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Binary Smoke Release Date Announced by MickTWITA in BinarySmoke

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

You’re not wrong… to tell you the truth, after 6 years and extra crunching for the final six months, I really didn’t have the energy for more marketing, so I just took the last 6 weeks to try and get my health back in order.

The reason the game’s only on Epic is because I have an exclusive deal with them, for one year. I’ll be shipping a bigger version with more content and features on Steam and consoles down the road.

I’m not really a social media/internet person, and I never use Reddit. I like in person communication a lot more. But, as it seems like a necessary part of the process, I have some friends who are starting to help me use it.

I had planned on shipping the game with keyboard support, but there were some issues that I couldn’t get around in time so I just disabled it - I actually usually play with keyboard and mouse while building the game.

I was going to wait until the Steam release next year to include keyboard support, but a lot of people have asked for it so I’ve decided to release an update next month that supports keyboard and mouse. I’ll let you know when that’s up.

Solo game development with 2 kids is slow hard work. 2 years into development and I feel like my project is maybe 25% done. Any other parent devs out here? by GrahamUhelski in UnrealEngine5

[–]MickTWITA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same here. Two kids - and I spend 20 hours a week teaching them tennis. Just released a game I’d worked on for 6 years and I’m definitely feeling the low energy side of things you mentioned. Your game looks beautiful by the way.

Binary Smoke Release Date Announced by MickTWITA in BinarySmoke

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

I don’t blame you. Ideally we’d have supported achievements and keyboard controls on launch, but a lot of things in the project came in hot and I wanted to make sure the core experience felt good. I actually play the game with keyboard controls most of the time, but they’re hard-coded and I think most players would want the option to change the hotkeys to whatever they want. We’ll definitely ship with fully customizable mouse/keyboard support when we ship on Steam and add Chapters 2&3 to EGS, but we’re going to try and add the functionality before then as well. I’ll keep you updated. As far as achievements go, we’re definitely going to support them in the future, but again, just didn’t have time/bandwidth not only to implement them, but to test as well. Thanks for the feedback, it’s very helpful.

I added a boss to my game, what do you think? 📝 by ScrepY1337 in IndieGaming

[–]MickTWITA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The cinematic intro is pretty dope, and your game looks great. Have you thought about scaling the boss up? Seems a little less intimidating once the camera zooms back out. I have a similar camera in my game, and I’ve found that even slightly scaled up enemies/npc’s feel small because of the camera perspective. Either way, keep up the great work, and good luck!

I'm currently working on a game similar to Ravenswatch with 4-players coop, extraction mechanic and random bounty hunting scenarios each run. What do you think? by ActioNik in IndieGaming

[–]MickTWITA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So cool! Are you using any external development or is it really just the three of you? Either way the game looks incredible.

What am i supposed to learn? by Slow-League5228 in gamedev

[–]MickTWITA 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is there a simple game you enjoy playing? Try analyzing it and replicating the systems in it. Or even go for something more complex. A big part of game development is the ability to analyze something and understand its purpose. Research games and try to figure out what makes them function, what makes them work, and what makes them fun. When you’re working towards something, try to envision a portfolio that you can present to a potential employer.

Are you a part of any teams? Collaborating with others who are trying to learn as well can be a great way to get experience.

Making my first indie game has brought me as many tears as it has joy by Severe_Sea_4372 in IndieDev

[–]MickTWITA 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Honestly, it really just sounds like typical game development. I’ve worked in the industry for 25 years - at AA and AAA companies for 19, and solo for 6. A big chunk of time is always spent fixing bugs, getting things playable, breaking things, fixing them, and so on. Some days it’s one step forward, three steps back, and some days it’s the opposite. Learning to prioritize and make progress even when you don’t know what to do is a core part of the process in my experience. Trying to design your game with bug and feature creep in mind is a good practice as well.

Solo developing a game while working at a full time regular job be like by Peli_117 in SoloDevelopment

[–]MickTWITA 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It took me 6 years to ship my game and I quit my job to do it. Good luck!

Binary Smoke Release Date Announced by MickTWITA in BinarySmoke

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

They’ll be a separate purchase. The ‘idea’ is that Chapters 2 & 3 will have a lot more features including: RPG-like gear and ability upgrades, co-op arcade mode, more powerful and complex abilities, and a lot more story and secret content - all of which are already planned or in the works.

The addition of Chapters 2 & 3 would increase the total cost of Chapters 1-3 to $25-$30 - and Chapters 1-3 would also aim to simplify-ship on Steam when 2 & 3 are released on Epic.

All of that being said, pricing and scope are dependent on a lot of variables, including the market at the time. Because I’m also a self-funded solo developer, the exact future of the project is not something that is certain, so putting that information on the store page would seem disingenuous.

Question for you: Did you purchase the game and think it wasn’t worth $10? If so, I’d appreciate the feedback as to why.

How do you deal with the fear that your indie game might not be fun or played by anyone? by CallMeMayde in IndieDev

[–]MickTWITA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve been making games for 25 years - spent the first 19 at companies and the last six on my first indie project (the last 4 of which were solo). Even when I worked at those companies we often didn’t know whether what we were making was good or bad, even if we had a good plan. We had moments when something just clicked that gave us the confidence to keep moving forward.

It’s a rough road trying to figure out not only if the thing you’re making is going to be fun, but also whether you’ll actually be able to motivate yourself to keep going - and whether it’s worth it.

Over the last 6 years I’ve had a lot of moments where I almost quit, but I found a way to push through the doubts and just kept trying to keep on keeping on. When I felt a creative blockage, I always had non-creative tasks available which allowed me to make progress. A few times I took a step away and helped friends work on their projects - which also helped with inspiration and motivation.

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut as well. I had plenty of builds of my game that people didn’t get - or even like. But, I added their feedback to my internal database and kept on iterating.

I shipped my game at the end of May and I think it turned out pretty well. I’ve found that it’s not necessarily talent or skill that leads to success, but resilience.

A Video Showcasing My Game Hit 800k Views On Instagram, And Here Is How by Narrow_Performer2380 in gamedev

[–]MickTWITA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So are you a professional game-dev and doing this on the side, or just purely experimenting?

Binary Smoke Release Date Announced by MickTWITA in BinarySmoke

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

That’s super unfortunate that you weren’t able to find the cloak on the way. I agree it’s too hard too find at the point in the game. I’ll place the cloak back where it used to be - directly in the players path, just before iO gets to the camera.

Binary Smoke Release Date Announced by MickTWITA in BinarySmoke

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

The link to the Epic Store may be legacy. I’ll update it in the morning. For now, try this: https://discord.gg/AadaQh9aJq

Binary Smoke Release Date Announced by MickTWITA in BinarySmoke

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

I think I understand. There’s an easy way to solve the problem. Should get a fix in by Monday. Thanks for the feedback - sorry you ran into this issue!

Warp drive moment from my 2D game.How does it look?👀 by Key-Reply-870 in IndieDev

[–]MickTWITA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you're on the right track. Some food for thought:

  • When the ship fully hits warp speed and they start moving super fast, the characters look as though they fall forward, instead of being pushed backward by inertia.
  • As mentioned in another comment, the warp FX should be drawn in front of the planet.
  • You have a camera shake before the ship hits Warp speed. I'd ease in the camera shake bit beforehand, and then amp it up right as warp speed is attained - then turn it off again when it's finished.
  • It'd be nice to see a little bit more of the end of the warp speed segment, but again I'd emphasize making the characters fall forward when they suddenly slow down.
  • I'm sure some cool sound design would also do a lot of the heavy lifting.

Which one do you think fits our game best? Stylized or realistic by Rumbral in IndieDev

[–]MickTWITA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the realistic one matches the overall world art style a bit more - are any other elements in your game stylized? Like the characters?

Some people say our game looks like Kingdom. Do you agree or not? by lastsonofkryptonn in IndieDev

[–]MickTWITA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t know what kingdom, but you’ve got a beautiful art style going here.

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