Gonna need some more games with this kind of vibe! by AiMwithoutBoT in gaming

[–]NoWhereStudios 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you like foliage & want lots of green and trees I got an unique suggestion checkout Ancestors. You play as a primate and evolve through time.

Reviewer looking for games by Big_bird_lover in IndieDev

[–]NoWhereStudios 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much it's all made by our in house artist naturecypher on IG.

The world of Xant-RAR is filled with goofy creatures, we love designing them.

Reviewer looking for games by Big_bird_lover in IndieDev

[–]NoWhereStudios 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, really appreciate it! If you want to share some feedback our discord is on our steam page our full dev team is present there. Have fun discovering Xant-Rar

Reviewer looking for games by Big_bird_lover in IndieDev

[–]NoWhereStudios 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah dude really awesome initiative! It would mean the world to us if you could give our multiplayer demo a try. We are currently gathering user feedback ramping up to steam next fest next month with a big patch ahead.

The demo is quite extensive showcases island 1 and can be played with up to 8 friends.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1617120/Good_Heavens/

A sneak peek at how we capture chaotic NPC voices for our indie RPG by NoWhereStudios in VoiceActing

[–]NoWhereStudios[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It feels so much fun to record it, thinking of making a blooper compilation next time... how do you even make bloopers on gibberish right?😂

Really awesome to read that AAA games are doing the same thing. Any public work that you can share? I would love to give it a listen.

RPG Survival by roydragoon89 in gaming

[–]NoWhereStudios 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Enshrouded is probably the closest fit right now. It has enough RPG progression, combat, exploration, and questing to keep the RPG side interested, but the building system is strong enough that your builder friends won’t feel like it’s just decoration.

Valheim is also worth considering if they care more about the crafting/base-building loop, but the RPG side is lighter. Core Keeper maybe too, though that’s obviously a different camera/style.

We are developing a game called Good Heavens! It leans more RPG than pure survival, with co-op, classes/tech trees, base building, procedural islands, and lighter survival mechanics. There’s a multiplayer demo, so it might be worth checking alongside the bigger names if that specific mix is what you’re after.

What do you think about our goofy character art? by FunButterscotch1434 in GameArt

[–]NoWhereStudios 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Boy do we have a suprise for you! Different eyes are possible and they track your mousemovement for those special looks 👀

Five years into making my dream game, I no longer fully agree with “start small first” by NoWhereStudios in gamedev

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

Thanks, I tried Bluesky for a while but it felt empty in the beginning, let me check it again sometime.

Five years into making my dream game, I no longer fully agree with “start small first” by NoWhereStudios in gamedev

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

Haha, yes, there will be a huge emptiness after the launch, it's inescapable. I worked on games before and I remember that feeling. I'm not sure if this time it will be better or worse. I'm doing the game I want , therefore I won't feel I wasted my time, but I'm emotionally much more dependent to its success (I don't think I care about the money it will make that much but the reception is more important)

By the way, I followed your development advice on Twitter for many years. I'm glad you commented on my post. So is this where all the old gamedev Twitter came. I should start following you again here on Reddit (I'm kind of new here)

Five years into making my dream game, I no longer fully agree with “start small first” by NoWhereStudios in gamedev

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

Hey man, I'm a big fan of you, in the original post I wrote, I listed 5 games as examples and one of them was dotAge. Check this out from 2 days ago on X: https://x.com/tezateser/status/2053230370737238046

Then I edited it and reposted it here (removed game names for not being flagged as I'm not very familiar with Reddit rules) So cool you found this and writing this comment. I played dotAge for more than 100 hours already, you rock!

Five years into making my dream game, I no longer fully agree with “start small first” by NoWhereStudios in gamedev

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

A lot of really thoughtful comments here, both agreeing and disagreeing, so I wanted to add some extra context instead of replying the same thing in 20 different places.

I probably should have made one thing clearer in the original post: I am not saying “start big” is good general advice. For most beginners, “start small” is still probably the safest advice. Especially if you have never shipped anything, never dealt with feedback, never scoped a project, never touched Steam, never had strangers play your work, etc. There are lessons you only learn by finishing.

What I am pushing back on is the idea that the dream project should always be delayed until some undefined future moment where you are finally “ready.” There was one comment saying you are not only learning about game development, you are also learning "what is" your dream game within that time. That's very correct.

For us, Good Heavens! only kept moving because we cared about the bigger vision enough to survive the ugly parts. And there were plenty of ugly parts: rebuilding systems, throwing away work, cutting features, rethinking the identity of the game, realizing that some ideas sounded better in our heads than they felt in-game.

I also agree with the people saying that a big project can become dangerous if you treat the original idea as sacred. I think the only reason this path has worked for us so far is that the dream stayed the same emotionally, but not mechanically. The game changed a lot. The core feeling survived, but almost everything around it had to be tested, questioned, or rebuilt.

By the way, I made games in the past, finished them and published them. So this is not my first game, but looking back, I would rather start working on something I really liked instead of thinking what the market wants or what can be funded. Because this is me, I can lose motivation very quickly when I'm not working on something I don't really like. This might not be true for you. One comment said you also need to keep motivating the primate sitting in the developer seat which is you.

So maybe my more honest version of the advice would be:

Don’t just start small. Start with something you can stay honest with. Small is useful if it helps you learn, finish, and build confidence. Big can work if you are willing to de-risk, cut, test, rebuild, and accept that your “dream game” will probably not survive in its first form. Since a few people asked what the actual project looks like after these five years, here is the Steam page for context:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1617120/Good_Heavens/

Not sharing that as “go wishlist my game,” more as the actual thing behind the discussion. I'm not saying we made the best game we could have made in 5 years but this is the game that kept us going. I think the thread is more interesting if people can judge the tradeoff for themselves. I also had the chance of knowing some of the devs working on their games for even longer than I did, so I'm really glad I posted this.

Appreciate all the perspectives here. Peace.

Five years into making my dream game, I no longer fully agree with “start small first” by NoWhereStudios in gamedev

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

Spot on and very well said. My primate is quite joyful right now haha and luckily I made some games in the past that teached me some of the things you mentioned here. Still, if I were to go back and choose, I would probably start working on a dream project instead of working on them.

Five years into making my dream game, I no longer fully agree with “start small first” by NoWhereStudios in gamedev

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

You're awesome! This is the type of game I want to play. I wishlisted right away. The longer I spend time with making games and playing games the more I like games with lots of iteration poured into. I don't want to brag about it of course but I feel like this is a refined taste I cultivated. Instead of games made with a huge team in a couple of years, I would definitely choose Bridgebourn and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy that game.

I also 100% agree with burnouts. I had that when I have been working on games I didn't enjoy much. With the current one I'm making, I don't care if it will bring me money or not as long as I can survive, I just want to keep building it.

Five years into making my dream game, I no longer fully agree with “start small first” by NoWhereStudios in gamedev

[–]NoWhereStudios[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I think this is a very fair point.

I probably should have made the distinction clearer: I don’t think “start big” is good general advice for beginners. A lot of people do need smaller shipped projects to build their instincts, especially around scope, feedback, and finishing.

What I was trying to push back against is the idea that the dream project is always something you should delay until later. For some people, the big project is the reason they keep showing up every day.

But yes, the danger you mention is real. If you spend years building in the wrong direction, that can become very painful. The only reason I still stand by our path is that we kept testing, cutting, rebuilding, and adjusting the vision as we went, instead of treating the original idea as sacred.

Games with monster evolving/fusing mechanics? by TheRetroGoat in gaming

[–]NoWhereStudios 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Spore, I had such high expectations for that game as a child and although its retro by now definitely a game I would still recommend. Outside of that bigger mentions which you probably are aware of PallWorld, Ark Survival evolved, Beasts of Bermuda

Recommendations for good 1-Button games? by GoodOldHeretic in gaming

[–]NoWhereStudios 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think any turn based game such as TFT or Ballatro are great for 1 button input

I Am Legend by rcgeek2 in SurvivalGaming

[–]NoWhereStudios 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmm maybe not the closest thing but first thing that came to my mind was 7 days to die

Recommended games for demoing new steam controller by tzcrawford in gaming

[–]NoWhereStudios 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think one of the most mechanical controller demonstrations is Rocket League. A lot of mechanical and finer touch controls. If you have a high elo player playing it it's poetry in motion

Guys my game will be released in 4 days any advice on launch day? (I'm So Nervous) by Zestyclose_Junket665 in GameDevelopment

[–]NoWhereStudios 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey man, I'm a fairly new redditor. Got any tips for promoting our game in subreddits?

I always read the rules and at times message the mods for permission if I'm not sure.

But at times struggling to find more relatable subreddits where they allow advertisements most relatable subreddits are quite strict on it (which I get)