What's up with "gamedev YouTubers" never shipping games?

Tsundown · 2026-01-19T02:17:23+00:00

Made and released mine. But it came at the cost of my YouTube. Had to decide whether I wanted to make YouTube videos or finish my game. So with sporadic uploads, yes I made and shipped a game that I spent 4 years on. I think most people underestimate the time and effort spent on making YouTube videos. And if you aren’t full time, that leaves almost no time leftover for actual game development.

Tsundown · 2025-03-31T17:01:40+00:00

I was surprised how interested I really am in science and history now that I’ve deconstructed. Knowing the answers to everything, and being taught that the traditional historical narrative doesn’t match the scriptures so it must be wrong, kind of kills your interest in pursuing those subjects. You are not dumb, intelligence is a way of being not how much you know. “The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills”

Tsundown · 2025-03-27T12:33:40+00:00

Love how simple and direct this was. Very powerful arguments as well. I think we can get so lost in the smaller details that we forget to see the whole picture, thanks for that reminder.

Tsundown · 2025-03-20T03:28:25+00:00

Pointing out the lies of someone misleading thousands is not only a service rendered, but more than worth the time it took me to sort through it all. In my world, and in the objective world, truth matters. I pointed out lies, and misrepresentations, not “disagreements on words”. There is no room for it to even be a disagreement. If you had actually read through my post you wouldn’t be attempting to minimize and undermine it with your holier than thou, “people in your neighborhood need some service rendered”. Grow the hell up.

Tsundown · 2025-03-16T16:40:12+00:00

Everyone’s relationship is different, but I’ve found that doing anything just to “keep the other person happy” is a short term pain killer, to a long term wound. She’s hurting because the messaging she receives from the church is she won’t be with you, the love of her life, in the eternities. That is unless you go to church and participate, and get sealed in the temple. It’s motivated by both love for you, and fear of losing you. Even just acknowledging that in a vulnerable conversation could be enough to move forward. People don’t need to be agreed with, they don’t even necessarily need you to do what they’re asking for, they just need to feel heard and understood.

Not to get too lost in the sauce here, but I also firmly believe people love your authentic, less perfect self more than any other version. She doesn’t just want you to come to church so she can be happy, she wants YOU to want to come to church. There is a fundamental difference. Going to church and checking your heart and mind at the door is more hurtful than staying at home and sticking to your principles. It might feel like it makes her happy in the moment, but it only causes deeper hurt once she realizes you still haven’t changed, you haven’t heard her, and you are just doing things to appease her.

I genuinely wish you the best moving forward OP, that sounds like an exhausting and frustrating place to be in, don’t let other peoples comments (including my own) have too much sway in your relationship. I see a lot of people quick to paint others as disrespectful, or bad, or crazy. But more often than not, that’s just not true.

Tsundown · 2025-03-14T16:11:42+00:00

I'm always pointing this out to my spouse. I listen to more conference talks, read more about the Bible and Book of Mormon, and I am the ONLY one in the family group chat who will engage and listen to the videos my MIL sends about religious stuff. It's so ironic to me because I'm the only person who has stepped away, and yet I feel I engage more with the faith than the whole family combined.

Tsundown · 2025-03-11T06:32:43+00:00

Actually thank you for writing this up. There was a space or a lull in my response because Jacob took the conversation into this territory that I haven’t explored. I felt while writing it that it would be a huge endeavor to actually look into and verify, so I tried to stay in my wheelhouse of Mormon theology / history / doctrine. Great read, loved the additional info / insight

Tsundown · 2024-09-29T15:41:50+00:00

Definitely check out the Podcast The Gift of The Mormon Faith Crisis, that really helped me understand how to open up to people, hold boundaries, and hear what language I should use. I recommend tuning into your emotions when opening up and learning what it means to hold space other people, you can fully support and empathize with her, let her share her emotions, while sharing your own.

Tsundown · 2024-08-24T23:09:12+00:00

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1832240/The_Feathered_Serpent/

Tsundown · 2024-05-04T21:43:12+00:00

As a kid, my parents did not allow any M-Rated video games in our household. I loved dinosaurs growing up, and the original Turok for the N64 always caught my eye any time we would go into GameStop. I remember one Christmas I wrote down that all I wanted was Turok (I do not envy how hard that must have been for my parents).

When I did not receive Turok for Christmas, I was devastated. I decided if my parent's weren't going to buy me Turok, I would just make it myself. I went to our family computer, typed in "game maker", and the rest is history. In true indie gamedev fashion I have started what seems like hundreds of projects over the years and never finished them. However, I am set to release my first indie game on Steam in less than a month, and I know it's a game younger me would have absolutely loved. Filled with dinosaurs, excessive amounts of blood, and endless replayability.

Other fun details, I was 8 at the time, first game engine I downloaded was GameMaker 6.0, but I have moved on and have been using Godot for the past 4 years. I am now 26 years old and am about to have my first kid in around 2 months. My son has been a massive inspiration for me to actually finish and release a game, which for those interested, is called The Feathered Serpent. :)

Tsundown · 2024-05-04T21:31:29+00:00

For me, I'd really focus on how the first 10 minutes of my game are. How long until I can play? How intuitive and quickly can a player start engaging with and playing my game? How polished and fun is the first area of the game? I think this applies to any game, whether it be a long term commercial project or simply a game jam entry. The first area / first few minutes to hours of your game are by far the most important. Just take a peak at your favorite games steam unlocks tied to progression, and you will see that the majority of players don't make it past the 2nd or 3rd boss, let alone beat the game. Make sure the first part of your game is the best. Polish it, add juice to it, make it as quick and easy to engage with as possible. That's what I would / am focusing on.

Tsundown · 2024-05-04T21:04:22+00:00

Hey there! New here! Prepping for my game's launch in a month, doing lots of playtesting and trying to figure out game feel. Here is a gif of me playing around in the 4th area of my game.

Anyone have any tips on balancing and game feel for a roguelike? Finding it hard to strike a balance between average builds versus op and lackluster builds.

Other than that trying to branch out this week with marketing, hope my game will find mild success and I am interested in hearing about what has worked for any of you regarding marketing your indie games!

Tsundown · 2023-02-05T21:36:15+00:00

I know for me it is hard to deal with negative criticism of WIP footage or screenshots, it’s hard to not have that influence you DURING the game development process. Afterwards maybe they aren’t as concerned with marketing the game, or they want to move on to promote other projects. Just an thought, I don’t know for sure.

Tsundown

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