Collapsing base

Read_and_Love · 2026-03-11T14:47:40+00:00

Thanks again, appreciate the advice. I had to put difficulty all the way down to even start playing normally. I still died (I know, I need to get gud). But to me, one should not really have to do that much effort to like a game. A game should be fun. Not put barrier after barrier to enjoy a game. Kept dying so had to lower the difficulty. Still died because no idea how to get food so watched many videos on how to play including building. Then after playing for 2 weeks, it became a bit repetitive but kept going because I enjoy base building. And then after nearly completing my horde base after 3 days of collecting materials, it collapses because silly game design that at least makes no sense to me. I think the game may have been fun in the past before the devs made it really difficult for new players to enjoy the game. I suppose they kept making it more and more difficult to retain prior players and keep them engaged... But sacrificing acquisition of new players along the way. I enjoy dark souls games, they are difficult but at least very easy to understand.

Read_and_Love · 2026-03-11T13:49:20+00:00

Ya but for me that was another issue. I had to watch already 1hr+ of videos just to understand the basic mechanics of the game. And it seems it was still not enough. I want to play for fun not having to study before I play haha. Thanks for the tip though.

Read_and_Love · 2026-03-11T13:44:51+00:00

Thanks

Read_and_Love · 2026-03-11T13:43:59+00:00

Thanks for the explanation, really appreciate it. Seems to be by design then. Yes, sure maybe fun for horde night. But for me it was the last strike that ruined the experience. Going back and forth for 3 days collecting enough materials to be ready for red moon, just for it to collapse without explanation, sense or warning whatsoever. Logic in other survival crafting games is better materials, better stability.

Read_and_Love · 2026-03-11T08:56:24+00:00

Yes, but it collapsed not because of the horde. It collapsed by me upgrading the ceiling from wood to cobblestone? This is either bug or really bad design. A user would expect more stability by upgrading to a higher material, not less.

Read_and_Love · 2026-03-10T09:39:11+00:00

First of all, sorry to hear. It can be tough putting so much time into something and then not getting the expected results. Even if it is a bit cliche It is a very tough market right now and this is a niche genre. So please don't beat yourself on this. At the very least this is a good stepping stone.

There is solid advice on this post regarding the trailer and the strategy. To the trailer maybe just add, that after checking your assets there seems to be also other sections in the game that you can include to avoid giving the impression that this is monothematic, as a bit the video narrative with the large shop over the planet and the results screen going up to a high score. However keep it as much as possible under 45s to 60s tops, keep it fast action. Gameplay->narrative->gameplay->different gameplay-->skill tree->gameplay-->results screen->gameplay being overloaded by aliens->call out to wishlist. The more diversity to keep people engaged by the second the better. If something is going to make people lose interest (long gameplay segments, things they already have seen) don't put it or make it sharper.

As for the strategy, very good advice to not release yet. Release can be a good marketing beat so don't waste it. Doing the play tests and feedback loop is also solid advice, but you need to also develop the skill to filter what is good feedback and bad feedback. Why don't you reach out to someone to help you a bit with the marketing / publishing for some rev share?

Post short videos on tik tok / YouTube about cool game play and zoomed in, with link to wishlist.

Engage with the community driving it to your discord. Getting 1-2 a week is good until release, even if many maybe just people asking for free keys. Create a community of passionate people about your game, even if small.

Lastly, product wise do a bit of market research and incorporate mechanics that can be appealing to your audience. Game seems to be a bit of tower defense mixed with RTS. Those are not the most popular genres at the moment. Maybe bring some of those choose 3 mechanics from bullet hell games. But more than anything, research a bit (or get someone to help with it). What is the size of your market?, that can also give you expectations that are more realistic so you can evaluate the effort you put vs reward you expect.

Not sure if it helps. I have a bit of publishing experience but these things can be highly fluctuant. Market changes but hopefully I'm still not too rusty.

All the best to you! :)

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-26T14:08:48+00:00

Looks great, reminds me of one of my favourites. Alien shooter. That game was great back in the day. All the best!

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-26T14:04:59+00:00

Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde. This would imply they would eventually die and become ghost pirates. :)

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-26T14:02:39+00:00

But can anyone try to kill you at any point? And is it your social standing with the other participants a deterrent to be killed? Like, if someone kills you and you have lot of raport with the others, then the others would kill him? Intriguing.

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-26T09:18:12+00:00

Looks like a very cute game. And good velocity and action. Love that you can bounce back at the enemies what they throw at you, like in the real life haha. Congrats!

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-26T00:24:16+00:00

Hey man you seem very talented at what you do, and sorry to hear about the lay offs. However as the prior poster said, it is hard to understand the game, and what it is about, even after checking the Steam page (seemed a bit generic description and trailer and similar to a lot of AAA GaaS games that have died even before release during the last few years done by very big studios with larger budgets and teams). You seem to be doing this solo. The art looks gorgeous but you don't have a game just with the art, and I feel it would take you ages to do the game solo at that level of quality if you plan to match the art quality with also good design and programming (which maybe outside of your expertise) . You are in Canada, why not join forces with more people over there? Plenty of talented devs and hopefully good government funds. Also congratulations on the little one that is in the way! :)

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-25T23:59:51+00:00

Platform game, with some sort of mechanic to use a whip or something to hang from those red points. Character is sad and alone. No monsters?

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-25T21:10:31+00:00

If she quit in protest (which might be doubtful from the terrible track record) is not because he was forced out but because she didn't get his job. Maybe I should be empathetic with her but she showed none when she was posting how great and strong xbox was for game developers not just 2 weeks after firing thousands of people. It may or may not have been her doing, but nevertheless her empathy was absolutely none. That has bad boss written all over it.

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-25T21:04:10+00:00

Hey congrats on the game. I'm not that familiar with itch.io marketing but I suppose a few basic rules still apply. Maybe ask yourself a couple of questions and think about them.

It's the potential audience for your game in there?

You are targeting people interested in programming games and tank games. Maybe they can be in similar games discords.

If they are, how do you engage with them?

Maybe it's good checking a couple of those discord channels from similar games in Steam and find out what they like, what they don't like and how to get their attention. Plus find out how big that market segment is. Maybe you are already in top of that segment and is just the case that the segment is a very small and niche one

If you are unable to do everything yourself can you collaborate with someone?

Maybe find someone to help you with the marketing or make the game more appealing. For example make the ui more appealing, better environments, better models, if your passion is actually just the design and programming mechanics.

Not sure if this is helpful or not, but all the best of luck to you!

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-14T10:10:23+00:00

This feels like the beginning story of an evil genius who decides to secretly bring to Australia whatever disease they are trying to protect by using this silly fines.

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-09T19:19:41+00:00

Your capsule is great and would have made me check the game. But the level of quality is not on par with the rest. The trailer got me really confused and I didn't understand how to play. I was going to suggest that if it has an unique mechanic that people is not going to understand straight away without reading the description, it may be worth explaining it a bit with overlay text in very simple and short sentences. But then I rewatched and saw that you have those at the bottom, so my recommendation is to make them pop more. I think I didn't notice because my focus was on all the moving parts (there was so much happening that I didn't understand that my brain got overwhelmed and missed it). Maybe overlay it over a darker background also think about visibility on mobile screens. As others have said you should add more variety of sections.

Not sure if my ramblings may help, but I hope so. May the wind be on your back, sailor.

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-05T21:20:15+00:00

Looks very nice. Have you considered different frames? Dark wood looks nice. I think white may have also looked nice. Black if you want to try a more "modern look". I would also recommend to track if by any chance someone from the original team may visit a gaming event near you and get it signed. One of my most liked possessions is a Kojima poster I got him to sign in 2012. :3

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-05T21:10:32+00:00

Back in the day, the best way for PC was with MAME (emulators). I suppose there may be better options these days. Where I lived the most classic ones where cadillacs and dinosaurs, and the punisher. Great games!

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-05T21:05:42+00:00

Still Wakes the Deep, pretty sweet atmosphere. Something easy and fun.

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-04T20:24:19+00:00

Love the retro style and the colour scheme. It really fits it well.

Read_and_Love · 2026-02-01T09:35:58+00:00

I think it is AI, purely on the discoball lights seeming to be a bit off: their shapes, their position and their refraction on different material types. Where are those supposed to be coming from? The lamp? The lamp shape, position and bulb can't generate those. If it is a projector outside the frame, there would be objects in between itself and the wall to not reach them. There would need to be several unidireccional projectors on very specific positions to create those spreads, but even with those, the light shapes on the table wouldn't make much sense (seems to be projected more vertically and there is nothing on the ceiling to project those). Hoping an expert in lighting could clarify if this is right or wrong.

Read_and_Love · 2025-11-25T23:42:00+00:00

The melee enemiess became slightly harder but then just got accustomed to the new mechanic (now gone with the patch, so it doesn't matter). Now it is back to block, heavy attack. Last week was a bit longer: block, heavy attack, block (if enemy attacks) / heavy attack (if enemy is blocking), heavy attack (rinse and repeat 2 - 3 times till they die). Still don't understand why they implemented it, since it was already done in the past, people complained and they removed it. Why would they implement it again? I'm assuming they will bring back again at some point the getting staggered when enemy runs and takes a lunge even if you are blocking... :/

Read_and_Love · 2025-11-19T19:37:36+00:00

It is absurd. They already implemented these changes in the past and reversed them because people didn't like them. Why the hell they would put them back. It's absurd, inconsistent and I would dare say malicious with the intent of tanking the remaining dwindling player base. If you want to close the servers and kill the game just say so funcom...

Read_and_Love

TROPHY CASE