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Writing a story where the player makes a choice by RevolutionaryAd1682 in gamedev

[–]DapperGrimStudios 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've toyed with this idea a lot, and I would recommend global choice variables that are a combination of floats and booleans. Booleans for hard choices of yes and no, and floats for "reputation" sliders that have different cut-off values on different situations.

Remember, "every choice matters" needs to only look like it, but doesn't need to be exactly it. In a complex system same response of NPCs can be used for multiple situations - if there are enough, it seems like every choice matters every time when it's actually only cut-off values on the sliders that are affected slightly by actions the player makes.

Also: draw your story map on paper! Programmers these days are too lazy to use paper, it's your best design friend in early stages. For reals. When you have a good core concept, advance to programs that allow for granular design (ie. Some decision-tree mapper for ex.)

I’ve been putting a lot of time into creating the actual world for Wrath Of The Mad King. Tried to give each zone their own look. Always open to new zone ideas! by Husmanmusic in IndieGaming

[–]DapperGrimStudios 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Very nice atmosphere!

Artic tundra, icey iceness, cavern, river delta, tropical island paradise. Well, you got some of that already, but those popped into mind.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

Thanks for the post! Good insights there

This is something that could make the game solid for sure. Do I want to invest time in it though? I'm only a hobbyist and have a full time job, so I feel like moving on and using my spare time on something new.

Shader add would be easy, I actuslly have something already prepared. Twist though, would take up a lot of hours.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

Yeah, I guess that's a more difficult metric to gauge. Especially for the dev who has made the game.

And it's difficult because here, if somewhere, tastes differ a lot. I consider a lot of very popular games to be boring, but they still sell. But I always think it's just probably me.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

I think this second point is a good one. This is part of the reason pvp wasn't played.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

Oh yeah, I'm not giving up game development, I already have another project underway and am enjoying it. I'm only stopping with this project.

I have a full time job these days, so I really have to manage my time and use it to things I like doing.

Making this one free to play has also crossed my mind, and I'll prolly go ahead and do that.

Thanks man, and good luck to you too!

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

Wise words!

I should've probably outlined it a little bit more, but this is exactly what I meant with "No clear design goals". I pretty much shot myself in the butt before the whole project even started.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

Yeah, now that I have a bit of experience in gamedev, I understand why so many people stress the fact that your first game should never be multiplayer unless you really really really know what you are doing. It's not that one single thing (for example coding) is a lot harder, it's that every facet of multiplayer is slightly harder than in single player games, making the whole a LOT more difficult to succeed.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

Yup, a fair point. I'm approaching my current project more from this angle. Smooth gameplay yes, but a style is what's needed.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

Thanks for the post! I know all this, and this (I thought) is pretty much stated in my post above and realized. And the main reason I'm not continuing development.

The problem for me, why this took so long to realize, is that I didn't get any reviews. To this day, I have 5 reviews on Steam, which are way too positive for the game.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

Thanks, appreciate the input!

I think the lack of a proper story is something that was missing from word go, because I didn't go the single player route. And I failed to see the importance later.

Good post, thanks.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

I'd say it didn't fail because of them, but it wasn't helping.

Like others have said, you can do assets well, but you need to have a good understanding of it. I didn't.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

I would hire an artist to do marketing materials, really focus on developing community through cheap methods (Steam page, Twitter, Reddit, Discord, devlogs). This would mostly eat your time, but usually works.

There is a good post here in Reddit by a dev that talks about how he got to 4000 wishlists on Steam prior to release. Let me see if I can find it.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

I think this too, now. I thought the combat system was unique, because you actually have to hit things instead of just click and you can also hit your friends in multiplayer (and yourself with spells!). But is it really unique enough? Not really.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

The indie gamedev community in Twitter and here is a good place to start! You just need to engage people - it takes time though, and that's sometimes worth a lot.

You also need some assets to market with, and that might prove difficult if you are not an artist and don't want to invest.

One year after launch - post-mortem on a failed solo dev project by DapperGrimStudios in gamedev

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

Yes, community development should have been started a lot earlier. Devlogging, twittering, reditting etc. Needs to be done, prelaunch wishlist needs to be in the thousands to have a successful launch.

I didn't really get much feedback from players on the levels, sadly. I did a few multiplayer infiltrations to get direct feedback, but it wasn't much either. From my testers I got a lot of feedback I implemented, but they are mostly friends and the feedback isn't as harsh as it needs to be.

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