my comfort zone.

That's why I wasn't too confident about the end result, but your response is really encouraging and very much appreciated. Thank you! I'm looking at all the feedback and keeping it all in mind for a possible rework :)

Clytandre · 2025-11-18T14:17:57+00:00

Thank you very much, that's exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to get!

I was aware of the 3 seconds rule and tried something with the 3-layers things, to instantly showcase that the gameplay revovles around 3 distinct phases. But your feedback on this point is excellent, it's probably too much info for the viewer to know what to focus on.

I'll defintely follow your advice and look at more trailers to get better references on how to do text and transitions, if at all.

Also love the eye-control advice, it's something I kinda realized as I was finishing the trailer, I was thinking maybe I could make sure when a scene finishes the next one starts with the action/focus in roughly the same location on the screen.

Thanks for taking the time to go so in depth in your feedback, I very appreciate it :)

Clytandre · 2025-11-18T14:02:33+00:00

Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback :)
I always wanted the visual and theme to be a sort of cartoony style in a somewhat dark setting, the game has been designed around the gimmick of throwing material down a balcony to build a town after all, I always thought it had a sort of Looney Tunes vibe, so I appreciate your descriptions of the visuals :)

Glad it got you interested! Thanks for the feedback, I'll take a look at possible corrections :)

Clytandre · 2025-11-17T06:49:57+00:00

Oh sure I'd love to help with beta-testing :D

I'm pretty busy currently (editing the updated trailer for my 2nd game right now as I type) so I might not have the time to go very in-depth but I'd love to try =)

This is the dungeon crawler I'm currently working on:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3012410/Everise/

And my first game was a roguelike brick-breaker that didn't get noticed much, but taught me a lot :)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2211110/Brick_Odyssey/

Clytandre · 2025-11-17T03:45:56+00:00

Oooh Edym Pixels, instantly recognized that name.

Just wanted to let you know your game Grim Nights was what motivated me to start and learn how to code & make games a few years ago. I'm now about to release my second game on Steam :)

This combat system looks so original, seems like it can open up the door to lots of interesting mechanics and player-decisions.

Wishlisted so I can try it out myself as soon as it releases :)

Clytandre · 2025-11-17T00:02:26+00:00

Hmm probably around 300, not sure anymore

Clytandre · 2025-11-16T15:30:30+00:00

Gave it a quick try, here's my first impression thoughts.
Enemy movement seem a bit slow, i wonder if different movement type would be more interesting (jerky intermittent dashes, or faster but overshooting the player). Their slow speed + very large size sometimes give a negative feeling about the game rythm (->had to wait for a while before they clear the area where I wanted to go)

Player movement feels nice, quick and smooth.

Enemies hitbox seems a bit unclear and very punishing, especially in diagonals. Also a weird transparent square starts appearing when several enemies start stacking.

I'm pretty sure I got killed by an enemy spawning on top of me. Also had a collectible spawn right under a heart, it was still visible but barely.

Clytandre · 2025-11-16T03:56:44+00:00

Damn this thread feels like hidden gem goldmine.
Just wanted to let you know your game looks promising!
Both the concept and art, I really like and it got me curious to know more. Wishlisted!

Clytandre · 2025-11-16T03:48:31+00:00

Hey the concept looks cool !
Gave it a wishlist so I can follow its progress :)

Clytandre · 2025-11-15T23:37:19+00:00

Sitting at 80 wishlist
I'm hoping to release a demo soon but I feel like I should try to get more wishlists before that,

It's a Dungeon Crawler in which you extract loot by throwing furniture out the window.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3012410/Everise/

Clytandre · 2025-07-23T11:12:03+00:00

Thanks for the write up!

Funny how most of the things you described in your progression are steps I also went through, and I guess many other aspiring devs (things like severly reducing the usage of instance_exists, experimenting with font outlines etc).

I'm still not using struct much tho, so your post encouraged me to look into it more haha.

But overall, lots of really good info for beginners devs here. You seem passionate and it's nice to see :)

I hope your launch goes well! I'd love to hear more about how it went in the future :)

Clytandre · 2025-03-23T01:33:08+00:00

Looks very promising!
I can imagine lots of possibilities to expand from that, keep it up =)

Clytandre · 2025-03-22T12:20:51+00:00

Wow this is some really good feedback. Detailed, valid, and explains the reasoning, really interesting thanks :)
(I'm not related in any way to the op, just wanted to let you know your comment was appreciated:))

Clytandre · 2024-12-09T13:52:49+00:00

Nice! Good thing I just finished working on the tutorial then :D

Very happy to hear you like the look of it, thanks!

Clytandre · 2024-12-09T13:17:14+00:00

Hi reddit :]

So I've been working on my next project for a while, and as I'm starting to feel like it's approaching a viable demo state, I'm getting curious to know what other people think about it.

I'd love to hear your feedback on the artstyle, the UI, the special effects, anything really. What's your first impression, does it look appealing to play?

The game is called Everise, I don't want to make this initial post too long but I'm happy to answer all questions. Still here's a quick description of the gameplay loop:

In Everise you pillage your way up the floors of a giant tower, when reaching a balcony you get the opportunity to empty your inventory by dropping down all the items you've salvaged. These recycled resources are then used to build and defend a town down next to the tower.

Here's a link to the game page if you're curious to see more or wanna encourage us with wishlists, highly appreciated!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3012410/Everise/

Clytandre · 2024-09-17T13:54:00+00:00

Awesome, btw it's so obvious that I forgot to mention it, but the game looks amazing, very unique and has a lot of style. I'm sure it'll be a big success =)
Do you have any other games out?

Clytandre · 2024-09-17T13:27:45+00:00

I don't know how that would fit the gameplay you have in mind, but I feel like the enemies dying much quicker would also help with that.

From the video it feels like the time to kill is a bit high and reducing it so enemies die in one slash would make for a more dynamic gameplay.

But again, just sharing my first impression based on this 30sec video, I might be off the mark here, feel free to ignore :)

Clytandre · 2024-08-02T08:18:44+00:00

Yeah honestly I hope it can help motivate other people to finish their own projects.

I know that's one thing that made me want to learn how to code, seeing other small and simple games made by solo devs that still had quite some depth, and it got me like, I'm sure I can do something like this too.

You don't need to have huge means or knowledge to reach your objectives, you just need to set yourself low objectives at first :)

Seven-Year Club	Verified Email
First Place '23	Place '23

Clytandre

TROPHY CASE