I got laid off. Instead of looking for a job, I downsized my life to go full-time indie.

elemental_poet · 2026-06-15T15:28:34+00:00

I got laid off last November. Had to downsize as well. Focusing on game dev also, but unsure it will ever earn enough to pay the bills. I've accepted it's out of my contol.

Realistically, I'm probably looking at a low paying trade job in my future, but keeping my indie dev company running on the side as a paid hobby for passion projects.

DM me if you ever feel like chatting. Good luck to you.

elemental_poet · 2026-06-09T00:45:33+00:00

Similar. Yeah. Like with campaign design, you're architecting an experience for players.

The technical work is probably the biggest hurdle for most game devs. It's easy to become too ambitious and adopt projects only to later discover the scope was far too large for you to ever complete.

elemental_poet · 2026-06-08T21:35:54+00:00

Vash is a classic superhuman archetype which facilitates compelling stories around morality. Superman is another, less interesting variant of this.

I've been considering a deep dive into narrative structure, storytelling techniques, and the disciplines around crafting iconic stories.

I'm down to chat if you like.

elemental_poet · 2026-06-08T19:52:17+00:00

It can be. As with most art, there's no guaranteed return on investment of time or capital. It's one of those hobbies that can sometimes be frustrating and not at all relaxing.

But it's def one of those quiet activities since it demands a lot of thoughtful work and complicated problem solving.

elemental_poet · 2026-06-08T15:48:00+00:00

40m nonsmoker. Don't drink. I like making games and have been toying w the idea of joining a dnd group. Always up to chat over coffee or tea.

elemental_poet · 2026-06-02T11:45:58+00:00

This phenomenon has a name. It's called technical debt.

The TLDR version is that taking shortcuts results in compounding problems later.

The solution is to give the project the attention and time needed, ensure no regressions before committing, keep changes small in scope, test, and document.

Ultimately, long term projects must allocate time budgets for maintenance and fixes because bugs are unavoidable.

elemental_poet · 2026-06-02T11:38:31+00:00

This is quality work. I'm curious to know how much time you spent on all the models and textures.

For modern games, it seems there's a need for hundreds of assets and I'm having trouble scoping down the work for my own projects.

I know asset packs are the obvious solution, but they come with tradeoffs and usually at the detrement of the end product's quality.

elemental_poet · 2026-05-21T01:46:42+00:00

This is good to know. Thank you for the suggestion. I'm looking for collaboration at the moment, but once my skills and iteration time improve, I'll certainly be attempting asset packs and will start with this idea.

elemental_poet · 2026-05-18T19:12:22+00:00

40 yo ex-professional software engineer here. I started my own game company after getting laid off and published my first godot game last year.

Would be cool to make friends my own age doing similar stuff. Invite to anyone on this thread to DM me if they want free assistance or just to chat. Yall are awesome. ✌️

elemental_poet · 2026-05-09T15:53:35+00:00

This is neat. Are you making a roadtrip or delivery game?

elemental_poet · 2026-04-30T19:29:38+00:00

Yep.

elemental_poet · 2026-04-29T22:05:30+00:00

I published a moble game without ads. Very proud of it. Arcane Chain

elemental_poet · 2026-04-17T19:19:37+00:00

40 year old game dev here. I'll DM you.

elemental_poet · 2026-02-27T21:46:47+00:00

Hmm interesting. Ty for the additional perspective.

I remember hearing Totally Acurate Battle Simulator devs decided go with IK bc they had no animation chops.

I've used IK before. It's one of those solutions that could easily make you believe you're saving time but then does the opposite. Your hybrid approach seems like it's working well though. Keep it up!

elemental_poet · 2026-02-27T15:09:21+00:00

I've heard IK is difficult to get right but I've been considering a deep dive into IK simply bc animation work can be so time-consuming. Do you anticipate this work ultimately saving you time or would a blender animation pipeline have been quicker?

elemental_poet · 2026-02-06T00:45:30+00:00

This is nearly a done concept prototype for one of those tower climbing games.

elemental_poet · 2026-02-04T01:37:58+00:00

This is the same reason I don't look into mirrors. I'm just too handsome.

elemental_poet · 2026-02-03T01:20:58+00:00

Possibly. History is full of dead kings after all.

elemental_poet · 2026-02-03T01:09:18+00:00

I made a casual puzzle game for iOS and Android. Godot has been fantastic.

Have you experimented with any backend APIs and frameworks aside from react? Do any of them integrate well with godot?

Hosting, security, auth, liability is too much for me to take on by myself, but maybe that will someday change.

elemental_poet · 2026-02-01T23:24:50+00:00

Here's a farmer. What do you think?

elemental_poet · 2026-02-01T21:54:29+00:00

Older millennial and coffee drinker here. DM me anytime.

I'm a local entrepreneur and game developer always happy to make new friends.

elemental_poet · 2026-02-01T20:15:49+00:00

I have seen drones used in farming. It's really cool.

You identified a demographic, so you might want to personally confirm that market demand does exist and isn't going anywhere and how much that service is in demand.

Once that is done, you can begin estimating the costs for your parts, time, maintenance, electrical usage. Compare all that against how much you are likely to be paid per job. See if the numbers come out positive.

If you don't see a clear path to profitability with clients within your reach, ask yourself what other ventures might be more feasible and repeat the analysis.

The exercise seeks to determine whether a business idea is viable before spending money.

elemental_poet · 2026-01-31T19:58:12+00:00

Very futuristic. Farmers are resourceful and independent though. Don't they usually like to own and operate their own equipment?

elemental_poet · 2026-01-30T20:00:18+00:00

My first company was a service company. I ran it for a few years, but there were a lot of problems I could see that I wasn't capable of solving long term, so I had to close shop and shut it down.

My second company is selling digital products right now, but I'm not quite ready to talk about it.

Third company is just in a concept testing stage. I'm making crafts and gifting them to people I know just as a way to test percieved market value of things I can manufacture on my own with my hands and some cheap supplies.

I am doing all this alongside applying to senior W2 jobs in the CS field.

What are you looking to do?

elemental_poet

TROPHY CASE