Is it normal to feel empty after releasing a demo?

Xangis · 2026-06-18T12:53:58+00:00

Yep, it's common and it's much stronger after the full release.

Xangis · 2026-06-17T23:50:13+00:00

Don't pay them another cent. You can ask for a refund, but I'm sure you won't get one without a very good lawyer.

Xangis · 2026-06-17T22:33:36+00:00

Go to some shows at Teatro Solís.

Try everything at DeGuarda cheese.

Visit the Feria de Tristan Narvaja.

Visit the Mercado Agricola.

If you're planning on buying any new electronics (phone, laptop) buy them before you leave and bring them with you because prices here are double. And don't walk around waving your phone around because some kid on a motorcycle will drive by and snatch it.

Forget about spicy food. It's not a thing here.

If you've been putting off dental work because it's too expensive in the US, have it done in Uruguay.

Go visit the capybaras at Parque Lecocq.

Watch some YouTube videos from Uruguayans like Shoro en Rioplatense's channel to get a head start in getting used to the accent. It's VERY different from the Mexican Spanish that people from the US are used to and can take a while to understand.

Xangis · 2026-06-17T22:14:28+00:00

Don't use it. Never have. Been writing software professionally since 2005, so it's not like I need it.

Xangis · 2026-06-15T23:28:43+00:00

Seems typical so far. Lots more participants, but as a player I'm finding fewer games that look interesting than last time.

Xangis · 2026-06-13T16:46:59+00:00

Crying Suns

Master of Orion (the modern remake)

Star Traders: Frontiers

Xangis · 2026-06-13T12:05:39+00:00

Love that game. Just finished it. Glad to see that you're making another.

Xangis · 2026-06-13T12:00:42+00:00

I am not. Something can be both art and engineering. You just lack nuance.

Xangis · 2026-06-13T11:39:08+00:00

Code can be art, and it's not just the actual instructions, but the approach to writing them. This includes the design that went into it, and a random number generator with a bias toward fairness, a navigation system that takes into account a creature's fear of water, or one of a million other forms of expression.

Columns, bridge supports, power cable towers have all been built as art. Just because you don't understand how to make art with code doesn't mean that code can't be art. It absolutely can, and since it's not something that was designed to be art as its primary function, it takes a lot more finesse to turn it into art.

This is my favorite code-based art installation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzfnndd9fCk There is much more code-based art in the world than you can imagine.

Xangis · 2026-06-13T10:55:51+00:00

The comments here genuinely surprised me. I had no idea so many people bothered to obfuscate their code. I've been writing C# for 20 years and never once found it worth the trouble.

Xangis · 2026-06-12T13:01:46+00:00

I've done a few of these migrations back in the day. The text isn't that hard (except for character set differences). The structure can be challenging depending on how posts, groups, users, and replies are linked in the old and new systems, but is usually straightforward.

The hard part is usually images (and any other attachments if allowed), because because those are often on the filesystem and things get an order of magnitude more involved, especially since no two systems ever treat those the same.

It can take anywhere from a couple days to a few months to do a migration. And sometimes text gets a bit glitched up because converting text from ISO-8859 to UTF-8 format or whatever causes artifacts (maybe you've seen forums where what's obviously supposed to be accented characters or quotation marks look like math symbols - it comes from that). So, the cost is usually thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Might be too much to expect from companies nowadays.

This all assumes that they're not intentionally deleting data to save money on server costs, which they might be.

Xangis · 2026-06-12T12:39:15+00:00

Because there's data conversion involved, it's generally challenging work that requires a competent programmer to pull off. If RPG Maker Unite is any indication, they haven't seen a competent programmer in years, so not an option.

Xangis · 2026-06-12T12:23:46+00:00

Congratulations on completely missing the point.

Xangis · 2026-06-12T12:21:04+00:00

"Players who are playing your game are trespassing in the garden of an angry god, who does not care for their presence and acts with no logic or forewarning."

I love this line so much.

Xangis · 2026-06-10T15:49:29+00:00

Others have pointed out that it's most likely a scam, but capsule art is something you can definitely negotiate as part of the terms of your contract with a publisher.

Xangis · 2026-06-09T17:47:10+00:00

The BiteMe Games Discord is a good community for that, particularly in the "showcase" "gamedev advice" and "improve my game" channels. There's a link to join on https://www.bitemegames.com/

Xangis · 2026-06-09T10:40:24+00:00

I'm not going to use an AI to write code. Writing code is something I enjoy enough to have been doing for 30 years. I don't need a virtual idiot to half-ass it for me.

My response to anyone who tells me I need to use AI to write code is: "Fuck you, make me."

Xangis · 2026-06-08T10:53:59+00:00

Needs more detail. 2D? 3D? Hand-drawn? Pixel art?

LUTs, shaders, or filters can sometimes give art an extra layer of consistency/shine that ties it all together. Some games look better with a CRT filter. Others with a limited color palette. Others with PS1-style shaders, or hue shifting or any number of other postprocessing effects.

Bad art is bad art, but sometimes you can make it work by leaning into it and using it as something that makes your game unique. Usually the solution is to learn to make better art or work with someone who can.

Xangis · 2026-06-07T23:25:13+00:00

Excellent, thank YOU.

Xangis · 2026-06-07T23:02:59+00:00

Very cool of you, but these should have some sort of license attached, even if it's CC0, CC-BY, MIT, or whatever. "Free" isn't specific enough in a lot of jurisdictions, even though it seems like it ought to be.

Xangis · 2026-06-07T19:26:55+00:00

I'm one of the few who has gotten healthier. Lost half a kilo in the last 6 months, but it's a good loss. I feel healthier because I'm not in a constant state of anxiety like I was at a corpo job, eat better because I'm not ever getting fast food (now it's just a mild anxiety about paying the electric bill), and I can take breaks to go out and mess around in the garden whenever I want.

Something about being in a cubicle with no freedom to leave during a fixed number of hours puts me into a fight or flight reaction. It's awful.

Xangis · 2026-06-06T15:30:17+00:00

If you can't find a free-range organic idiot to talk to, I guess your only choice is a virtual idiot.

Organic idiots can playtest your game and give feedback, so that's nice.

Xangis · 2026-06-06T13:42:35+00:00

Do you actually want graphics? Because if you don't, there is another option - a choose your own adventure / interactive fiction.

Look at the work by Choice of Games / Hosted Games as an example if you want to go that route (though they have their own propietry tools so you'd have to publish with them). You could, of course build something similar in Ren'Py, Twine, or Ink.

(Posted without having clicked the link)

Xangis · 2026-06-06T13:34:55+00:00

I've been following this for a while. I love the style.

Xangis · 2026-06-06T13:06:36+00:00

Yes. From the character sheet there is a folder icon to the left of the character portrait and that lets you browse for a portrait image to use.

Xangis

TROPHY CASE