UnionVGF Indie Game developers (or thinking about becoming one) corner

[Godsmack]

I haven't posted for a while because I needed a vacation to regain my sanity...

Anyway, here is a new video showing off some of the new resource gatherings mechanics, new graphics assets, new textures and other graphics improvements, and whatever else I can't remember. Still working on getting that new demo out soon.

 

[starseeker]

Looks great Godsmack!

 

[Godsmack]

Thanks! Getting work done this year has been an uphill battle. There are just so many distractions, I haven't been able to keep a regular work schedule. Hopefully, things will settle down a bit this year so I can actually concentrate, but with presidential elections coming up, and a virus still going on, who knows...

I'm way behind on everything.

 

[starseeker]

Loading & level streaming implemented. It was harder & took longer than I imagined, lots of bugs & error fixings, & very late nights (2-3am-ish)but I am happy it's done. I am also getting faster in getting decent results in my 2D drawing.

Took me 3 hours to fix a bug that prevents me from clicking buttons in a dialog box. After 3 hours or so, I decided to take a coffee break. When I returned, on my screen, I noticed I missed a boolean call checking if the dialog box is opened & allow the controller button or mouse click. I added the boolean call & problem is solved!

 

[starseeker]

Thanks! Getting work done this year has been an uphill battle. There are just so many distractions, I haven't been able to keep a regular work schedule. Hopefully, things will settle down a bit this year so I can actually concentrate, but with presidential elections coming up, and a virus still going on, who knows...

I'm way behind on everything.

I am the opposite. Due to the pandemic, we lost a lot of business deals, & have to settle for shorter days, & pay cut. I am now working 4 days a week (day job) & working from home. This allows me to accelerate work on my game.

What I realized is consistency is the most important thing. That's why I posted regularly here & on my twitter account. no matter how small the update. If I made a schedule to update my work, I will be motivated to keep doing stuff so I have things to update & share.

I am an outsider, but everything in the US seems so politicized (even virus & reopening of schools has to be politicized) to the point of toxicity & hysteria. My tip is to avoid media (read the news, avoid the opinions) & especially social media. These people are stoking the fire because outrage is profitable & attracts attention.

Meet people, do group activates like outdoor sports & hiking. Make new friends, avoid toxic "news" & social media. This is what I have been doing & never feel better & healthier.

I am glad the madness has not reached here. As far as the virus, schools have reopened, outdoor activities started, shops all opened, just has to wear masks indoor.

I hope to find your footing again & look forward to more updates.

 

[DLC]

A lot of what I did have to be redone, not working on new computer, seems to happen very often this, player health bar no longer works, picking up stuff does not work, inventory does not work

 

[Godsmack]

A lot of what I did have to be redone, not working on new computer, seems to happen very often this, player health bar no longer works, picking up stuff does not work, inventory does not work

You may benefit from setting up a directional light for your characters to make them stand out a bit. Make it shine from the top towards the front, turn off cast shadows for it, make it not affect the environment (just the characters) unless you want the enviroment brighter too. Or perhaps increase some ambient lighting. I mean, I'm used to dungeon crawlers, but the characters look so dark on my laptop, I can't even see them.

 

[DLC]

You may benefit from setting up a directional light for your characters to make them stand out a bit. Make it shine from the top towards the front, turn off cast shadows for it, make it not affect the environment (just the characters) unless you want the enviroment brighter too. Or perhaps increase some ambient lighting. I mean, I'm used to dungeon crawlers, but the characters look so dark on my laptop, I can't even see them.

Hmmm can test a bit, needs a lot however to redo here, was easy to fix health back again, just had to make a new variable for storing the health, then have to redo some things, really bad that when moving the project from backup a lot of stuff use to break

 

[Godsmack]

Yeah, when I moved the my project to my new pc, most code still worked because it was just c# scripts, but a lot of project settings, tags, layers, and other stuff needed to be fixed.

 

[starseeker]

 

[starseeker]

A lot of what I did have to be redone, not working on new computer, seems to happen very often this, player health bar no longer works, picking up stuff does not work, inventory does not work

I hope you resolved the issues. The world is very dark, like OG diablo. Have you consider changing the color of the player trenchcoat to red or more contrasting color.

There is a game I seen earlier call Othercide that has a clever use of color. See youtube that maybe you can draw inspiration and tips from.

 

[DLC]

I hope you resolved the issues. The world is very dark, like OG diablo. Have you consider changing the color of the player trenchcoat to red or more contrasting color.

There is a game I seen earlier call Othercide that has a clever use of color. See youtube that maybe you can draw inspiration and tips from.

Did adjust a bit light so can see a bit more, not too much, increase intensity from 0 to 0.1, so got a bit difference between the dark in the clothes and the darkness around, may see about doing something about clothes after, what really was thinking on was that would have these different outfits, but costly to hire people to do those.

Also did some editing long time with this clothes that may need some fixing on when zoom in, as it is really made up from two parts, one is controlled by animation, the lower part however is using a physics script, as can see here, problem however is that I like that effect and if I try to resize it it does not look correct

 

[starseeker]

Mind Map level concept. Basically, the idea is after you gather all the clues, you will start constructing the solution in your mind, via transportation to a mind map. Each of the orbs represents a clue if you interact ( a painting, document etc). After you think you are ready, you can interact with the main orb & a deduction sheet will be brought up. Linking the correct answers will get the solution.

 

[starseeker]

Mind map level. Except for the base ground, all assets are free assets from the Epic marketplace.


If you guys are wondering how did I manage to make a level with a concept design but yet able to use almost all free assets? Simple, I looked at the marketplace & looks at all the possible free /paid assets & see which ones are suitable to be used, & make the concept base on these assets.

 

[Godsmack]

If anyone wants to try my game, I just put out a new demo today.

Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life

www.dropbox.com

 

[starseeker]

If anyone wants to try my game, I just put out a new demo today.

Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life

www.dropbox.com

downloading now


Played a little bit. A few feedback.
Maybe allow scrolling of map when the mouse moves near the edge of the screen like most RTS
How do you pick up gold or open boxes? Tried the whole game but never get to how.

What is the purpose of scout? Some tips on what each unit does would be nice. Retire seems to return unit to max health, so why need healing?

 

[karmakid]

If anyone wants to try my game, I just put out a new demo today.

Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life

www.dropbox.com

pc only?

 

[Godsmack]

downloading now


Played a little bit. A few feedback.
Maybe allow scrolling of map when the mouse moves near the edge of the screen like most RTS
How do you pick up gold or open boxes? Tried the whole game but never get to how.

What is the purpose of scout? Some tips on what each unit does would be nice. Retire seems to return unit to max health, so why need healing?

You should be able to scroll the map with the mouse near the edge of the screen. It works for me. If not, I'm not sure why.

Only units with a backpack can pick up loot. The scout and the rogue are the only ones with a backpack. Scouts, rogues, and bounty hunters are also the only stealth classes, so they can sneak by enemies for a short time. This makes it easier to scout the map with them. Also, they can backstab for extra damage if a unit is caught unaware.

Retire is a permanent action. When you retire a unit, he is gone, so all materials you used to make him are wasted, and any money you spent upgrading him is gone. It's basically a way to "save" a unit that you can't get to since there is a strict population limit. You will have to create a new unit once a unit is retired. If you click retire, it asks for a confirmation, then the unit returns to the tent and disappears. If you saw anything else happen, let me know.

I wrote descriptions for most units and resources to explain most of this. It takes some time to absorb all the rules. I can try to make them more clear as I get more player feedback and see what people are missing. Hover your mouse over anything in the UI. All units, resources, and button generally offer some kind of guidance.

 

[Godsmack]

pc only?

For now yes. Probably a mac/linux port at some point too.

 

[starseeker]

You should be able to scroll the map with the mouse near the edge of the screen. It works for me. If not, I'm not sure why.

Only units with a backpack can pick up loot. The scout and the rogue are the only ones with a backpack. Scouts, rogues, and bounty hunters are also the only stealth classes, so they can sneak by enemies for a short time. This makes it easier to scout the map with them. Also, they can backstab for extra damage if a unit is caught unaware.

Retire is a permanent action. When you retire a unit, he is gone, so all materials you used to make him are wasted, and any money you spent upgrading him is gone. It's basically a way to "save" a unit that you can't get to since there is a strict population limit. You will have to create a new unit once a unit is retired. If you click retire, it asks for a confirmation, then the unit returns to the tent and disappears. If you saw anything else happen, let me know.

I wrote descriptions for most units and resources to explain most of this. It takes some time to absorb all the rules. I can try to make them more clear as I get more player feedback and see what people are missing. Hover your mouse over anything in the UI. All units, resources, and button generally offer some kind of guidance.

Okay. I have another go & give you further feedback

 

[Godsmack]

New patch released, fixed an issue with ballistas not building and added a warning icon when low on resources to clear up confusion when you can't perform certain actions.

Dropbox - File Deleted

Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring your photos, docs, and videos anywhere and share them easily. Never email yourself a file again!

www.dropbox.com

 

[starseeker]

Working a bit on puzzles.

 

[starseeker]

 

[starseeker]

An illustration of mind map level. I think I will take an actual break for the weekend. I have work every day for 3 months now.

 

[TFX]

My developer needed a year off to work on another project and I'm kinda torn about returning to it. We'd spent three and a half years working on it but it was still so, so far from finished and every time I look at it I just want to redo all of the artwork. I don't know. I don't want to spend 12 years making it as a hobby.

 

[Godsmack]

My developer needed a year off to work on another project and I'm kinda torn about returning to it. We'd spent three and a half years working on it but it was still so, so far from finished and every time I look at it I just want to redo all of the artwork. I don't know. I don't want to spend 12 years making it as a hobby.

This is why I work alone. But really though, indie games are all about ensuring a scope that's not impossible to achieve, and quality that's good enough but isn't going to hold you up forever. Sometimes, you just have to accept that it won't be as good as you want.

I'm guilty of breaking these rules, and it's why I still haven't finished my game. I'm going to get it done this year though no matter what (or at least get publisher funding). As an artist, it pains me to see even the slightest thing I don't like, but I have to accept that if I try to make it perfect, I'll never get it done. I'm going to save something for the sequel.

It's also good to know when to scrap a project. That's why I concentrate on getting a good demo level done before I try to make a full game. If it doesn't seem like it's going to work, I'm not doing it anymore. You can always reuse assets or code and make something else with it.

Only you can decide whether you want to continue a project since only you know how much work has been put into vs how much work it'd be starting a new game.

 

[TFX]

This is why I work alone. But really though, indie games are all about ensuring a scope that's not impossible to achieve, and quality that's good enough but isn't going to hold you up forever. Sometimes, you just have to accept that it won't be as good as you want.

I'm guilty of breaking these rules, and it's why I still haven't finished my game. I'm going to get it done this year though no matter what (or at least get publisher funding). As an artist, it pains me to see even the slightest thing I don't like, but I have to accept that if I try to make it perfect, I'll never get it done. I'm going to save something for the sequel.

It's also good to know when to scrap a project. That's why I concentrate on getting a good demo level done before I try to make a full game. If it doesn't seem like it's going to work, I'm not doing it anymore. You can always reuse assets or code and make something else with it.

Only you can decide whether you want to continue a project since only you know how much work has been put into vs how much work it'd be starting a new game.

You're absolutely right. I'd love to have some kind of income to hire him/someone else/a team to work on it full-time because I was always one of his three or so projects and we were both working for free and he was a full-time developer so money needed to come in at some point. I'd love to slip into a director/producer role and hand the work off to some really talented people, guiding them as they go because I think they'll get it. But continuing to work on it as a hobby for an hour or two a week is just a tease, especially when I have other creative things I'm working on and a full-time job.

 

[Godsmack]

I guess I lucked out in that I had a little time to learn some skills while taking care of my father at home. I learned enough programming to handle it for Unity, and I beefed up my art skills to include 3d modeling and animation. I also studied game design. This is why this game has taken me so long. I plan on doing the sequels in a year or two max dev time.

So, I know enough to do everything solo. I can do sound too, but I find it one of the easiest things to contract out. Hell, I had roughly a dozen composers come to me! I do still make the odd sound effect or whatnot here or there though. I still don't want to be too reliant on anyone.

My honest opinion, if you are reliant on others, and there is no funding for the project, they will leave and it will fail. Working without money eventually leads to a lack of motivation. Might be best to just take some of the assets and make it into a mini project you can do alone.

 

[TFX]

I guess I lucked out in that I had a little time to learn some skills while taking care of my father at home. I learned enough programming to handle it for Unity, and I beefed up my art skills to include 3d modeling and animation. I also studied game design. This is why this game has taken me so long. I plan on doing the sequels in a year or two max dev time.

So, I know enough to do everything solo. I can do sound too, but I find it one of the easiest things to contract out. Hell, I had roughly a dozen composers come to me! I do still make the odd sound effect or whatnot here or there though. I still don't want to be too reliant on anyone.

My honest opinion, if you are reliant on others, and there is no funding for the project, they will leave and it will fail. Working without money eventually leads to a lack of motivation. Might be best to just take some of the assets and make it into a mini project you can do alone.

I genuinely wish I could program. I really do. I just don't have the brain for it. I've tried, so, so many times. If I could, I would've been a game developer a long, long time ago.

But yes, if I can't pay someone to do the work I need to do, then I shouldn't expect them to have the same kind of loyalty to the project that I do. I believe in teams and I believe in working with other people and collaborative work, but, even when times weren't so harsh, having outsized expectations of free labor is ridiculous even if I'm also working for free. Thankfully the game is mine through and through and that's a mutual decision we happily agreed on.

 

[starseeker]

I guess I lucked out in that I had a little time to learn some skills while taking care of my father at home. I learned enough programming to handle it for Unity, and I beefed up my art skills to include 3d modeling and animation. I also studied game design. This is why this game has taken me so long. I plan on doing the sequels in a year or two max dev time.

So, I know enough to do everything solo. I can do sound too, but I find it one of the easiest things to contract out. Hell, I had roughly a dozen composers come to me! I do still make the odd sound effect or whatnot here or there though. I still don't want to be too reliant on anyone.

My honest opinion, if you are reliant on others, and there is no funding for the project, they will leave and it will fail. Working without money eventually leads to a lack of motivation. Might be best to just take some of the assets and make it into a mini project you can do alone.

Have you consider Kickstarter, early access or Indiegogo. Many of the indie devs I followed on twitter are doing these. It gets you money, exposure, as well as player base.

As far as sound, I just use what's available on https://freesound.org/ or record my own sound. I can't do music so I use mostly from Eric Matya http://soundimage.org/ & some other free sites. Maybe I will have 1-2 unique theme music, & that's about it.