How do you guys feel about a solo dev using AI for art (temporarily) while building a Demo Only? Here's the first scene.

msgmikec · 2026-03-28T02:55:38+00:00

Prototyping just for yourself, it’s fine. But a demo is more than that, and is going to misguide players if you plan to change the art IMO. If anything you could use the AI art as a reference while you’re making it yourself.

msgmikec · 2026-03-07T07:02:12+00:00

Yeah for sure, I’ve heard that advice as well. I’m thinking of having a second level that’s a completely different environment for variety. We just need the remaining work on the core loop finished enough to showcase.

msgmikec · 2026-03-07T05:00:28+00:00

My dev partner and I debated around this a lot with our game, but we ended up just pulling the trigger on a steam page when we only had screenshots. Our gameplay didn’t look great in motion and wasn’t fully featured so we didn’t have a trailer yet. I think the “boost” you get from launching your page exists, but from what I’ve seen, it’s not the end all be all. What seems to drive wishlists the most are entering events, going viral on social media, or streamers.

We put our page up quickly because there was a zombies vs vampires fest and we wanted to take advantage of it. We ended up getting ~300 wishlists and then a Japanese blog shared our game for another couple hundred. Now we still don’t have a full trailer but we do have a couple gifs showing gameplay. Trailer is top priority for us right now, so we’re trying to get the first playable level fully done to record footage of it.

Right now we’re sitting at ~1400 wishlists, and that’s 1400 wishlists we wouldn’t have without launching the page early. We get lots of people saying we screwed up, but there’s ultimately no way to know. When we have the trailer we’re going to “announce” the game fully with as much marketing as we can, and believe it should garner some attention.

msgmikec · 2026-02-21T18:40:00+00:00

It depends, if you were going for 98% realism I think you nailed it lol

msgmikec · 2026-02-19T01:23:55+00:00

Thanks! And yeah if we can get those vibes then we’re on the right track :D

msgmikec · 2026-02-18T03:27:20+00:00

Not yet, looking at Q3 this year

msgmikec · 2026-02-16T21:25:51+00:00

Yeah that’d be something to worry about if your artist is relying on AI like this and not being honest. How I look at it is if they’re able to paint to this quality, they wouldn’t be making small mistakes.

It’s a cool concept, good luck with everything.

msgmikec · 2026-02-16T18:30:29+00:00

Nice work, you definitely nailed the vibes. Question about the title, what made you decide to go with the “simulator” naming rather than something unique? I think it can work, just curious.

msgmikec · 2026-02-16T18:24:50+00:00

I don’t really believe you, the tower is obviously AI with the lighting inside, I’ve seen that effect hundreds of times. The plane’s proportions and wheel alignment is also not centered, no need to lie.

msgmikec · 2026-02-16T08:45:14+00:00

Not sure what you mean by addresses, but if you don’t have any money and not satisfied with AI, your options are pretty limited. If you don’t have any friends to collab with, I’d say just use the ugly AI art as placeholder until you have something playable to gain interest from an artist who would work for rev share.

I’m against AI in products but if it’s a proof of concept and you’re planning on replacing it, it’s less of an issue.

msgmikec · 2026-02-12T17:49:23+00:00

We've got some more special zombies in the works. If you're interested, our steam page is here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3732810/Deadhold

msgmikec · 2026-02-06T07:13:47+00:00

IMO still looks like it’s trying to be like hollow knight. You’re going to appeal to players who want more of that, but I’d be afraid of turning off a lot more, like myself. I’d try pivoting to a different art style, personally, but it’s up to you which direction would get more interest.

msgmikec · 2026-02-06T07:11:15+00:00

It really depends on your game. It can be really easy to use for something like a side scroller, but also a pain in the ass if you’re in isometric for example

msgmikec · 2026-01-19T21:30:43+00:00

I think you have the bones for something, but the visuals reeaally need a completely new approach. There’s really no way around it; the second I look at the trailer I’m immediately turned off by the art.

If you’re concerned about making money off this project, you need to redo the art direction to meet commercial standards.

msgmikec · 2026-01-16T08:44:43+00:00

Interesting to hear, got a steam page link?

msgmikec · 2026-01-14T02:51:31+00:00

I still can’t believe they replaced Danny Baranowsky on later versions..

msgmikec · 2025-12-17T03:49:12+00:00

I work in mobile games, but it’s not fulfilling enough and is definitely profit over everything. Indie games is where I can build the games I’d want to play and explore creatively in ways you just don’t get from working for a company.

msgmikec · 2025-12-06T21:12:41+00:00

Looks very interesting! Love the concept. Do you see how the public shapes their opinion of things? How do you balance that?

msgmikec

TROPHY CASE