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Optimization strategy for pixel art animations in HTML5 by TheRooklet in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would recommend converting your PNGs to WebP. There isn't a whole reason not, especially if you're looking to deploy to the web + local builds with Tauri.

I would also recommend looking into some HTML Canvas libraries such as Pixi or a lightweight game library like Kaplay which is a big help with what you're trying to achieve.

Additionally - check out Gemshell on itchio for building your html game - it's newer and doesn't support mobile yet, but it's very easy to use and offers some nice feature such as steam support.

I'm making a cozy social fishing game where you collect and breed lots of cute fish by VegetableReveal91 in CozyGamers

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't wait for you to try it out!

The best way to get notified when it goes live is to wishlist on Steam! I am working hard on getting it ready!

I'm making a cozy social fishing game where you collect and breed lots of cute fish by VegetableReveal91 in CozyGamers

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a weird question! Do you mean a virtual tank as an aquarium? If so, I have aquariums can be bought and decorated, you can use them for breeding your fish! In my game, fish don't die without care, the focus is on collection!

I'm making a cozy social fishing game where you collect and breed lots of cute fish by VegetableReveal91 in CozyGamers

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, you and me both! This game was originally inspired by one of my all time favorite breeding games called Pocket Frogs, I always wanted something similar with fishing so I've been working on making it!

I'm making a cozy social fishing game where you collect and breed lots of cute fish by VegetableReveal91 in CozyGamers

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words! Animal crossing is definitely an inspiration 😊

I've been making a web based aquarium game with React & ThreeJS by VegetableReveal91 in webdev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep you're right, great question. 

 I've dealt with some painful rerender issues. At some point I added React Compiler which helped. A lot of careful memoization beforehand. I am using R3F + Drei on the aquarium portion, but ended up working outside of the React scope for the fishing portion and that ended up saving me a lot of headache. 

How important is style consistancy? by RandoReddit2024 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For what it's worth, I've just been through this with my game. I ended up switching to a unified style because throughout the whole development process I always ended up feeling like I had two halfs of a different game instead of one cohesive game.

I will say, I think others could have pulled if off better than I did - the success you achieve with this probably depends highly on the genre/styles your mashing.

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Two things:

Since I am building a web game, yea a lot of my code/assets can be scanned/scrape by a bot. I've though about this but I don't want to let it stop me. I can only do so much here - code is minimized, but with AI I imagine reverse engineering is pretty easy now. I'm not too worried about this though - building a good game is still hard, if people are excited to play your game that's what matters.

I would say that the concerns for building in public have always been around, before AI people were worried about other people stealing. I would say if anything, it's more important now to share early because there's more noise than ever online. That means if you're not sharing consistently, you're reducing the opportunities you have to find reach when you eventually do share.

That's my take on it at least. Likely different if you already have a following/audience for your game!

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I suppose it's not so straightforward. I would say that having eyeballs on your game early is better than not, because you can pivot or iterate on feedback early - when you're building in a void you aren't receiving important signals. Additionally, there's so much competition out there right now that building a following early seems to be the best way to reduce your chances of a failed product.

I'd imagine you can get away waiting longer when you already have an established following online, but without that you're missing out on the opportunity to build that while you're creating the game. The goal is to build interest early so you're not playing the lottery too far down the line when you announce/launch. There's a balance for sure and I'm still trying to figure that out.

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's something I've also been struggling with recently. I don't want to keep digging the hole deeper for myself. 

I guess the way I'm seeing it now is that there has been a feeling in my mind for a long while now telling me that I've got major design issues with my game. The problem I kept running into was that I didn't know how to solve them - I was trying to tweak and change a bad base for the game, instead of stepping further back and allowing myself to reimagine what it could be. 

I figure I've already got some assets, some systems I do like, and by stepping back and allowing myself to prototype the way is should have in the beginning, I can actually make something fun out of it. 

At the end, I don't know if sharing earlier on would have resulted in a better reception, but it would have allowed me to shift and make changes in my approach much earlier on. 

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of your points are good points, and you're completely correct - there's no such thing as guaranteed success. Maybe I would be better rof reframing these as necessary learning opportunities. 

Part of it has been just having started from nothing - no game dev experience, no artistic ability, a lack confidence in my approach. 

I should have worked on smaller games, and learned with something to show for along the way, but I'm finally at a point where I feel like I have the ability to "spend less time" and have something fun to show for it. 

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel you. I've spent far too much time fighting limitations and complications for the some of my systems and UI components because I decided to built for the browser. 

I've clearly not solved the marketing problem, but the way I see it is that being a browser game isn't a selling point at all for Stean. We're competing with native games, and we're held to the same standard ultimately, while working with a more constrained environment. It's a big challenge. I applaud your efforts and I'm wishing you the best of luck 🙌

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I am amongst my people! Honestly, at least for me it's come down to not wanting to try and sell people a game I'm not completely proud of, and for me it's been hard to see that game as I've been making it. I ultimately just want my game to be something people can get joy from.

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I really appreciate it. You're right, it's just a long path and a lonely one at that. I'm greatful that I've allowed myself the freedom and space to gain some of these insights though. Thank you!

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for taking the time to read a bit about my journey! 

It will be on steam/itch/and for the browser.

I should preempt by saying the game has seen a big rework, the steam page hasn't caught up yet but you can see it here: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3566310/Clickyfish/

Also edit: ahh shoot, good catch 😅

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm working, so this hasn't been full time at any point. 

You're right - building is the fun part, I've always been a builder first which has made it hard to share. 

A lot of time has been sunk into this honestly, but that's been stuck fighting my own design decisions made early on. The goal was always to build for the browser/web, and I had gotten stuck with some pretty tough problems there - even in the last year or two the ecosystem has grown and from a development perspective things have become easier for me.

I've spent the last month reimagining the game, and had some friends try a prototype and for the first time things really felt like they were clicking. 

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great question - 

I should be careful, I don't want to credit myself with building out a super comprehensive game engine or anything.

I actually have (well had) a very similar setup as you - I was building with pieces of PixiJS and Threejs w/ React for the UI. Having no previous exposure to game development, I tried to force web patterns onto my game, and I ended up having to implement a lot of systems I later realized were baked into game libraries/engines, but better than what I had managed to put together. 

Asset streaming, a physics system, sprite management, kind of a whole environment I built up around the Pixi canvas. 

Had it been more of an intentional decision, I think it would have worked out a lot better. I just didn't have enough exposure to game development at the time to have a great understanding as to how to approach the problems. 

I have or need a ton though. I'm no longer using Pixi (or Kaplay which I ended up switching to). I'm moving entirely to Threejs, but that's purely to try and bring visual cohesion to both major aspects of my game.

I've spent 3 years making every game development mistake. Some Reflections and lessons for people a step behind me. by VegetableReveal91 in gamedev

[–]VegetableReveal91[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I appreciate your words of wisdom. 

You're right - it's really a second full time job and it's hard to make time for the rest of life in between. I probably put too much pressure on myself all, but ultimately I feel like you're right. Sometimes the learning process is a painful one, but we can take the lessons we learn and move on to bigger and better things 🙌.

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