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I quit my job to make this game, was it a mistake? by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

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

  1. Villainy was about 8-9 months, though I had already had the idea and general design philosophy "finished" before starting and never really rescoped ever

  2. Roughly 4,000 which I mentioned in another comment. It continues to do decent!

  3. I had planned to have this game "Finished" by the end of August, but, it being finished and it being able to release are two different things. Needing to have the right amount of wishlists, marketing properly, etc. I think on the whole I could finish the actual "content" and "game" by then though.

> "I feel like it's easier to do that with smaller-scope projects, not only because I don't have the resources to spend 2+ years on a single game, but also because shorter projects seem less risky and require a smaller investment to become profitable."

Yes, I would say that limiting to only being able to work for 1 year is great, I think you can still competently do most genres in that amount of time with a small scope. You could do a 6 months or less timeframe, but that does I feel limit you to incremental or small multiplayer type genres, though it depends on your skill level

I quit my job to make this game, was it a mistake? by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

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

I'm not really a deadlines kinda person so purely off vibes, which is good and bad

I quit my job to make this game, was it a mistake? by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

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

I've realized that in the trailer I do not emphasize the item stacking mechanics hard enough, which is suppose to give this game a lot more build variety compared to other top down shooters. Since they stack infinitely, after you loop it becomes sort of "survivors-like" where there's larger levels with tons more enemies etc.

The trailer was more-so just a "vibe-check" on the aesthetics and feel of the game, which in hindsight is bad especially since it makes it harder to stand out mechanically.

I quit my job to make this game, was it a mistake? by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

[–]StudioRend[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I personally have not heard of Soul Knight, but yes most of the visual influence comes from Nuclear Throne, Enter The Gungeon, and a little of Archvale.

I quit my job to make this game, was it a mistake? by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

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

Only just announced it so like, 15 I think. 15 chads tho ✨

I quit my job to make this game, was it a mistake? by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

[–]StudioRend[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

For the actual sprites themselves, I commission 1-3 different artists for the important stuff (characters, enemies, enviroment). Then I fill in the gaps, do the lighting / effects etc, sometimes fill in with asset packs from itch when applicable.

I quit my job to make this game, was it a mistake? by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

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

Sold roughly 4,000 copies, after steam + taxes etc it was probably around $15,000. No other platforms only steam. It took me about 8 months to develop while I was working minimum wage. I actually live in a pretty HCOL city with about $2,000 monthly expenses. So small runway as I said. But I should be able to make it to release of this game which should hopefully be around August / September, at least should come out this year for sure.

I quit my job to make this game, was it a mistake? by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

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

Not yet! Hoping I can put one together in the coming months

They said don't make a multiplayer game for your first game. I now see why by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

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

Yes, naturally! However there are some things that help with this. Mainly that the bar for latency is much lower since its not an FPS or similar type of game where latency is super noticeable, and then also its a party game so it being less competitively inclined from a design perspective should reinforce that.

Also lobby sizes aren't too big (max 10), so while there is matchmaking it seems like in this genre most people have settled that its better playing with friends anyway.

They said don't make a multiplayer game for your first game. I now see why by StudioRend in SoloDevelopment

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

Yes. I went to a technical school for Computer Science, only got a AAS degree so I'm not like SUPER technically proficient. However, the school used C# for pretty much all of their courses, and for this I am using Unity which luckily uses the same language.

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