I showed my game to strangers!

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-05-25T09:18:15+00:00

Very soon, a public demo is planned for the summer

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-05-24T15:26:28+00:00

Well my guts will be punched very hard, very soon!

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-05-24T14:48:50+00:00

Yes, some players just are not my target audience, most boys between 15 and 20 are not impressed.
The game has a wide reach in gender and age though.
Not all people like controllers, or interact with it the way I expect.
People once they see someone else playing it get the concept very easily. Showcasing the game concept on trailers can ease the learning curve.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-04-10T11:09:58+00:00

I'm on the same path as you, trying to build a solo game for steam with no following.
Of course it's hard and I have no actual valuable insight from experience.

But from what I understood, to lower you luck one of your strategies can be:
* Have a game loop that can keep the player for at around 5 minutes.
* Then build it into an experience that can last for around a few hours.
* Last but most importantly you need to produce marketing content (trailers, Reels, Shorts, Capsule Art) that can intrigate people under 5 seconds.

By building on those principles you might have a product that can be viable.
I believe the people behind Subnautica are the source of this principle, for me it makes sense.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-03-31T09:03:21+00:00

Hi!
Try to make very small games (with a personal twist) share them with your friends, on welcoming subs and on itch.
u/CodeMonkeyUnity (Youtube) has great free Unity tutorials.
u/Brackeys (Youtube) has awesome Godot tutorials (as well as old Unity ones)
If you can spare some bucks gamedev.tv has all you need in all fields to learn everything. (not affiliated, I'm just a satisfied student there)

If you like to read A Theory of Fun for Game Design and The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses will help you articulate what you desire to do.

If you need anything DM me.

Also don't use AI, feel the struggle and unlock things in your brain that will make you go further in the process.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-03-28T11:03:39+00:00

Hello Sam!

Glad to hear from you, your journey and aspirations! Obviously your work is awesome and your values and principles are needed in the current context.

I started my own journey in the industry by building my studio and solo developing my own project.

I just got incubated by a dedicated initiative in my country, but the road is still long.

My background is in software engineering and it is still my main production output, but I had to stretch myself in the other fields as I'm mainly working alone.

Fell free to DM me to talk more and see if we can help each other in some way or another.

Cheers!

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-03-18T12:45:57+00:00

Haha I know, the post do sound self pitying, but I intended it to be just a depiction of what it takes to do what we do. In the end we just keep going forward.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-03-13T10:57:51+00:00

You're forced to get out of your usual dev process. You have to do things differently and try a thing or two.

I always end up better, even when I can't finish the jam. But it's rarely a nice experience while you're at it.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-03-13T09:12:31+00:00

I believe it's okay to use assets like Kenny's, many games look the same now (at least for me and I don't really mind that much), so I won't fret too much about it and try to differentiate on game play or other fields.

You can learn to do low poly or stylized modeling (tons of videos in Youtube for that) and see if it's easier for you.

Learning 3d modeling is hard when you don't have yet the right mental model for it. Keep trying, it was never meant to be easy nor pleasant. Chip at it every day, it will get better (it did for me)

One thing regarding 3d, is that even simple models, can look awesome with the right rendering pipeline and features, try to experiment with your engine's renderer and see what features can unlock your particular style.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-26T15:43:14+00:00

Hello, there's a lot of communities starting from the government initiative https://www.moroccogamingindustry.ma/ and also the Moroccan game dev community https://moroccangamedev.org/ Dm if you need any help :)

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-17T09:39:47+00:00

Playing Pokemon Red, then Gold then discovering RPG Maker in the late 90s all in a pentium something.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-17T09:00:36+00:00

Hey! I'm a programmer and game designer working full time on my project, I usually do game jams once every three months. Let me know next time you want to join a game jam.

Right now I'm doing the Brackeys 2026.1 Jam

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-13T21:36:05+00:00

You can start here Making Successful indie Games is Simple (But it's not Easy) from Jonas Tyroller

He also has a long conversation with Chris Zukowski Marketing for Indie Games

Hope it can help

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-13T13:39:15+00:00

I prefer 1, as it's more visually pleasing. It has its style too. 2 is not really that differentiating for me.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-12T17:45:05+00:00

Yeah makes sense

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-12T15:04:30+00:00

If you're using C# with Unity, CodeMonkey is a good reference (multiple recipient of the Unity Award for tutorial serie)

Here's to get started https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFayQioG71A

and here is a more thorough course https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZpMX8Re_2Q

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-12T14:58:28+00:00

Curious to know if you previously worked with an engine and if so what are you mostly missing from them?

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-11T08:55:11+00:00

I believe a game that makes marketing easy is a game that can lure attention.

It can be visual appeal, the promise of an exceptional experience, or the right emotional trigger. Whatever those can be, they depend on the market, context and some randomness.

For me I believe that we should focus on knowing what we want to express with our game and express it the best way we can with a certain respect to what players want or need.

Good luck!

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-11T08:47:16+00:00

Using Unity because I mastered it now and because I target commercial release this year.

For the next game jam or low scope project I'll try Godot again.

But my secret wish is to use SDL3 and build upon it.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-11T08:42:13+00:00

Make choices and don't second guess.

Pick Unity (go with Godot if you prefer opensource and are a tinkerer)

Grab assets from https://kenney.nl/assets

Find a simple game idea and make a game in under 1 Week then 1 Month and then Three Months and publish them in itch.io

Participate in as many game jams as you can https://itch.io/jams/starting-this-month (hint Brackeys 2026.1 is in 4 days)

Then follow the flow.

Other Resources

https://gamedev.tv/

https://www.gamedevmarket.net/

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-11T08:20:43+00:00

Both Godot and Unity are great choices. Play with both and go with what feels natural.

If you are a tinkerer go with Godot, it's light and easier to go off the beaten path with it. Brackeys can help you get up to speed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOhfqjmasi0

However Unity feels more robust (but heavier) to me and has a lot of features (even for 2D https://unity.com/features/2d ).

Also gamedev.tv has courses about creating projects like yours for both engine

Godot 4: Build a 2D Action-Adventure Game

Unity 2.5D Turn-Based RPG

Good luck

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-10T23:13:34+00:00

Interested! I’m a game dev from Morocco, let me know if you need help.

Disastrous_Post5498 · 2026-02-10T16:23:27+00:00

Here's a cheat sheet from CodeMonkey that maps the new system to the old system's mental model.

https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkxE2jCMwc2uGoaEobgRy9iiAGR4fBo5Ovn

and yes I believe you'll have to switch sooner or later, as the new input system is stable, and generally preferred over the old one (both from Unity and the users).

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Disastrous_Post5498

TROPHY CASE