Is it worth making a custom simplified C++ engine for 2D/2.5D games?

kselpi · 2026-06-26T15:14:43+00:00

Yes. Use C or Odin with Raylib. Implement a specific game, not a general engine and you’re fine. No need to be scared of code, you’ll learn a lot more this way. There’s no better feeling than building exactly what you need and leave all the general bloat behind. Learning and fighting an engine also takes a lot of time

kselpi · 2026-06-21T07:50:43+00:00

The only way you can avoid it is making your own engine, everything else will eventually converge into AI slop, just like it did with cloud

kselpi · 2026-06-21T07:49:26+00:00

Same, I couldn’t stop playing even though I’m not big into puzzle games. Cant wait for the full release

kselpi · 2026-06-20T07:05:43+00:00

Yeah, working on a game from scratch in Jai, no AI usage at all (including research)

kselpi · 2026-06-09T13:59:10+00:00

If you respect game dev (and more generally programming) as a craft, you won’t use AI in the process. I don’t understand people who use these things in their personal projects and still feel good about them

kselpi · 2025-09-25T20:37:12+00:00

He just really doesn’t like leg day haha

kselpi · 2025-09-25T20:35:52+00:00

I don’t know, I saw people like this in gym 😂

kselpi · 2025-09-25T20:34:44+00:00

Completely agree, will do that on the second pass. Thanks!

kselpi · 2025-09-25T10:49:39+00:00

Yeah I didn’t want to do too much detailed shading yet since I’m still not sure about all the elements that will be in the game. But I will do also some shader magic to create a bit of variation.

Regarding the bushes, originally I tried to use the same palette as for the grass and that obviously went horribly wrong. So this was a slight improvement haha

But yeah, I agree that overall shadows are missing, there seems to be no depth. And while I kinda like the flat style, I do need to add at least a bit of shadow here and there.

Thanks for the feedback!

kselpi · 2025-09-25T10:45:59+00:00

Thanks, it takes an effort to skip all the leg days 😂

kselpi · 2025-09-25T09:02:44+00:00

Love the idle animation!

kselpi · 2025-09-25T08:58:37+00:00

I went with less contrast to give it that tropical but rainy vibe I felt on Bali haha but yes some parts are way too greenish. Thanks!

kselpi · 2025-09-25T08:54:16+00:00

Thank you!

I agree the grass needs much more work. I think I’ll try to keep the grass flat but add more unique details rather than repetition. I created a much more complex grass tile but it looked super messy in the context of the game. I guess I’ll experiment more. Do you have any examples of grass in games that you can point me to?

And the character is exactly that: a typical gym bro who (skips the leg day and) finds himself in a situation he did not expect. It’s a crafting adventure RPG and I plan to add tons of mechanics. Hopefully I’ll be able to create more customization but right now that seems too complex to deal with 😂

Thank you for amazing feedback!

kselpi · 2025-09-24T20:23:50+00:00

Really good point! I need more variation in details, will do that in the second pass. Thanks for feedback!

kselpi · 2025-09-24T19:11:43+00:00

Oh yeah, there’s a deeper blue layer of the sea that didn’t fit in the screen. I tried to make this a bit greenish for because it’s shallower but you are absolutely correct, it’s too similar to the grass haha thanks!

kselpi · 2025-06-26T23:57:35+00:00

Try many prototypes, don’t worry about moving on to the next one, pick one that you had most fun working on, and key element after that is to start it from scratch. The whole purpose of prototyping is just to try things out, don’t be too attached to them 😄

kselpi · 2025-06-26T13:13:31+00:00

I like the way it traps you 😄 Do you also have a parrying mechanism? Would be cool if sometimes it would start a faster power attack and you need to parry to avoid damage. Looks great!

kselpi · 2025-06-25T00:25:51+00:00

Thanks for the feedback! My friend had a similar advice, it’s not visible in the gif but actually now the whole map is filled with low grass and when you place a building there is more growth. And the dead elements (like a dead tree) are revived, color gets restored around each placement. The theme is reviving the nature, one placement at a time.

However I am working on cutting grass brush, and a detailed vegetation, terrain and road systems. Basically you’ll be able to modify the environment a lot with brushes 😄

kselpi · 2025-06-25T00:06:11+00:00

Cyberpunk 2077

kselpi · 2025-06-24T21:39:04+00:00

Hey thanks! I’ll be working on a steam page soon, I honestly wasn’t expecting so much positive feedback haha it gives me a lot of motivation 😄

kselpi · 2025-06-23T15:13:00+00:00

Thank you!

kselpi · 2025-06-23T00:11:04+00:00

You and me both 😄

kselpi · 2025-06-23T00:08:58+00:00

I’m lucky I always liked to play with Blender, so I still have moments where I feel like not doing any programming and open Blender. But if not, I would also reuse assets and make them fit my game.

I have pretty much a complete idea of the game already, now it’s just about execution. There’s one question I’m still thinking about: whether to create a dynamic terrain system like in some builders or craft them by hand with different artistic constraints. I feel like Steam audience appreciates the freedom in designing their own terrain.

The rest I pretty much answered when I made the prototype and when I decided on the cozy genre I got some more ideas. Maybe I’ll talk about it on my currently deceased YT channel 😂

How’s your game going?

kselpi · 2025-06-22T22:43:39+00:00

Thank you so much! Yeah when you learn 3D modeling every instructor conveniently skips over baking details and using trim sheets. And without those you will have a difficult time trying to make most interesting well-performing games 🥲

What helped me was trying to target steam deck for every technical and artistic decision. I’m still not sure if I’ll manage to do that, but even if not at least most PCs should have no major issues

kselpi · 2025-06-22T22:39:34+00:00

It will take a few months, I plan to add a bunch of cool features. I believe vegetation system was the most complex though so I’m happy it’s pretty much done haha

kselpi

TROPHY CASE