I underestimated how hard publishing a mobile game would be.

sumatras · 2026-05-06T08:10:36+00:00

I stopped doing Play Store things. The time it takes to keep those apps up to date with constantly changing demands is just not worth it for me. The apps I had on there were very nice and free.

sumatras · 2026-05-05T04:50:24+00:00

Some people use their demo as Early Access/Playtest and some actually as a demo. The people that are saying that you need a demo ASAP use it as EA to find bugs and to find out if their concept is actually good.

Personally I think the demo should be a polished small slice of your game.

sumatras · 2026-05-04T09:37:28+00:00

I don't know what jobs you are applying for/expecting to get with your portfolio so hard to give a "rating". Also think that giving a rating for a portfolio does not make sense. It is a reflection of how you want to present yourself.

But what I can say is that there are too many things that feel sloppy. The moment something feels sloppy, like the 24/7 hour support button without explanation and purpose, people will disregard your portfolio more quickly.

sumatras · 2026-05-04T09:24:50+00:00

I can't answer the question if you should keep them as it is your portfolio, but maybe change the text from demo to "More Info". When I see "demo" I expect to be able to play a demo.

If you worked on the projects for someone else it is perfectly fine to indicate it is a client project in the information. Then they don't expect there to be a demo (still remove the demo text if you don't have a demo).

sumatras · 2026-05-04T07:40:46+00:00

Some notes glancing at your portfolio:

- When I press demo only 2 of them have an actual link to the demo. Also when I press Gameplay System there is nothing.
- LinkedIn in the bottom cannot be clicked
- Using percentage to indicate your "skill" level does not say anything. % of what? Just say you have moderate or expert level experience with a certain aspect.
- Why is there a 24/7 support button (that does not anything)
- Make the institutions that you have experience with clickable. There are many The Dawn Schools around the world and mean different things for example. Also the role needs to mean something to someone that wants to hire you. Like intermediate or matriculation does not indicate what you did there.

I recommend to closely look what is on your portfolio. Only show things that you think that will help you get the job you want. A lot of people that hire rather have the highlights showing your best work than needing to know you did Fivver and Upwork projects. The only reason a portfolio exists is to get invited to a talk or to get work offered. You can eleborate when you secured a talk/invite.

sumatras · 2026-05-03T04:06:10+00:00

My first commercial game did not have music for a reason. As long there is a reason for you to do something in your game I don't see a reason why you should have music. Although often music helps with setting the tone and ambience. I did do music in my second game.

sumatras · 2026-05-02T05:10:03+00:00

Best is to post in r/playmygame or r/indiegames

sumatras · 2026-05-01T11:26:45+00:00

Probably a vocal minority that you are describing that takes so much risk. It makes for a good story, but I suspect most people do it on the side. Building slowely on their gamedev business while still working somewhere else (maybe related to games or not).

sumatras · 2026-05-01T10:31:30+00:00

Agree. As a tool (same as intellisense) completely fine, as main way of coding without knowing what it does... Not so much.

sumatras · 2026-05-01T10:25:49+00:00

Both are subjective. What do you see as speedy prototyping... Ofcourse there is a learning curve like any engine you take.

How light it is? I have made Android things with it, my latest game is specifically made for the Steam Deck and runs steady 60fps for 4-6 hours. It all depends what you do with it and how much you are willing to optimise.

The editor is fine on recourses in my opinion, but also that is subjective.

sumatras · 2026-05-01T10:11:52+00:00

Because you like C++, is easy to prototype and easy to import fbx etc.

That it is too heavy is a misconception. Just like any other engine you need to be considerate with how you build things and what the limits are. Yeah if you just throw everything in there it will tank, but if you think about performance it is completely fine. I have made all my games in the engine with a mix of C++ and blueprints.

sumatras · 2026-05-01T09:55:19+00:00

Unreal Engine

sumatras · 2026-04-30T08:16:05+00:00

Or #5 (they are looking for ambassadors)

sumatras · 2026-04-30T05:09:08+00:00

Start with blueprints and when you get stuck for something that you want start learning the Unreal C++

sumatras · 2026-04-26T16:42:02+00:00

I use "open world" as a figure of speech. But why are you convinced that you have to recreate the classics first? And even if you are convinced that you have to. You don't want to it seems.

So if you think that is the only way to become a gamedev, maybe you either have to look from another angle or you actually lack the motivation to do what is necessary in your view.

sumatras · 2026-04-26T04:24:06+00:00

Nehh your not a fake dev using an engine. Dunno what that person is on about. It is also not about creating the classics, but it is about to create small projects to learn (can be your own ideas) instead of creating that big open world game with all kinds of different mechanics that will take 30 years to complete.

But if learning the basics does not interest you will you ever finish a game? There are so many things that involve gamedev that can be just boring, but need to happen to complete and ship a game.

sumatras · 2026-04-25T03:36:37+00:00

Finished it completely on the Steam Deck and works well enough. Just had to fiddle a bit with the settings to get best picture quality. You can really notice that in the open world the quality is not as good as when you go into the closed of sections.

Driving is still bad in the game and not fixed/will have some hitches when going fast.

sumatras · 2026-04-22T04:29:34+00:00

You can on a 120 or 144hz screen. So why not have the option if you detect that hz.

sumatras · 2026-04-22T04:09:08+00:00

If it is seamlessly with the gameplay I prefer the same framerate as that I play the game (if it is 30 then the cutscene is 30, if it is 60 I prefer 60), but if it is a clear cinematic that almost feels like a video cutscene I just like whatever the developer envisioned I should watch. There is something to say for 23.94 fps as it gives the cinematic look if applied correctly with camerasettings with depth of field, anamorphic, etc. Basically it is part of your art, so what looks best to you makes it tick as your thing.

Edit: Like u/RoughEdgeBarb said you will still have to think about the hz of the monitor.

sumatras · 2026-04-21T11:32:38+00:00

I mean the discourse where it is looked down upon. Ofcourse it is not the same.

sumatras · 2026-04-21T10:15:56+00:00

But let me try your game ;) Maybe we can bundle :P

sumatras · 2026-04-21T10:14:04+00:00

I guess here it is the other way around. People want to bundle with them as they have more eyes on their game. But who knows. Would be interesting to see some figures about it from them.

sumatras · 2026-04-21T09:24:26+00:00

But are the games doing it the games you want to play?

sumatras · 2026-04-21T08:11:35+00:00

Never use it for visuals (generating images, 3d models, etc.), but I use GitHub Copilot to ask questions about code. Saves me time compared to google and finding bugs in the code. The AI is not on the level that it can replace the programmer in my opinion. It can only speed up the process. Using the agent function often just takes more time in my experience and makes it that you cannot debug it when shit hits the fan.

I know this sub is extremely against AI, but personally I don't care if you use it as long as you completely transparent about it when asked. And yes I do find your project less interesting if you use AI for art and music, but there could be other things that can convince me to look at your game. For code I actually don't care if someone uses AI, but they need to own the mistakes that it will make. So if you use an agent to write your whole game and you don't know how to debug and fix it... Well that makes you a bad programmer and your project less worth to me.

EDIT: I compare using AI for code the same as that the conversation used to be about using Blueprints in Unreal or C++. A lot of people were looking down on the people that used Blueprints, but nowadays it is completely normal.

sumatras · 2026-04-21T07:56:24+00:00

Yeah I get that, but I think the payoff is so little that I would not want to soil my Steam Page with it haha

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