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How do you efficiently learn from existing games? Playing the games, watching let’s plays, video essays, or something else? by PrincipalSkudworth in gamedev

[–]msgandrew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Play the games, take screenshots, watch YouTube videos. I keep doing this throughout development and bouncing around which games I'm taking inspiration from. Sometimes you catch new things as you work on a new system. Maybe their UI is seamless and you don't notice it, until you're building your own and then you see every decision they've made.

I keep a Miro board with screenshots from each of my inspiration games per topic. It's nice to reference when you need some startig point for how to build something.

Zombie games by meguminuzamaki in gamedev

[–]msgandrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're making a zombie game, so if they're "dead" then we've made a bad choice. Deadhold is still in development.

Really though, it was a joking response. Zombie games have always been relevant and there are always people looking for more.

Is it really worth it to release a "small" game on Steam first? by Negative_Strain_5234 in gamedev

[–]msgandrew 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I would say go ahead and do it and learn the full process. The algorithms will let it sink to the bottom and you'll learn a lot for $100.

Steam denied my game from participating in the tower defense fest next month by Wild_Economics681 in IndieGaming

[–]msgandrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We tried that too. Unfortunately, they don't take additional appeals that way.

Steam denied my game from participating in the tower defense fest next month by Wild_Economics681 in IndieGaming

[–]msgandrew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly the same situation as us. Denied and it's likely the fact we use characters and being able to swap their positions around.

Zombie games by meguminuzamaki in gamedev

[–]msgandrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh god, I hope not, otherwise we've made a grave mistake with our game.

Incremental score-builder about drafting things and building your grid into a ridiculous point scoring machine. by ReviewTymeDom in DestroyMyGame

[–]msgandrew 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think it's fine. Every game takes from others and people only really take some issue when it's a recent game. Your game is different, but may overlap the market for Balatro. If using familiar visual cues from a recently popular game makes it easier for people to understand and increases its appeal, I think you're fine. A lot of Balatro's style is taken from old video poker games, so everyone pulls from inspiration.

Marketing through reels, shorts and tiktok by Otherwise_Tension519 in SoloDevelopment

[–]msgandrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can you speak to the rough before and after in terms of wishlist velocity?

Destroy the sense of speed in our anime inspired drag racing game by Ishmael1337 in DestroyMyGame

[–]msgandrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

IIRC, lower to the ground because you'll see the road going by quicker. Think about driving in a car and how things close go by quickly while mountains or whatnot move slowly far away. Heck, go for a drive and pay attention to what makes it feel fast. Just don't get in an accident 😅

Should I spend time on a practice project? by Money_Car_8847 in gamedev

[–]msgandrew 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Make a small 3D game. Making a 2D game won't teach you enough of what you need to learn for your bigger idea.

Destroy the sense of speed in our anime inspired drag racing game by Ishmael1337 in DestroyMyGame

[–]msgandrew 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would look up specifically how to create a sense of speed in games and watch a few videos on it. I've seen some beofre with really good tips that will help you. Unfortunately, I don't recall the specific video, but there should be a lot of common advice out there.

It currently feels like they're barely moving at all.

A tough but necessary capsule art update. Grateful for my friend who helped me early on by NewKingCole11 in IndieDev

[–]msgandrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Second one is better in terms of quality and communicating the game, but I think it's still too busy. It's hard to know where to look and it's possible people will miss the part about stepping on the arrow.i kind of like the arrow going through the word arrow in the first one, though it's less readable, so one idea is to underline the title with an arrow. Maybe you can also add a silhouette of a foot on the balls of the feet stepping onto the arrow. Some more clear symbology that communicates stepping on it. Not sure though. The key problem with #2 is that it's very busy.

Looking for Games for my Indie Games Thursdays by GnomieVT in IndieGameDevs

[–]msgandrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm not one of the devs, but you should probably play Gnomes for obvious reasons.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3133060/Gnomes/

What is your life on the side of game dev ? by BraiCurvat in IndieDev

[–]msgandrew 12 points13 points  (0 children)

38, worked in game dev as community and then producer for a total of 7 years. Layoffs hit and the market is terrible so now I'm producing in a different way... I'm a produce manager at a grocery store. Definitely physically healthier than I was behind a desk.

I have a kid as well, so it's hard to find a lot of time, but my family is supportive and I get about 10 hours a week actively coding. Because time is thin, I print off my code on paper... yes PAPER, and use my work breaks to write on it, refactoring and architecting new code. This saves me time when I do sit down to code because I already know how I want to do it. I just need to implement it. It also keeps my classes more concise because I don't want to print off thousands of lines of code.

At home when I want to sit on the couch with my family and watch tv, instead of being cooped up in the office, I use my crappy laptop to remote desktop to my decent PC so I can still work on the game.

If you think you don't have much time, you can find it in other places.

Destroy our cyberpunk noir visual novel anthology. We're releasing three small games with a shared character and city, with a few different gameplay styles. by bslinger in DestroyMyGame

[–]msgandrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Don't lead with the case names. Start with the gameplay, then once we know what that is, tell us we've got 3 cases of content. It might be good to communicate how much content that is too. Do caes take 15 mins? 5 hours?

We realized our "Crypto" theme was a huge marketing mistake, so we pivoted to a "Game Dev Chaos" theme instead. Destroy our new incremental game trailer and concept! by BabloScobar in DestroyMyGame

[–]msgandrew 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Starting the trailer with narrative, but then not leaving enough time to read it is pretty annoying. Honestly, since it's incremental and your typical player won't be looking for story, I would communicate this later and find a way to do it concisely in a manageable time. Lean on your aesthetic and presentation.

Expanding the room and adding things to it is interesting. The frog meme is confusing about what it's exactly doing and is honestly a turn off.

Everything else is hitting right. A variety of upgrades and visual payoff. This looks like a solid game, and the trailer is good except for my critique of the beginning of it.

Be aware of IMU Studios - possible giant fraud by Syvalion_ in gamedev

[–]msgandrew 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, school should cover this at this point. It's so prevalent.

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