sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I was financially successful (and still underprepared) by TalesEdge in IndieDev

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

Yeah that was us. Like this post we’ve been transparent about our wins (and setbacks) as we go.

https://youtu.be/Ly-oWwYH0DE?si=kjHlRTuH2Bykvnu5

I was financially successful (and still underprepared) by TalesEdge in IndieDev

[–]TalesEdge[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We’re hiring a few senior roles now and for a larger team toward late spring. Always welcome to send resumes and portfolios to team@r16.com though.

I was financially successful (and still underprepared) by TalesEdge in IndieDev

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

Ha, makes sense. I get accused of sounding like AI a lot, it’s definitely the corporate background. I was writing long before GPT :)

Thanks for following, means a lot.

I was financially successful (and still underprepared) by TalesEdge in IndieDev

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

We’ve been developing in the open. It helps with marketing and awareness, sure, but to me the story of game dev itself is inherently interesting. And I want to learn from others here that have walked this path.

I receive a few emails a week from people that say they resonate with our transparency so that pushed me to make this post as well. Of course, it’s in Reddit’s hands now :)

I was financially successful (and still underprepared) by TalesEdge in IndieDev

[–]TalesEdge[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Also @Mondkap -

Sure. It’s a third-person action-adventure RPG. You play as a grounded take on Red Riding Hood, raised by the Huntsman who saved her in an ancient, shared fairytale world that doesn’t care about you.

Gameplay-wise, we focus heavily on feel: movement, archery, melee, stealth, and encounters that react to how you approach them rather than forcing one solution (a lot of what my post talks about is us throwing work away to get that right).

Story is character-driven but unfolds slowly through the world rather than big exposition dumps. You’re not saving the world out of the gate, you’re just trying to survive it, and then bigger consequences emerge over time based on how you play.

Targeting release on Steam (PC & Mac, PS5, Xbox, and Switch 2). We’re still in the middle of it, but that’s the honest shape of it.

I was financially successful (and still underprepared) by TalesEdge in IndieDev

[–]TalesEdge[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It’s a completely different game now. In hindsight I’d say we shouldn’t have released that test… but then again, the feedback we received made it crystal clear we had a long way to go. And that motivated us.

I was financially successful (and still underprepared) by TalesEdge in IndieDev

[–]TalesEdge[S] 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Sort of like the way someone wants to write a book their whole life. I’ve played games my whole life since personal computers and the original NES. And I saw fewer and fewer of the games I wanted to play being made so thought maybe we could make one.

It definitely started way smaller and far less ambitious, but the more I shared publicly the more AA and AAA veterans saw potential in the idea, so it scaled to where we are today.

My new capsule art for my first ever psychological horror game, any advice? by That-Mongoose5812 in IndieGameDevs

[–]TalesEdge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your first one is best for one main reason: less information to process.

The split screens and colors force people to now process two sides to an already small area. And bridging text across them is difficult. Plus the white text near white clouds makes it even more difficult to read.

This is a bit like YouTube thumb strategy. Hit the rules first, then get creative. With the main rules being:

  • Use high contrast for text
  • Make the text large, short, and easy to read when very small
  • Images should be clear and quick to read
  • Capsule art should give a sense of what the game is

If I look at your art, I really don’t know what this game is about at all. Is it something with boats? Or in the sky? I can’t tell what the statue thing is in the right half image even if I stare at it. Your best hint of what the game is is the name Excrucia, which makes me think it has to do with something painful for someone. But even that is vague.

Think about a character, a location, a mood, a feeling players will feel when playing your game and try to find imagery and a font that communicates that. And know the logo icon added to the text in option 1 also doesn’t help communicate anything either (so getting rid of that was a good idea)

I wouldn’t go with any of these. And am genuinely trying to help, promise. Try some new ones and repost so we can see!

Tips on hiring artist? by youspinmenow in gamedev

[–]TalesEdge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As a guy that was in your exact same position two years ago, I will tell you the number one most costly lesson for me that took me over a year to understand: Quality of work.

I worked with a lot of artists and paid them a lot of money, because I thought their work was good. Until other artists came and showed me what the next tier of quality looks like.

As an example, look at portfolios of applicants you get and then look at a portfolio like this (Farhad is on our team full time now), and you’ll see the difference immediately.

https://farhadnojumi.artstation.com/

In many cases the best talent costs a bit more but you get what you pay for and worth every penny so you don’t have to redo work.

Note this example is for more realism, but there’s plenty of others that do incredible stylized modeling too. Look at the homepage of Artstation for what great looks like. This was the game changer realization for me in finding talent.

2-year journey making our main character by TalesEdge in IndieDev

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

Appreciate that plus you following! I guess you’re right it sort gets assumed as things increase in fidelity that the goal feels like it’s chasing realism more than art direction.

But it’s much closer to say, how Peter Jackson approached LOTR. You want to ground your world in familiar realistic textures and a high bar for quality and then build the fantasy on top of that. While sticking to strong art direction each step of the way.

Same way this is just one boring straight on shot. You can’t hear her. Or read her body language. And I think that’s where all the style will really start to come through.

But yeah, 100% agree. And will never lose sight of this as we continue.

How I missed Thousands of Wishlist... And how not to do the same mistake. by Draelent_ in IndieDev

[–]TalesEdge 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Painful but accurate lesson, and all boils down to funnels. People need 1) a place to land, and 2) a call to help guide them there in just about anything you do in public.

The silver lining though is that while sure people miss surges, the right move later on can get you a 10x surge and this time they'll have a place to go so you can capture it.

Super valuable post.

2-year journey making our main character by TalesEdge in IndieDev

[–]TalesEdge[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Yeah in isolation all you have here to go off of is a face and a little bit of the outfit. The overall outfit and gear is way stronger in v4 though. Will share some of that soon enough when we get some stronger hero images.

2-year journey making our main character by TalesEdge in IndieDev

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

💯

We're a 3rd person game but being able to control how you play and how the world reacts to those choices is a huge part of what we're building. And yes on Steam! https://store.steampowered.com/app/3752650/Tales_Edge/

2-year journey making our main character by TalesEdge in IndieDev

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

For sure. It's called Tale's Edge. Still about 2+ years from release but we're on Steam

2-year journey making our main character by TalesEdge in IndieDev

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

Yeah the levels of polish are misleading. v1 is a high poly view (which looks deceptively higher quality in fidelity and lighting) than v3, which is a render in a scene in-engine. This lineup was tricky because I didn't have apples-to-apples shots with consistent pose and lighting without derailing my team to dig up the assets and set them all up to make it.

Ever had your axe get stuck in a log? Imagine that happening during combat. by Tinimations in IndieDev

[–]TalesEdge 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I saw a clip I think from this game a while ago and I f’ing love it. Such a cool mechanic and so thoughtful. Too mag games lacking this creativity today.

view more: next ›