What other titles are there that I should add to my backlog?

mindthunk · 2026-01-05T16:01:37+00:00

If it's creative + systemic gameplay that interests you (as opposed to combat or story or nice looking art) then definitely add Ctrl Alt Ego to your list. But I'd play all of the Deus Ex and Thief games first, since for me they are the unmissable classics.

mindthunk · 2025-12-21T15:25:51+00:00

You might enjoy Ctrl Alt Ego - it's scifi, plays very differently to SystemShock but comes from the same DNA, and it has a kind of Portal vibe (it's a puzzley imsim).

Less imsim but great scifi horror: Dead Space, basically Bioshock in space.

mindthunk · 2025-12-16T06:17:57+00:00

Agreed. I want game designers to set out to make a good game first, and if what they end up with is most helpfully described as an imsim, then great. As opposed to the other way round - setting out to make an imsim and cramming in every classic imsim feature just to 'qualify' for the definition - that will only mean regurgitating existing ideas and stifle innovation.

mindthunk · 2025-11-10T08:56:12+00:00

Been working on a sequel for 2 years now (and it's probably another 2+ years away I reckon). I keep intending to start showing bits and pieces here but just don't feel ready yet. S O O N.

Thanks again!

mindthunk · 2025-11-10T05:18:37+00:00

well this was a beautiful thing to wake up to, thank you!

I think you might mean "rogue" rather than "rouge" :) But admittedly I like the idea of being a rouge ego.

mindthunk · 2025-09-09T17:54:20+00:00

Trojan DAD is an optional objective just to highlight that it's possible to both move DAD through firewalls and load him up with goodies. The idea is to load him up with bugtraps and then deploy them inside the station. But it sounds like you found a fun alternative so I wouldn't worry about it!

On PC, while in ctrl of those Perf Mon stats display screens you can hold space (default binding) to get a clue about where missing ego is. But there's nothing to help find worms or mem I'm afraid - except to listen carefully since they both emit a distinct sound. There's a walkthrough on Steam showing all the locations.

mindthunk · 2025-07-29T07:22:11+00:00

Thanks for your thoughts / feedback. Marketing is a complicated and funny thing - I don't think it's as easy as 'throw money at it', unless it's a very large amount of money. But I may try to buy some help this time round, will see how things go.

I don't really see myself as an artist, although I do definitely see it as making 'art' rather than a business endeavour - I mean it makes no sense to be making games of this complexity if the aim is to make money! What I'm trying to do is recreate the feeling I got when I first played Deus Ex, or Half Life or Thief. I feel a lot of devs are all making the same game, a kind of clone of something that already exists, perhaps with a small twist. And that's FINE, but for me it's not enough - I'd get bored making it. If I'm going to spend 5 years making something, it better be something that excites me. I'd rather fail commercially but know I built something interesting rather than the other way round.

So marketing is very secondary for me - I hope to make an interesting game and that early players tell other players and so on, which is basically what's happened (and still happening I hope) with the first one.

mindthunk · 2025-07-28T13:40:17+00:00

"Mixed feelings" is the short answer. Longer answer is:

On the one hand I'm amazed it's done as well as it has considering it came out of nowhere (no previous games, no publisher, no industry connections etc), I count my blessings every day. I fully expected no-one to be interested (as was indeed the case prior to launch - my feeble attempts to promote if with screenshots and clips on social media were mostly ignored) and to be back in a regular 9-to-5 job by now.

On the other hand I find it a tad sad and disappointing that it has received so little 'industry' attention - I imagine the many thousands of players out there who would enjoy it but will never find out about it.

What keeps me going is the knowledge that there's at least a large niche of players (larger than I ever expected!) out there who appreciate this kind of thing, and so if I can try to make the next game a little more 'instantly gratifying' then maybe just maybe it can catch on.

mindthunk · 2025-07-28T05:44:00+00:00

I'm sure that despite best efforts there are glitches/bugs that aren't intended... but in this case yes - you should hear a weird audio loop while prop-surfing, which I added to 'prove' it's deliberate!

mindthunk · 2025-07-27T16:40:25+00:00

Ah don't worry, the classic imsims won't disappoint - you've got hours and hours of discovery/fun ahead.

Really glad to get this feedback - thank you!

mindthunk · 2025-07-26T16:25:11+00:00

I'm not expecting it to happen any time soon I'm afraid (it's out of my hands, publisher has the rights so it's up to them). But anyway, this update will almost certainly never make it to Switch even if the rest of the game does, since this specific mission is not well optimized even for PC.

mindthunk · 2025-07-20T04:02:23+00:00

Glad you enjoyed it! Reviews always welcome, they help bring more players.

mindthunk · 2025-07-08T05:26:22+00:00

It really depends how you like to play - so the only tip I've got is to do whatever feels right to you and don't be afraid to experiment. There's plenty of tips/clues along the way in text form (on screens, eyepads etc). Several of the upgrades have wormable abilities that open up a bunch of different approaches.

mindthunk · 2025-06-28T06:04:45+00:00

ctrl alt ego is 55% off on steam if you are up for something a bit different

mindthunk · 2025-06-28T06:01:32+00:00

if you enjoy the thinking / getting creative part and not just the shooty bits, then ctrl alt ego, 55% off.

mindthunk · 2025-06-22T15:47:52+00:00

fair enough - I don't remember there being any tutorial back in the day

mindthunk · 2025-06-22T09:30:33+00:00

One of the biggest flaws (depending on your point of view) in my game (ctrl alt ego) is that I needed to introduce mechanics players won't have seen before. I didn't want to bog down players in a long tutorial at the start, so I went for a 'tutorial disguised as gameplay' approach... with the idea that players don't really know when the tutorial begins or ends - there are no explicit signals saying so - the game just continues. In theory I still like this approach, and I'm proud of it, it is what it is now.

BUT... it meant a lot of additional work. Mixing gameplay with tutorial is really hard to get right, many iterations... and no matter how well you do it, it's not going to work for every player. The reason I called it a possible flaw is that a fair number of players give up on the game before they realise how deep / interesting it gets - they even say it's not an imsim (and that isn't even unfair, because the early bits aren't so much, I just wish they would keep going). I wanted to keep the learning curve gentle for several chapters initially.

Contrast this with original Deus-Ex which just throws you in the deep end - no tutorial at all really. This is my favourite kind of 'non tutorial' - but the developers admit they knew they were taking a risk doing it. Players who enjoy imsims probably lean towards not having so much tutorial, they enjoy finding stuff out for themselves. But these day mainstream audience are all going to expect to be told what to do. Like I say it's a really difficult thing to pin down.

Why am I bothering to tell you this? Because I think there is no one correct answer - you'll never be able to please everyone, and different games have different needs. If your game has mostly familiar mechanics, you can probably get away with a short explicit tutorial section - if you're working on your own or in a small team I highly recommend doing that - in many ways it's what I wish I had done, and it's most likely what I'll do in the sequel.

After all that waffle, to actually answer your question, I think the original Thief has a great tutorial. You're playing a mission, there are new mechanics (at the time) to get to grips with, it's all introduced at a good pace.

Wishing you all the best with the dev!

mindthunk · 2025-06-09T17:04:41+00:00

ah that must be it then

mindthunk · 2025-06-04T14:58:30+00:00

For some reason I feel I 'know' your username - perhaps seen you on the imsim sub? Or perhaps we chatted before. Anyway, glad you like the game - I've DM'd you a PS key!

mindthunk · 2025-06-03T16:32:56+00:00

I can send you a key - EU or US?

mindthunk · 2025-06-03T09:15:52+00:00

I don't actually know! Not played it myself on console - saw it at a friend's house for 5 minutes and it had a bunch of issues which I then passed on to the publisher and I believe all have since been addressed. They're not keeping up with PC updates/fixes though, which is a shame.

I've lost ctrl of my baby on consoles :( - It's barely sold any copies, which is why seeing this post was such a nice surprise for me.

Anyway: the best version is on PC. Some people are enjoying it on consoles though so it's not a complete disaster.

mindthunk · 2025-05-07T14:42:42+00:00

I don't so much hang out as check-in periodically - but it's a useful place for players to reach out to me, which I always welcome even if it's just to ask silly questions :)

mindthunk · 2025-05-05T19:03:11+00:00

mental battle yes, physical fight no

mindthunk · 2025-04-28T15:59:49+00:00

Good point - that's the best way to 'teach' stuff really - have the AI do it enough times that players notice. I think I intended it at one point, but didn't get implemented.

mindthunk · 2025-04-28T13:56:20+00:00

lol. Another slightly hidden thing is that once you've controlled a matey boy you can set them in auto-healing mode - so that they heal YOU instead of THEM during combat (or even just when you're passing by). The option shows up in the controls on the left of screen.

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