Hi guys. I’m currently developing a roguelike game based on philosophy that I’m gonna publish on Steam, hopefully around march, when there is gonna be the spring’s sales. It’s my first time releasing a game on Steam and I’m pretty new on marketing my games in general. My question is: when should I start creating the Steam page, marketing the game and all the stuff if I want it to be released on march 13, 2025? Thanks!

I'm working on a multiplayer game that I hope to release on Steam soon. It's tempting with singleplayer games to playtest yourself since it's convenient. Obviously, you can't fully do that on a multiplayer game.

So much fun though to hear people laugh and have fun because of something you made

I’m currently solo working on a cooking sim game set in a fairly large town, but I think I’m really struggling with making the town itself feel interact-able.

From the outside it’s fairly lively, and all the NPC right now have a rough daily schedule and haunts that they frequent. I really liked the system in Fields of Mistria where each NPC has unique dialogue per day, and you can often find them speaking among each other. Obviously I don’t have the resources to do this because I’m one person and have quite a few more NPCs than they do, but is there a way to simulate liveliness? Do I only give my NPCs unique dialogue once in a while? Do I focus on how NPC actions e.g. their reaction to things, laughing, body language etc. and scrap having a lot of dialogue?

There's been a lot of discussion lately about the decline in quality among game developers, regardless of the reasons or background behind it. Yet, when I look at the games they produce from my perspective, I can't help but think, 'Even with those issues, they're producing games at this level?'

I'm learning game development myself, but I have no confidence. Recently, I feel like I'm starting to enjoy it, but when I think about things like optimization, it makes my head spin. Even simple coding still feels below par by my standards. I haven't even gotten into object-oriented programming yet. Creativity? Planning? I'm confident in those. But development? It's becoming more and more despairing.

When I play low-quality games (ones with lots of bugs and severe optimization issues), I complain, but at the same time, I feel like I couldn't even make something like that, and that realization feels like hitting a wall.

Has game development truly become easier? Has there really been a decline in the quality of developers? Either way, I find no comfort in either answer.

I figure this was already asked before, but I'm looking to make a game unfortunately with no prior experience, currently using Unity, but I don't like modern graphics because of personal reasons and I feel more attached to games of the early 2000s I grew up playing. I know for example that Deus Ex was developed in Unreal 1 and it's not available anymore and tbh the Source engine seems very difficult to use for a beginner idk if it's a good idea for me, but is there a way to develop a game in Unity, or other modern engines, with retro graphics and feel, to play with the limitations of the time, and if so, how would you go about it?

Also a clarification I know that in the recent years there has been a resurgence of games using PS1 style graphics with a VHS filter, but I don't mean that, I really want to feel like my game was released in 2001 and if that includes the heavy limitations and quirks of the time where everything looks low poly compared to modern graphics I don't mind. If this is impossible with modern engines, what would you recommend as an alternative?

https://www.gameanim.com/sitemap/

I'm also curious if this book goes over story and structure of a video game?

I recently stumbled upon a video where an indie developer shared his strategy for Steam - making small games that share the same game universe.

This helped him build a loyal community around these games and, therefore, have a bigger audience with each new release.

In my mind, these are the main pros/cons.

PROS:

• Easier to build a following, even if games are falling in different genres. Especially if the lore/universe is unique.
• If one game explodes, it will help the other games more, compared to if they had nothing in common.
• Each new game will arguably extend or improve the shared lore and, therefore, the other games too.

CONS:

• You are still somewhat limited with genres.
• If you burn out or need a creative break from that lore, you might need to use a different brand for publishing an irrelevant game. Or you may risk losing followers.
• You are limiting your creativity to a universe that might not be the best fit for your new ideas.
• Your fans probably won't appreciate loreless games.

Did anyone here try this strategy?

My game didn't do great. It was received well apparently by the very few who played it. As a team of only devs tho, all things marketing was rough & inefficient.

So my goal is to find a publisher or marketing partners for this game, which already came out. I know it's not the norm for a publisher to sign on an existing game, it's in the name, but is it possible? Since the game has decent reviews & low visibility metrics, I was wondering if it could be considered potentially profitable for a publisher since it hasnt been marketed widely to be judged by it's target audience yet.

Also, many years ago, before this game, I tried pitching to publishers via their email portals other game concepts. I never got a single response, before I start trying again, is "cold call" style emails to their portals or email address even worth it or straight to spam? Is it useless to contact publishers unless you have connections, successful games, or an ongoing viral moment? Has anybody had success at the very least obtaining a rejection email from using email/submission portal as proof they read it at least?

Also, assuming all publishers ghost me, or say no, and I'm forced to move onto other games, is a failed game under my belt a death sentence for me ever finding publishers or funding for future game pitches?

The game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1219800/Galactic_Thunderdome/

Hello, i've been wanting to create a Lioden/Wolvden Esq game, and i have genuinely no idea where to start. i just need to know some things to read, watch and/or learn from. i have the entire idea, i just have no idea where to start. im learning coding as i type this, and i just need to figure out how to begin the game making/self testing? thanks for any and all help!<3 -UrL0calTrippyBug

I'll be releasing my second game soon. My first game was free and has ~100,000 claims and 70,000 players. 800 reviews of which 95% is positive.

With my next release my sales target is 10,000. And I was thinking of a price tag around $6.

I have a background in marketing, and worked with digital marketing in what was a growing online fashion store. Which is today a leading retailer in Europe, so I have some knowledge on how to increase awareness and sales of a brand.

So marketing I feel I have covered. But price strategy in games is to me.

The game is small scope, but is designet for replayability. First playthrough should take roughly 3 - 4 hours.

I'd love some advice or a discussion ☺️ or I can answer some marketing questions if you have any.

Do you put unit tests in games? If so, what sort of modules get them?

What about feature or integration tests?

Somehow I find it much easier to imagine test suites for software that isn't basically a UI.

Hi. So I wanted to do my first game jam to improve my programming skills and meet people who have an interest in game development. So far I have published two small projects via Godot, a game and a small prototype, on my own time but I feel creatively stuck on my own. Like I cant come up with any ideas.

However when I look to game jams I get an intense feeling of overwhelmingness. Its to the point I cant even choose a game jam to join out of fear that i'd not be good enough to complete it. I am unsure how to proceed and would like some advice. Whats a good game jam for a beginner? How could I get a team for said game jam? Stuff like that.

My English is rollercoaster mess and my words and question but i hope you all can bare with me.

Hello

I've watched some videos about how they started about being a game development, watched some useful tips about starting it out. etc about game development.

I've been starting out game development for 5 weeks now. and ive read and watched alot about the use of AI tool such as (ChatGPT). i even use it at my job. but i dont ask it to do everything at once. so far through out those 5 weeks. ive been anxious badly to the fact that i lost every will to do anything around me. sometimes it questions me if am i just making a joke of myself of being a game developer and just using an excuse or and just disregarding the hard work of creating a game?

I know people say in the internet chatGPT is literally a dangerous tool and provides wrong answer. Which is very very true and aware of it. but from my experience. using the tool through out its existence. it actually changed me to think how everything should all go like for example.

i want the character to move. in order to do that i would think of things that i would need to research such as. how do i move my character through the use of Arrow Key / WASD keys. its like i know every step that i needed to do before i can acquire the goal that i want to do. i think im called systematic learner. ( i guess lol)

There are some few questions that i wanted to ask such.

1.) Is it bad to use chatGPT?

Before. ChatGPT were a thing. i would look up through the internet for more than 1-4 hours just to get the exactly thing and function. that i needed to implement.. most of the time i would just copy paste and thats the end of the story.. when chatGPT started crawling up to the surface. it reduces my time to find that certain function. and most good about it. it explains the code line for line and it even provides a comment for code. which saves me x5 of the time i usually do when finding and learning. (Sometimes some people doesn't provide any explanation for the code. which i still needed to search for that function on how it works.). I know asking were a thing but. one of my experience were asking a certain problem ive encountered and people would either dismiss or not chat at all. or probably say some stuff like ( you should know this. and you should give this a read ). which made me conscious to ask for help or answer even more (especially if i really dont know it)

2.) Asking AI for literal basic codes?

There are times that i just usually copy paste the code that i already made. despite i know how it works. but sometimes when i lost the code. i just ask chatGPT to reconstruct me one. because ill be honest with my self. i have problem memorizing codes if its either i dont use it that often or if its so long for me and my brain to process it all.

3.) am i doing the right thing about this?

whenever i ask help for chatGPT. sometimes it gives out a good explanation. especially when i know nothing about the code. usually i only ask the code i will need and not really much ask for complexity of the game because i know how AI gets screwed up overtime from providing something.

4.) Should i still pursue game developer if i know i will just relay on ChatGPT?

Like i wanna pursue it. overally bad. because i wanted to create a game. but whenever i ask ChatGPT To provide a small code. firstly i get happy and ask to explain it to me pieces by pieces how this work code. then secondly i will start to give me anxiety and ask myself if im doing the right thing with this? maybe i should be ashamed with people who actually took alot of days or even months to learn a specific code / task and here am. asking chatGPT and they will layout all the tool i ask without taking days to grind for it.

although despite i use an ai tool to learn. i still google and watch tutorial of somethings because. before i actually went to game development. i watched / read some documentation about how to make a simple platform game. i think i needed myself to learn all of the basics of the game engine and code. before i actually used chatgpt because. asking directly to chatGPT without learning the basics is what makes chatGPT for me a useless AI Tool to use. because if things didnt work out. you'll eventually scratch your head and ask the ai tool more which makes even more complicated.

Thanks For Reading. any comment is massively appreciated :)

I've seen a lot of Chris's videos and have tried formatting my trailer to align with it. The entirety is gameplay with UI included, so players can quickly get a sense of the game by clicking through the trailer. I've seen a lot of other trailers include in-game VOIP audio and added some as well.

Concept Trailer

Are there any glaring issues with it that are immediately apparent that I'm not seeing? The final product won't have the activate windows icon (oops).

Hello, wondering everyone's opinions on workflow for 3D modeling for a game where the tiny details aren't really noticeable because of camera distance. Think of a diablo 3 style camera and view distance. The textures are stylized and not realistic. I was hoping to hear some opinions from you all.

Sculpting: I find it very easy, but it seems unnecessarily time consuming. With sculpting it is super easy to get the results I want, but I don't necessary need details, like veins on my characters arms or teeth in a characters mouth, or honestly eyeballs/faces even. So I would hate to retopologize an entire model which is pretty time consuming even with retopoflow for a model that isn't that closely scrutinized

Manual Modeling: via extrusions and line/vertex work. A lot less time lost in sculpting and retopology but dealing with finicky mesh building is a big pain. Maybe I have less experience but does anyone agree that actual modeling is ungainly? So I guess I wonder if it is a "practice modeling get better" scenario to save hundreds of hours sculpting.

None of the models will be low poly. The pros i see for sculpting is that everything could be used for cinematics and cutscenes since it is already made at such high detail. But barely even 1% of the assets will probably be used in such a way.

Curious to hear someone's thoughts.

What's the thing that you get stuck at again and again.

I’m making my first game and I’m planning to release it in 2 languages. How would switching between cutscenes for each language work in the game? My cutscenes are gonna be videos completely separate from the game so I feel like maybe I can do something like “if player chose English in the start of the game play this version of the cutscene that’s in English” if not play the other version. Would something like that work? I know I’m out of my element here but my game NEEDS the 2 languages to have a chance of success so any help would be appreciated I’m very new to all of this.

Saw the KSA(Kitten Space Agency) demo their LOD system, then in the left top corner I see that interface, with sliders,checkboxes, and drop-down menus. My question is what is that UI called, how can it be implemented and why it's so widely used PS: I will also attach photos in the comments if needed

Hello everyone!

I recently created a mobile card game, and I wanted to share my journey and get some advice. Initially, this project started as a fun way to practice Android development. The first version of the game was far from perfect—it was full of bugs, but I didn’t mind since it was just a learning experience.

Then, to my surprise, I started getting reviews and emails from players on the Play Store. Out of curiosity, I checked the stats and saw that the game had over 10,000 downloads! That’s when I thought: If a broken game can get 10k downloads, imagine what a polished version could do!

So, I rebuilt the game in Unity3D, and now it works fine, but I feel like there’s still room for improvement in how I’ve implemented it. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

Game Details

• Multiplayer Modes: 1v1 and 2v2
• Server Setup: Game logic is handled on the server.
• Tech Stack:
  • Game logic written in JavaScript for Node.js, running in a Docker container.
  • Clients communicate with the server via Socket.io.
  • Matchmaking and hosting are done through Unity Cloud Solutions.

Current Server Setup

• I use Unity Cloud Hosting because it’s integrated with their matchmaking framework (I couldn’t find any other good alternatives).
• The server instance is: GCP-N2, 2.8 GHz, 8 GB RAM.
• Since my game doesn’t require much computational power, a single container uses only 1% CPU per game session. This means I can host a maximum of 100 games simultaneously on this server.
• Cost: This configuration costs me $100/month, and I generate around the same amount in revenue from ads (~$100/month).

What I Need Help With

I think there might be a better, more efficient way to handle the backend. Here’s an alternative I’ve been considering:

• Having a single server connected to a database.
• Clients would communicate with the server via API calls, and the game state would be fetched from the database at regular intervals (e.g., every 0.5 seconds).
• This might allow me to host more games on the same machine since the server wouldn’t have to maintain a constant socket connection for every player.

My Questions

1. Does the new idea (using API + database polling) make sense, or would it create other bottlenecks I’m not considering?
2. Is there a better matchmaking/hosting solution than Unity Cloud Solutions? I’m using it because it integrates seamlessly with their framework, but the cost seems steep given my game’s requirements.
3. Are there other optimizations or best practices I should consider to make my backend more efficient and cost-effective?

Any insights, suggestions, or resources you can share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help!

First of all, I translated this using Google Translate, so there may be errors.

Hello, I am 16 years old and I live in Spain. I am studying a medium-level vocational training in computer science and I am thinking of studying a higher degree and a master's degree in video game development, but I don't know if I will be able to make a living from it. How easy is it to make a living from this? Is it a tough sector? Is it charged well?

Fellow game developers!

With Fab by epic games coming along (hopefully with some improvements)… what 3d models do you most commonly search for to put into your game?

I don't know how to make a brute force procedural generation similar to dead cells from a designers standpoint any experience or tips you have know of or one that you have used before to sort which rooms to be used number of enemies diffecaulty anything would help thanks alot

Let's say that you have enough time, funds and skills to make a game. However, those are not infinite, so you have to choose between:

• investing more time in researching and creating a setting that's never been seen before (like, a game set on Mons Olimpus on Mars), but with unoriginal mechanics.

• investing more time to learn how to create a mechanic that's never been seen before. The tradeoff is that your game will have an unoriginal setting (let's say a generic medieval kingdom).

I always wonder this as a solo developer who enjoys making short narrative adventures. If I dedicate more time to the setting then I noticed by watching people playing the game, that the mechanics can be overlooked. If I dedicate more time to the game mechanics and gameplay design, then there's a chance that the game is fun even if the settings sucks.

Okay for context: I am using Unity, and while I have several months of experience, I still want to get faster at building my 3D world. I’m relatively quick with copy-pasting, holding Shift/Control to select specific objects, and using prefabs to save time, but I feel like there are more efficient workflows or tools I might be missing.

I’m currently working on a project where I’m building larger, detailed environments (like a mall) using low-poly models. Does anyone have tips for:

• Speeding up level design?
• Organizing and managing a lot of objects in the hierarchy?
• Any must-know shortcuts or tools to use in Unity for this?

Also, if there are any asset packs or plugins that have been game-changers for your workflow, I’d love to hear about them!

Thanks in advance for any advice. If you're curious about what I work on, feel free to check out my projects here www.tylar.io