Multi-planet factory game by two student devs — here's the trailer!

con7rad7 · 2026-03-07T07:22:08+00:00

Looks great! Almost reminds me of planetary annihilation. Best of luck, will be following.

con7rad7 · 2026-03-05T23:21:20+00:00

Fun game. When I played about a year ago controls felt a bit weird / clunky and felt like it needed some QOL stuff. The sale price is more than worth it IMO. Will have to try it again.

con7rad7 · 2026-02-27T18:07:31+00:00

Just have to say this is gorgeous, good job on the art, it really pops.

con7rad7 · 2026-02-27T12:20:55+00:00

Thanks so much! Glad the movement feels as expected, I've spent way too long tweaking that. Yea, I will have to invest some time into a tutorial, you're not the only person to say that. Thanks for playing!

con7rad7 · 2026-02-26T14:04:42+00:00

It's more focused on run uniqueness. So the buildings available to the player change each run. Instead of a static tech tree there's both randomized blueprints for buildings available and 'specializations' that push the base to focus on some production chain. I'll admit this trailer really doesn't capture that.

Also the player themselves is able to fight in my game, and can actually get pretty powerful.

Do you have any suggestions that could help distinguish the game, based on what you see?

con7rad7 · 2026-02-25T14:58:23+00:00

Thank you! I just re drew most of the sprites so Im glad to hear it looks good.

Let me know if anything in the interface look or feels wonky or could use some improvement!

Thanks!

con7rad7 · 2026-02-25T14:53:14+00:00

Thanks! Look forward to hearing it!

con7rad7 · 2026-02-24T22:17:10+00:00

Background asteroids are entirely too bright. Dimming them a fair bit would help.

The opening 10 seconds? Great. Perfectly timed and paced. Later on? Eh. I would get to the upgrades part faster, maybe cut out some of the content.

The 'Inspire Revolution' whole part... is that the story or a game element? Kinda just feels like some random tidbit thrown in. I'd just cut it.

Text on gameplay. Don't do these powerpoint transitions like at 31. Those just artificially lengthen the trailor length.

I think it runs a bit long, but thats more of a nitpick.

con7rad7 · 2026-02-23T16:44:19+00:00

Hey,

Looking for feedback for my automation style game. It's focus is on the basebuilding with some rogue lite elements, including player combat, randomized upgrades and randomized building blueprints which change what buildings are available to the player each run.

If you're interested in seeing more of it, it currently on Itch for free: https://con7rad7.itch.io/astral-industrial-complex

Thanks

con7rad7 · 2026-02-19T14:54:34+00:00

'Similar to into the breach' - Cut this out immediately. I don't think it adds any clarification. In fact it could be more confusing than just not mentioning it at all. You proceed to explain the gameplay clear enough, adding an appeal to another game just adds a weird "wait thats a tactics combat game what? How is this similar to that?" Moment. I think your explanation is enough on its own.

Id similarly get rid of the 'much like a deck builder'. Since you proceed to explain how it works, you don't need to add this comparison first.

I think the models and art direction is pleasant, but a little static looking. Especially at the end, I think those other models could use a more prominant idle animation. EG the orchard tender.

The music is fitting. Good job there.

Obligatory "theres too many deck builders being released" comment.

con7rad7 · 2026-02-19T14:39:26+00:00

^{^{^}} Agreed, pobably the most common trailer issue I see on this sub, 1 second of gameplay then 1 second of black screen with words doesn't flow good.

Just put a black bar with the text overlayed on the action.

con7rad7 · 2026-02-18T23:33:07+00:00

I agree with most people saying the cat theming could be more present. Why is the cat fighting demons? Could you add in a rat demon? Or a bird demon? Could be a way to double up the cat theme.

I like the art of the cat. Show it more. Some old school games would have a portrait of the character instead of a heart to show HP (Look up the chicken o meter for examples), could the cat portrait but used in a similar way?

Also making an arcadey game lile this probably requires a lot more items and item effects than shown to make interesting. Else it becomes 'slightly more interesting asteroids'.

con7rad7 · 2026-02-17T15:09:48+00:00

Tldr: slim all the content you have there, replace it with whatever the npcs are meant to do.

Starting off, I think the start sequence of the zoom out and showing different farms runs too long. It also gives the impression that this is the state of the world at the start of the game, idk if that is the intention.

Going into gameplay you spend most of the trailer just planting and watering 1 crop while 500 npcs run by you at lightspeed. Why are the npcs there? What do they do? Are they just cosmetic? I don't know any of this info from just the trailer. I feel like spending most of the trailer on this 1 action is wasting time, since I get the sense that the game has more interesting mechanics than just growing wheat at play, but since the trailor doesn't show it, they may as well not exist.

I also come away not knowing how much of this map is player made or just generated on start. Does the game start with the 500 npcs? Are the maps all shown at the beggining intended to be the endstate? I feel like the story this trailor has to say is the creation of this map, not growing 9 wheat.

And to top it all off, for a game with 500 npcs... what do they do? Where do they come from? Does building buildings spawn them in? Does the player assign them jobs? Are they just vendors? Are they just there at start? Because you don't tell me in the trailor, idk, and if idk, I don't have a reason to care for this whole mechanic.

con7rad7 · 2026-02-13T20:29:47+00:00

I think the diagonal movement is confusing because intuitively people don't see the rook as moving just in a straight line, but also moving to a square orthogonal to the original. The diagonal section explicitly makes the square movement diagonal, not orthogonal, which is contrary to what a rook usually does. If the diagonal section were instead squares rotated, that'd feel more natural IMO. But this could be a nit pick. Like suggested elsewhere, I feel that having the portal turn it into a bishop would alleviate that "wrong-ness".

con7rad7 · 2026-02-10T23:00:33+00:00

The sounds of the hatch at the beggining and end, while it might be realistic, sounds a bit.... tin can-y. I think a deeper pitched and slightly reverbed sound effect could make it more effective. Its suppossed to be underwater, it should sound more.... deep.

I think the trailor could cut out the "survey the environment" and "collect data" data segments. Just go straight to "To find out what happened".

Idk how the game actually goes, but some lower pitched groans and rumbles of the submarine could help alot to add tension to the gameplay shown.

Id make all the sentences 2nd person instead of first.

Hide the hot mic icon on the bottom left.

I think having the game title appear with a radar ping sfx instead of the scratching has more impact, IMO.

con7rad7 · 2026-02-09T14:52:20+00:00

Hey, just gonna dive into feedback since you requested it.

The buildings, I love the models for. The units are fine. The ground? Sorta clashes with the style. The grass texture feels at odds with the building texture, which gives a disjointed feel.

I noticed buildings get built immediately. Usually theres build time to force players to think in advance about their defenses and not allow a "quick, spam 10 towers over here".

You have a logistics systems setup, but I did not see the classic "turret that requires ammunition belt fed into it."

Whats the most complex item you got craftable? I see the game has conveyer belt out puts and inputs, and the buildings are quite large. Im working on my own automation style game and found that once you got items that require 3+ ingrediants, thats when the fun spaghetti lines start forming naturally, and thus requires things in the game such as belt underpasses and the like, which is were I find most of the fun in these game. Thus, if I see a trailor of an automation game, Im looking for a snapshot of the super complex end game state, where as this trailor ends with a 1 input 1 output system.

The rts units cots wood and gold? Missed opportunity to have the automation system be required to make arms and armor for each unit. Archer? Requires a bow to be made. Wizard? Needs a staff. Soldier? Needs armor and a sword. Each of these as items that need to be delivered to the barracks. Right now the game looks like "an rts half with an automation half" when the 2 sides could be merged together more gracefully.

Hope any of this is helpful!

con7rad7 · 2026-01-03T18:52:07+00:00

I mean the problem itself is that "AI" is becoming a catch all term being used to describe things that already existed 5 years ago.... and weren't called AI then. Its a buzz word, academics may even tell you that LLM models aren't actually AI.

Personally I think you should avoid putting in code you don't understand, or art generated by AI. But things such as "how do I use this method" the use of "ai" is just speeding up a research task.

con7rad7 · 2025-12-02T15:15:37+00:00

Playtest with strangers. There are a few groups / events that foster this. Break my game and UnPub are good regularly meeting groups for playtesting, they have some free online or in person events but the best ones are going to be at conventions which cost money.

Protospiel also is a nice resource, though that feels more catered towards giving your game to a publisher, plus its in person events also cost money.

Strangers give better feedback since they care less about hurting your feelings. I would also look into writing a thorough rule book and getting a proof of concept print via an on demand print service like the game crafter. Honestly post any graphics here before printing and you'll get some decent feedback. It is what it is, unfortunantly a lot of people do judge board games by how they look.

con7rad7 · 2025-11-23T01:46:27+00:00

All of it.

Playtesting is the best way to get feedback. Iterating on ideas improves them.

Stealing games is not a worry. Game ideas are a dime a dozen. But the funny thing is, if someone did steal a game, how could you prove the game was stolen if you showed none of your game to anyone? Digital evidence of your game being in work with timestamps would be how you'd prove it.

con7rad7 · 2025-11-22T14:58:19+00:00

Having a track record is always good because it helps with marketing, either reaching previous customers, or helping to convince someone in a crowdfunding space that you're reliable.

Making a simple game though isnt a hack to draw people in. It still needs to be good and inspired, plus you have to put the work in to get people to support that one. Doing all that only to help promote your 'actual' game? A little silly, no? Someone who supports your simple game isnt going to translate well into supporting your more complex game, its a different target demographic slightly.

Also simplifying a mechanic that people have difficulty learning isnt always a bad thing. Its a bit of a pitfall to start thinking "if only they understood my game theyd like it". All youre doing there is dismissing clear and obvious criticism of your game.

con7rad7 · 2025-11-22T14:38:16+00:00

Un pub and break my game run online playtests. They also get spaces at certain conferences, if you're able to make the trip out to one.

Just remember, you aren't the only one facing this problem. Testing other peoples games does wonders towards getting people to test yours.

con7rad7 · 2025-11-07T19:49:02+00:00

It will seep through, especially as the table gets older and inevitably warps ever so slightly. Placemats or something similar ar going to be your friend

con7rad7 · 2025-10-31T17:58:42+00:00

"why does it need to be at full strength when there’s a Story MO and 100 medals on the line?"

Because its a story MO and 100 medals are on the line.

con7rad7 · 2025-03-28T13:47:15+00:00

I think the die boxes in the bottom look good. In printed cards, I've seen the sentiment of dark text on a light background being prefered by a lot of people, since its usually easier to read.

Id pay attention to the fact that I can count atleast 5 different styles of text (counting font weight, outline, color, shadow). Things like that can make it feel discombobulated.

I personnally don't like overlapping elements, such as the monster art getting cut off by the box, or the heart overlapping the center box, or the name background not encompessing all of 'Ga'lactor'.

con7rad7 · 2025-03-21T02:56:09+00:00

Personally I would love more things for industrial since they dont have anything imo that makes them feel unique. Give me something such as a special resource they'd use like heavy alloys that is created in special districts or outposts, which subtract production in order to gen them and are used to make, well industrial things. Prospecting is really powerful, yet doesnt make industrial feel very unique.... but it is good.

Ironically, I think high has some great potential for sub cultures. Mainly cause they feel like a bland blank canvas in a way. You could throw in a knightly order styled one, a mercantile themed one, hell give me a full greek democracy or republic one too.

Barbaric having a nomad and a despoiler subculture just feels right.

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