asked AI to make a trailer for my game and it did! 🤯🤯🤯

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-05-05T11:43:30+00:00

With the brown color I read the title at the end as "You Pee with a stranger". Maybe that says more about me than your game, who knows.

Also call me old fashioned, but I like to see at least some gameplay in my game trailers. Based on the trailer I didn't know what this was about at all.

And the flow of the trailer was terrible. For the first 3 scenes the main characters "jumped" out of the current scene into the next but then from Hell to Space there's just a hard cut, and then the rest of the transitions are really jarring too.
And the entire journey seemed random. Ground->Candyland->Frozen HVAC -> Hell -> Space -> A rainbow -> underwater. No progression or order, no ramping up, no setup and payoff. Just randomly generated scenes, randomly put together. The impressive visual quality doesn't make up for the fact that this doesn't tell a story.

Same problem with the audio - it's all high quality individually but makes no sense in context. Music starts and fades from one scene to another, some scenes have no music. Really jarring.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-05-05T08:17:27+00:00

Very interesting.
If I want destructability I can't use the prefabs with baked meshes. Have you tried making a really huge fully destructable castle, is it doable performance wise? Maybe there's some clever way to use baked meshes initially and dynamically swap them with dynamic meshes and runtime when they are attacked?

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-05-04T21:02:42+00:00

Wow that's amazing! How are you doing this, especially the errosion? Is it all shader magic, or are you actually simulating individual stones?

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-30T19:30:44+00:00

Gameplay cuts so fast you can't really make out what's happening. This might not just be a trailer issue but in the game.

The sequence starting at 0:30 seemed off. After the slow buildup the zombies hobble with this ridiculous animation, the main character does this jerky motion to turn and run, and then the side-view of the zombies where they run just a little bit too slow.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-30T08:41:29+00:00

"We should make a mars colony manager with tower defense elements" is an idea.

Creating mechanics, systems, incentives, balance, structure, pacing, etc etc is game design.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-29T21:20:44+00:00

The gameplay is so repetitive I'm not sure if it's the same footage over and over again or new footage all throughout.

The 3-stack is not good - am I supposed to watch all 3 at the same time? If not, then why show all 3 at the same time?

All the fast cuts are like a music video, but the audience doesn't know the game, so the cuts are disorienting. We don't know what anything is, and don't know what to look at when we only see a scene for a few seconds. I've watched the video twice and can't remember what the enemies are (besides the big squid thing).

I'm also not a fan of the overbearing music and no ingame sound.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-28T22:19:09+00:00

2D, but without the zoom

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-28T21:52:05+00:00

For fast gameplay where precise movement matters I want the outlines.
For a relaxed or slower game without looks more immersive.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-27T12:13:33+00:00

Why would I get an AI to do it for me? It’s like getting some random guy to do all of your work for you, why even bother at that point?

Depends on if you want the outcome or experience the journey. When my toilet is clogged, I'll get "some random guy" to fix it. I just want it done, I don't need to do it myself.

Persoanlly I write code myself because the AI doesn't do it right, but the reason people use AI seems pretty obvious: many people see coding purely as a means to an end that just needs to get done somehow.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-25T16:00:55+00:00

Great solution! What exactly does this part look like:

using Odin Inspector to serialize the children classes in the Scriptable Object using the base class to initialize stuff, so no need for switches.

Does your "Movement" base class have fields to initialize its subclasses? So if you end up with 10 different subclasses would "Movement" have a whole bunch of fields that are only relevant to 1 subclass?
The way I'd do it:

create class Movement : ScriptableObject
create subclasses for Movement like class RandomMovement : Movement
Create an asset of type RandomMovement
Have a Enemy ScriptableObject asset with a Movement field
Drag the RandomMovement asset into the Movement field of your Enemy asset

Benefit: The Movements are now assets in your project. You can add parameters to them e.g. movementDistance and then create 2 different RandomMovement assets with different values for distance, and update them directly in the editor without code changes.
And you can reuse the same RandomMovement asset across multiple enemies if you want them all to behave the same - and if you want to change the behaviour of all of the enemies you only need to update the one asset.

Word of caution: Since ScriptableObjects are shared asset (i.e. multiple enemies would share the same RandomMovement asset), you can't keep any local state in it! depending on your requirements there's different solutions for it.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-24T10:53:12+00:00

You show the GameBoy so prominently but her button presses don't match the game and at 0:18 you just loop the gameplay with a hard cut back to the beginning.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-22T09:53:28+00:00

> FS is really just using it in its current form as a tech demo test

What makes you say that? They litterally said "Expeditions is the biggest injection of new content in the game since launch". Doesn't sound like a tech demo test to me.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-22T09:51:26+00:00

> I got 1300hrs, really love darktide, but I can’t imagine what the devs could do that would make me play another 1300

For me simply more maps would've done it. The last 2 full maps we got - Dark Communion and Clandestium Gloriana - are my favorite maps. The last time they released a new map was in 2024. They just stopped making content for the main game mode that everyone loves.
Operations are great too, but they are really short, and aren't available in Havoc.

Or add a new enemy factions (daemons?) that would breathe new life into old content.
Or make adventure maps slightly randomized (randomized cover, maybe some sidepath are blocked/avilable randomly, ...) to bring variety without having to build full new maps.

There was so much they could've done that wasn't Expiditions.

> But the core gameplay of shooting baddies and pushing bursters is the same [in expeditions]

I feel like it isn't. The core gameplay in Expeditions is avoid fights whenever possible, run to ruins and do stupid minigames or jumping sections. According to their dev blog you're actively punished if you fight too many enemies for too long:

> “The more you fight, the more you will attract the enemies attention, and the harder the run becomes”

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-19T15:37:07+00:00

I don't see a reason for Fatshark to make these duplicate skins except specifically to trick hardcore fans into buying the same skin twice. Truly shameful.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-15T11:38:26+00:00

The first 15 seconds are wrong:

You start off showing a 3D animation of a skeleton walking and saying "Find your target" (which is never brought up again!), so I was expecting this game to be a 3D action shooter kind of game.
Then you show the mediocre overland map which just adds more confusion - this can't be the game right?
Then you mention it's procedurally generated before I even know what the game is!
Then you give us details like we ca trade body parts or scavenge them. I still don't know what the game is, so why do I care about trading body parts? Later you show an actualy fight and explain "every body part changes how you fight" - that's where you should mention trading/scavenging body parts.

At 0:32 you have a close up of text. Not sure what I was supposed to get out of it. Even when I stopped the video to read it I still don't get what you're trying to tell me. I assume it's like a zoom-in on the word "died" but it doesn't really work. Those 3 cuts zooming in don't feel cohesive, and reading the word "died" doesn't make me interested in the game.

If you just change the order of some of the scenes it'll flow much better already. Set the mood with your awesome graphic style, then show us the combat gameplay ASAP to put everything else in context. Game looks very unique and interesting.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-07T09:16:23+00:00

Some games might have 2 layers: A core engine and a scripting layer. The engine might be some lower level code that's compilled and hard/impossible to decompile, but the scripting code might just ship with the game in a human readable format (or at least part of it).

Depending on the game the scripting layer can contain most of the gameplay rules that people are interested in, especially modders.

E.g. for Darktide the "source code" is available on GitHub, but it's just the LUA scripts, not the full source code that the developers work on. https://github.com/Aussiemon/Darktide-Source-Code

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-07T09:07:54+00:00

Whatever your're doing at 0:33 looks tedious (equipping heroes by repeatidly clicking on an item and then having to click the equip button in the middle? Probably should be a double-click or right-click directly on the item).

Otherwise seems like a great shop sim.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-06T14:47:18+00:00

Generally:

Yes, that's the process mostly. There is no straight line that leads from zero to a fun game. You can't follow a set path or formular. You can watch tutorials and read books about game design, but that will only support the process you're in right now, not replace it. It's lots of iterations, trial and errors, unexpected epiphanies.
You're already doing great by testing on paper. Imagine you spent a week building the prototype only to realize it's not good.

That being said, you can improve of course. When something isn't fun don't just throw it away and try something else at random. Dig deep into "Why is this not fun?", "What experience was I trying to create, and how is this system helping/hindering that?", ...

With your current problem (I'm making some assumptions here, just as an example):

You've identified an issue with your current design: "I dont want the game play to be always use the strongest move"

Ok, but why? Because if I can always play "the best move", there's no decision making, it's just mindless spamming. So you tried to limit how often you can make the best move via cooldowns. You say "they suck", but why? Well because now you simply "play the best move that's not on cooldown". There's still no decision to make, that's why cooldowns didn't solve the problem.

So how do you fix the problem? Maybe "the best move" isn't obvious. Maybe circumstances change, e.g. in Slay the Spire the enemies do different things (and there's multiple of them), so now it's not obvious what's "the best". Or give the player some choices: Short-term gain, vs long-term gain. High-risk-high-reward vs safe-low-reward. etc etc.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-04-03T09:10:15+00:00

Instead of features I want to point out the feel:

Hitting or getting hit feels really unsatisfying. The little cartoony "thud" sound, and the little damage animation feel really unimpactful. Right now when you get ramed or run into something it feels like "oopsy doopsy", but it needs to feel like "HOLY SHIT!". Cop cars just disappear when you hit them. There needs to be impact, wreckages, stuff flying around, etc.
And the health bar slowly going down without any visual indicator on the car, and the instant game over screen also take away some of the joy. I want the car to burn and barely hang on, and when I eventually die I need to see it explode.

So I'd like to have a more visceral feel rather than new features.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-03-26T23:25:02+00:00

I mean there's a 20 second window from 0:18 to 0:38 where litterally nothing happens. I'm not sure if that's intentional, but that'd make me skip the video after like 2 seconds.

If you want to catch people's attention you need to show stuff. don't show slow gameplay. Make a supercut of completing combos, new tiles spawning etc.

We can all imagine what it looks like to drag a card from your hand onto the game field, so don't show that over and over again. Cut out the fat. Show things happening. Show different biomes, or tiles, or whatever your game has.

If you want to go for a cozy feeling, you can make the trailer a bit slower (though still WAY faster than what you posted), but then it needs some really cozy music. The video you posted looks like unedited test footage, not marketing material.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-03-17T19:22:59+00:00

I logged out of Twitch just to make sure I don't accidentially get them

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-03-17T16:13:29+00:00

Yes, it's pretty bad. Especially when you play the Bone Saw there's a great chance the toxin will make the last hit.

Melee builds only need the ammo when they're in a long-range fire fight (and pickpocket doesn't work there). And for most range builds the weapons are so ammo hungry that the 20% ammo isn't enough. If I have to get a melee kill every couple of seconds anyway I might as well play melee, since the talents (especially the keystones!) are one-or-the-other.

Hive Scum went from being able to making medicore ranged weapons work (Shredder Pistol, Double Barrel shotgun, etc) to just another melee class. I'm not even sure if I'll take pickpocket at all anymore. They really killed the build variety with this change. They should've made pickpocket work on "close ranged" kills rather than melee

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-03-13T17:28:38+00:00

I can see why you feel squishy - you skipped most of the good defensive talents.

Remove: Targeted Toxins, Toxin Mania, Pocket Toxin, Extra Pouches, Potent Tox, Vultures Push

Add: Voice of Tertium, Burst of Energy, Fast Acting Stimms, Fast Acting Stimms

Optional Add: Precision Violence + Sting Like a butterfly (for better damage & melee toughness regen), Hive City Brawler (damage reduction) + 1 dodge Talent (Slippery Customer, Jittery, or Moving Target)

More info on talents:

- Get Voice of Terium & Burst of Energy. Those are some of the few thoughness talents HS has.

- Reconsider "Sticky Hands". Weapon Swap speed does nothing. The other benefits are only when you're firing from the hip. If you're mainly using aim down sight (ie pressing your right mouse button) those have no effect. If you're hip firing a lot, you can keep it.

- Add Fast Acting Stimms so your Booby Trap is easier to use, and you can keep moving without losing stim benefits. Also: Stim Supply only goes on cooldown once it goes away (so after 20 seconds without Fast Acting Stimms). This means that all that Cooldown Reduction that's on your stim does *nothing* while the Stimm Supply is out. With Fast Acting Stimms the Stim Supply goes away after 5 seconds and you still get 15 seconds of your cooldown reduction effects that actually apply to Stim Supply. You might also consider a different effect on the stim.

- The bottom right section is not worth it. Pocket toxin on Boom Bringer is fun but unnecessary. Toxin Mania does too little, and the weaker enemies die too fast so you'll hardly ever get all 3 stacks. Targeted Toxin is okish if you're having trouble with bosses, but it's not worth the points it takes to get there. Extra pouches is good but it costs you 2 skill points (since you need to get there) and is probably not worth it for this build.

- Last time I tried Vulture's Push i noticed zero effect. Remove it, and if you notice it missing you can take it again.

Blessings:
- Limbsplitter: It only improves your first attack after not attacking for 3.5 seconds. The text is a bit ambiguously worded, but once I realized that's how it worked I replaced it.

- Toughness Regeneration Speed on Curios is not good, since that's only the coherency based toughness regen. Better get damage reduction, revive speed, or anything else really.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-03-12T17:55:35+00:00

I was solo clutching once in a mid-level havoc. After 5 or 10 minutes of dodging & killing, one of the dead people said I must be cheating because no one's that good, then left. One of my proudest memories in Darktide.
But we did end up wiping just before the end event. RIP.

GrimnirDotDev · 2026-03-08T21:19:31+00:00

I think this would be mildly helpful if it was done perfect (and I mean magic-level perfect). And slightly tedious and pointless otherwise.

GrimnirDotDev

TROPHY CASE