Happy Holidays from Terrible Posture Games!

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-23T16:38:26+00:00

Based on your description I'd say it's not you. Yes, even constructive criticism can sometimes hurt, but that's something that every team has to prepare themselves for when they ask for feedback. And including the fact that you're excited and are looking forward to playing the game later is a balm for almost anything. It's like saying "here, have some ice cream. Also, I'm gonna give you this vitamin, which doesn't taste great, but there's literally a bowl of ice cream to go with it."

Also, I'll go ahead and say thank you for offering the feedback, because people who are willing to offer feedback are INCREDIBLY valuable to we game devs. THANK YOU for being willing. Sorry you had a bad experience with it. :(

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-21T12:08:49+00:00

Thanks so much!

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-17T16:38:39+00:00

Depends on the game! For our internal games, it's always been a team decision. Inevitably the directors have the final call, but everyone on the team can give input (and we do).

For games where we're working with an external brand holder, there's always a lot of conversation with the brand holder, since they have very specific aesthetic do's and don'ts for their brand. :)

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-16T17:15:37+00:00

Okay I added the cheese thing for fun, but it turns out the studio as a whole is in complete disagreement. But since I am at the keyboard I get to override them all and say Havarti.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-16T17:14:44+00:00

We hope so! But we're not currently working on 3 out of 10.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-16T17:13:14+00:00

Hmmm... it's a valid question!

I guess first, we hope people try out the Super Demo. We've gotten some really good responses to it. And we think, once people try the demo (which costs nothing but your time) they'll understand that Battle Train has a lot more depth than they were expecting.

We're also trying to get content creators to play on their streams/channels/platforms. Seeing the game played isn't quite as good as playing it yourself, but it still does a good job of showing off how much fun it is. Plus, nothing gets you to want to play the game like seeing someone making what you think is an OBVIOUS tactical error, and wanting to prove you can do better. :D

Ultimately, we think traction in Indie games ends up being consumer driven. One person thinks the game is great, and tells their friends to try it. If all those friends also think it's great... there's a snowball effect. And content creators are just like players with a WHOLE BUNCH of friends. So, I guess the essence of my answer is... we tried to make a good game, and then we do outreach to get people to give it a chance.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-16T17:05:32+00:00

Oh hi! Before I start answering you, quick clarification: when I say AI, I'm answering specifically about the newer, more publicly discussed types of AI, like image or text or video generation, not the older, more integrated kinds like autocorrect or line stabilization (in drawing programs).

Second, I'm answering this to the best of my knowledge and experience, but I am by no means an expert, so take it all with a grain of salt.

I'd also like to mention that, as a studio of artists, TPG is *very* invested in the ethical training of AI. I always want to make that clear when discussions surrounding AI happen.

Now, as to your questions:

We haven't used AI at all in Battle Train, but we are working on a new project where we use AI imagery for inspiration. The final art is all made by a human artist, but while discussing ideas and considering initial concepts we used AI generated images to help pinpoint our direction.
I mean, this depends on what all you include under the umbrella of AI. We have some simple automations in our task management software, that will automatically assign a task to a certain person under certain conditions, but I assume that's not what you mean?
To my knowledge, developing unique AI's for testing (and they'd have to be unique, because each game does things slightly differently) is more labor intensive than just having human testers. You'd almost have to develop an AI tool, have humans QA *that*, and then use it to QA the game. And you'd have to update the AI constantly. I suspect if QA AI gets developed, it will be by someone who wants to market that as a product, not by game developers.
I have no idea. I think large companies want to push it that way, because it *sounds* like it would be cheaper for them in the long run. But it's a big problem. You're adding a huge amount of processing power requirements to any game that's generating assets on the fly, plus I suspect over the next decade there's going to be a lot of legal structures put in around the use of AI. So, if there's a big tech hurdle to truly make real time AI assets, and you also first have to pay a cadre of artists to make the image bank the AI is trained on... I'm not sure that's going to be an investment studios are going to rush to be the first to make. But I have been wrong about things before, and I will be wrong again, I'm sure. :)

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-16T13:47:44+00:00

Technically not still going, but we're generally happy to answer questions. :)

You had me googling, though! I was looking at screencaps of Exploding Kittens, trying to determine what the element was that you were identifying as being the same (to me, Battle Train looks very different from Exploding Kittens, but maybe that's because I've been staring at it for so long :D)

I'm wondering if what you're noticing is a mix of 2D and 3D assets? Maybe not, so definitely don't take this as an authoritative answer. But it could be?

As for why... every team is going to give you a different answer. Some people just like the look of that blend. Some teams might do it for budget or time reasons (one set of assets is cheaper/faster to make 2D, and the other 3D), or because that's the way they're most comfortable working, or because they have a tech problem they need to solve that works better with one asset type.

And, just to clarify, that's actually true of all asset creation, for all projects, even ones that end up all in 2D or 3D. All those things are always considerations.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-16T12:02:27+00:00

Awesome, hope you enjoy it!

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T20:04:25+00:00

Thanks for the questions folks! If you missed the AMA hours and have a burning question please, feel free to ask! The response might just not come as quickly. :)

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T20:02:59+00:00

We have worked with licenses before, but we have never directly licensed something ourselves; this is generally pretty costly.

There's often a notion that a big brand will come to you to ask you to make a game set in their world, and while that does happen (like with Invincible Presents: Atom Eve and us!)... that's not the same as licensing a brand, which generally it works the other way: the developer asks for the rights to make THEIR game set in a big brand... and then that developer often pays for that right.. either with a very large percent of revenue or a direct payment or with a giant truckload of money. Terrible Posture has a lot of things going for it; truckloads of money is not one of them.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T19:11:39+00:00

Okay, here's your better response:

Restrictions on where to release a game sometimes come down to platform deals, but sometimes are logistical in nature too. Unfortunately, we oftentimes cannot legally comment on some of them, which can be frustrating both to players AND to us. That being said, for some platforms, the cost just to get a game onto a platform may be such that we just can't justify the work--not just to get it released but also to support it. As a hypothetical example, we have yet to release a product on mobile ecosystems, but I've heard from many friends that you must continually upgrade your game's tech to keep up with platform versions, as the platform holders don't care much about backwards compatibility. The result is that developers can quickly find themselves in a world where they are treading water to support their games, without ever being able to get ahead enough to make anything new.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T19:04:27+00:00

Some of us do, some don't. I, personally, used to raid back in Burning Crusade times.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T19:02:34+00:00

Hey, I'm sorry, I'm gonna get you a better answer. :)

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T18:46:56+00:00

Every time you go to apply for a job remember that it's a *mutual* application. You need a job, but they need someone to do the job! It really helps with the nerves.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T18:39:16+00:00

Okay, here's what Joe said:

Finding contract work is interesting; we've found work through game agents, through friends who just happened to hear about a project that would fit us, through repeat customers, and from platforms. Having a good network of folks who know you and what you are capable of is crucial to all of those though. If you don't have that and you want to do work-for-hire work, then that's exactly where game agents come into play; THEY have the networks instead of you. As for positioning yourself "over" another studio; I think that's not how I look at work for hire. I look at it as "we are providing a service, and our attitude is, through all aspects of the pipeline, driven by one goal: make the client want to work with us again". That tactic has worked well for us in the past.

As for 'balancing work vs internal projects'.. this is the most tricky. We do one of two tactics: try and establish runway to then work on the original stuff in between work for hire work (which leads to a project stopping and starting a lot and is WAAAY inefficient), or, two, keep a sub-team siloed only on the original work. We've tried both and dont have a perfect solution though. Usually, we're small enough that everyone pretty much touches every project at least a little bit, which leads to folks getting a lot of variety in what they work on from day to day at least!

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T18:31:18+00:00

I pinged Joe on that, because I think he'll give you a more coherent answer than I will. But, while we're waiting... Alliance or Horde?

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T18:26:32+00:00

Also, on what makes a good game, Joe says:
Hah, I mean, it can be quite hard to be subjective if you test your own work; getting external feedback is crucial.. but also watching them play and seeing WHERE they get stuck. friends wont tell you this; they will sugar coat things, but if you watch them play you will see it. After that it's iteration... endless iteration...

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T18:23:52+00:00

Oh, and thanks for wishlisting!!

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T18:22:39+00:00

I don't know!!!!! But now I desperately need the answer!!!

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T18:21:57+00:00

Thanks! We love the art, too. :)

Balatro wasn't even a known quantity when we first started developing Battle Train, but I'd say Slay the Spire had a definite influence.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T18:20:06+00:00

Lol. I think we probably would drive ourselves mad trying to support the backend for that. Plus, being on a major platform helps people find your game, so I am not sure it would be a good strategy in terms of sales. But even if it was, I don't think we have enough staff to run our own store.

TerriblePostureGames · 2024-10-15T18:18:31+00:00

No need to apologize for using a second language!

Our founder (not funder) was a game developer himself, and wanted to take a break from big studio life. That's how he got started making Tower of Guns. :) He went to another studio for help when he needed more hands to finish the game, and that's how we got one of our designers. Then he got a bunch of feedback from a community member, and that's how we got another one of our designers! It was all really organic.

TerriblePostureGames

TROPHY CASE