- Joined
- Jul 7, 2017
- Messages
- 386
Most Codexers probably know me from my modding work but I've also dabbled in game development as a hobby. This hasn't yet amounted to much but prototypes that never saw the light of day. For me the draw was the challenge of recreating the kinds of games I enjoy. It's a puzzle in a way, and I like puzzles. But now I'm moving forward, and I want to make games for others. If you've developed anything, you understand the vast difference in commitment required to go from what's essentially a doodle, to a fully realized product that meets people's expectations. What I write here is mostly to externalize my thoughts. Part of me wants to crawl back under a blanket, but I've begrudgingly begun the work.
An RPG is in preproduction. However, I chose a puzzle game for my first commercial project, both to familiarize myself with releasing on Steam, and just to finish something quickly. The core mechanic is lifted from Tricky Kick, which I appreciate due to the complexity that can be stuffed into very small maps. There are more toys to play with of course. Having co-op, it's the kind of game you can enjoy with your girlfriend.
Worldbuilding for Goblin Party will make its way into the followup. It's a setting influenced by Americana, the threshold between this world and the other spheres, and magic realism, where the fantastic seeps through the ordinary. I'm thinking the RPG will feature a single town, like many tabletop adventures and games. This way I can divert as much time as possible fleshing it out, and updating things as the player progresses. Not much else is set in stone.
I haven't settled on a subgenre, but I'm leaning toward something like a Mystery Dungeon game, or a squad based tactics game. As an indie with a budget of lmao, I want to ensure that every hour I spend developing content results in a commensurate amount of enjoyment for the players. Spending 5 years, or goddess forbid 20, on a game people are going to burn through in a few sessions isn't something I have the constitution for. Someone is probably thinking, "If Moonrise doesn't let us roll a goblin party, we riot!" I hear you. They're in. But there are some things I won't budge on. As much as I love old school games, there are aspects and features, even whole genres, too niche to bother with unless you like making tapas for nobody. I already know what that's like.
What else... right, the concept. The concept is that you're commanding defectors from the otherworld to wage war against the otherworld, as, so to speak, the chains of Tartarus have grown rusty. You'll locate weak points in the barrier between worlds, push back its denizens, and reinforce the magic that allowed for thousands of years of peace and mundanity. Only it's not high fantasy. You're a dork from the suburbs who read too much Jacques Vallée.
An RPG is in preproduction. However, I chose a puzzle game for my first commercial project, both to familiarize myself with releasing on Steam, and just to finish something quickly. The core mechanic is lifted from Tricky Kick, which I appreciate due to the complexity that can be stuffed into very small maps. There are more toys to play with of course. Having co-op, it's the kind of game you can enjoy with your girlfriend.
Worldbuilding for Goblin Party will make its way into the followup. It's a setting influenced by Americana, the threshold between this world and the other spheres, and magic realism, where the fantastic seeps through the ordinary. I'm thinking the RPG will feature a single town, like many tabletop adventures and games. This way I can divert as much time as possible fleshing it out, and updating things as the player progresses. Not much else is set in stone.
I haven't settled on a subgenre, but I'm leaning toward something like a Mystery Dungeon game, or a squad based tactics game. As an indie with a budget of lmao, I want to ensure that every hour I spend developing content results in a commensurate amount of enjoyment for the players. Spending 5 years, or goddess forbid 20, on a game people are going to burn through in a few sessions isn't something I have the constitution for. Someone is probably thinking, "If Moonrise doesn't let us roll a goblin party, we riot!" I hear you. They're in. But there are some things I won't budge on. As much as I love old school games, there are aspects and features, even whole genres, too niche to bother with unless you like making tapas for nobody. I already know what that's like.
What else... right, the concept. The concept is that you're commanding defectors from the otherworld to wage war against the otherworld, as, so to speak, the chains of Tartarus have grown rusty. You'll locate weak points in the barrier between worlds, push back its denizens, and reinforce the magic that allowed for thousands of years of peace and mundanity. Only it's not high fantasy. You're a dork from the suburbs who read too much Jacques Vallée.
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