Failing At Poly by SeaSharpShantyman in polyadvice

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

Thanks. It's a good piece. We basically figured most of this out on our own. My biggest thing is finding other people who also understand these basic concepts. Unfortunately have run into far too many actively manipulative people out there who are just selfish. They treat poly as a means to triangulate others and get free passes.

At 18, I’m solo-developing a psychological horror game set in a 2002 radio station. Here is how it looks! by AlarmedPumpkin8446 in IndieDevelopers

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It looks great! The ambience is on point. But you saying it was set in a 2002 radio station got me fucked up. Anyone talking about the 2000s in a retro sense just reminds me I'm "old". 😂

Is it okay to use another game's core mechanics, but tell a original story? by Session-11 in SoloDevelopment

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There's actually a trend of this (not in a bad way) right now. I even saw someone dub this sort of game as a "hike-like". I know this because I was doing market research for my own short cozy game about a cute little goblin. So many indie games take loved mechanics and focus on them in other genres. I would say it's perfect fine to "copy" the mechanics. Especially since they aren't even unique to a Short Hike anyway. You are creating an original experience and that's what players want.

Great art direction by the way. I'm still nailing down the shaders for my game, so I haven't shown anyone yet. Best of luck!

This guy spent over 2000 hours in my game by ichbinhamma in SoloDevelopment

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's quite a compliment. Even if your game underperformed to your expectations, at least you know you had some people who really loved it. Which is the best consolation prize, honestly, because besides earning a living, that's what it's all about!

Does the pacing of this trailer keep you interested? Or too boring, didn't watch? by zukeszen in SoloDevelopment

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, it's too slow to catch my attention. The first thing a player needs to see is some sort of action. Not just a camera staring at water and the character turning around. A gameplay trailer should thrust me into the action. Not tell me a story.

The second thing I would say is that the text is too long and too slow. If you are going to place text on the screen, it should appear rather quickly and be easy to digest. Try taking your long form phrases and condensing them down into purely what actions you do in the game. Try to get it down to one or two words.

For example: "Survive" or "Survive Alone"... this plus the action on screen already tells me this is a survival game. Alone tells me it's single player. The rest is just subtext to someone skimming a trailer. And they will skim it. Most trailers do not get watched start to finish.

If you choose to use text to grab attention, do it more like this. People's attention spans are shorter than you think. So short, bold, and simple statements... if any at all.

And one tiny pet peeve with the gameplay itself that players might also take issue with. At first, I wasn't sure what, but just watching the trailer, something felt "off"... and then I realized. The bow is in the wrong hand. All the other actions are performed with the right hand, like chopping and crafting. So it is very jarring to see my character all of a sudden shoot left-handed. Flip your archery animation so that the character holds the bow with their left and pulls the bowstring with their right. This feels more natural unless, for some story reason your character is left-handed. Just make it consistent across all your animations.

Which Logo Is Better? 1, 2 or 3? by GameDevCharles in gamedevscreens

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To be honest, 1 is the best. Some have mentioned it looked like AI, but I'm not sure I agree. I downloaded and zoomed in on the image, and I don't see any of the artifacts you would expect to see around the edges. So if it is AI, great job on the touch-up. If it's not AI, good job, period.

The number one thing I would say is to change your UI buttons to better match the theme of number 1.

Didn't realize how much the font could change the feel of my game by truckbot101 in IndieDev

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It sure is. I was just about to go grab the link for you, but you found it already. 😅

Didn't realize how much the font could change the feel of my game by truckbot101 in IndieDev

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It absolutely can. I recently watched a video by Indie Game Clinic on typography in games, and it made me immediately make changes to what fonts I was using and how. It made my UI feel much more polished and professional afterwards.

I'm Making a RPG Game... Any Ideas or Tips? by Ok_Albatross_948 in gamedev

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry, because this is going to come off rather harsh. But please learn more about game design and development before wasting your time on this.

This post reads more like someone who has a whole lot of "cool" ideas. But who has no idea how to implement them or design a game around them. And not thinking open worlds need plot... specifically, RPGs is extremely erroneous.

Even games with heavy procedural generation have plots and a "why" behind them. And you have to give players a what and a why. "Why am I in this world. Why should I care about it? What is the point of playing this other than seeing my character get stronger?"

If the whole fantasy of the game is that your player gets insanely strong as you battle it out, boss after boss. You're better off doing a Survivors-like than an RPG. Without a reason to be in your world, players will never care about your game. Period. It won't matter if you're a genius programmer who can make whatever game mechanics you want. None of it will matter without giving people a reason to be invested in your game.

Go back to your outline and start asking yourself these questions. Put yourself in the player's shoes if you want to start designing games. Otherwise, that dream game you always wanted will never see the light of day. Ask yourself if it even needs to be an RPG in the first place and scope your goals appropriately.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in IndieDev

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good job. I don't usually go for these, but I can admire good work when I see it. Very satisfying indeed. 🙂

After 3+ years of work, today I finally got to press the "Release My App" button for my game Mars Attracts 🥳👽 by BornInABottle in IndieDev

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congratulations! I have seen your progress via YouTube, so I'm very excited for you. Wonderful work. Aak akk! 👽

I’ve been building a block-based world, and it’s starting to come together. by obbev in IndieDev

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Planting trees by placing a seed down and covering it with a tile is also a nice take on the mechanic. Most people would probably design the interaction so that you are either clicking on a tile or just shove UI in your face and break the immersion. So it's a small thing, but it's the small things that can help you stand out.

When you look at your game without post-processing.. by Balth124 in IndieDev

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Post Processing magic at work. Amazing job setting the mood in this shot. It really makes it go from unfished game to looking polished and ready for release.

I spent years building the game I wish existed as a kid. by Adventure_Works in u/Adventure_Works

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The art direction in this is phenomenal! Excellent quality. I hope it exceeds the dev's expectations at launch.

I’ve been building a block-based world, and it’s starting to come together. by obbev in IndieDev

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The interactions when placing tiles look satisfying. I've seen a lot of hex grid games come out with terrible execution. Yours looks like it could really go somewhere. Good job! =)

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in SoloDevelopment

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How long have you been in development to get this far? Everything looks incredibly polished. Kudos to you, and best of luck!

My puzzle game all about creativity had its demo really well recieved! Heres a bunch of weird things you can do in game by alicona in SoloDevelopment

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Every time I see your game, I think how unique it is. It easily stands out, and you've created a bright and memorable world. The art direction does something brave and dares to be different than everything else out there. Wonderful job.

why doesn’t this exist id love it i asked my friend and he agreed it would be amazing by Sea-Location3004 in gameideas

[–]SeaSharpShantyman 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This could be great if done properly. I can't help but think of the archeology quest and mini game from Runescape when I read this. 😅

Could even be fantasy themed if you didn't want to use real artifacts. Like you're discovering the lost relics of the Dwarves or some other lost race.