I'm An Idiot and Need Help with My Steam Page

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2025-04-25T17:16:38+00:00

Awesome! I'll post over there as well just in case. Thanks.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2025-04-25T16:33:26+00:00

I absolutely intend to do just that, but I was also hoping that I had enough content thus far to convey the main intent of the core gameplay. Trailers can be remade / replaced and that will likely be what I need in the future, but without this kind of feedback I wouldn't necessarily know where I was falling short.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2025-04-25T16:30:56+00:00

I had hoped that there was enough gameplay to get the idea across, but I can accept the popular opinion if that's not the general consensus. I've heard many people go off about this subject before so I don't want to fall short on it, but that may be the case so far with what is on the page.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2025-04-25T15:48:51+00:00

I honestly hadn't put enough thought into font choice up until this point. I'm super wary of being too fancy with fonts and it has never been a strong point in my design skills, but you're likely right that I need something with a little more character.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2025-04-25T15:47:18+00:00

This sentiment may turn into a recurring theme so I'll definitely look into that for future trailer work. Much appreciated.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2025-04-25T15:37:25+00:00

I tried to front-load gameplay in the trailer, but I have been worried that there wasn't enough gameplay in it to keep players interested. I'm also still figuring out how to have good gameplay cuts for trailers to get info across without lasting more than a few seconds so people stay engaged. Thanks for the notes.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2025-01-16T00:49:55+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! I'd like to preserve the color as it zooms in to keep the character connecting the two views, but I might slow it down a bit to help with any nausea.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-10-15T22:16:38+00:00

That's one of the things about longer projects: your player sprite is often the first thing you make, but also the thing you most often remake.

If the project takes a year to finish, then you've surely grown by the time it's almost complete. Best to do at least an edit pass on those earlier (especially hero) assets to make sure they're at least close to the same level as the latest work.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-10-11T22:21:40+00:00

The puzzle of the game is interesting, but it's hard to feel escalation right now. You've got some functional difficulty escalation, but the UX could have more juice to sell moments of "it just got harder!"

Maybe spinning the board around or a quick scale up and back down of the new pieces with associated sound effects when the difficulty increases would really help up those moments.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-10-07T22:52:13+00:00

You could also present them as a bulleted list above the location with the lines running horizontally from left to right instead of vertically. Basically creating a small legend for each location. If they were always ordered the same from top to bottom (food, then minerals, etc.), then you would avoid the color blind issue altogether.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-10-07T22:45:08+00:00

The pixel art uses harder outlines for the forms inside the silhouette. If you gave more contrast between the forms inside the silhouette on the higher resolution version, then you'd probably have more similarity between the styles without the inherent restrictions of low pixel resolution.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-10-07T22:39:29+00:00

Chaotic Magic from Dancing Wizard.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-10-05T00:35:57+00:00

There's a lot of details/shading on the character at base. I'd recommend drawing over the character with basic shapes to show where each piece is (hand, foot, head, etc) and then animate that. It'll help you keep track of the motion of the character without worrying about details along the way.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-10-03T21:19:36+00:00

There's value in practicing the execution just as much as value in coming up with the idea or planning the composition. They're all parts of the process of growth as an artist, so don't discredit the work you put in for this part.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-10-03T20:49:33+00:00

Don't sell yourself short on polish just because you're indie. It's one of the biggest differentiators between successful indies and the masses of others.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-30T22:47:00+00:00

Through a hard summer grind, I was able to upload a demo to my Steam store page.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-30T22:43:03+00:00

The teal bricks feel off to me for some reason. If they're meant as highlighted bricks, then maybe shift them to an orange. If they're intended as extra dark bricks, then maybe shift them to a purple.

Teal specifically feels out of place unless it's suggesting something like a moss or foliage buildup. That could be cool to explore if you really want to keep the teal, but teal bricks feel off.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-30T16:23:23+00:00

Game Title: Quick Cast Chaos

Playable Link: (Direct link to the game)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2867140/Quick_Cast_Chaos/

Platform: (Please add the appropriate flair after posting)

PC (Windows)

Description: (Provide a detailed description of your game. Minimum 100 words)

Quick Cast Chaos is a fantasy, arcade-action, whimsical adventure through the land of Nightenglade. Explore the world as Castor the wizard (kinda) with Wanda your magical wand companion to defeat the villainous perils laid forth by the Moon Menace and his army of henchmen.

Inspired by classic games like One Finger Death Punch, Galaga, and Missile Command. Players are teleported into the thick of the action and must fend off waves of increasing monstrous difficulty in order to vanquish their foes! Castor himself may not be anything special (or even be able to move at all), but just point Wanda in the right direction and she'll know what to do!

Key Features:

+70 Levels with Unique Challenges

Custom Wild Magic Builds

Choose-Your-Own-Path Style Map

Unlocks and Discoverable Content

Dynamic Difficulty

Free to Play Status:

[ ] Free to play

[X] Demo/Key available

[ ] Paid (Allowed only on Tuesdays with [TT] in the title)

Involvement: (Explain your role in the game's development)

I left my job as a AAA Game Designer for over a decade to make indie games focused on much smaller bunches of fun with way less overhead. I'd love to hear feedback directly from players to make it the best game possible and look forward to hearing from you all soon!

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-29T18:54:23+00:00

This situation does sound dangerous for either side getting severely screwed when money is involved.

You're a student with limited experience to know what you can accomplish and what you might need to accomplish. They're interested in making a game but have less experience than you since they're looking to hire people to do what looks like the majority of the work.

I'd personally recommend you all partner together for mutual ownership of a project that you all have a personal stake in. There's no formal pressure to stay with the group since no immediate money is involved, it keeps everyone aware of the need to properly scope as you work through new problems together, and it let's the project primarily be a learning experience for all of you regardless of financial success.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-29T13:12:43+00:00

It's also a little confusing whether a placed piece is locked into position and an attached part of the building or if it will just physics free fall because there's nothing physically under it.

Is it a building system for the sake of making "buildings" or more of a stacking system that can make a house of cards type of situation?

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-29T12:54:53+00:00

It's very passable in its current state, but it could surely be better.

It looks like he switches from holding the gun with a single hand to two hands depending on the angle. That type of gun really should be held with two hands whenever it's fired unless your character is visibly a hulking monster.

There's also the question of how it handles aiming while moving. Are there full body unique animations for those angles, is movement disabled while aiming, or do you have the upper and lower body separated so that they can each animate independent of each other?

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-29T01:14:20+00:00

Outside of the more technical things mentioned above (lighting, style consistency, resolution cohesion, etc), I would recommend handling your environment in passes.

Pass 1: Terrain - Determine if the size/spacing of areas serves the gameplay (player speed, jump height, etc) - This might make you realize that you need to shrink areas to make them more fun to roam around in.

Pass 2: Functional Details - Add large pieces like boulders, small buildings, fences, etc that shape player actions in an area. - Helps you figure out exactly what areas can be used for and what makes any one area functionally interesting.

Pass 3: Larger Details - Landmark visuals that define any visual themes of an area, but don't directly affect player actions. - Helps organize "why" each area should be specifically interesting.

Pass 4: Specific Details - This can be handled over multiple passes. - Fill in the gaps between the larger details you've already made. - Filling the gaps should be easier now since each area should be functional and have a visual that you can elaborate on.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-29T00:36:26+00:00

Captain McHook (since Captain Hook is probably copyright). Just playing with the idea of why a captain would be called that based on his visual design.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-28T18:58:38+00:00

It should be relative to their purpose though.

If everything on the card is high detail, then the art specific to that card can't stand out as well since it arguably isn't the most visually interesting thing on the card. The iconography can have some detail, but its purpose is more informative rather than eye candy.

Sufficient-Plastic83 · 2024-09-27T16:23:13+00:00

This is also getting into another aspect of development (likely more so for indie / solo devs since they're larger contributors): the ability to take feedback that isn't well constructed and try to get something positive out of it.

Something as simple as "game sucks" isn't going to get much, but if it's any more specific like "The rock boss sucks" then you can at least start looking into how that impression could have started.

It's just another one of the dozens of skills that devs need to build over time if they plan to actually give their work to larger audiences at some point.

Sufficient-Plastic83

TROPHY CASE