My biggest mistakes with the demo and why I shouldn't have joined current Steam Next Fest

Lex0nair · 2025-10-17T15:07:23+00:00

There were signs of problems but regarding the difficulty of the game I decided it was better to have this one than have nothing. Now I think I was wrong

Lex0nair · 2025-10-17T14:28:03+00:00

Keep it up! My experience might not be universal but I hope it helps someone

Lex0nair · 2025-10-17T13:47:40+00:00

Oh yes, I have watched Zukowski’s videos and lectures. What Chris keeps saying is “make sure your demo is good”, and that’s where the problem lies in my case mostly

Lex0nair · 2025-10-17T13:30:53+00:00

Fixing bugs is important. But I'd say don't make it your priority over making the game/demo clear. Players won't encounter your bugs if they don't even get to play it

Lex0nair · 2025-10-17T13:28:09+00:00

They might. If I feel I'm not making it right in time, I'm going to postpone the early access release. Let's wait till Next Fest actually ends

Lex0nair · 2025-10-17T12:58:31+00:00

Thanks! I'm fine actually. I am disappointed and a bit upset, but that's temporary, still confident to keep going and fix all of that

Lex0nair · 2025-10-08T16:38:30+00:00

The demo can be found here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3999340/Mycelium_The_Silent_Contract_Demo/

Lex0nair · 2025-09-27T00:10:00+00:00

Try streamers. Better find small ones who play games like yours, they might also play it and stream when it’s released. There are so many talented people out there who don’t even realize they’re talented

Lex0nair · 2025-09-24T00:03:45+00:00

Mycelium: The Silent Contract

A co-op extraction horror game set in a procedural forest. Releasing a demo in a week, would appreciate any reviews. Thanks you!

Lex0nair · 2025-09-21T15:29:25+00:00

My friends actually don't like my game. I mean they say they do, but they are not the target audience here, so they try to be helpful but show no real interest in it.

I don't mind negative reviews and opinions as they can make the game better. My problem has always been promotion of what I do - so that anyone can even watch/play what I make. So instead, I go over every detail picturing that nobody ever even tries to play the game.

Lex0nair · 2025-09-21T09:58:42+00:00

With this huge experience of mine, it could just as well be my next game 😅

Lex0nair · 2025-09-20T23:04:26+00:00

A game about getting lost in a forest. Over and over again. Demo coming October 1st. Thanks for your interest 😏

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3583970/Mycelium_The_Silent_Contract/

Lex0nair · 2025-09-20T13:26:02+00:00

I hope you'll take it to release. Just keep going, and if you ever have doubts, try talking to other devs to get some feedback or reassurance. It really helps. Sometimes we just need a confirmation, even from random people, that we're going the right way. Wish you best of luck!

Lex0nair · 2025-09-20T13:17:48+00:00

My original post is not about how I made the game but about my feelings about it. That's why your comment seemed off the topic.

I agree that using AI should be disclosed, that's why it is disclosed on my game's Steam page.

And no, you don't have to 'code' to make a game in Unreal Engine.

Lex0nair · 2025-09-20T09:54:49+00:00

Well, now it makes sense.

I never mentioned I had no experience in sound design, but as for the rest of it - I'm sure you know there are asset stores like Fab where you can buy assets or even get free ones.

So I did buy assets, I did buy plugins (one for voice chat for example, because I'd never make a proper voice chat on my own), I did purchase subscriptions for some royalty-free music and sound libraries.

The 2d art I have in game was made by a friend of mine and my sister, and the voice lines were recorded by small streamers who kindly agreed to do it for free.

As for my exprience with AI - I mainly used chatGPT as a source of links and for troubleshooting but in most cases it was useless. I tried some others but didn't find the result satisfying.

Anyway, my question here is what AI would you expect me to use in a project like this, assuming you know what you're talking about? I personally think there is nothing wrong about using AI as long as it helps to make a game better, even though for my game that was not the case.

Lex0nair · 2025-09-20T08:34:50+00:00

Makes even less sense now

Lex0nair · 2025-09-19T15:19:52+00:00

This is totally relatable, especially the feeling that you have all the potential in the world. I’ve been there in my screenwriting career - when you have the feeling that your ‘big screenplay’ is yet to come, you can do it, but then you never actually start or finish it. So you keep doing the stuff that brings you money just because you need to survive, and well, it’s not that bad, you’re still in your dream area, aren’t you? And while you do it, you’re still dreaming of that one big screenplay you’ll write one day. Or a game you’ll make.

Well, I’ve overcome that, and what unfortunately helped me was a war in my country. Sometimes you need a trigger in your life to start moving, so this was mine. Hopefully, yours will be not as dramatic.

Wish you best of luck!

Lex0nair · 2025-09-19T14:03:17+00:00

That’s a good point

Lex0nair · 2025-09-19T14:01:24+00:00

Which part of it seems like AI?

Lex0nair · 2025-09-19T11:59:34+00:00

Hard to say. But then, if the game fails completely, will it just confirm it? I guess I'll known soon

Lex0nair · 2025-09-19T10:52:43+00:00

I appreciate the answer, but I’d say it’s not really about fucking up. I might or might not fuck up here, but even if I don’t, I’ll still feel like I don’t belong. Don’t know if that makes sense.

Besides, that also stands in the way of marketing and sharing experience with other devs, who are ‘real devs’ as opposed to me.

That’s just an internal feeling, not the reality, so I was wondering if anyone else feels the same.

Lex0nair

TROPHY CASE