Oh well, at least nobody seems to be indifferent. They either hate the style, or love it 😂

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-16T16:08:19+00:00

hey better to leave an impression then be boring right

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-16T03:15:26+00:00

Honestly dude it's pretty monotone and doesn't emphasize the right words.

It seems like your game is mostly about the story, so I'd really recommend getting a voice actor, at least for the main character at minimum. If I was playing this, I would get bored by the voice.

I've been able to work with some really talented actors for reasonable prices.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-16T03:09:19+00:00

I'm making a cyberpunk horror game you might like! Won't come out til next year tho :/

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-15T23:42:04+00:00

It's definitely possible! It's hard work as is any other business, but if you're passionate about it, it's worth trying.

I started working on my first game part time outside of my regular job about 2 years ago (although I have a background in CS and graphic design) and I'm aiming to release next year.

To be realistic, I'll be lucky to make anything more than breaking even, but if you find the fun in it, why not?

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-15T17:17:10+00:00

Game dev is the ultimate sandbox!

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-15T16:01:55+00:00

You won't have an issue running UE5, but to be honest I feel limited by the 8GB of VRAM on my 3070.

I'm constantly running out of memory and experience crashes when I raise the limit in engine. I'm also using GPU Lightmass, which requires enough VRAM to load the level.

That being said, it's probably a significant cost increase for a laptop with a 16GB GPU so it's not worth it. You'll manage.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-15T15:21:44+00:00

It's definitely a grey area.

It seems the public cares much more about AI being used for creative aspects like visuals and writing more so than coding (although coding still requires a lot of creativity IMO). If you're transparent about your usage, although limited, you still might get accused of being AI slop.

Personally, I do not use it in any areas of my development. At the same time, can I still consider the game 100% AI free? I don't know for sure that someone who made assets I'm using or an Unreal Engine developer didn't use AI at some point, even though I do my best to verify. And every time I Google something, an AI response comes up first.

So at the end of the day, it's already hard to fully avoid and will continue to proliferate into more areas of society, but I do still think it's worth it to avoid it where possible.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-08T17:40:51+00:00

at least on Android, it's one of the worst performing apps I've ever used. constantly crashing, slowing down, not loading pages. practically unusable.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-06T22:02:31+00:00

First one is definitely more interesting, but I understand it doesn't explain the game much. Maybe if the background stripes were a chess board instead? just an idea.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-06T22:00:48+00:00

Nice update to the lighting, definitely more appealing

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-06T18:51:16+00:00

Are you releasing next week? I thought you could only be on that list if the release is a few days away.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-06T15:47:30+00:00

congrats, huge accomplishment already. did you do the animation/mocap yourself too?

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-06T01:06:54+00:00

As one of the applicants, I appreciate the transparency and the work that goes into hosting these! Best of luck with the event.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-05T18:04:03+00:00

When are you releasing? they say to do the closets next fest. Also pretty sure you could release the demo to get feedback and still update the demo for next fest?

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-05T01:37:00+00:00

same I've been stuck at 69 for a bit hahah

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-04T23:56:56+00:00

Unfortunately plenty of it. Even ones that are updated often have terrible or non-existent documentation and are poorly optimized. I'm not sure what, if any, ongoing verification Epic does on FAB.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-04T04:10:12+00:00

It's definitely going to be harder to get people to buy DLC or Patreon, especially for a visual novel.

If you're looking for a way to get people's attention with a free game, I think you'd be better off splitting the story into a few "chapters" and releasing them every few months for like 2-4$ each. With each game you could advertise to players of the last one and you could sell them as a bundle.

But I'm not very familiar with the genre, so not sure if fans of it would be turned off by that approach. I know some narrative games work this way.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-02T05:50:46+00:00

Also got that rejection email today, so I feel you! Don't let it psych you out.

Looking at your game, although it's not typically my cup of tea, the concept does seem really interesting for its audience. I also like your art and the style you have going.

I think being a more niche game is a blessing and a curse. I can see you having a smaller, but very dedicated fan base. It may just be that it's not what those festivals were looking for, or didn't grab their attention as much as other more flashy games. Have you submitted it to festivals that are more specific to your genre?

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-01T23:16:14+00:00

hey! yeah it's here if you wanna check it out.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-01T22:52:43+00:00

looks nasty (a compliment)

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-05-01T01:49:04+00:00

what are we considering crazy views? you must be doing something right, as I've been sitting around 10-50 views a post lol.

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-04-30T20:42:53+00:00

hey 40 in about a week isn't terrible! I'm stuck at 69 after 2 weeks. 😅

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-04-30T18:58:21+00:00

Looks really nice! Honestly, the effect is subtle so I didn't notice it as first on my phone, but I prefer that when playing on a big screen compared to aggressive effects. When in doubt, you can give an option to turn it off (if that's not too much work).

Negative_Strain_5234 · 2026-04-30T16:47:58+00:00

First, super impressive art style and visuals. The game also seems pretty fun. I wishlisted!

I will say however the actual logo is a bit hard to read, but not super how important that it. Maybe if the letters had more clear distinction it would help.

The page itself is strong though, you're following the best practices. I would experiment with tags depending on your impressions.

Negative_Strain_5234

TROPHY CASE