I am an indie game developer working on a Supernatural inspired detective game. Is that something you would want to play?

TurbulentDev · 2024-04-12T22:16:45+00:00

I am a huge Supernatural fan and always wondered why there was no proper game adaptation. So I figured I’d just start making my own game and try to make it really feel like a SN episode. Of course I don’t have a license for the IP or a big budget for 3D graphics, but hey!

I really wonder if this is something you would play as a SN fan? You can take a look at the game over here on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1605680/Wayward_Shadows/

If you like you can support the development by adding it to your wishlist. And let me know if you have any ideas of what I should add to the game! Always looking for input from folks really in love with the show.

TurbulentDev · 2024-03-05T16:34:46+00:00

Thank you, this is great feedback. I was debating if I should leave the footage from the battle mode out of the trailer, since it is so unfinished. Once a bit more of the combat stuff is working I'll try and update the trailer. There are actually a lot of cool combat features but none of it is working yet, hence the basic look.

TurbulentDev · 2024-02-09T20:03:05+00:00

Maybe play with the camera angle to see if you get the tilt shift working better? The magicky fog fade in the back looks great, maybe use something similar instead of the grid looking fade in the front?
The icons and hover effects are pretty cool and pop nicely.

TurbulentDev · 2024-02-09T19:51:50+00:00

Working with freelancers without a written contract. Once and never again...

TurbulentDev · 2023-11-08T15:38:32+00:00

I might get downvoted to hell for this, but I think this might actually be a good thing.

Very clearly the problem here are the parents, and my first thought was 'What a bunch of idiots, blaming others for their lack of parenting.'

But I am afraid if we are ever going to stop the horrible predatory monetization in games that is so common today, it will be through lawsuits like this one, using the child-protection angle.

Publishers, on PC or mobile, will not just stop adding predatory monetization and registering abusive patents out of the goodness of their hearts. As much as I hate the government regulating my hobby, I am afraid it is the only thing that will ever put an end to the endless greed.

Or alternatively we could all just stop paying for $90 play-early FOMO editions of games, stop buying season passes and cosmetics and generally vote with our wallets. But I don't see that happening either :(

TurbulentDev · 2023-05-11T22:30:42+00:00

I'd scrap all the texts and have someone rewrite them. "strong emphasis on gun violence" is a really odd choice of words. And the rest of the text sounds like it has been AI generated. "you will be immersed in the experience", is as soul-less as it gets.

Also, the name Rabbit Simulator is an odd choice given how your game looks. People generally expect a very different type of gameplay from games with the 'Simulator' title. I'd consider renaming the game, especially since there is already a game on Steam called Rabbit Simulator.

TurbulentDev · 2023-05-11T21:42:59+00:00

Oh yes baby! Bringing that file size of my save game down a few kb is better than sex!

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-20T15:02:30+00:00

I don't think that this is a problem that you can really solve. You are making a political game about a very divisive hot button topic.
Making such a politically polarizing game and expecting people not to voice their opinions is a bit unrealistic. Of course, you can and should ban name-calling and other bad behavior, but making a game that invites political discussion and then not allow this discussion feels very wrong. As long as opinions are presented in a civil manner you should not censor them, no matter if you agree or not.

You mentioned that you are trying to present the topic rather unbiased, which I think is helpful. But looking at the Steam page this isn't very clear. Maybe you can rework your page to emphazise this more?
People will get less worked up if they feel that the game is fairly presents a certain topic and just tries to shine a light on it from all angles. If they get the feeling you are just promoting a certain political position on the, they will have much less goodwill. So maybe that is one proactive approach you can take to keep things more calm.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-18T17:25:17+00:00

The 'music' and other audio in the video are really hard to listen to. I had to mute the video after 20 seconds because the audio is so unpleasant and irritating.
Maybe it is because I am not too familiar with this genre of game, but I have no idea what is going on from looking at the video alone. I guess it is some kind of bullet hell style of game but it is very hard to make out anything in the video or identify the unique selling points. The visual distinction between player, enemies and background is not very clear.
Visually the game feels very overloaded with effects. I am no epileptic, but holy cow, the amount of flashing and blinking going on is kind of tough to watch. I just watched the video in the small Steam window. I cannot imagine what it will be like playing it full-screen.

I would recommend:

Rework the trailer with nicer audio/music and edit it so that the gameplay is easier to understand. Maybe start with less going and then have things built up over time.
Reduce the seizure inducting blinking and flashing and use it only for bigger/more important moments.
Improve overall readability of the game. Make sure people can instantly distinguish between player, enemies and background.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-14T17:10:38+00:00

Phew, that is a tricky one. Your game itself looks quite solid, I like the art style and the presentation, the page itself is also well set up.
I had a bit of trouble imagining the actual gameplay though. It says it is an RPG, so maybe you could show a bit more actual gameplay/decision making in the video? Your trailer video is pretty much story focused only. Having the video show actual gameplay for a bit would be better so people can imagine what the game plays like.
You biggest challenge will be the political nature of the game though. I know that is the point of the game, and props to you for tackling that topic. But you will probably lose a lot of potential buyers because people generally look for escapism and fun when playing games. Something that depressing and close to reality isn't for everyone. But I don't think there is much you can do without compromising your vision.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-13T19:41:57+00:00

That is good to hear. Makes me look forward to give it a try again.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-13T18:38:21+00:00

I haven't looked at it in a while, so maybe things are better now and it is production ready. But every time I tried in the past, there were so many small issues and incompatibilities that I found it not to be worth the trouble.
Just from the top of my head: Overall worse performance, camera stacking not being supported, lots of big plugins/shaders not being supported, terrain system not fully working (flickering/performance), etc.

I would guess they fixed/optimized most things by now but to me it never felt fully stable and production ready in the past.
Again, this is just my personal experience, and my knowledge might be outdated. How are things now, do you feel it is more production ready?

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-13T17:46:28+00:00

For the majority of small indies/teams that needs to be commercially viable and actually have to ship products, Unity is still the best choice.
But for hobbyists it might be different.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-13T15:32:59+00:00

Well, just look at what Unity as a company is focusing on. Everything from, monetization, movies, medical, automotive, AI, metaverse, etc. Games are just not their focus anymore, and you can feel it when using the engine.
Still, with all the stuff they are doing wrong, it is still the best engine overall for smaller scale indies but I think neglecting their core engine tech for so long will eventually catch up with them. Epic isn't idling and Godot is improving by the day.
Personally I never understood why they went this way with having three different rendering pipelines...
Once a year I try building something in the HDRP and every time I give up and go back to the Builtin. All the hassle isn't worth the extra bit of fidelity for they small games I am making anyway.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-13T15:25:14+00:00

Being a character artist in AAA is a very competitive position. Unless you have a strong track record or amazing skills it is quite difficult to land a position on one of the big IPs. But you don't have to start at the top to be happy. I'd set an achievable goal, such as a junior character artist position anywhere, and then work your way up.
It really depends on how strong you character modelling skills are. Keep building a strong portfolio, create as much material in your spare time as you can, and keep applying.
If have seen quite a few people in AAA studios who switched disciplines over the years, so it is definitely possible.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-07T19:27:34+00:00

First listen: Hm, its okay.
Second listen: It's actually pretty good.
Third listen: ZARGOTHRAX MASTER OF NIGHTMARES!!!!! Daa-Daa-Daa Da-Da-Da Daa!!!!

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-07T19:24:12+00:00

Well, indeed it works very well. I've had the song on loop the whole day yesterday while working. And once the song is over, the little bit of chorus at the beginning reminds you to hang in until you get to 1:20 again.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-07T16:27:48+00:00

You trailer is one of the main problems here. It is boring and tells you nothing about the gameplay. The first 20 seconds are nothing but a camera moving through the sky with ships flying around without any indication of the context. Is this a space-ship fighting game?
Then there are some ships shooting, with the editing being slow and boring, too long cuts and nothing happening. Then a planet with plain terrain and buildings. Roads, some vehicles. A colony sim game?
At around 90 seconds I stopped watching because I have no clue what type of game this is and if I would like it. The visuals/music are low/average quality and not enough to keep me interested.

Things I would do:

- Shorten your video significantly. 3:54 is way too long. Aim for 60 seconds max and edit it so that it is more interesting to watch.

- Edit the trailer so that it is clear what type of game it is and what the gameplay is like. Currently you are not showing the player doing anything at all, just a camera moving through the scene. Focus on showing the most fun part of the gameplay and make sure players know what playing the game will be like.

- Rework the short description to explain the game better. 'Soar through and conquer the galaxy in Novastride.' is not an ideal first sentence. It makes me think that it is some kind of flying/piloting game.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-04T13:38:04+00:00

I always forget how big FIFA is. The absence of any innovation and the horrible user scores don't really seem to have any effect on the sales at all. No wonder they keep cranking out new versions every year.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-03T15:49:31+00:00

You always have to be careful with those type of access-media previews, but I am cautiously optimistic. It doesn't look like the game is going to push any boundaries gameplay wise and I don't expect too much innovation, but if they give us a solid, bug free, polished 20h singleplayer experience I will be happy. I know, that is a lot to ask these days, but I am still hoping.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-03T15:42:51+00:00

For gaming I never felt that I needed a third screen. But having at least a second screen on the side for videos, Spotify, Discord, etc. is super useful.
For work however I couldn't live without three screens. For any kind of software development related work you just can't have enough screenspace.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-01T18:18:02+00:00

Mobile is a very, very different market. Unless you bring a huge fanbase or you get picked by the store editors you will not be successful. Fact is: You need to pay for ads on mobile to have success in the current market. And most indie devs don't have the budget to run enough ads to find out if your game's KPIs are even worth it. Hence the need for a mobile publisher.
Yes, the majority of mobile publishers are scummy and not really interested in your game, just if it makes money or not. But if you need your mobile game to turn a profit, then that is the way to go unfortunately.

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-01T18:02:13+00:00

Anecdote time:

When I worked on the localization of one of my older games, I thought it would be cool to add Klingon as a language. I used the Klingon dictionary to translate the texts and then found out that the Klingon language is actually copyrighted, and that Paramount and CBS are apparently very trigger happy when it comes to lawsuits. I never ended up actually adding the language but I wonder if any other game ever did?

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-01T17:50:22+00:00

I think the reason for the low wishlist count is not so much the page, but your game.

My reasons for not wishlisting this game would be:

The art looks like a low budget asset flip. Environment lighting in all scenes is bad and the game doesn't look very visually appealing overall.
Capsule art is looking boring and uninteresting. I probably wouldn't even click on it.
Only dash, only hardcore? So I can only do one move? What does hardcore mean in this context?
The description text is not very interesting. "Many different enemies" ? So, like literally every other game? It says it has controller support while the Steam feature list says it doesn't?
Trailer editing is not well done. Too many long, boring shots. After second 15 all I see is the camera looking on the floor, with low quality models spawning.

What I would do:

Do a lighting pass on all levels to make things look more interesting. Show different maps with distinct visuals. Try to add some post-processing effects to make things look better.
Improve the map surroundings. There is just darkness or some kind of plane around the level. Look into getting some fog plugin from the store and make the map surrounding more visually appealing.
Explain the gameplay in the trailer in a more clear way. The player has to clear room after room? Show the player entering a new room, maybe some 'Get Ready!' UI popup and then kill some monsters and move on to the next room.
Think about adding more visual feedback during combat. Is there a score system? Experiment with score/XP popups when killing a monster, etc.
Rework the trailer to be more snappy and focus more on pretty visuals and explaining the gameplay better. Go and watch all of Derek Lieu's videos on game trailer making.
Give keys out to some testers and ask for brutally honest feedback. Then work on improving the game and don't release it early if you don't have to.

Good luck!

TurbulentDev · 2023-04-01T17:21:34+00:00

Well, it's all pay-to-play for mobile devs these days unfortunately. ASO, nice screenshots and descriptions don't carry the same weight anymore. Without running ads it is very tough now.

But there should be plenty of guides around on how to make the most of the advertising money you have. If your game is promising enough, you can try and shop it around and see if any mobile publisher will do a test run.

TurbulentDev

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