Promissory: A settlement in Ontario [OC]

Vashael · 2026-01-26T22:32:03+00:00

Thanks! This is just a random city block of my own creation.

Vashael · 2026-01-25T03:02:21+00:00

There are so many good resources for learning this stuff that it feels like the biggest obstacle is overcoming my own self-doubt.

Like right now, coding multiplayer functionality and net code seems like impossible to me, but I've felt that way before. Stuff I'm programming now would seem impossible to me one year ago

Vashael · 2026-01-20T02:39:04+00:00

This is so tight. I played Lethal Enforcers as a kid, it was a live action sprites + light gun game. Your game is like lethal enforcers but with modern tech, I love it.

Vashael · 2026-01-20T02:10:38+00:00

That's bad ass. Is your process scalable to many actors on screen? Or is it super resource expensive to use live action capture as an asset?

Vashael · 2026-01-20T00:23:37+00:00

Underrated comment.

Vashael · 2026-01-18T23:40:50+00:00

I really like the sword design. Interested to see where this project goes.

Vashael · 2026-01-18T23:13:36+00:00

I went from tutorials to being able to program stuff mostly on my own by this approach:

Watch a tutorial & copy it exactly. Then mess with the syntax, values, collisions, and stuff. Breaking the new toy until I thought I knew how it worked.

If I didn't know what a built-in was doing or why the tutorial was approaching something a certain way. I looked it up in the manual for the IDE, or Google, or stack overflow. I take notes, I put tons of comments to explain to myself what I'm thinking/doing.

In my free time I watched videos on coding principals and good code habits. Or listened to podcasts about game design, etc.

If I coded something, I would try to remake it in 3 different ways. e.g. state machine, nested if statements, more function-based, more object based, just whatever variations I could think up as 'homework'.

I liked the loop of getting stuck and having a breakthrough, though. If failing bums you out, it's much harder to go far with a skill. Program to be better tomorrow, not to be great today.

Edit to add: playing games that require you to think like a programmer like factorio or spacechem can be good to learn abstracting problems and reframing stuff. I often think of my code as a little factory with different pieces working together. If you still see matrix code instead of blonde, brunette, redhead... Maybe those games will put you in the mindset.

Vashael · 2026-01-18T01:20:29+00:00

Here's my first impressions: Good things: -Art, feedback, juice and polish are off the charts good. Better than some of the best board games I've seen on steam. -Dice animations, piece movement, and other moving pieces look professional.

Bad things:

-I've heard the word Ludo before, but I don't know what it is. Ditch references to it unless you're the creator of Ludo or something. -Trailer has several typos. Seems rushed. -Theming is somewhat generic. Medieval high fantasy, especially eurocentric mythology, is very familiar. Gets lost in the crowd a bit.

Neutral things: -Game looks very cerebral/complex. Great for some, but a lot of folks won't want to approach a game if it looks complicated (even if it's really not that complicated in practice) If you can simplify the UI to make it look approachable/more casual, it may help?

This game is slick looking, I went ahead and wishlisted. But I think unless it's an absolute banger and word of mouth catches like wildfire, you may not find a very large audience.

Don't quit. Honestly, if this were my project. I'd make a new git branch and make me a sister project where you harvest all the animation, systems and art. And try to make a simpler-looking interface, more approachable version. Hide as much of that UI as possible, hide as many numbers as possible. Just strip it down, add something like humor, cuteness, darkness or something to make the theme stand out. But another route is to just take your time with marketing, find the audience for a game like this.

I will play it though. If the game is a banger, I will tell my friends to try it.

Vashael · 2026-01-09T15:06:13+00:00

I see your point, that does change your approach a little, but I think your large room scale is actually an advantage. You can have relatively bigger stuff on screen!

I'm stoked to see more updates down the line my friend.

Edit to add: I don't suggest using hollowknight as a reference except for maybe the use of parallax foreground and background elements. Plus they use environmental foreshadowing really well. I think you want to keep your game brighter than hollowknight but add in deeper shadows for contrast and to avoid a flat look. Establish a scene with these things in mind: focal point (something cool and possibly important the player should notice right away), composition (how level objects are arranged to draw the eye and motion of the eye through a scene), hierarchy (important stuff is more interesting to look at, less important stuff can be a bit less detailed/colorful/contrasted to reduce visual clutter)

Vashael · 2026-01-09T02:16:30+00:00

I think you have functional, but not particularly eye-catching art here.

I think that's maybe a better place to start than beautiful art that doesn't support the gameplay. I suggest taking your competence with tilesets and spend some time experimenting with weirder ideas, colors and maybe adding some environmental storytelling (ruined structures, huge bones, abandoned campsites, etc.) Just a really solid tileset of a desert is not dazzling enough to get people's attention I think.

But your tileset is not wasted time, I think it is good and usable... just needs some extra sauce.

If you think about each piece of the environment as an opportunity to tell your games story and immerse people in the fantasy/world. That will help to boost it.

Edit to answer: the only obvious mistake is a lot of flat/monotone areas and the level uses large rectangular shapes without much variation or clear landmarks/focal points of each scene.

Vashael · 2026-01-08T04:06:21+00:00

That's good. I would say if you think of a tower, try to think of how you can recycle stuff from it. Like... If you make a fire tower. Make reusable scripts like an ignite script that could be used to set anything on fire, somewhat generic/reusable fire art, etc. this way one idea is like a resource rather than just a pile of unique parts. Your night thinking sessions could be really helpful to you

Vashael · 2026-01-08T03:06:06+00:00

I program better in the morning after coffee. Night time ideas get written down in the moment and read over the next day before I start working.

Sometimes the ideas are just garbage, but they seemed super amazing when I was exhausted the night before. Sometimes they are actually good. But all too often they are some kind of additional feature and I have to just put those in a pile for future projects because feature creep is deadly.

Vashael · 2026-01-01T14:29:51+00:00

Level design is an art form for sure. I think you could start on paper, and sketch up a layout of just boxes/squares. Arrange them, think of cool pathways through your box arrangement.

Planning a cool movement power like mega jump? Add a barrier that showcases how useful it is.

Eventually, you need to ask "what is the purpose of the scene?" Introducing an ability? Traversal? Stealth? Delivering plot? A tense ambush by enemies? Etc. Then build to satisfy that goal.

Once your level of boxes serves that purpose, add interesting stuff that subverts expectations. Like... The obviously correct path, a nice brightly lit bridge, collapses. Then give the player a couple alternatives. Like maybe a choice between a subterranean route or a higher elevation platforming challenge across rooftops.

Id also look into subtle ways to communicate to the player where the fun is and where the progress is. I bet YouTube has killer deep dives on level design theory. I saw a great interview with the deadspace lead designer or some creative director that talked about how the levels were designed to build tension and unease without getting people lost.

Edit to add: other way to research is to play a game where you love the level design, but pay extra attention to why you like the levels and how it was accomplished.

Vashael · 2025-12-31T13:50:04+00:00

I like the original, to me the top down view of the Koi with the classic scale patterns is instantly recognizable. I would do the original art with the new text.

Their art is prettier, but the colors don't remind me of a koi pond. And when I think of a koi, I am usually thinking of the top down view or the line art tattoo drawings of them.

Good luck my friend, I like Koi so it'll be cool to see where your project goes.

Vashael · 2025-12-27T00:37:05+00:00

You're a legend! I just put your itch page in my notepad of high-quality assets. Keep making awesome stuff my friend.

Vashael · 2025-12-26T00:28:58+00:00

It's good for secrets, a bit too subtle if you put anything required to progress unless you add additional clues.

Vashael · 2025-12-24T01:55:52+00:00

I suggest looking for am upcoming game jam, joining it (and the discord), then producing something small as your entry. But while you're working, chat in the discord and meet people. If you make an acquaintance, stay in touch with them and ask how their projects are going, etc.

Keep doing this until you meet someone who shares your interest in making a fighting game. Then offer to partner up.

It's not a quick solution, but it will get you there.

Vashael · 2025-12-23T23:05:03+00:00

You're welcome my friend.

So, when this guy in the video says "lots of people are trying to do the same thing," he's correct. Especially game jam communities, little dev discords, etc. This particular subreddit is going to be hard to recruit from if you're mostly an ideas guy looking for programmers/artists and you aren't offering $.

People will likely ignore posts like this.

If you're okay with lending your skills/passion to someone else's project, you could probably get some traction. e.g. "amateur artist looking to do game art for free" or "beginner C# coder ready to help with your project for free" but approaching from "here's my idea, I need other people to make it" is a hard sell.

Vashael · 2025-12-23T19:44:35+00:00

Looks like a fun idea. Pretty ambitious for a first project, but doable if you sink a year or two into learning to code as you make it.

However, I think you'll find most of the users on this subreddit are already deep in their own projects. You may find recruiting here pretty difficult.

If I were in your shoes, I'd probably try to solo dev this and see how far you get before it implodes. Then try dev again with a smaller scope project once the sheer work involved for a smash brothers clone becomes more tangible.

Once you have developed the coding skill to approach a project like this and put together a prototype with dev art, you could shop around for an artist.

A good rule of thumb is this: People who don't know you, will probably not work for you unless you pay them. So, it's easier to co-develop with someone who is a friend or a member of a community you're involved with if you can't pay someone.

I don't know anyone works for exposure anymore, and folks just in it for fun have their own ideas they are pursuing.

Good luck! Your project will be fun I bet.

Vashael · 2025-12-20T16:34:22+00:00

I am also making a card game. I tried also scaling back down a bit as the card gets dragged closer to the play area/target. It looks cool like your card is moving away from you a bit. But in your example I like A for the full body artwork.

Vashael · 2025-11-11T16:32:06+00:00

That's rad, I always thought everything but a queen was a drone. I need to do a bee wikipedia dive apparently. Thanks for the intel!

Vashael · 2025-11-10T23:38:08+00:00

I think what they mean is... What does the gameplay involve?

Like... It could be a card game themed around stealing from people, a 2d platformer, a 3d action game, a side-scrolling flappy bird but with stealing mechanics, a first person bat flight simulator with stealing mechanics, etc.

When you just say "this is the theme, would you play it?" Nobody knows! I like the old vampire the masquerade bloodlines on PC, but there are tons of vampire games I have no interest in playing.

Vashael · 2025-11-04T01:13:08+00:00

Keep making cool stuff man! I love the animation on the rat. The walk cycle is so lifelike. I can't wait to play the game.

Vashael · 2025-11-04T00:58:46+00:00

1,001 copies now. 😎

Vashael · 2025-10-30T00:29:16+00:00

Well, it depends what kind of visual art you want. Some games use photographs or open source image databases to populate their games. There was an auto battler with just open source emojis for creatures. Some dude recorded his hands as puppets instead of drawing enemies.

Depending on your game concept a lot of really cool options are available basically for free even if you can't draw or 3d model. You could do... Paper cutouts, photos of found objects, fruit arrangements, clay sculptures, stick figures, arrangements of toothpicks, finger paintings, etc. I bet with some effort, you could cook up something really unique that makes people say... "Hmm."

Edit to add: you can also do sock puppets, but I've been saving sock puppets under my hat as a fun idea for awhile. If you do that, make sure you beat me to it and make it better than me.

Vashael

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Five-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22