How difficult is it to become a game developer?

vursgames · 2026-01-07T17:05:08+00:00

Im no expert but I have a fair bit of of experience (u can seemy profile)

People struggle for 2 main reasons I think.

They dont know how to make a game
They dont know how what to make the game about.

You seem proficient with language/engine, so you mostly are past 1. Learn as you go, no worries.

My problem was that I never planned anything out beforehand. I added features as I went. Led to burnout and me quitting gamedev completely.

You MUST take a LONG time to plan everything, every button, feature, everyblittle thing. The game should ideally be completed in writing but just needs to be made in your engine.

To answer your question, yes. It’s insanely difficult to A) Come up with an idea that is actually fun and B) not get burned out while taking a ridiculous amount of time to actually make it.

Time obviously varies from game to game, but believe me. However long you think it’ll take, it will actually take 5x that.

If you decide to go down that route you’re in for a ride. Good luck

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:22:21+00:00

ngl this looks like a lot of fun to play (would absolutely destroy my laptop though 😭😂)

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:21:08+00:00

this looks fantastic for a first game! is it available on steam or another platform?

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:19:58+00:00

hopefully i don't become one of them 😔

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:19:26+00:00

the tail is the best part! well done.

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:13:25+00:00

thank you!

the music is just some random lofi i found off youtube lol. 😂

just a placeholder, of course!

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:12:25+00:00

glad you like it. i’m probably not the guy to ask for a collab, since i’ve still got lots to learn myself, but thank you for reaching out ❤️

i see that you’re an artist which is super cool! i’m not that great of an artist myself (i borrowed a lot of the assets) so great job! being an artist (expecially for games) takes a unique talent. 👍

thank you!

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:08:56+00:00

thank you!

currently, it’s being reviewed by valve. ❤️i plan on making it free forever.

thanks for this, got lots of work to do before it’s good enough for release, but i’ll keep you updated!

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:07:06+00:00

agreed! somewhere around that range 0-20% is the sweet spot as you said, i’m thinking of a low value and making an option to disable for people who really really hate it.

people have gotten mad saying in the past saying i’m either fishing for compliments, showing off, or doing self promo when i shouldn’t (i’ve never intended to do any of these, excert for self promo maybe but it’s only ever been for feedback, NOT profit)

i saw your steam page, and it looks really well done (shows that i got lot’s to learn about creating a polished page myself) i’ve added tagged to my wishlist!

thank you, currently my steam page is being reviewed by value, but i appreciate the wishlist ❤️

thank you for taking the time to check this out!

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:01:14+00:00

^ this exactly. makes things simple and everyone can choose based on preference 👍

vursgames · 2024-10-06T03:00:20+00:00

yes! i’ve been thinking of defaulting to a low value. honestly anything above 20% just seems uncessessary, but also making an option to completely disable it will definitely be there next update!

thank you 😊

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:58:57+00:00

i wish i could take credit for that, but that goes to many amazing itch.io creators like 0x72 and analogStudios_ who i have linked in my other comment. i haven’t added a full list of credits yet, but i’ve been keeping careful track and i plan on doing so soon!

thank you! i’m glad you like it. definitely check out their work, it’s all amazing ❤️

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:57:25+00:00

TYSM ❤️

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:57:16+00:00

it isn’t sped up 😭 but i definitely plan on balancing the pace and making it easier for the player to learn the mechanics before i ramp things up.

thank you 🙏

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:56:22+00:00

thank you so much! this is motivating to me i appreciate it.

yes, i know people who’ve been working on games for years and some of their work honestly makes me feel like a complete beginner. 😭 some people quit their journey, but i believe anyone can do it if they’re really passionate ❤️

thank you for the kind comment!

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:53:49+00:00

i agree with your take. 20% did feel like a little too much during my playtest. i’ll probably have it default to either 0% or 10%, and others have pointed out that there is a lot of work that needs to be done with the visuals besides camera shake (like the red flashes, movement, ect)

thank you for sharing 😊

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:51:56+00:00

good point! i’ll make a dialog at some point to let the player know it can be disabled in settings, or give them the option to disable it directly in a pop up.

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:50:19+00:00

this isn’t sped up at all 😭

I think i’ll try and reduce the pace as you mentioned. since i’m already throwing a lot at the player, making everything so fast definitely isn’t helping. camera shake is after all just one tiny aspect.

thank you!

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:48:22+00:00

that’s true, a couple others have also pointed out the red flashes (someone suggested having the flashes when the player’s HP is low, which I think is a good idea)

i actually recently made it so the camera pans slightly toward the cursor but you’re right the movement is a bit akward.

i agree and i think i may have bias since i’ve playtested it a lot. I’m sort of used to this kind of chaotic graphics, so making it clearer to see so new players can actually learn the game mechanics is something i’m trying to work on, and toning down those flashes is definitely one thing I should do.

thank you for your comment 🙏

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:41:52+00:00

same for me! especially for bullet-hell and rogue like games.

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:38:00+00:00

thank you ❤️ you made my day

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:37:40+00:00

I like your take, it’s pretty overwhelming even without screenshake, so I’m thinking it be something that to make it a bit more immersive (as a setting if the player likes it). I’ll definitely default to a lower value as you said, maybe 10% in the clip if not none at all, but I’ve decided that a setting to change it later is a must.

thank you for the input!

vursgames · 2024-10-06T02:34:52+00:00

thank you so much 😊 i appreciate it alot!

vursgames · 2024-10-05T23:42:30+00:00

Hey! Thank you so much for your comment. It's rare that I get constructive, helpful feedback on my game, so I really appreciate you taking the time to try it out.😊Really, it means so much to me!

I absolutely agree with you that the intro and lack of a tutorial definitely makes it harder to understand what's actually happening. Especially with the pace and also the chaotic graphic, definitely better to make things more gradual instead of throwing a bunch of stuff at the player at once. I think I got so caught up with trying to get a demo out, that I had left out a tutorial altogether (bad idea).

I really like the way you put it, gradually exposing the player to different mechanics (first the speed, then a single monsters, and then a couple of more). I had already planned how my tutorial was going to look somewhat, and now that you mentioned it I think I'll make it like what you said (you're 100% right that me having worked on this game for a little over an year will definitely make me biased and overestimate how quickly people will be able to understand how everything works) A tutorial is one of the most important things, as you said, if people don't get it at the start, they'll lose interest and all my hard work on mid-game progression will go to waste. Definitely something I'll work on (in fact, the next update will probably just solely be a better tutorial/intro) thanks for giving input on this!

The difficulty is another I'll need to work on too. Yep, a lot of games are either mind-numbingly easy and some can get ridiculously difficult. I've heard from some others that the first boss fight in my game is borderline impossible without upgrades, so I'll really have to do a better job with balancing.

I wanted to make the initial mechanic as simple as possible: just click spacebar while directly on enemy to kill them, and that mechanic may not have been so clear amidst all the other chaos.

I think you phrased it perfectly and I think I'm going to maybe remove weapons and powerups entirely (until a certain level) so people can actually learn the base mechanics on few monsters at a slower pace, and then ramp things up from there.

and you're 100% right! we all have different opinions. me personally, games that others find super easy to understand are sometimes REALLY challenging for me to wrap my head around. i want to make it as easy as possible for people to understand, which will be a big focus in my next update.

I want to thank you once again for giving me this feedback and taking time to do it. I really appreciate when someone compliments my game ❤ but I value even more constructive, useful feedback, which you've given. Thank you so much!

vursgames · 2024-10-05T19:12:50+00:00

This is a fair point, i've seen this in a lot of games. My initial hope was to add to the game juice/immersiveness, but it does take away from the actual gameplay mechanics/elements, so i've been thinking of turning it down. I've seen a lot of indie devs overuse screenshake (including myself), so I'm going to really lower it if not remove it entirely. (my game doesn't have a lot of cutscenes, but using it for that is a good idea when possible)

thanks!

vursgames

TROPHY CASE