#game dev

[efangamez]

3 (!!!) Days left to Help Me Exist Again!

Grab $80 worth of games for $25! PLEASE REBLOG AND SHARE WITH FRIENDS!

In this bundle, you can obtain:

GRIM, a retro FPS styled TTRPG inspired by Quake.

Neon Nights, a cyberpunk TTRPG with nearly infinite build variety, and it's two MASSIVE expansions!

Wrath of the Undersea, a TTRPG where you play as vengeful Eldritch peoples trying to reclaim the colonized surface.

Disk Master's expansions, where you can live out your Pokemon or Digimon dream on pen and paper!

This money will go towards affording therapy, medication, possible HRT (I am still deciding), and a new computer for work and enjoyment.

This money is life-saving, allowing me to not be on the verge of living with my parents in a transphobic county that is damn near a sundown town for trans people. I really need this money to live, and I would be eternally grateful if you could reblog and send this sale to someone who you think would help.

[xenonfossil]

Creature Creation Station version 0.4 update is now up for download or freeplay in browser!

IMPORTANT NOTE for those upgrading from version 0.3 and before: ⏩ Loading the game for the first time from the previous versions will initially display your creatures as all the same default cat. Fear not! Just close and reopen the game and from then on they'll load with their correct features!

⏩ There's a few other bugs like the giant cursor in browser and such, but I've been waiting too long to get this update out, so please bear with me as I work on patches!

A short list of the many new features: 🐈 Pick up your creations and drag them around with right click! 🐈 Use the whistle button to arrange all your creations in the center! 🐈 Cute new paw cursor! 🐈 17 new body features! 🐈 A ton of new randomized name options 🐈 Added blob shadows under creatures and lil dust particles when they run 🐈 On feature change, a Sparkle particle effect and animation play 🐈 … and much more!

View the full changelog on itch: Grab 'Em Update! version 0.4 changelog

Thanks for your continued support and patience!! 💜 And PLEASE show me your creations!!! ~Xenon

[samuraiunicorn]

Demo #02 is out now for our supporters! Be warned though, the Unicorn tutorial can be pretty challenging, so hopefully you can beat the Prowler and escape the starting area.

Support Samurai Unicorn on Patreon and get access now!

[glugslove]

Electric sensors can now detect electricity to open doors

[bugbearstew]

we made SO MANY monsters for yolk heroes and theyre all pretty goofy and fun. We had a lot of fun making all of them. Hope you enjoy puns!!!!!

Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago is a virtual pet RPG idle game and it's coming out on steam APRIL 30TH!! WISHLIST NOW!

[arimiadev]

oh shit rpg maker xp is completely free to own this week on steam??

[devsgames]

Just this week in games:

- EA laid off 700 workers

- Sony laid of 900 workers

- Rockstar announces in-person work mandates for all employees (a 'soft layoff' that will force some staff to quit, which likely means that actual layoffs are forthcoming)

In 2023 6,000 games workers were laid off. Now in 2024 over 10,000 workers have been laid off, and there's still 10 months to go.

Not to be hyperbolic, but I think this is perhaps the worst year for video games ever if we're measuring by number of layoffs.

[insertdisc5]

🎮 HEY I WANNA MAKE A GAME! 🎮

Yeah I getcha. I was once like you. Pure and naive. Great news. I AM STILL PURE AND NAIVE, GAME DEV IS FUN! But where to start?

To start, here are a couple of entry level softwares you can use! source: I just made a game called In Stars and Time and people are asking me how to start making vidy gaems. Now, without further ado:

SOFTWARES AND ENGINES FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO CODE!!!

Ren'py (and also a link to it if you click here do it): THE visual novel software. Comic artists, look no further ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It has great documentation! It has a bunch of plugins and UI stuff and assets for you to buy! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! (You'll just need to read the doc a bunch) You can also port your game to a BUNCH of consoles! ✨Cons: None really <3 Some games to look at: Doki Doki Literature Club, Bad End Theater, Butterfly Soup

Twine: Great for text-based games! GREAT FOR WRITERS WHO DONT WANNA DRAW!!!!!!!!! (but you can draw if you want) ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It's versatile! It has great documentation! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! (You'll just need to read the doc a bunch) ✨Cons: You can add pictures, but it's a pain. Some games to look at: The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo, Queers In love At The End of The World, Escape Velocity

Bitsy: Little topdown games! ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It's (somewhat) intuitive! It has great documentation! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! You can make everything in it, from text to sprites to code! Those games sure are small! ✨Cons: Those games sure are small. This is to make THE simplest game. Barely any animation for your sprites, can barely fit a line of text in there. But honestly, the restrictions are refreshing! Some games to look at: honestly I haven't played that many bitsy games because i am a fake gamer. The picture above is from Under A Star Called Sun though and that looks so pretty

RPGMaker: To make RPGs! LIKE ME!!!!! NOTE: I recommend getting the latest version if you can, but all have their pros and cons. You can get a better idea by looking at this post. ✨Pros: Literally everything you need to make an RPG. Has a tutorial inside the software itself that will teach you the basics. Pretty simple to understand, even if you have no coding experience! Also I made a post helping you out with RPGMaker right here! ✨Cons: Some stuff can be hard to figure out. Also, the latest version is expensive. Get it on sale! Some games to look at: Yume Nikki, Hylics, In Stars and Time (hehe. I made it)

engine.lol: collage worlds! it is relatively new so I don't know much about it, but it seems fascinating. picture is from Garden! NOTE: There's a bunch of smaller engines to find out there. Just yesterday I found out there's an Idle Game Maker made by the Cookie Clicker creator. Isn't life wonderful?

✨more advice under the cut. this is Long ok✨

ENGINES I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT AND THEY SEEM HARD BUT ALSO GIVE IT A TRY I GUESS!!!! :

Unity and Unreal: I don't know anything about those! That looks hard to learn! But indie devs use them! It seems expensive! Follow your dreams though! Don't ask me how!

GameMaker: Wuh I just don't know anything about it either! I just know it's now free if your game is non-commercial (aka, you're not selling it), and Undertale was made on it! It seems good! You probably need some coding experience though!!!

Godot: Man I know even less about this one. Heard good things though!

BUNCHA RANDOM ADVICE!!!!

-Make something small first! Try making simple: a character is in a room, and exits the room. The character can look around, decide to take an item with them, can leave, and maybe the door is locked and you have to find the key. Figuring out how to code something like that, whether it is as a fully text-based game or as an RPGMaker map, should be a good start to figure out how your software of choice works!

-After that, if you have an idea, try first to make the simplest version of that idea. For my timeloop RPG, my simplest version was two rooms: first room you can walk in, second room with the King, where a cutscene automatically plays and the battle starts, you immediately die, and loop back to the first room, with the text from this point on reflecting this change. I think I also added a loop counter. This helped me figure out the most important thing: Can This Game Be Made? After that, the rest is just fun stuff. So if you want to make a dating sim, try and figure out how to add choices, and how to have affection points go up and down depending on your choices! If you want to make a platformer, figure out how to make your character move and jump and how to create a simple level! If you just want to make a kinetic visual novel with no choices, figure out how to add text, and how to add portraits! You'll be surprised at how powerful you'll feel after having figured even those simple things out.

-If you have a programming problem or just get confused, never underestimate the power of asking Google! You most likely won't be the only person asking this question, and you will learn some useful tips! If you are powerful enough, you can even… Ask people??? On forums??? Not me though.

-Yeah I know you probably want to make Your Big Idea RIGHT NOW but please. Make a smaller prototype first. You need to get that experience. Trust me.

-If you are not a womanthing of many skills like me, you might realize you need help. Maybe you need an artist, or a programmer. So! Game jams on itch.io are a great way to get to work and meet other game devs that have different strengths! Or ask around! Maybe your artist friend secretly always wanted to draw for a game. Ask! Collaborate! Have fun!!!

I hope that was useful! If it was. Maybe. You'd like to buy me a coffee. Or maybe you could check out my comics and games. Or just my new critically acclaimed game In Stars and Time. If you want. Ok bye

[ggauroras]

I think the saddest part about Unity's godawful news is that a lot of games are going to just. disappear.

it's like Unity is trying to go the way of streaming where the hidden gems and cult classics don't make enough money, so, they're taken offline. except this time it's with games (mostly indie).

to put it in perspective, hollow knight, cuphead, and ori are made in unity. so are night in the woods, tunic, and countless more indie gems. hell, AMONG US is made in unity. if the devs of any of these games can't shell out the outrageous cost, then maybe the devs will take them offline. and we'll just. never be able to play them anymore

it's a sad possibility that I don't think any of us ever had to consider. but now we do.

[greenflamethegf]

TBH that might even thiner they avrage

[necronatural]

The last version of my guide is 2 years old, and doesn't account for some new features, new competition, and some rebrands, so once again;

Here's a purchase guide for when RPG Maker is on sale, as well as the Visual Novel makers available.

[efangamez]

Hi. I'm Efan, and this is an urgent request.

PLEASE REBLOG IF YOU CANNOT ASSIST!

I am a disabled, trans, and queer game designer looking to live again to afford medication, sustained housing, therapy/psychiatry, and some money to save for emergencies.

We have been doing very well with the Help Me Exist Again game bundle (linked here), but we need one final push, as we only have 2 DAYS left to raise some funds.

So, if you would like $80 of games for $25 to get HUNDREDS of hours of games and also change my life, buy the bundle below!

In this bundle, you can obtain:

GRIM, a retro FPS styled TTRPG inspired by Quake.

Neon Nights, a cyberpunk TTRPG with nearly infinite build variety, and it's two MASSIVE expansions!

Wrath of the Undersea, a TTRPG where you play as vengeful Eldritch peoples trying to reclaim the colonized surface.

Disk Master's expansions, where you can live out your Pokemon or Digimon dream on pen and paper!

This money will go towards affording therapy, medication, possible HRT (I am still deciding), and a new computer for work and enjoyment.

This money is life-saving, allowing me to not be on the verge of living with my parents in a transphobic county that is damn near a sundown town for trans people. I really need this money to live, and I would be eternally grateful if you could reblog and send this sale to someone who you think would help.

And if you can't support the bundle or any games, or just plain wanna help another way, head to my Linktree below for my Patr3on, Kofi, and other things.

Thank you so much!

[everydaylouie]

RHYTHM HELL is now PLAYABLE!

check it out here (please download for optimal clapping experience):

[glugslove]

Well that's one way to conduct electricity...

[magpieandpossum]

I'm already about 110% in love with these rough draft character sprites....

these are all unshaded, and will probably be continued to be edited, but I just wanted to share to get feedback! both garak and quark have alternate outfits as well ^^

[koboldfactory]

It’s tragic to me that the video games industry could be unfathomably successful and provide so many jobs if CEOs took a pay cut and executives stopped pushing for multimillion dollar budgeted hyper realistic 400 gameplay-hour 10 year dev cycle games. No devs ever need to be fired for a higher ups mistakes. Devs need to start unionizing or do something else to execs that if I said would probably get me banned.

It’s very clear that the AAA industry is in a death spiral, and as much as I would love to say “this means devs can find success in the indie space!” That just isn’t gonna happen on a large scale because indie companies cannot afford to give jobs to the mass swathes of AAA devs being laid off. And those AAA devs in general do not make enough money to just go found their own studio and take a risk developing a game with no income for years.