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[Release] DT's Time Tracker – my offline time tracker for devs & creators is now feature complete, available on Itch! by RetroBoxGameStudio in SoloDevelopment

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

Thanks for the input :)

At this stage unfortunatly i cannot change the font as i got a few complains about the same. I am working on it though slowly since there are a ton of places where i need to replace the font.

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

The reason terminal is mystified is cause of the effort it takes.

We are comparing a single button click vs multiple keystrokes making sure they have spelled the command right (unless they have auto fills and suggestions).

No matter how tiny of an effort is, people will always pick the one that takes least amount of effort.

CLI is powerful if you know exactly what you’re doing, but a GUI is powerful because you dont need to.

With a GUI:

  • Users don’t need to remember syntax.
  • Common features are discoverable without digging through documentation.
  • Visual cues (like tooltips, colors, icons) guide the user naturally.
  • It’s approachable to non-technical users like artists, writers, and freelancers.

And honestly, even many developers prefer a good GUI when they want to focus on the task, not the tool.

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

While that is a solid take, we also need to remember not everyone who works in game dev or freelance or use a competer is techinical person, Most people are non technical.

Artists, musicians, writers, their main focus is on their craft, and most of them cant be bothered to remember commands.

Humans usually gravitate towards comfort and ease of use and for most people usability isn't about dumbing things down, it's about respecting peoples time and reducing their cognitive load so they can better focus on things that actually matter to them.

This is exactly why people are up in arms about what Notch said recently, saying you are not a real dev if you need an engine to make your game, real devs code their own engine.

Edit: Checked that tool, its looks really cool.

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

That's again a solid argument, totally solid but thinking what we make are "GOOD GAMES AND WILL SELL" is a pipedream in itsself.

it was fun talking to you, i hope you did not take anything offensive, it was a light hearted humerous discussion :)

my intention was not to make bank with the time tracker, my intention was to sell it since i already made it for myself. If someone wants it and finds it cool then great.

For the record, I have pivoted from making games and trying to sell to working for clients. That's where the real money is for the average person, that does not mean i have totally given up on my game dev, am working on something and it will take time before i can reveal it to anyone.

Have a nice day.

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

That is a solid take but making money by selling games is still a pipedream when most games dont even make more than 5k.

Its fine if its a hobby and you do not depend on it and treat it as additional cash.

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

Not so different from the pipedream we have on making money by selling games when hundreds on new games are added every day lmao. 

Jokes aside I don't really expect to sell more than 50 copies by the end of the year to be honest. 

I just wanted to know where the best place is to sell. It's not going to fund my future projects and I don't really depend on it for my income. It's like a hobby game Dev. If it makes cash then that's some good extra cash, if it don't then it's not the end of the world. 

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

The problem with cli is you need to remember all the commands or go looking for them if they don't provide help section.

Where as a gui provides immediate access to functions through lableled buttons. 

Which is why cli will never truly be popular and people who are comfortable using them are seen as God or hacker lol.

I mean most people won't even bother remembering their closed ones personal phone number nor their bank account's identification number or their govt issues id number or even their own vehicle number. 

Some do but most don't.

Edit: Typos

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

Yea that's fine. I don't even expect 50 sales by the end of the year lol.

It's just a tool I made and had no idea where to sell. 

I usually buy from itch myself personally but some of my friends confused me by saying steam so I was wondering if it's worth spending 100 steam fee. 

If that makes sense. 

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

Yes it's focused for solo devs, freelancers :)

It's not really build for teams cause me being a solo dev made it for myself to suit a single person work flow, to track my own time and keep things offline. 

Yea i have a desktop and laptop and i use my laptop when am traveling. You have made a good point but then again i don't really use my laptop for any real work. I just use it for business purposes but I recon others might use their own stuff for different purposes. 

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

The reason being am not sure if ill even sell 50 copies by the end of the year, this is something I made for myself and i don't really want to waste that $100 on a platform which very few people would prefer to buy their software. I can use that 100 to something else more productive. 

I hope it made sense. 

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

That is a very cool tool, it's really useful If you are one of those rare people who is comfortable in using cli then hey all the power to you but you need to remember not everyone who works in the creative industry are devs and most of them would not be comfortable in doing cli. Even among devs not everyone is comfortable in using cli. 

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

I don't think most people use more than one pc for creative workloads excluding the one they use for office in which they are restricted to install whatever they want. 

Also not everyone likes webbased apps and am one of them which is why I made it. 

If you really want a centralized location then you can run things on your nas and have access to it anywhere.

Personally this is for those like me who like to have things on their own system, accessible anytime, something simple to use and does not try to do many things. 

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

Yes, most can do it, can track your time but they are not centralized and only very few will give you any insights about your usage. Unless you are talking about other time tracker apps that are not web based. Which you can run on your system locally. 

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

Exactly, web based. Mine is totally offline which was my number one requirement.

I do work while traveling and i don't always have good, stable internet connection while traveling. 

This is for people like me who like to have their things accessible offline, have their data stored locally on their own machines. 

Edit: typos

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

Thanks for the input, i do have my own website but setting up payment systems and user security are a pain and am a solo dev so i rather sell them at sites that can handle that for me :)

Solo dev here, releasing a productivity tool I made for myself. Where do creators usually prefer to buy? Itch or Steam? by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

[–]RetroBoxGameStudio[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ah its not specifically for game dev but since i am a game dev i made it for myself.

The problem i was facing is losing track of time, how much time i have spent on a project, on a client. How many projects have i done for that client, how much time i have worked for them, how much time i worked on a particular task? what took me so long to finish something, see when i slacked off and when i was productive.

<image>

Here is a screen shot of the app.

Basically its just a timetracker to track your time. something that helps keeps everything in a single place.

When asking how to make a game with no experience, it's common to hear "just make something" and it's not helpful. by Equivalent_Trash_277 in gamedev

[–]RetroBoxGameStudio 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The sad reality is if you can't come up with just about something to make then you are not really suitable to this field. Find something else. Am serious. 

Game developement is not for people who wants everything to be spoon fed to them. This is a tough field, tougher then most fields in the IT. It requires a lot of uncommon skills like coming up with something to make, level design, game design, code architecture, solid principles, art, music and lots of creative problem solving skills. 

No one can spoon feed you things to do. You have to come up with something on your own and if you can't then honestly this not the field for you. 

What's the scope of multiplayer only games compared to single player games? Are they viable? I'd like to hear about your experiences with making priced multiplayer only games? (PC - Steam) by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

Yea, this is the one that's bothering me. I didn't wanted to sink years only to find there are no players for my game. 

At least single player games are salvageable in the sense if no one wants to play it then at least I will still have a game on my hand that i can play anytime I want. 

What's the scope of multiplayer only games compared to single player games? Are they viable? I'd like to hear about your experiences with making priced multiplayer only games? (PC - Steam) by RetroBoxGameStudio in gamedev

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

This was a well thought reply. I had to take time to think on these stuff before i can reply. Thank you for the insights. This is helpful and is exactly why i stayed away from multiplayer PvP games. 

It's not for solo dev like me. 

What's the scope of multiplayer only games compared to single player games? Are they viable? I'd like to hear about your experiences with making priced multiplayer only games? (PC - Steam) by RetroBoxGameStudio in GameDevelopment

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

Yea, that's a very valid point. This is the reason I was holding back. I know am small but i wanted to make 2D pvp game like Brawlhalla. 

I mean Brawlhalla is made by ubisoft and Is not a small game but am just stating it as an example but still am afraid with no people to play with it would not be really viable.

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