99 percent of devs logs I see on KZread never launch a game. Congratulations on that huge milestone.

@rungeon83

Ай бұрын

THIS! I have released a little game on the xbox360 indie section and honestly the learning experience of this is much more than starting and giving up on lots of projects. You cannot buy what you learn, I hope his game does pick up it seems a bit insane how hard it is to get games known these days.

@nugget9458

Ай бұрын

Should of released it on the switch those guys will buy any garbage on the store

@ghostradiogames

Ай бұрын

This is the #1 reason why I didn't start one, hah. Also, who has time for that? I'm making a game and working a day job, I can't make videos too, that's insane.

@dadlord689

Ай бұрын

​@@ghostradiogamesI relate more to this point of view than to the author one. There is not enough life time and life force to work and to do an actual side project. Not everyone can win the Olympic game and make a record, but there will always be few. More to this point: it is quite psychotic to persuade only the highest bars. While you have no war outside - have a chilly evening and appreciate it.

@mrpancakeguy

Ай бұрын

@@nugget9458 must… not… respond… to… this… bait… and… switch… comment.

"Building a game is so incredibly hard that you really cannot afford to build it on an idea you're only half passionate about" That quote is pure gold. Thank You for the informative and quite inspiring video and wish You luck in future productions.

@austinreed7343

Ай бұрын

Then what is the bare minimum? Two-thirds? Three-quarters?

@TheBinklemNetwork

18 күн бұрын

Two thirds and three quarters of that final third. :B​@@austinreed7343

Making a 10 hour long game with fully hand-built content as a part-time solo dev takes and iron will. Looking forward to seeing what you have in mind for your next project!

@Sanquinity

25 күн бұрын

And it takes a very strong character to see the game then "fail", decide to learn from it rather than be down, and look towards how one can improve the next project.

You launched mate, that's not a failure! I think the hardest part is uploading the final build and pressing release :) Onwards!

@smokinjoe9415

Ай бұрын

It is a failure.

@IcedCub

Ай бұрын

​@smokinjoe9415 not half as much as your life

@Vistorri

Ай бұрын

​@@smokinjoe9415And how many commercial successes have you released on steam?

@moonchildeverlasting9904

Ай бұрын

ITS NOT A FAILURE IF SOME CHECKBOXES EXIST. 1. Was it your first game? 2. Was it something you made mostly on your own, or with a few people involved? If these two questions are answered with Yes. It wasn't a failure. Because I opened the app. I saw the game. Lots of parts in this "game" is just learning and using parts of game features. example, * Rope swing, originated from "Worms" * Levels design are the same in most games. Using VFX, using parallax, blur, depth-perception * Hub worlds (towns) to buy items from * Item shop which require state management of inventory, health, and attributes points * 2D travelling methods (bridges, slopes, elevators, mine carts, ...) * Maps, progression, save points Lots of its is core things you need to have in 2D platformer that (first time) takes time to learn, memorize and understand fully. You now possesses that knowledge. This is extremely valuable. Onto the game itself, It has a great premise. The idea of climbing comes with many challenges and possibilities for surprising experiences. --- Imagine yourself playing the game. The game should be fun. And it probably is too! But when you released the game. Did ANYONE know it was released? Did the word spread by people online? Was it considered something that people was "excited" to get their hands on before release?

@OcnarfPro

Ай бұрын

@@Vistorri 67

Man.. I am a gamedev as well and coming from a youtube dive.. You are like the 8th gamedeveloper video I watched. All videos I watched was 2 years ago, 1 year ago, 3 years ago.. None of them finished it. Store link, wishlist. No release date. You did it dude. You finished it! So much respect!

I think the art style was a major factor in the game's failure. As you said, it's hard to stand out and art style can make or break an otherwise good game.

@Mangeurdemouton

28 күн бұрын

nah art does not mean anything, gameplay is the key! Look at games like dwarf fortress ascii, vampire survivor and minecraft.

@titusorelius9458

27 күн бұрын

@@Mangeurdemouton You have a point to an extent but I think those games were able to sidestep artstyle because of outstanding gameplay. But if you just have good gameplay than you are among thousands of games that are also "good" and not outstanding". In which case having an great artstyle can lift the game up to greatness and get it noticed. It's a balance.

@Patxi__

26 күн бұрын

I agree. I am illustrator and concept artist and I think he made an awesome job considering he have not an art education. But yeah, it doesn't stand out at all. It looks quite generic and amateurish. He would benefit a lot collaborating with an experienced artist for his next project.

@Patxi__

26 күн бұрын

@@Mangeurdemouton Minecraft looks unique, it have its own aesthetic. And have also a unique and never seen before gameplay. The other 2 I don't know them but probably shine a lot in terms of gameplay. And last but not least, I think marketing and social media is an important thing in the sucess of a game launch.

@seto007

26 күн бұрын

​@@Mangeurdemoutonas mentioned in the video there exist games with simple yet charming art styles. Both Minecraft and Vampire Survivors fall into that category. By contrast, the art in this game just looks fairly generic and cheap. Dwarf Fortress is an insanely expansive game that has been in development for decades and can be downloaded for free. The paid version of course has a rather charming art style and QoL improvements, as opposed to the default ASCII and keyboard controls of the free version.

Congrats on successfully releasing a game! What you learned from this game will help you a lot in your next one!

@NicNac2451

Ай бұрын

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for stopping by. Your channel has been a huge inspiration!

Hey man, appreciated your post mortem here. I'm a solo dev who shipped a massive SaaS B2B project a few years ago, and have made a whopping $500, with a net costs of around $6k (hosting, PO box, and local tax). So just here to say that I resonated a lot with some of your points. I also at one point reached a development hell, and realized I needed to ship or I might never ship. The result was the project worked but lacked enough features to really drive organic traffic. Marketing was also not my strong point so there was very little of that, and as a result many people never even saw it!

@TB191

26 күн бұрын

What kind of project did you build?

@100_Dollar_Bill

5 күн бұрын

@@TB191you won't get a response. Remember, not good at marketing 😂

The fact that you released a game in general on steam is something that not many can share. You should absolutely be proud of yourself and your work.

Hey, you shipped a game and learned the right lessons, for a very first commercial game that's a success! You should be proud! As someone who released a *somewhat* successful game, here are other things I learned: - Start with a very short game. If you want to make a game in 6 months, imagine a game that could be made in 2-3 months. - Playtest your game a lot, every month/2 months or so. Even when you think you won't learn anything valuable, you will! - Invest money in your key art. Pay someone to make it if you're not skilled enough in art. It's such an important part of you game getting noticed on Steam! - Manage expectations: in your communications, trailers, Steam page etc, don't hesitate to state what your game is and particularly what it is not. Very important for reviews. Best of luck with you future projects!

@ricktyner5801

Ай бұрын

I think Thomas Brush would tell you that all of this is part of the success of failing forward. Many people never even finish the process of actually releasing the game. Keep moving forward!

@wPeniSwiadomy

Ай бұрын

Recently I watched a documentary about Bethesda. The most important thing about it was that they were constantly testing the game at every step. They have the whole testing procedure there. They give the product to the testers and observe in silence. Maybe create a demo of the next game and share it on steam, advertise it on YT and ask people what they like and what they don't like, I know that many people do it and it works.

@Archheret1c

19 күн бұрын

@@wPeniSwiadomy kinda fascinating to hear since Bethesda is known for their many bugs.

@VarietyGamerChannel

18 күн бұрын

YES! Listen to this dev. ART matters. Visuals MATTER. If the game was 70% shorter and artistically eye catching it would have sold 100x more.

I absolutely know this... We released game a month ago and it is a failure... about 250$ before steam cut. But like you said, lessons learned...

@NicNac2451

Ай бұрын

Exactly! All the best for your next game!

@troglodyteluke

Ай бұрын

@@NicNac2451 Thanks, you too! By the way, I will buy Summit today! As developers We have to support each other!

@troglodyteluke

Ай бұрын

@@NicNac2451 Thanks! You too! By the way I bought your game today, I think as developers, we should support each other!

@fiveprime7968

Ай бұрын

Congrats on being one of the few people who have actually released a commercial game though!

@beardyluke10

Ай бұрын

@@fiveprime7968Thanks!

The art style is too reminiscent of yearly and mid 2000s flash games. Which for me gives the gut reaction of a basic game with one single mechanic, you play for free for 30 minutes then never again. But don't feel discouraged. What you did is already an incredible achievement. I know how hard it is to work on your free time on a project like this. I've been making an android app I hope to publish this year. And having to project manage myself, plus my social life, plus my ADHD is terrible. Seeing someone able to complete a project, regardless if it's successful or not is a great inspiration.

@Fickji

Ай бұрын

I too would have passed the game up as an asset flip Shovel ware style game if not for this video. Now it is Steam wish listed. So even this video may have helped market the game. I'm trying to figure out why the art style throws me off so much and i think it might be those ground textures. They're not as artistically shaded as the rest of the areas. They're just flat dirt or flat stone and they take up a lot of the foreground. I'm trying to remember any 2-d games that I like doing that. I think most will put different interesting little filler or easter eggs in or just shadow the area so it isn't as noticeable. Think Terraria or Aquaria.

@rhyantrick8178

Ай бұрын

yeah the art style is lacking and the large head characters remind me of old toddler cartoons my kids use to watch. the general design is very basic too. people want to play as cool creatures or interesting otherworldly characters in crazy enviroments that are unique

@Korn1holio

Ай бұрын

Just what I wrote a minute ago, almost using the same words. Pretty neat, I think our feedback has some merit.

@manashieldworld

26 күн бұрын

I just posted this! Everything else seems perfectly serviceable but then the graphics are such a turn off. Not that they're terrible but like you said. Just gives off Flash vibes and people associate a certain feeling to that.

@chickenmadness1732

18 күн бұрын

@@Fickji Because you can tell it was made by an amateur so it looks cheap lol. If a professional artist worked on it the colour pallete would be consistent and not all over the place for starters.

I am not sure I've heard "play testing" even once. It's a shame people don't understand the value of play testing. Giving the opportunity to see other people interact with your game will make a world of difference.

@8ightBitKid

21 күн бұрын

Ok mr know it all

@aarondcmedia9585

20 күн бұрын

Very good point.

@fictitiousnightmares

19 күн бұрын

Love how easy it is to criticize. I know as a solo hobbyist dev myself with pretty much NO social media presence and no desire for one, finding players to play test and to market to is not only hard, but practically impossible without 'building' that social media presence.

@ImpreccablePony

19 күн бұрын

@@fictitiousnightmares So you literally have no partner, no parents, no coworkers, and no one in the whole world who you can ask to play your game? Okay, I respect that. But dude. You have reddit with a million subs with some of them bound to be interested in what you build. You are one post away from play-testing.

@fictitiousnightmares

19 күн бұрын

@@ImpreccablePony Oh, so your definition of 'play testing' is having 1-3 people who will most likely lie to you because they are friends/family play it then? smh Come on, use some common sense. And you making up random numbers about Reddit and not even talking about any specific subreddit doesn't help anything. Also, reddit has that weird ass thing where you have to have points or thumbs up or some crap over time even to post or respond on it. I tried and stopped using it years ago because of that crap.

I think you can also consider making a "Summit Remastered" by working with an artist, and playtesting with a community etc. You've put a lot of effort into this game and you can probably pivot it to the point where it gets the attention it deserves!

@nathanfranck5822

14 күн бұрын

Definitely deserves another go in a couple years once you leveled up and made some connections

@cliqist

4 күн бұрын

I was thinking the same thing. I'm not a metroidvania fan, but the concept is intriguing enough to not abandon. Makes me wonder if it would be worth doing a revised vertical slice with some updated art and animation.

I launched a game on Xbox 360 20 years ago. It failed. I have been developing but never launched another game since. Launching a game is one of the best things I have ever done. Getting a game released is an amazing accomplishment regardless of sales. Congratulations!

I'd be really proud if I were you of the end product. It's no Ori or whatever but I still think it has its charm.

Sorry to hear that. Chris Zukowski says that you need at least 2 games to get a good shot at being profitable and most studios quit after the first one, so you're on the right track! Good luck with your future development and thanks for sharing this.

Most indie games fail, you have to be satisfied with completing and releasing it. Congratulations.

Not a failure, this is an inspiration. I’m new to game dev. Like you, I’m a programmer and not an artist but I have always been driven to create things. I look forward to your next game!

Just the fact that you got to release is amazing. Especially with a project lasting 3 years! Most solo game developers lose interest and never look back, so all power to you for sticking with it. Game marketing is a beast of its own for sure. Gathering 1.000 wishlists is still good! Good luck in the future, hopefully I can get my game to release in 2024 🙄

You have a released, good looking, well designed, complete game on Steam... I do not see a failure there. No no no! Sales numbers do not defined failure nor success! I see a great accomplishment here. Keep updating the game based on feedbacks. Good luck.

@NewHopeGames

Ай бұрын

Well said and just by what I see, I can already see he has what it takes to be successful in game dev. I believe if he had a publisher and marketing, his initial launch with this game would of been a lot different.

@jigsaw2253

28 күн бұрын

Cope, money defines success

Part of our faults are sometimes to set an expectation against a back drop of a type of people that might not match up. That being said, the truth is you have already put yourself up there in my opinion, the top 1%. I only see great work ahead of you and wish you your best success.

@NicNac2451

Ай бұрын

Thanks for the true and kind words!

Honestly dude as a programmer > artist, your art is excellent. Great video and reflections, thank you for sharing!

@V3SPR

23 күн бұрын

Wrong, it looks bad

@zwenkwiel816

17 күн бұрын

​@@V3SPRlol how's that for constructive criticism XD I kind of agree though. Like if art isn't your strong suit just lean into that. Like pick a simple style you can do instead of poorly doing a style you can't. Like forget about realism and shading. Just make something simple that looks cute.

I think art styles and satisfying animations are the most important factor for a game's sale. Then comes gameplay and game design

You made a bunch of great points. And I think your art looks polished. Good luck on round two!

As someone that likes to work on mini projects and then leave them at the side - you did a fantastic job at rounding off a project into a total product. As others have said - not many get to this stage and you did. In a recent podcast I was listening to - they were talking about the reasons you go in and do something. "Did you lose all that time for no monetary gain?" or "Did you learn so much during that time that the learning is the value out of what you did and that's what you value?". If you think of the second more -- you have a good chance at doing great things. Based on this video, it sounds like you're the second type now ;). Good luck for your next project - I'm sure you'll learn a lot more and produce something better! (I've wishlisted your game for when I next have some time - looks right up my street!)

a possibly interesting way to introduce the game and have it more zappy at the start is have him be fully capable, you do a small mission then fall and get injured, lose your equipment, and you need to build back up?

@ricktyner5801

Ай бұрын

Exactly! Typical Metroid intro, that is part of the magic.

@ryanorionwotanson4568

Ай бұрын

Metroid 101! Yes!

Congrats on actually finishing and publishing a game. Many indie devs don't even get to that point. Initial launch is critical but sometimes there's games that still find their audience after release.

Just found this channel and I appreciate all the clarity and honesty. Congrats on finishing a game! May all your future ones only go upwards in success.

Surely this video led to many more sales? The artstyle of this game looks great, and way better than most new-dev platformers.

As a developer myself I can tell you your artstyle wasnt a failure point. It looks great and cohesive. What a lot of indie devs and hobbiest devs get hung up on is the art style and adding feature after feature. You were right in saying feature craw creepes up but the biggest issue with why your game wasnt as successful as it could have been was thebgame play itself. A game is about the gameplay experience graphics do not matter if they game is fun. Minecraft back in the early days was mostly programer art but its now the biggest game in the world by far. That is because fundamentally the game play was fun enough even in the alpha days that people spent hours upon hours playing it and exploring. One day cycle in MC is about 40min surviving your first night in the early days of Minecraft was pretty much the entire game loop and to do that took 40 minutes. Inheritly thats 40minutes of gameplay for every new player. Just based off that simple game loop. Your goal when making a game is nailing the gameplay and that gameplay loop before anything else. Visuals are superficial, extra features and content are pointless if they foundation of the game isnt solid. But all in all dont despair as thats part of the journey. Learning from iur mistakes is part of the fun of our journeys in my opinion so im keen to see what avenue your path forward takes as you carry without the new skill sets you aquired on your way

Bro was doomed when he decided on Metroidvania/Platformer. Much respect for putting the numbers out there

Congrats on being able to ship it, Dominik! I'm a solo dev too so hope to get to that milestone soon. Really appreciate your candor. Best of luck in your next endeavor!

Most important thing here is that you didn't give up. Sucks that summit didn't do the numbers (might still randomly go a little viral at some point) But you are ready to jump in and go for the next one. That is the right attitude and i wish you great success on round 2.

If you'd like a little feedback,..... I would say the main reason of your game's failure is artwork. Vector based high-definition 2D graphics are very much "out of fashion", reminding people of early 2000s Flash games and are commonly associated with low-quality low-effort productions. Even very lowres pixelated art would work better in your case. Just my impression. You have to evoke a certain feeling and your game's look is a bit too sterile. Wishing you best of luck with your new endeavours!

@user-vl3pz5sv1r

7 күн бұрын

I'd be careful with a generalization like this. There are still plenty of modern 2D vector games that have been able to nail the style and there are plenty of modern pixel art games that come across as generic and unimpressive. It depends on how you implement them and also who the audience is.

I appreciate anyone willing to share their learnings. Good luck on your next project.

Thank you for the post-mortem of your indie project. It takes courage to create one, but it's very helpful to others... and yourself. Good luck, man!

Great perspectives shared here man. There’s an itch that only making a ten hour metroidvania passion project can scratch and you did it - that’s awesome. I’m excited to see your next project!!

Don't think I have ever made a comment on a KZread video. However, your honesty and sharing of mistakes is something I have tremendous respect for. May your future projects be blessed.

Congrats on shipping your game! My piece of advice that I've seen other devs lean heavily on, is playtesting. That first negative review was mostly critical of the controls. Controls might feel good to you, but maybe the majority of the play-testers will reveal what you're too comfortable with it to notice? Anyway, my #1 thing to do after making sure the art direction, and basic stuff is where you want it, is to playtest. Good luck with game #2! Never stop doing what you love. =D

Steam has so many games you can't just release a game and expect it to sell, I've never even seen nor heard of this game until randomly seeing this video and I can tell you I regularly go on Steam and just look through games to see what is out or coming out. If you want to sell a game you must spend money on advertisement, people aren't going to find your game on steam when they don't know it exists.

Next time, I hope there will be one, everything will work out! The hardest part you have already done, and you have a foundation for new projects. Good Luck!

Good job on your game! It is brutally hard out there as a game dev (for basically everyone) so it is good to hear that you are sticking with it.

Huge achievement. Well done and thank you for sharing your experience. You are well on your way to indie game success with Summit ad your first release.

You got across the finish line. Most of us will never get as far as actually releasing a game. That said, I really feel like if you're doing small team or solo work, expecting to make money is going to leave you disappointed. Build the game you want to play.

I’ve picked it up, it looks like it’ll be fun. As others have commented getting as far as releasing a game on Steam is an achievement in itself. If you enjoyed making it and even a small number of players experienced and enjoyed it you should be proud.

You launched a finished game, congratulations.

@harag9

Ай бұрын

Yea, think that's a first on steam...

Congratulations on getting a game published. This is such a hard thing and it sounds like you learned a ton. Good luck on the next one!

sir, can I say I liked the in-game artwork? Maybe it's because I am not into platformers, but I think they are good. Also, you launched a game, that's a win in my book...I too have ideas and have made a few prototypes but never crossed that step of launching a game. I am subscribing to your channel in hopes you can inspire me. Well done sir

Hey, I'm in a similar position, but haven't launched my game yet. I wondered if you went through the effort of creating a company/LLC/LTD, considering your game was a hobby and you went financially dependent on its success? Congratulations on releasing Summit - I'll check it out sometime!

I really admire that you posted about the outcome even if it wasn't what you hoped for, and I'm glad it was a great learning experience. Thank you for this video!

So many dev videos saying their game failed. This is why I believe you should do gamedev because you enjoy the hobby rather than seeking to earn a living from it.

End of the day, you accomplished something very few could do, let alone can do. Not a game developer myself, but the fact you climb over the biggest hurdle, that being yourself, and released a product says a lot about you. You deserve to be proud of yourself. 😎

Bought the game to take a good look at it, you're an inspiration! I've always dreamed of doing this myself.

I think your art has a nice charm to it, it reminds me of South Park aesthetics. That being said, it could be an interesting experiment (or video idea) to pay a professional artist to create all the visual assets for this game and reskin it, which would be easy considering it looks like you used bone based animation. You could also pay for a small amount of marketing this time around to see if what kind of difference marketing and visuals have on a game using the same gameplay mechanics. I also realize you might be completely burned out on this project by now, but thought I would share this anyways. Good luck with whatever project you work on next and congrats on seeing this project to completion!

Someone already said it here, but first off, you finished a project, that’s epic. Well done on closing it out and getting it out the door. 👏

You're right about making smaller games first. I've been making games commercially for 11 years. My first few games did terrible, but they were small games I made in a few months. My last game took 3 years to make too but I already had 7 years experience at that point and I was able to breakeven at least. Keep on learning game dev! Good luck!

Thank you for this video. Congratulations on the release at least, it's something not many solo developers reach. Please name the clips you use in your video. What is the name of the game at 6:03?

This is an incredibly humbling and informative postmortem but, although it wasn’t a commercial success, you can’t call this a failure. You had an idea, you worked on that idea, and now a game is out in the world that wouldn’t have existed otherwise; well done!

And you grew your channel. Keep sharing :)

I would say artstyle hurt this the most. I'm only speaking based on footage, but the mechanics and setting are cool. Just screams flash game. Solo dev is so frustrating because your limitations are GLARING as you continue your project.

@fictitiousnightmares

19 күн бұрын

I disagree, I think the art style is pretty decent actually. Fantastic graphics are not a necessity in games and if you read one of his very few positive reviews, it even mentioned how beautiful the game was.

@manashieldworld

19 күн бұрын

@@fictitiousnightmares It doesn't have to have "fantastic" graphics and if we're being blunt the artstyle looks like a child learning Flash did it. Stop arguing points no one brought up.

@fictitiousnightmares

19 күн бұрын

@@manashieldworld Are you not educated enough to comprehend the English language you are using? Points that no one brought up? You literally said "I would say artstyle hurt this the most" I responded "I disagree, I think the art style is pretty decent actually." I then added to my comment with a relevant statement about games not needing fantastic graphics AND that I am not alone in disagreeing with your statement as the review itself stated it was a beautiful game. Thomas was Alone is all rectangles for christ's sake. West of Loathing is stick figures. Get the hell off your high horse already. Your opinion does not trump mine or anyone else's. I will argue any point I want, especially ones that WERE brought up but you can't comprehend the English language enough to realize apparently.

@manashieldworld

19 күн бұрын

@@fictitiousnightmares No one argued it needs to have fantastic art either. No one brought up whether or not a single individual liked the artstyle. The guy who made the video/commenters literally agree with my statement. I'm glad you think 1 is more than 100. Smart guy you are.

@chickenmadness1732

18 күн бұрын

@@fictitiousnightmares When I see a game with this art style I pass on it instantly. Just looks cheap. I'm sure many people have the same reaction.

No such thing as a failure, you learned and now you also have code that can be used in future projects to save time. Congrats on the release, it is a big step for most devs!

An important lesson for many people out there, especially those, who dream of growing rich after release by "throwing a bomb like minecraft, just need the idea and some coding to be done". I'm hearing such phrases way to often. They see the storys of the two or three indie projects within a decade that achieved such an impact... but the DON'T see the millions of projects that either never finished or never repay for the maker, but still consumed years of their life. I'm sorry for you it didn't work out, especially as the market really needs fresh wind besides some of these big, well-known publishers who get damned more and more from the players.

I work as a dev and I think game looks pretty cool. Some parts of the art looks good like the trees while the stones look a bit harsh though. Imoressed you released it. Congrats!

Nice work the game looks fun! I hope you more luck on your future games!

Hi Dominik, also as a solo dev (from Germany), I think it's great what you've already achieved and the video here doesn't just seem to go down well with me! ;) I just saw that you have programmed a browser game called “Politic Paintball”, which I found super funny, as I have a “similar” project in progress ;) So keep up the good work and good luck!

My question is what was your marketing strategy? Did you have a specific genre you were going after? Who was your target audience?

After 15 sec in the video I understood why the game failed. But gratz on making one!

Kudos for even getting to the finish line in the first place. Imho not just Metroidvania style platformers are overcrowded but also in general simple indie games are a very oversaturated market.

In Unity or Unreal Engine, is it possible to use a microphone to use speech as the input device? I've been toying with the idea of trying to build a prototype of a game for handicapped people, but I don't know which would be better to learn. Also congratz on finishing the game, who knows, maybe with all the lessons you learned, there could be a very successful Part 2 in your future.

Brutally honest, the visuals look weak and disconnected. I feel if there was some very strong art direction involved, it would likely have more success. The mechanics seem very strong but as always people are drawn to the visuals. Consider developing visuals in Mid Journey if art isn't your strength. I know many will protest the idea of using AI, but MJ can give you a strong visual base to use as a style / visual guide. Best wishes with future projects.

Knowing how hard art actually is you did an amazing job!! I love the art style actually!! If you don't mind me asking, im new to inkscape how did you go about learning how to use it?

We definitely need to celebrate these milestones! This is a great thing for the community to see, and to ensure that they approach gamedev realistically. I am so far from shipping anything, I've fell back to the some tech problem so many times. You are an inspiration!

Hello Dominik, this is my first time watching you. I was wondering where did you learn to code in Unity? How would you recommend someone to start? I'm 34 years old! Thank you :)

Love the video! Thanks for sharing your experience! I think the game is definitely something you can be very proud of and it is great that you have motivation for the next project! Cannot wait to see what you come up with next!

@NicNac2451

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Thanks! All the very best for your upcoming launch as well!

Dominik! Thank you so much for sharing this. I remember hearing about Summit many years ago and completely missed its launch, I'm glad you released it. One tip I see all too often: don't put your $5 game on a 40% discount, you might as well give it away for free. Either charge real cash, or release it as a freebie. I wager had the price been $14.99 you would have had just as many sales but three times the profit. Either way, you've made another sale today 😎

I spent 7 years making a fully featured 12 player air combat moba, it's in early access and I have virtually no players... it's called SKYRAID. I'm still working on new content and have some plans for getting it out there still, but man people really don't understand how difficult it is. Congrats on the release of your game.

May I ask you on insight on how you handle taxes with the profit of the game? We develop here in Germany and I always wondered if the taxes for income come after steam cuts or before/ or both etc. Do you have any tips in that regard?

Hi! I dont know you, but I'm proud of you! You finished it and you published it, NICE! I'm currently in the phase of creating a Demo for my own steam game. Sometimes its hard to keep the motivation to continue developing the same game for this long. You did well!

From what I've seen in this vid, I believe you did a really nice job for your first release. It might not have made that much money right now, but the learning experience is invaluable. And you made it to the finish line without giving up beforehand, even thinking about new projects after release. The mental aspect is important too, especially as a solo dev. Keep at it, maybe toy with the idea of smaller (scope) projects. I believe you have that spark in you to eventually create something special, alone or with likeminded people. Good luck!

Thank you for sharing, People too often only share success stories but it is these that are really important to see, they are the stepping stones of how someone gets to success. Bravo. ....PS: are you using that Nvidia Broadcast eye contact filter thing? its a little uncanny valleyish.

Launching a game is a huge success. It's rare to succeed with the first effort.

We have been working on our game for about 3 years, probably still have a good 4 to go. It is a lot of work but I feel like it will be worth it in the end. I hope everyone here finds success with their projects.

Your art actually isn't all that bad I think. The problem your game has visually, at least IMO, is the hard transitions of the tilesets. I have a similar problem I think. If you could somehow transition the areas a little smoother it'd probably go a long way for the overall look of the game. The flat vector art style you've developed is mostly fine on its own, getting everything to be cohesive is a whole different challenge though.

People have given you support so I'll give you the critique. All you need is a uniform, appealing artstyle. Right now the game looks like code came first and art was a secondary mandatory goal so you used what was available and it ended up looking a bit like South Park. Whatever you do, be it doing it yourself or hiring someone, get concept art to remind you where the path is and keep it uniform. Have vision first and analyze what makes the style, then go by those rules and only stray from them if it is needed to emphasise something (think of the girl in red coat in Schindler's list). Humans are amazing at finding patterns and if artwork can't bring the stupendous amount of variety a real environment does everything sticking out catches your eye and looks wrong. That being said, congratulations for being one of the few who actually finish and release a game. You made it.

you have a great attitude and I definitely appreciate all your hard work for your game! I think it looks great! subscribed to you, looking forward to seeing what you make next :)

keep it up man, I envy you! Any tips for someone who wants to start creating a game or a (web) app, but doesn't know what to create or how to start?

I just want to say don't give up quite yet. You've learned a lot about finishing a game and launching it, but there's still more to learn about post launch support. (Also, you launched during a Steam festival amongst several huge indie releases: Manor Lords the #1 wishlisted game, Hades 2, V Rising, etc.) You have to realize that one of the strengths of digital products is that you can edit your copy live, change your trailer, update the first 10 minutes of the game to be snappier, A/B test things, buy ads, and participate in Steam sales. There are plenty of games that didn't sell well at launch but sold well later. You'd be surprised at what a new trailer + intro fix + reply to negative reviews + ads + sales combo can do.

You created a full game and launched it. That’s an amazing achievement. I am not even able to work on an idea for more than 2 weeks 😅.

It's amazing that you finished and released a metroidvania, I'm sure you'll do better for the next game.

Ich werde es mir demnächst mal zulegen. Es sieht schön aus und das Einzige, das mich abschreckt ist der Metroidvania-Faktor, da ich eigentlich nicht wirklich auf solche Spiele klarkomme. 😄 Aber ich probier's auf jeden Fall mal aus. Ich wünsche Dir aber schon mal viel Erfolg bei Deinen weiteren Projekten! 🙂

I was always dreaming about creating my own game and it's inspiring to see your optimism and how you look at this as a learning experience bringing you further in your goals.

While it is true that the metroivania genre is over saturated at the moment, what is more important is to make the game stick out from the very beginning, and that's a very challenging thing actually, I think Celeste is a perfect example of this. Focusing on the important part of the gameplay, the gameplay loop, that has to be so polished that is always fun regardless of how many hours you play. On the art side of things, I personally think the art style is perfectly fine, it is beautiful in some parts even, however art is not only beautiful tilesets, level design and world building is very important and it doesn't stick out in your game. Take a picture of a zone in your game, what does it tell? does it show you the way? How does world building affected it? Why is X in your level? Then composition, giving impressions and trying to give the player emotions through the environment and story. Other games might require other things to focus on, but in a metroidvania the world and exploring it comes first, if the world is not unique, interesting and tells an story on its own, and it's fun traversing, it's not going to make people want to play it. Lastly, marketing is very important, letting your game be known before hand, showing progress and having a steam page to accumulate wishlist, and way before launch making a marketing campaign, like a teaser, and publish it in many social networks, if the marketing fails, there is no way to get to know your game in the first place, even more so if the market is saturated, it will be lost in the hundreds of other games, it doesn't matter if your game is good or not, if it's not seen, it's not going to be played. Hopefully this helps you out in your next game, think of what your next game's fundamentals are and make sure to make them stand out and be fun, that's for sure going to give you some good push in the right direction, good luck!

Kudos for launching a game. Your game honestly seems really cool but the main thing that stops me from buying it is the art. From the trailer the visual read is not very clear and scenes often feel too busy. I would look into "value structure" and "value composition" in art. A quick test is to take some screen shots and turn them black and white, then blur your eyes. If you can still easily read the scene and the character then you're probably good. This is especially important in platforming game IMO.

Purchased 🙂 I will mention this video and the game to others I know both in the retro community (since I think it will have some appeal there) and in the games industry where I work, perhaps some of my colleagues will try it out. I'm not particularly influentional so I doubt I will exactly cause a stampede 😄 But I think the value for the price makes this a no-brainer really, to anyone interested in Indie games. Huge congratulations on your launch, I love seeing labours of love like this reach the finish line.

When you launch a game on Steam, you've succeeded. Game dev is a journey and you've successfully completed a milestone. Take the win my friend. Congratulations on your release. Subbed.

Congrats on the game launch and the experience learned o/ I would also say you may need to do more advertising. You can do this by finding channels on youtube and socials and send a message yourself. Not only on large channels, but small more focused ones may help, even if a little. I have such a channel and I receive tons of smaller projects like yours. I may not review something too raw, like a school project, but Summit seems genuinely interesting. Hope you have more success on your next project o/ Although I would say it’s still not too late for this one.

thanks for sharing, I had 2 questions for you that I was wondering if you would feel comfortable answering and sharing your thoughts on. is your game available on any other platforms? what have you tried to get the word out about your game?

What a great experience and video! Keep developing!

Actually releasing a game is such a great achievement. Well done! As sign of appreciation, you now have my subscription and i'm going to buy the game and play through it.