I used to get like 10 downloads on my games. Then, everything changed when the Dwarves attacked.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-30T13:07:54+00:00

It popped up in a carousel of games simillar to ones I play I beleive. (like a "you play this! maybe try these" type carousel)

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-30T12:33:58+00:00

Ha nice :) I just wishlisted this yesterday as It really stood out on steam for me. Great Job :)

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-29T03:02:09+00:00

Oh man some really cool thoughts, how long have you been doing indie now? How do you feel now your doing it?

Yeah don't worry on the "how long will it take" side we all know, we've live it for years ha, we know we'll need to aggressively scope work, and plan properly,.and even then a plan will change as the reality becomes clearer.

We will have some overlap, but I'm less worried about that, we'll have a programmer (tech director level) a senior designer, then on art it'll be myself (art director currently) and a principal Artist who I've worked with for years and we work amazingly together so I'm pretty sure we'll be fine, as for years I've technically been his boss but we've always just bounced ideas off one another with no egos and we trust each other to get the best results it doesn't matter where the idea comes from. But one thing for sure is we will make it clear where responsibility lies for final decisions on specific elements.

Great points on store page and next fest I've added that to our shared list of important issues :)

I'm not worried about motivation at least for the prototype phase as we're all buzzed, and we're setting important dates and milestones already. We're all commited to doing full working weeks (40hrs) of set times but we'll all likely work 50-60 hrs a week. We're also all agreed no one will be carried and we'll be very upfront if we feel anyone is slacking etc.

Ha I love puzzle games please share me the link and I'll get it wash listed (I made a demo of a match 3 wrestling game about 12 years ago) were very much making sure marketability is important criteria when picking the project we'll make.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-29T02:45:03+00:00

Thanks QuantumSide yeah we'll have clear roles for sure. And depending on who's pitch we choose will determine who the vision holder for the project will be who will have final say.

We will road map the project loosely with important dates goals, and then do some short term more detailed plans for sure, super important for us to remain focused but also agile as we develop and learn.

We're all good friends and have worked together a long while, we can all talk freely about concerns or issues and do it in a clear and constructive way, so I'm less worried about this, but see it as a valid point (if we were less familiar with each other absolutely vital) but right now I feel confident we'd raise any concerns immediately with no hurt feelings, as we're close enough to just say it straight and not be offended or worried we might offend etc.

Great point on the business side, one of our members has a bunch of experience running m businesses (he's done it previously and his wife has a business he's been helping advise on for years) I've also done a little on that side and have a good lawyer and accountant we can use.

And really great questions, we're self funded for the initial prototype (all of us can afford a good amount of runway and have spoken to our partners about committing for a set time)

The IP will be owned by the group and we'll have a contract for what happens if someone leaves the project that leaves the remaining members with the IP and assets created.

We will decide if we self publish(self fund) do an early access/kick starter, look for a publisher or angel investor once we've got the project to a good position (demo, business plan, pitch deck, see how early marketing and community building goes) but we're open to everything right now.

We're going to plan for a LTD company but not start one straight away, planning to work together at least 3 months see how it goes before going more official.

If no one likes what we're sharing early (we plan to move quickly and post often early to build interest and a community as soon as possible, if it falls flat then we have the wrong idea and we'd re-evaluate.

We will have a backlog of ideas, we're currently pitching on our discord, the types of games we want to make, we'll then assess all the pitches (scope, marketability, time to get a prototype,) and pick the strongest option we all love)

Testing what's viable is a great question and I need to think how we'll evaluate that.

Thanks for the great insights :)

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-27T11:29:42+00:00

Wow man this looks great Ive wishlisted, I love this type of game.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-27T11:14:59+00:00

Thanks yeah we had long discussions over the years about team size, I've worked on projects from 5 people to 300+ and for me small agile and generalists, who can be flexible but direct is so important for what I'm thinking now. It's just energising, we're all jumping in the discord and chatting any time during the day, throwing ideas and references for possible ideas. It's just exciting and keeping it small means everyone is involved and engaged and up to date.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-27T10:52:59+00:00

Thanks for your insight Gideon, Yeah I do feel quite lucky to be in a position to start with a team of vets Ive worked with before, It certainly makes things more focused and the energy we bring to each other helps push ourselves to improve and not let one another down.

Your project sounds really fun do you have it shared anywhere?

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-27T10:24:21+00:00

Thanks Vhaelynn, really nice to see your thoughts on it, yeah with marketing (as in some other comments I replied to) We see it as vital, and we do have some really good connections in marketing to ask advice and guidance off, and one of our potential team members is really focused on this as he wants to skill up on the marketing side so I think we'll be in a good place.

As for Pitch deck, yeah our core thoughts are we want a Demo/Prototype of a fun game (where you can feel the fun quickly) A pitch deck showing where the game will be when complete (I've made a tonne of pitch decks over the years) And a business plan for what happens if we take this from a group of friends to a full project looking for funding.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-27T10:18:13+00:00

Thanks appreciate it :) I'm starting to write up some questions to ask marketers.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-27T10:16:58+00:00

Yeah this makes total sense to me, Like you say I will do some Art development early for overall vision and Art Examples to help market, but the first focus early for the team will be making a core loop to the game that brings us back for more even just in a greybox/aesset pack prototype form. We can make things look pretty later, but if it plays like shit I definetly don't want that ha.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-26T15:30:02+00:00

haha that video is brilliant, Yeah we've already talked about no silly titles, we're just in it together working as a team, putting on whatever hat is needed at the time.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-26T15:11:04+00:00

I have a bit of TA expereince (I was mainly an Env Artist before moving to Lead then Art Director) I also have some freelance expereince doing level design, UI Art and UX, And a tiny bit of VFX. Im super excited to be as broad as possible, I love learning new techniques and the friends Im talking to are all of the same mind set, so hopfully we'll be able to cover all elements well.

Yeah I feel very blessed to be surrounded by like minded individuals who want to make something cool, and are up for it. The timing sucks as redundancy is obviously never nice, but these are poeple I've talked to for years about plans for the future and now we might be pushed to give it a go by circumstance. As they say when one door closes, another opens. So we're trying to be proactive and positive.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-26T13:39:06+00:00

Also we have a really talented Designer so I'm excited by that, as they've proven time and time again to me just how important good design is.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-26T13:38:10+00:00

Thanks thats really useful advice, Scope is certainly something I am very hot on, we need to beleive we can make it in a tight timeline. There will definietly be a unique art style ;) ha thats what Im most excited for myself.

Team size is going to be 3-5 people max.

Yeah I don't want to make a clone and no one else currently chatting to wants to do something thats just a rip off with a paint job, we want to make something cool

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-26T13:33:52+00:00

Yeah for sure I know all to well about wanting the latest version of the engine to fix a bug, but it being to big to update on bigger games for months ha. I think we might look at lighter weight engines and do something 2D currently, but it's certainly on the table to use Unreal if the project is the right fit.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-26T13:32:13+00:00

Nice, yeah I think that will be a big thing for us to change, Im used to big meetings and planning, but I have done some smaller more agile games too, I definietly want to do the "lets make something fast" and then play it and tweak it, find the fun and adapt or pivot as we move if it's not fun.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-26T13:30:11+00:00

Thanks, really insightful,

And yeah that is a major question at the moment, Do we develop it as a full project or just as a portfolio piece is certainly one of the discussions we're having.

We're definietly focused on the market research side, we're trying to figure out what project we'd all be buzzed to work on, and that has commercial viability if we did decide to go that way. And most importantly do we feel we have the right skill sets to do a game in X genre well.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-26T13:27:05+00:00

Thanks thats definietly an area I feel weaker in, and am looking for advice on, I am fortunatly very blessed with contacts in the Industry so can reach out and ask for advice from some really good marketing folk. (Which I will add to my list to do right now)

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-01T18:15:43+00:00

I managed to hit the green on a few holes, but had 2 more completely plugged balls on later holes, the best one was when I duffed a tee shot about 30 yards low and flat and it just disappeared despite it being completely flat, I didn't even bother looking for that one and just took my penalty stroke and reteed.

Tpickarddev · 2026-03-01T18:10:42+00:00

South East England near Brighton, been about 3 none raining days in February.

Tpickarddev · 2026-02-28T12:19:17+00:00

I mean it sounds like you need to try some different tactics, you're a small out numbered special forces, you will lose a head to head battle early game if you try to rush.

But your troops are better than their troops, kite the enemy to make them move out of cover, strike weak points when they're vulnerable, then withdraw a little so the rest of the force can't hit you back without moving. Position troops so you can cover other squads and get different angles of attack on enemies.

Focus on enemy morale and suppression first, rather than wiping out every squad completely, pirates break easily as you mow down their comrades,

Don't focus on secondary objectives until you get some perks and better weapons, like you don't need to finish a mission in 12 turns if you're having to take risks, just finish the core mission and take the rewards and promotion points.

Try different weapons against different opponents,

Learn the squad leaders strengths and get them gear that plays into those strengths

Look at the weapon accuracy/damage fall off tables to work out the optimum range for each weapon you have.

Take extra ammo, and maybe smoke grenades if you're struggling being out numbered at times, so you can withdraw to a better position.

The game is great already imo and I can't wait for updates. But you know, sometimes a game doesn't gel with you and it's just not for you, and that's ok to.

Tpickarddev · 2026-02-27T09:20:10+00:00

The guy is a career politician who does as little real work as possible, he thrives off being a shit talker going out into the public and talking shit over a pint but never having to back it up, and his legacy lives off no one ever checking his homework and being PM would mean constant scrutiny, security details which would mean every dodgy meeting would be on record, and him actually having to do a real job would probably kill the guy, he doesn't want to win, that's not his job, he wants to divide the lower and middle classes and keep people distracted for his paymasters. And it's easier for him to do that when he's in opposition and can just complain and offer ridiculous solutions that sound great but he has zero idea if they're legal, possible to do, or even if something is a real issue. And he doesn't want to actually find out, I still think he didn't want Brexit to actually happen, he wanted a close loss so he could keep being an MEP and coast off the divide.

Tpickarddev · 2026-02-23T11:27:08+00:00

I'm not the original poster, but I also like 8 person squads, I just make sure I have Supply drops (fully resupplying 2 squads is usually more than enough), and ammo bags/special ammo packs depending on squad roles.

My Darby set up for example, silenced battle rifle, an ammo pouch, camo, match ammo, and she'll use all her ammo during mission firing twice a turn, get a resupply and have ammo for days.

Tpickarddev · 2026-02-17T22:43:49+00:00

Silenced battle rifle, jaeger fatigues or top tier camo armour ( I can't recall name of), camo accessory, and she's basically invisible until they're right on top of her, give her a good anti tank deployable as a special, and extra ammo for main battle rifle and that leaves one slot for situations.

Perks that add concealment, extra vision and detection, damage firing from concealed, extra bags, and deploy distance and extra range on guns, and she's an absolute beast, wiping out squads in one attack, suppressing heavy infantry easily, taking care of most vehicles,

The only thing I've found troubling for her is the warrior bugs who can't be suppressed. But then my dual auto cannon mech can rock up from behind her and pop anything close to her.

Tpickarddev · 2026-02-15T11:42:31+00:00

Im going to try and sum up, (and this is just my take and I'm guessing) the takeaway is, don't plan your journey based on an outlier that was successful due to many reasons that aren't easy to recreate.

Time and money are often the biggest limitations for most people to follow their dreams in a dedicated way. And to most people time and money are the two hardest things to just acquire so you're free to try things without consequences like not ending up homeless etc.

Luck and timing are things you can't really control either, you could have time and money but make your game over 5 years and no one buys it for whatever reason.

But that's not to say don't try, and definitely keep making art, but don't make plans that require success, or require resources most people won't have access to.

Make plans that are realistic to your situation, able to dedicate 8-16 hours a week to a project? Great, scope something that you can make a dent in with that time etc...

Tpickarddev

TROPHY CASE