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Indie Game Development Discussion Thread | Of Being Professionally Poor
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Jacksinthe
Banned
They shall test your compliance for compliance. Grats!
Well being busy like I have been lately, I totally forgot to post our latest update with the first gameplay footage:
Update #4 - First 60FPS Gameplay Footage!
We'll be launching the Ancestory Greenlight next week, after over 2 months of preparation and additional development. I'll be recapping the whole process after the dust settles and I'll try to add to the ever-growing list of Greenlight tips and guides, but I wanted to share maybe the two mistakes we partially made (or at least what we feel like after talking again with some friends that have gotten through):
1. Not building a community early enough
Two months is a long time, but still I feel like we should have started earlier and include the earlier development stuff in updates and maybe try to involve the community in some design choices or at least gather more feedback.
Ignoring Reddit
From what I've heard from other people is that even the less distinct games and gather quite a bit of traffic from Reddit with active participation, but Reddit requires that early and active participation in things other than your game and cannot be used for immediate self-promotion. I'm responsible for making this mistake as early on when we still thought that we could get on Greenlight in matter of couple weeks I just decided not participate there actively because I didn't have the time and I didn't believe I would be accepted into the community. Looking back though, I do think we could have a things to give to the community and it would have been a valuable place to talk with other developers and learn from other games as well.
Still, we believe that our game will stand out there and we're really now focusing on making the preview image stand out as well just making sure that we've at least contacted a huge number of both small and big press outlets and youtubers.
We also recently got our first ever press mention and made it to the Indie Game Magazine! If there are any subscribers here, you can find us on page 50 of the November Issue.
Update #4 - First 60FPS Gameplay Footage!
We'll be launching the Ancestory Greenlight next week, after over 2 months of preparation and additional development. I'll be recapping the whole process after the dust settles and I'll try to add to the ever-growing list of Greenlight tips and guides, but I wanted to share maybe the two mistakes we partially made (or at least what we feel like after talking again with some friends that have gotten through):
1. Not building a community early enough
Two months is a long time, but still I feel like we should have started earlier and include the earlier development stuff in updates and maybe try to involve the community in some design choices or at least gather more feedback.
Ignoring Reddit
From what I've heard from other people is that even the less distinct games and gather quite a bit of traffic from Reddit with active participation, but Reddit requires that early and active participation in things other than your game and cannot be used for immediate self-promotion. I'm responsible for making this mistake as early on when we still thought that we could get on Greenlight in matter of couple weeks I just decided not participate there actively because I didn't have the time and I didn't believe I would be accepted into the community. Looking back though, I do think we could have a things to give to the community and it would have been a valuable place to talk with other developers and learn from other games as well.
Still, we believe that our game will stand out there and we're really now focusing on making the preview image stand out as well just making sure that we've at least contacted a huge number of both small and big press outlets and youtubers.
We also recently got our first ever press mention and made it to the Indie Game Magazine! If there are any subscribers here, you can find us on page 50 of the November Issue.
So I'm finally hooking up the combat UI. I've had the art assets for a while just been avoiding doing the cutups and nGUI work to get it ingame -- yes I really do hate ui work.
So I have a question for the group about the ship status silhouette on the UI. Pic:
My question is about color. At the moment I have it set so full health is the offwhite color like the power/hull meters. It looks aesthetically pleasing enough and it darkens on damage and faded completely away when destroyed.
Question:
1. color wise does this work well enough for the purpose of the display? I know many games use bright green to yellow to red transitions for damage, but not a fan of how those colors look in the ui.
2. as a gamer would you prefer to know exact status of a part % wise w a callout # on top or beside it?
also to make a secondary objective on why to have the ship status graphics at all, for auto-target weapons you will be able to tab through/select a specific enemy part to target.
So I have a question for the group about the ship status silhouette on the UI. Pic:
My question is about color. At the moment I have it set so full health is the offwhite color like the power/hull meters. It looks aesthetically pleasing enough and it darkens on damage and faded completely away when destroyed.
Question:
1. color wise does this work well enough for the purpose of the display? I know many games use bright green to yellow to red transitions for damage, but not a fan of how those colors look in the ui.
2. as a gamer would you prefer to know exact status of a part % wise w a callout # on top or beside it?
also to make a secondary objective on why to have the ship status graphics at all, for auto-target weapons you will be able to tab through/select a specific enemy part to target.
Unless you need a certain part to function, I don't think you need to show a %. Plus, the space is a bit small to begin with so i'm not sure it'll be functional.
Have you thought about putting the ship status to the left of the graphic, and the character image to the right? I say this because as your eye glances across, you'd want to see the status before the image. Unless the image moves. Food for thought!
As far as colours, the status is quite close to the hud in terms of colours. You could maybe find a different hue or tone. We originally went with green to red, but ultimately chose opacity to show health - worked out better and looked a lot cleaner in the end.
Have you thought about putting the ship status to the left of the graphic, and the character image to the right? I say this because as your eye glances across, you'd want to see the status before the image. Unless the image moves. Food for thought!
As far as colours, the status is quite close to the hud in terms of colours. You could maybe find a different hue or tone. We originally went with green to red, but ultimately chose opacity to show health - worked out better and looked a lot cleaner in the end.
Avoiding stats is one of the core tenets of the game I'm working on, but I know some people love them. Crunching numbers is fun in some games, like Borderlands. I don't think it'd be helpful to your game.
For the HUD, I'd go from white at good health to bright red for heavy damage, and then invisible or muted for destroyed. I'm afraid if you just go from opaque to translucent then it will be hard to tell how close to destroyed a given part is.
For the HUD, I'd go from white at good health to bright red for heavy damage, and then invisible or muted for destroyed. I'm afraid if you just go from opaque to translucent then it will be hard to tell how close to destroyed a given part is.
More of a design question. Are you making a game because you think it's entertaining for people, or making a game you want to play for yourself - or both? After scaling down my project more and more, I realized I am now working on a game I want to play for myself and I am not sure if that's the right way.
that's what I do. I guess we'll find out if that's a good idea.
I'm doing that for my first project. It's basically something I like, something I'm aware has niche appeal, and something that possibly mixes in ideas I've had since I was a child.
AFTER I make that, for better or for worse, I have other ideas to consider that might take into account a larger audience.
Purple Cheeto
Member
I've worked too many real jobs where I was asked to make someone else's idea of what would SELL TONZ OF COPIEZ or MAKE MILLIONZ IN MICROTRANSACTIONZ so if I'm making something in my spare time its damn well gonna be something I enjoy and am happy about. I guess if I was trying to make money I'd think differently.
AcceptableGhost
Member
that is the only way
You all ready are using red on the meters so I would recomend using it for damage, black for destroyed, Red alerts the playee more easily that theres something wrong and where exactly.
SeanNoonan
Member
For my indie stuff I make a game I like - the core anyway, then I let it evolve based on feedback and potentially by injecting a couple of current trends and sensible design decisions.
For AAA stuff, it's basically the other way around. I get a brief which is obviously market viable, tried and tested, etc. and then I deliver upon it - I then spend the rest of development making it something I find fun and am proud of.
I think the key is to hit both of those - it doesn't matter which way around you do it. Obviously if you genuinely are making a game for yourself and nobody else, it doesn't really matter...
I've had one game I've wanted to make for the past few years and the resulting game, so far, I feel is surprisingly close to the original idea. something sort of fulfilling in that.
but when I eventually want to make a second game, I wonder what I'll do without that sort of longstanding vision to guide the process.
It's safe. It's comfortable. This little world I've built, this set of rules.
but when I eventually want to make a second game, I wonder what I'll do without that sort of longstanding vision to guide the process.
It's safe. It's comfortable. This little world I've built, this set of rules.
fengshuifever
Member
I think they can both be part of the answer.
For me, from the get go I've always wanted to make games that I wanted to play.
But, a lot of the design decisions since the start have been a to and fro between "Is this feature/mechanic something that I'd want to play" and then work on it until I'm confident that I can ask "Okay it's done. Is this engaging to other people, not just me?"
Over the past year I cut an absolute metric ton of ideas because either
a) Way too damn ambitious
b) When it's implemented, it doesn't gel with other mechanics
c) Doesn't gel with the overall theme
In saying that, I've added a whole different set of ideas that DO work well with the game.
So yeah, I think you learn that along the way that it's okay to let the game morph into whatever it's going to be.
/inexperienced opinion
SeanNoonan
Member
You're putting your Construct game onto WiiU, aye? How are you going about doing that?
Nintendo Web Framework utilizing HTML5
Thanks for the feedback (KJ869 and ConvenientBox too). I ended up going w white full health, orange mid damage, to red close to destruction and black for parts that are destroyed. I think it looks pretty good. I tried green to red but I just don't like green I guess heh.
Mighty
Member
Hey all,
Wow, there are some excellent looking indie games in here!
Today I'd like to officially join the club and introduce our work-in-progress game, Poi. Quick TL;DR is that we are PolyKid, a 2-person indie studio in San Francisco, CA.
We just launched our Teaser Website Here and would love to get some early feedback.
I know it doesn't say much (yet), but we're building an adventure platformer.
Wow, there are some excellent looking indie games in here!
Today I'd like to officially join the club and introduce our work-in-progress game, Poi. Quick TL;DR is that we are PolyKid, a 2-person indie studio in San Francisco, CA.
We just launched our Teaser Website Here and would love to get some early feedback.
I know it doesn't say much (yet), but we're building an adventure platformer.
fengshuifever
Member
Holy shit. Your game is beautiful.
Reminds me of a blend of Ni No Kuni and Journey.
Reminds me of a blend of Ni No Kuni and Journey.
Mighty
Member
Wow, you guys reply so fast!
Thanks for the encouraging words. =) We've spent a decent chunk of time on the visuals, but we've also built a solid foundation & platforming engine. I'll try to post some gifs/vids of the platforming to show some of the gameplay soon.
This is instantly what I thought of, and that's a huge compliment.
Well done Mighty. Good luck to both of you with the development.
Mighty
Member
Thanks Granadier -- it's an honor to even be mentioned in the same sentence as those games. If we can achieve just a fraction of what they have accomplished, I'll be overjoyed.
barring disaster, I feel pretty comfortable saying that I'll start sending steam keys for the ghost song beta build out to people this monday, november 10th.
it may still be a little crashy due to the threading error we were discussing before, but whatevers. people know what they're getting. I don't want to put this off further for engine fixes that could take who knows how long to be implemented.
it may still be a little crashy due to the threading error we were discussing before, but whatevers. people know what they're getting. I don't want to put this off further for engine fixes that could take who knows how long to be implemented.
Are you going to use Early Access or this is some closed beta?
this is just a closed beta, which will be available to beta tier backers as well as others invited on an individual basis. any neogaf member who asks can probably get a key.
while I know better than to ever say never, I can tell you I have no plans of releasing the game as early access.
Caaaan't wait!
I think that's a great teaser website, though looking at a little longer the character twitching, the shadows bother me a bit and in the desert scene it looks like the character is floating.We just launched our Teaser Website Here and would love to get some early feedback.
I know it doesn't say much (yet), but we're building an adventure platformer.
I really love the vibes your screenshots give me and there definitely aren't enough platformers on PC so I can't wait to see what the game will be like. If I'd have to give you feedback then I'd say I'm not a huge fan of how the trees look in that shot because of the leaves looking floaty and clipping, but that might be just me.
Mystic River
Member
Thanks for the feedback (KJ869 and ConvenientBox too). I ended up going w white full health, orange mid damage, to red close to destruction and black for parts that are destroyed. I think it looks pretty good. I tried green to red but I just don't like green I guess heh.
Just to add one thing, I am working on this issue too, don't forget that there are a lot of color impaired vision people playing games, so only using colors to show up the status of each part is not good for them, I had to design my UI in a way that color gives information but also shape so color blindl people will also be able to understand what is going on, I think it is very frustrating for those people to play games that ignore that demographic.
I used green, yellow red colors for parts but I know green and red can be bad for some people so I am doing some shape change too maybe add something else on top or something getting broken, it means more work but makes sure more people will be able to enjoy my game.
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
There's a lot of colour blindness awareness pages online if you don't happen to know anyone IRL who's colour blind who can look at images for you, and be aware there are multiple types of colour blindness.
for example:
http://perso.telecom-paristech.fr/~brettel/CRA24/fig3.html
I think he's fine.
Interesting, what are those test combos? any hue/sat settings you can share so I can do such tests on other parts of the game? Thx
VERY pretty! I'm looking forward to seeing more. Welcome to the indie thread!
Mighty
Member
You have a keen eye, and I appreciate the honesty and conciseness of your feedback. As soon as I took that video, I went back and adjusted the shadow distance & resolution to remove the terrible flickering. I also adjusted the bias to remove the gap where it joined at his feet. Oh, and the model was actually floating by 0.5f units, so I fixed that too. =)
And I 100% agree regarding the tree model; right now it's simply a placeholder asset I grabbed to test out with our foliage spawning system. We must share the same game-dev eye!
In procrastinating doing what I should do next, I decided to add to my gas giant procedural system. I added swirling 'eyes' / storms. It is subtle, but there. There are two in this video (big one and small one)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=774CbiPuldE&feature=youtu.be&vq=hd720
I'd post a gif but the banding almost kills the effect. Chasing the 2% the most gamers won't even notice..... yeah... priorities may not be where they should be but better than just taking the day off right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=774CbiPuldE&feature=youtu.be&vq=hd720
I'd post a gif but the banding almost kills the effect. Chasing the 2% the most gamers won't even notice..... yeah... priorities may not be where they should be but better than just taking the day off right?
Candescence
Member
Hey all,
Wow, there are some excellent looking indie games in here!
Today I'd like to officially join the club and introduce our work-in-progress game, Poi. Quick TL;DR is that we are PolyKid, a 2-person indie studio in San Francisco, CA.
We just launched our Teaser Website Here and would love to get some early feedback.
I know it doesn't say much (yet), but we're building an adventure platformer.
You have my attention, good sir. Hopefully it plays as good as it looks.
Anyhow, new screenshot, been busy with other things, but I got a basic placeholder HUD going in Unity 4.6. It's heavily based off the one from Strike Suit Zero, and I think it works pretty well, especially since it communicates important info without taking too much visual room.
Also, I've started writing up a proper design document, so I can set in stone what I specifically want out of multiple specific mechanics, such weapon types and how they work, and so on.
Oh good, feels good to be able to give decent feedback so thank you
We've been prototyping the Greenlight icon and would love some feedback on which one you would pick out of these two ideas. They're placeholder graphics, but the idea is what we wanted to test out:
We really appreciate any feedback; there's not that much time to really redo once we do either of these two and according to a lot of people the logo is extremely important in terms of driving traffic.
Oh good, feels good to be able to give decent feedback, especially after a not-so great day so thank you
We've been prototyping the Greenlight icon and would love some feedback on which one you would pick out of these two ideas. They're placeholder graphics, but the idea is what we wanted to test out:
We really appreciate any feedback; there's not that much time to really redo once we do either of these two and according to a lot of people the logo is extremely important in terms of driving traffic.
The one on the left wins for me (by a large margin). The right one, too much going on. I do like the fireball. How about putting the fireball behind the character in the other graphic?
Mighty
Member
I would have to agree with friken on this one. The one on the right is a bit too busy and "Ancestory" is not as easy to read.
It's a (free?) app on my iPhone called CVSimulator.
Hey all,
Wow, there are some excellent looking indie games in here!
Today I'd like to officially join the club and introduce our work-in-progress game, Poi. Quick TL;DR is that we are PolyKid, a 2-person indie studio in San Francisco, CA.
We just launched our Teaser Website Here and would love to get some early feedback.
I know it doesn't say much (yet), but we're building an adventure platformer.
Looks very good
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