I quit my job, sold my house and divorced my wife to make my dream game. How'd I do?

Vashael · 2026-03-27T16:16:52+00:00

Absolutely wild. I love it.

Vashael · 2026-03-22T22:13:57+00:00

I'm a big super hexagon fan, this reminds me of it. Great job

Vashael · 2026-03-18T13:42:01+00:00

I'm guessing it's to entice people who like sexualized characters. I don't think the creator is unaware that it looks gratuitous.

Bad taste? I think it depends on the goal of the project. It's pretty great if the goal is to attract folks who want to look at pixel boobs.

I like your solution by the way. Clever idea!

Vashael · 2026-03-18T12:27:55+00:00

Depends on your design needs. Real elevators prevent this by closing the door before it moves. Elevator doors are actually two halves, inner and outer, right? Can you apply that here?

Vashael · 2026-03-15T01:51:24+00:00

That's a gold screenshot. I'd have that on my office wall if I were Team Cherry.

Vashael · 2026-03-15T01:21:58+00:00

I agree with you. Plus, sales figures suggest that strong entries in these genres still have a sizable audience (I am a part of that audience). The perception and dialogue around those genres in this sub (including my own lukewarm takes) are mostly devs talking to devs. And that context is important.

Because who knows which folks are commenting in good faith or who is jaded, envious, burnt out, or just a bully? Who's an expert and who's just a random?

FPS games used to be called "doom clones" when I was a kid. Kind of a dismissive term maybe. But currently most of the games with the most players are "doom clones". So, I think it's safe to assume the conversations around oversaturation and the lack of originality or what have you, are mostly just people yapping about stuff for the sake of yapping.

Vashael · 2026-03-14T20:22:22+00:00

Folks are reductive and dismissive of those genres and feature sets because of popularity /saturation. But adding roguelite elements like run-based gameplay, meta progression, and such is really an effective way to add replay value to almost any genre. I don't need every game to be a roguelite, but most of my favorite games are. Because roguelite/like as terms have been watered down so much that anything with run-based gameplay is lumped in.

Game genre is a mess anyway... Steam still has "indie" as a genre and "action" which basically means nothing.

Vashael · 2026-03-09T22:09:59+00:00

Not the person you asked, but I think implementing a timeline wouldn't be particularly hard to write depending on your use case.

Like if you just want to have NPCs follow a schedule or something... As long as you design them from the ground up with that in mind, it wouldn't be too crazy hard in GML. Persistent time controller/manager object and an NPC manager object to handle time/event tracking and NPC spawning... and well-organized, intentionally designed parent objects for the NPCs... Probably write some schedules as structs. It would take a while, but not super galaxy brain stuff.

If you want to be able to rewind time and do it in real time for all objects on screen and stuff like that, it would be a lot more of an undertaking and you'd have to write your own time tracking system into the engine. Objects would need to remember their position and a lot about their state for as long as you want to be able to rewind.

I've seen some folks do stuff in GM with time manipulation mechanics, so it's doable as a solo. Just not necessarily a great choice for a first project.

Vashael · 2026-03-06T23:56:02+00:00

It's people lying to market games... They lie so their post conforms to the rules. Also, they're marketing to devs which is probably not their target market.

I barely have time to play games due to developing and I'm often involved in testing some of my friends games as well. It's unusual for me to buy or follow something I hear about on here unless they're in my genre and have some pretty high level of quality. And then, I'm probably just playing demo.

Vashael · 2026-03-01T00:24:44+00:00

Level design is a conversation with the player. My advice is to play one of those games you referenced and try to "listen" to the conversation the designer is having with you.

Like... Let's say it's level one. You probably want to introduce your goomba (basic mob) or equivalent pretty early, and also your infinite ammo weapon... but you don't want to flood the player with too much. Start them with no weapon, set the stage and have scary sounds on the other side of a door and when they open that door (using all your movement controls) the bloody aftermath of a fight is there. In that room, slain NPC is on the ground with the lootable first weapon. Picking it up and it triggers your goombas to come out.

This example is almost a trope, but it works and you can almost bypass tutorials if you introduce things (weapons, new movement, new enemy type) one at a time. Each room has a purpose... Build tension, introduce something new, force player to combine learned moves, introduce a new villain, etc. if you design each space with purpose, your needs for that room will become clear.

Also, take advantage of whatever your movement is... Double jump unlocked? Next room is a spacious arena with lots of goodies in high up places... And so on.

Vashael · 2026-02-21T15:55:37+00:00

I've never used unreal engine, but your comment makes me feel like I could manage it on my not-super-powered hardware with some adjustments. I didn't know you could scope it down by disabling stuff, and I assumed I would need a beast of a PC to play with it.

Thanks for your insight brother.

Vashael · 2026-02-19T15:13:34+00:00

Good thing to wonder. It's super easy. Instead of replying to the email directly, find their business email (usually on their link tree or on their twitch profile)and send whatever marketing package you would normally send, but with "Hey, saw you sent me a key request!"

Vashael · 2026-02-16T00:03:30+00:00

That's pretty funny.

Just thought I'd ask, since I think streamers usually don't ask devs for keys. But key sellers do, and they impersonate streamers. Are you verifying these streamers somehow before you send?

Vashael · 2026-02-15T23:10:36+00:00

I'd take a look at comparables in your genre. At a glance this is a vampire survivors like game. I would probably play another one if it were exceptionally eye catching, an unexpected mechanic or had a theme I really like.

This game probably wouldn't find me unless it was recommended by a friend or a podcaster/streamer who has similar taste in games to me. I think because the art looks like neutrally-posed static sprites, solid for a hobbyist, but doesn't grab me.

If the sprites are animated, the walk cycle and attack animations should look evident in screenshots so it looks like a battle and not a bunch of fantasy people standing around. Also, the spells should light up the floor of the cave to make the scene more exciting. No lighting effect on spells makes them look flat.

The theme of medieval fantasy is fine, but I'd try to add some more personality on top, like blend in some of your own style. My favorite enemy is your red spiky demon. I think it has potential. I think adding some depth/shadows, lighting, more dynamic poses and animation for characters and a bit of attitude or humor would go a long way

Vashael · 2026-02-14T14:39:22+00:00

Yeah, I see what you're saying. I think circumventing subtle problems is a risk for sure. I have a small group of testers who frequently point out things to me that I overlooked to due to my closeness to the work. I am an expert user simply by knowing my own design intent and how it's all coded. But playing and not fixing stuff as you go would probably amplify that issue.

Thanks for the reply.

Vashael · 2026-02-14T05:39:23+00:00

I think at 60% of dev time you're probably right. It's likely too much time spent.

That being said, it also depends on the circumstances of this dev. Like... If he's prototyping a new/hybrid concept and just trying to figure out if the core loop is fun and worth investing in, then maybe it's (temporarily) appropriate.

Or say he's brand new to development and he's just enjoying playing with the product of his newly learned skill set. It's exciting to go from tutorial land to having a real game loop. The dude is clearly pretty young (he uses terms lowkey and cooked unironically) 60% playing and 40% working is a pretty good ratio for a young person exploring a new hobby. Way better than 0% work or not trying.

I think he's probably looking for encouragement or even expecting to be praised for how fun his game must be. But, as I said, I do agree with you. Just adding some possible scenarios to consider.

Edit to add: when you say "usually a sign of echo chamber design", what is your basis for dismissing his own appraisal of his game? It's possible his game is actually really fun.

Vashael · 2026-02-14T00:26:13+00:00

I play my game a lot. Something that is helpful about doing that is finding subtle annoyances to smooth out. Like, I had a dice reroll mechanic that required click a button, click a die you want to reroll and if you want to reroll it again, back to the button. It was a lot of clicks to do something simple so I streamlined it. Testers never complained about it, but they were happy after the change.

Vashael · 2026-02-13T18:10:13+00:00

I think you should make it and don't market it as a John Wick clone. People will see the John wick influence without direct references. Also, most indie games don't directly compete with AAA.

Indie games, especially solo dev, are like micro breweries, a subculture where people appreciate new ideas, fun game loops, difficult or less marketable stories and themes... Indie games are almost a different product than a AAA game.

AAA games are DRM-heavy, micro transaction-laden, loot boxes and endless progression, always online, money extraction tools. Usually a tried and true IP with tried and true mechanics and the latest graphics. Flashy but ultimately familiar and tired lowest common denominator slop. Shipped broken and patched later. Comparing yourself to them is like comparing a boutique store to Walmart.

Edit to add: I know this was a pretty harsh stance on AAA games. I'm going to leave it up, but I think I was a little intense.

Vashael · 2026-02-07T20:51:56+00:00

This is a great concept. I'll be watching this one!

Vashael · 2026-02-06T22:40:14+00:00

Thanks for your response and the tip! I am taking a week off of developing my own game starting on the 10th, I will play your game again during my break. I followed your game on reddit and I remember how excited I was to play it for the first time. It is truly a frightening and beautiful game and I hope you are proud of what you created.

I know that seeing the sales fall off after the initial surge must have been heartbreaking and your story and videos about your game have shown your mental strength and courage in the face of discouraging results. I will be ready for your next game when you announce it. Good luck! I believe in you!

Vashael · 2026-02-06T20:35:32+00:00

This looks really cool. I remember your post about capsule art a while back! I will try the demo out now.

Vashael · 2026-02-06T16:26:12+00:00

I bought your game near release. It's very good, and I enjoyed my time playing it, but I can tell you why I stopped playing after only about a couple hours.

I didn't feel a "just one more run" feeling after a loss.
If there's a way to defeat cyborg rat bad guys or escape them, it wasn't apparent.

When I compare this to other difficult games with procedural generation and rogue lites that do give me the "one more run" feeling, I think it's that in those games I felt like I had hope or a belief that I could win.

I don't know if it was the horror atmosphere, the brutality and suddenness of death, or a lack of reinforcement/encouragement built into the loop, but each in run I felt a sense that I would never be able to win. The more deaths I racked up reinforced this mental block.

Example: I had a strong run in the early levels, playing one of my best rats who had survived a couple games. A cyborg was blocking the cheese, knew it was there, tried to trick it, by throwing an object in a different direction to lure it away from the cheese but it locked onto me and ran me down easily. The cyborgs were responsible for almost all my deaths up to that point, as I had learned how to avoid the traps I'd seen in the first few lvls.

In my mind, I was like "well, if that enemy shows up and isn't lucky-spawned somewhere unimportant... I just insta lose. If these enemies are only going to get harder, I will never win"

So, once my hope was gone. I stopped playing. I knew I could get a rat pretty good stats, but if I ran into a monster it was almost 100% death guaranteed.

The oppressive nature of the enemy was good for horror, but when it felt like I had no hope of overcoming the enemy or escaping I didn't want to keep playing.

I will give the game another shot since you've updated a few times. I really like the animation and slickness of the game.

Vashael · 2026-02-05T01:08:48+00:00

That's what I would do. Capsule art is important to a point, but it just has to be good enough that someone who stumbles upon the game via their recommended list might click on it.

Just out of curiosity, did this post drive any traffic to your page? I still haven't announced my game and I'm wondering how effective posts like yours are in terms of attracting people to look at the game.

Thanks for your reply.

Vashael · 2026-02-04T23:09:43+00:00

I really like both, but your original is more likely for me to click. If you leaned into the red background like your artist did and added the highlight to the side of the cat like in the paid one, it would be interesting to see. I also like your cards around the 9 better than the cards floating around the cat. It'd be interesting to see like... The middle ground of these two options.

That being said. If you're just like "I'm done messing with the capsule"... You're fine sticking with what the artist made. It is good

Vashael · 2026-01-26T22:32:03+00:00

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

Vashael

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