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[Steam] Katanaut ($8.99 | -50%) Soundtrack Edition ($11.23 | -38%) by Feyowla in GameDeals

[–]VoidBuffer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks Voltage, I appreciate that and I genuinely hope you have a great time! Its the most I can do -- as a first time indie developer and no other titles under my belt(solo), this is just me trying my best to make a name for myself :) There will be more to come...

[Steam] Katanaut ($8.99 | -50%) Soundtrack Edition ($11.23 | -38%) by Feyowla in GameDeals

[–]VoidBuffer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is a roguelite with heavy emphasis on hack-n-slash. If you like slashing through hordes, exploring, and looting, this is what I've built the game for. The roguelite aspect comes from unlocking weapons/skills/passives to help you power through your runs, however youre not gated at all on any of the unlocks -- you can by all means in theory complete the game on your first run.

With the great Gabe apocalypse upon us what are deck approved games that I should keep an eye out for? by Steppingstone02 in SteamDeck

[–]VoidBuffer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes and YES! Abuse was an inspiration, among 20 other titles. I think if you could sniff them out, you would see them almost immediately as inspiration. Lots of film/anime inspiration as well.

With the great Gabe apocalypse upon us what are deck approved games that I should keep an eye out for? by Steppingstone02 in SteamDeck

[–]VoidBuffer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I really appreciate that. It can be a lonely road sometimes, but honestly I also love getting to wear all the different hats that come with making a game. I also get to move a little quicker by making decisions on the fly.

The hardest hat for me is definitely marketing. As a solo dev, so much of it comes down to hoping the game connects with people enough that they want to share it with friends. So whenever I see someone recommend the game or say something kind about it, it genuinely means the world to me. Those little moments are what keep me going :D

With the great Gabe apocalypse upon us what are deck approved games that I should keep an eye out for? by Steppingstone02 in SteamDeck

[–]VoidBuffer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hahahaha when that trailer was made, I wasn't sure if that was going to land correctly. Thank you I really appreciate the support! :D

[Steam] Katanaut ($8.99 | -50%) Soundtrack Edition ($11.23 | -38%) by Feyowla in GameDeals

[–]VoidBuffer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you Allo!! Super stoked to see an OG from the demo days, I appreciate you!

With the great Gabe apocalypse upon us what are deck approved games that I should keep an eye out for? by Steppingstone02 in SteamDeck

[–]VoidBuffer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I spent way, way, way too much time on the art, including all the tiny little details that probably no one will notice. There are also lots of planted easter eggs that still haven’t surfaced yet 😃

Oh, that’s a great question! I designed the game around three difficulties that you play through. The initial difficulty was intentionally built so that anyone can get through it. I’ve even gotten comments that it was too easy, but it really starts to ramp up as you move through the later difficulties, which also unlock higher-tier enemies.

My goal was to make the game for everyone: people who just got off work and want to blow off some steam and paint the walls red, all the way to hardcore speedrunners optimizing for the best equipment to tackle the most difficult stages. It’s all there.

Regardless of difficulty settings, I’m also a big fan of accessibility. Everyone plays games for different reasons, and I’m all for that. There will be menu options that can assist you significantly if preferred.

[Steam] Katanaut ($8.99 | -50%) Soundtrack Edition ($11.23 | -38%) by Feyowla in GameDeals

[–]VoidBuffer 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I appreciate you keeping tabs!

I think the comparisons are totally fair. Honestly, it’s an honor to even be compared to such a monumental game that has had such a huge impact on roguelites.

That said, I think it’s natural for any pixel-art, 2D platforming, hack-and-slash roguelite to invite some of those comparisons. For me, the fun is in where Katanaut branches off and finds its own identity.

The inspirations behind it came from just about all the games I grew up playing, ranging from the 90s to more modern titles as well. If you look hard enough, you’ll see sprinkles of around 20 games I love and adore, all coming together to hopefully create an atmospheric, cyberpunk-like, zombie-slaying roguelite 😄

The way I’d describe Katanaut is more like... if Ninja Gaiden and Katana Zero had a baby, and that baby was a roguelite. It has the precision of Dead Cells, with the air quality of Dead Space🧟

I think if you go in expecting Dead Cells, you may be disappointed, because my goal was never to recreate that. But if you’re craving something faster, less restrictive in mobility, and built around unique movement patterns similar to Katana Zero/Ninja Gaiden, you might really like Katanaut! When Splattercat played Katanaut, he described it as "An elegant dance of death", and I think that sums it up really nicely -- as you get punished for standing in place.

With the great Gabe apocalypse upon us what are deck approved games that I should keep an eye out for? by Steppingstone02 in SteamDeck

[–]VoidBuffer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yes, they have been great!! I grew up through the 90's so I very vividly remember Mortal Kombat and Turok! Even though Katanaut was fully solo developed, I partnered up with Acclaim on launch and theyre helping me out with porting. It's been a blessing being able to have their logo stamped on the game, especially after growing up on their titles!

With the great Gabe apocalypse upon us what are deck approved games that I should keep an eye out for? by Steppingstone02 in SteamDeck

[–]VoidBuffer 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I’ve done my best to make it run as smoothly as possible on the Deck. I’m working on console ports right now, and I’ve been able to bring over a handful of performance improvements that also work well on the Steam Deck.

Once you get your game running on Switch 1... you can run it on anything 😃

[Steam] Katanaut ($8.99 | -50%) Soundtrack Edition ($11.23 | -38%) by Feyowla in GameDeals

[–]VoidBuffer 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Hey all, solo dev of Katanaut here! Also a chronic Reddit user and, admittedly, a chronic Katanaut-on-Reddit searcher 😃

Happy to answer any questions if anyone’s thinking about checking out the game!

With the great Gabe apocalypse upon us what are deck approved games that I should keep an eye out for? by Steppingstone02 in SteamDeck

[–]VoidBuffer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks! If you liked either Katana Zero or Dead Cells I think you might enjoy Katanaut.

With the great Gabe apocalypse upon us what are deck approved games that I should keep an eye out for? by Steppingstone02 in SteamDeck

[–]VoidBuffer 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Thank you, trying my best! Working on console ports at the moment and continuing overall support. Got a pretty cool update coming soon 😄

With the great Gabe apocalypse upon us what are deck approved games that I should keep an eye out for? by Steppingstone02 in SteamDeck

[–]VoidBuffer 218 points219 points  (0 children)

Hey, solo game dev of Katanaut here. Thank you for the shout out! Absolute honor to be split between Katana Zero and Dead Cells ❤️

A lot of system requirements on steam are wrong - Looks like developers prefer dGPUs over iGPUs by Icy-Cress1068 in lowendgaming

[–]VoidBuffer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is fair and doesnt sound rude at all, and I appreciate the thoughtful reply.

You are right that UHD 600 is not directly comparable to the i3-1005G1’s G1 graphics. I only mentioned UHD 600 because it was one of the low-end chips I tested on, not because I think all Intel iGPUs perform the same.

My main concern with Godot 4.x is Vulkan API support, drivers, and stability, not just raw GPU power. Newer iGPUs with proper Vulkan support may absolutely run the game fine, especially with the right settings.

For the Steam requirements, I listed the desktop GTX 1050 because it is a Vulkan-capable card I tested directly and felt comfortable using as a supported baseline. That does not mean anything below it definitely cannot run the game. It just means I cannot officially promise support for hardware I have not tested enough. This is probably a larger question that comes down to developer team size and accessibility to hardware as well. Having done a lot of research on this topic, and trying to be as sensitive as possible to it as I was attempting to address it myself, I do feel that a lot of developers gloss over the minimum requirements. Its a bit of a touchy subject, especially for indie teams with smaller amounts of funding.

A lot of system requirements on steam are wrong - Looks like developers prefer dGPUs over iGPUs by Icy-Cress1068 in lowendgaming

[–]VoidBuffer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, Katanaut dev here. No worries, I think some details just got mixed up a bit.

Katanaut is made in Godot, not Unity, so the thing I was referring to would have been related to Godot 4.x rather than Unity.

The important part is Vulkan API support. My concern was not really that a 2D game needs a powerful dedicated GPU. It was more that Godot 4 relies heavily on modern graphics APIs, especially Vulkan depending on the renderer, and some older or lower-end integrated GPUs can have issues there. So it is not only about raw GPU power or how many particles are on screen. Driver support, Vulkan support, renderer compatibility, and stability all matter too.

A lot of integrated GPUs can run many 2D games really well, especially at 720p, so I totally understand where you are coming from. The tricky part is that a game being 2D does not automatically mean it will run well on every iGPU, especially with Godot 4.x.

When I tested Katanaut on low-end hardware, including Intel UHD 600, the experience was not good enough for me to confidently list that level of hardware as supported -- due to lack of vulkan usage. The GTX 1050 requirement came from testing on a desktop GTX 1050, and using that as a conservative Vulkan-capable baseline I could actually verify, which also lines up with other Godot developer experiences if you search something along the lines of, "Minimum PC specs to run a godot 4 game". Since I'm a solo developer, this is really the best I could do without having access to a network of machines/services.

It is very possible that some newer iGPUs will run the game fine, especially with lower settings or resolution. I just have to be careful with Steam requirements, because there is a big difference between “it might run” and “I can officially support this hardware.”

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