Update 16

I took it easy this time, end of the semester really be something. I only have a few changes.

Changes/Additions

• Added the elite, a new soldier enemy.
  • It has the speed of a grunt, the weight of a heavy, health in between, and shares some weapons with them.
  • This enemy can also dash like you can, and will do so randomly. Unlike you, it can dash whenever it pleases.
• Enemies now get redder when their health decreases.
  • Someone who played my game suggested that I have some sort of indication that an enemy's health is low, so I added a red tint that gets stronger as you dwindle an enemy's health down.
• You can no longer enter a level if your loadout is not viable.
  • If you go straight to the level select, you are told to go to the armory to pick some weapons. This might not ever occur since you would have a default loadout.
  • If you try to leave the armory with no viable weapons, you're told to pick some viable weapons.

Since this update would be pretty crap if I just left it here, I might as well tell you what may be my final plan for this game. It's about time I actually try to wrap things up instead of just throwing in whatever I want, whenever I want.

(Potentially) Final Plan

• 3 worlds, each having 3/4 regular levels then a boss.
• Levels that are about 10-15 minutes long.
  • About 6 combat rooms with some other challenges in between
• A light amount of story, nothing to write home about but enough to keep you interested.
• Money system.
  • Endless mode and campaign levels would get you money depending on a score you get for each level. This money would buy weapons and cosmetics, perhaps consumable items to help with levels/endless mode too.
• Endless mode implemented.
  • Waves of enemies endlessly spawn in, get the highest score you can.
  • This would likely be unlocked at the end of world 1, or otherwise super early.
• Weapon progression.
  • Start with 3 of the 16 weapons, two/three of the new weapons become available to buy every two levels. You would get every weapon (but the hydrogen bomb) by the halfway point of world 3. The hydrogen bomb would be a post-game reward since it's just a joke weapon.
  • Since weapons only become buyable with campaign progress, players would be incentivized to keep playing instead of just grinding endless mode. I think that continuing the campaign would be more fun than just grinding endless mode.

Sorry for not having much this time, but hopefully next update is better. I want to finish and release this game in the first half of 2025 because I want to make something new instead of being held up by this.

Thanks for reading!

Update 17

Merry Christmas!

Gameplay/Content Changes

• Enemies now have a spawn-in animation before they attack.
  • Enemies appearing instantly and attacking at the same time was obviously unfair, so I took some time to have them play an animation then start.
  • Enemies cannot attack you or be attacked during the spawn in animation.
  • It's just a fade-in for now, but I plan on making it something more unique in the future.
• Rooms can now have multiple fights.
  • To make levels more exciting (especially when you have to backtrack), rooms you already beat may now have an additional fight. I feel that this is necessary since I want to design levels to not just be a line, which means you're inevitably going to go through some rooms multiple times.
  • You can see this in the second GIF, where I finish one fight, then trigger another when I come back in.
• Nerfed the Scallywag.
  • I nerfed this weapon's damage from 20 to 12 because it was just insane before. It's meant to be a weapon that deals good damage to multiple enemies, but 20 damage meant it just one shotted the drones and two shotted grunts. You could destroy waves of enemies stupidly fast before.
  • I also renamed this weapon because it might have been uncomfortable to say the name.

New Content

• Added Gunner Drones.
  • These are drones that shoot lasers at you. They still run at you, but now stop when they're close enough and back away if they're too close.
  • There's also a variant that heals enemies. These drones replace the grunt with the healing gun.
• Added X weapons.
  • These special variants are exclusive to the elite enemies from the previous update. These versions are redder and have a special boost.
  • X Pistol: Less shots in the mag, but each one deals 10 damage instead of 4. They might not hit you, but they'll hurt if they do.
  • X Rifle: A super big mag, 40 shots instead of 25.
  • X Shotgun: 15 shells instead of 10, meaning each shot deals up to 30 damage. The spread is also 20 degrees so dodging them is harder.
  • X Rocket Launcher: Double the fire rate and 2 more rockets. It's harder to dodge them when they come out so fast.

Other Things

• Redid the tilemap.
  • The previous one looked pretty good, but they looked angled, which conflicted with the flatness of everything else. The new look is still pretty good and it fits with the flatness of the rest of the game.
• Bug fixes.
  • Particularly, one where you could "switch" weapons when you only had one, which isn't urgent to fix but is pretty weird.
  • Some other bugs, but nothing remarkable. I just mentioned the switching bug because it was around since likely before Demo 1.
• Level 1-1 is done.
  • I think it's a pretty good introduction to the game, though I'll have to make a tutorial section beforehand since this doesn't really function as one, even if I told you how to play the game. Here's what it looks like!
  • Level 1-2 is in progress, not ready to be shown.

I think I did some pretty good work these past two weeks. Made a level and a half, added two new enemy types, made four new weapon variants, fixed some issues, and added a new mechanic. I'm thinking I just won't do the money system since I really don't need to add to the scope. Nothing on endless mode yet, but that'll prolly come after I do world 1. I think I'll just do a third demo, then make a discord server where I'll post mini-builds for whoever wants to play them. I also gotta knock out a save system, but that won't be needed until after Demo 3 since everything will be available from the start again in that demo. I finally have an actual plan for the end of this game's development, and I can't wait to be done. Anyways, Happy Holidays! Did y'all have a good Christmas or other holiday you celebrate? I hope so.

Thanks for reading!

Update 18

A small update.

• Added destructible decorations.
  • These decorations make up part of the environment and are destroyed in one shot. You'll find stuff like pizza, computers, chairs, and other stuff.
• Finished level 1-2.
  • It introduces soldier variants, so soldiers start having weapons other than pistols and shotguns.
  • It also introduces destructible decorations. They start showing up in the second room, and there's a ton in the third.
  • I decided that I want the first section of the game to not only be warehouse themed, but also office themed, so it'll be a mix of the two, like the antagonists just set up camp in a warehouse as if they didn't have an actual place to stay.
• Changed some character sprites.

  
  

  • I made the outlines of some characters (Clyde, soldiers, etc.) more consistent with other characters, so now they're lighter. It's hard to notice, but at least they look better.

Not much this update, and honestly, they will probably be smaller from here on out. I'm at the point where I just want to be done with this game, but I still have a long way to go. 10 more levels, an actual soundtrack, better sounds, 3 bosses, a saving system, and more to do. That's sort of an issue with solo dev, it's kinda hard to keep yourself in check. I'm thinking I finish sector 1, add 2 new weapons, then release demo 3. At that point, anyone who wants to see more can join a discord server I'd make and get builds there.

Thanks for reading!

Update 19

A bit more.

I made level 1-3, the last regular level in the upcoming demo. It introduces 2 new enemies (grunts with grenade launchers and heavies with cannons) and a new mechanic (explosive barrels), introducing more destructive mayhem to the game.

All I got left for now is a boss and 2 new weapons. I'm seeing a checkpoint not far away, and I'm expecting to get there in 3 updates or less.

Thanks for reading!

Update 21

This game has more feeling. That feeling's probably pain from all those projectiles.

Tankinator

First off, the Tankinator fight's almost done. I just gotta improve the boss's movement, add in an animation or two, and maybe add a cutscene. He shoots a spread of beams, a barrage of grenades, and a bunch of cannonballs. These attacks are decided at random. He also has a health bar now so you can see how much damage you dealt to him. Since he's likely the most memorable part of the game for now, it's important that he's well made.

Game Feel

First off, I put two new fonts in to replace the default Unity font. These two are called "Audiowide" (Used for more important text) and "Teko" (Used for regular text). In the screenshot, Audiowide is used for the text on the left and Teko is used for the text on the right.

Teko will likely be replaced since it's not very future-esque, but Audiowide seems to fit pretty well (I didn't use Audiowide for most text because it's kinda big, even if I shrink it, it's still pretty wide). Hopefully this makes text more interesting to read.

Second, I added a red vignette when your health gets low. When your health is 25 or lower, the screen gets redder. It's not much, but it helps make low health moments more intense. I still have work to do to improve the game feel, but this is a good start.

Pretty standard stuff. I still have some work to do to make the game good enough for another public build, but it's not much. I still gotta add music, better sound effects, and cutscenes, but other than that, it's just polish. I think I'll meet my self-imposed deadline of a March release.

There is a change of plan though, as instead of a third demo, I'm just going to go straight to early access. Anyone can play the game in it's current form at any time, and each time I release one of these devlogs, I'll update the game. This makes my changes much more tangible and gives y'all something to do every couple weeks.

Anyway, stuff is smooth. The YouTube channel and Discord server will probably be up by the next update, and if it is, I'll link it in that update and in the post at the top of this thread. No more to say for now, but here's some bonus art: the current iteration of this game's thumbnail while it's in early access.

Thanks for Reading!

Update 22

Just some polishing and improvements.

What I Did

• The Tankinator is pretty much good to go. No cutscenes or anything, but he's fightable with no known bugs.
• I switched to Unity's new input system, which will allow me to do things like button rebinding. This gives me the ability to make the game more accessible.
• You are no longer affected by stuns since it could lead to you suddenly taking a bunch of unavoidable damage.
• I fixed a bug where dying would make you hear every door close at once.
• I made a YouTube channel. I've yet to make any content since I just made the channel, but you can subscribe early if you're interested in my game. I'll try to have a video out for every update I do so you don't just have a bunch of text. https://www.youtube.com/@Century178Games
• And more.

This update has mostly been me fixing bugs and stuff, so not much to say. All I gotta do now is fix a few more things, add music, make the discord server, and make a video. I'm just about set to launch the game into early access. It'll be buggy at first, but I'll improve it as I get feedback.

Thanks for reading!

Update 23

It's (technically) out!

Nothing interesting has happened for the game itself, just preparations for starting early access, so I'll go straight to what I did for promotion.

YouTube

I'll link the channel again so you can check it out (https://www.youtube.com/@Century178Games), but I've also posted a new video. Expect videos to be larger but less frequent.

Discord

I made a Discord server. It'll be the main place to interact with others who are interested and also to give feedback, as I'll check the server regularly but I might forget to check the Itch community. Join now: https://discord.gg/YuVTfyeJC9

I'm hoping I have more motivation to keep going now that I can interact with my players. I've also done a bit of work on 2-1, which you can see below.

Ending off the same as usual, smooth stuff and it's going.

Thanks for reading!

FYI, the next update and post will come out either this thursday or this friday. I’ll be on a trip and won’t have my computer, so I won’t be able to show what I did until I’m back.

Update 24

Hello, yellow!

Level 2-1 Added

It's the first section of Sector 2. It introduces enemies with rocket launchers, turrets that fire cannonballs, and drones that heal enemies.

Gameplay Changes

• The Tankinator's boss room now has pillars in case you need to hide from projectiles.
• Projectiles no longer disappear after a bit. This measure was meant for if projectiles flew out of the level so that they weren't eternally active, but since each level is sealed up, it's no longer necessary.
• The player has a unique sound for taking damage so you can more easily tell if you got hit.

At some point, most likely once all the levels are done, I'll go back and change levels to make them better and add more to them.

Thanks for reading!

Update 25

Mainly just polish, but something great happened!

Changes/Fixes

• Nerfed the Mister Tiny (Minigun).
  • This gun now has a mag size of 50 (originally 100) and a spread of 10 (originally 5). I gave it good accuracy and a lot of bullets because moving at half speed when firing meant you were pretty much guaranteed to take damage. Since I reduced the slowdown to make you go at 66% speed instead, there was no longer a need for such strong killing potential.
• Nerfed the Old Couple (Dual Pistols).
  • I reduced the firing speed to 4 shots/sec (originally 6). I thought a longer reload time and lower accuracy made the dual pistols relatively equal to the standard pistol, but the super high fire rate and the fact you generally don't shoot from too far away meant it was just a pistol with better DPS and mag size. This weapon will still need more nerfing to not render the pistol obsolete, but for now it should be less egregious.
• You now press P to pause.
  • Esc conflicted with WebGL fullscreen, so it's temporarily P. It'll get reverted when the game is released.
• Fixed a door in 2-1.
  • Somehow, I forgot to set the size of a door, meaning you could just leave the final room.
• Changed a part of 1-1.
  • There was a part of 1-1 that I felt was confusing. After the second combat room, you're supposed to go up and shoot a switch to open the next room's door, but it's pretty easy to miss, so now you can't leave the room until the switch is hit and the text telling you to shoot the switch is lower down so you notice it faster.
• Fixed a dashing bug.
  • There was a bug where if you held the dash button until the dash ended then released it, you dashed again. Now there shouldn't be unintended dashing.
• Added weapon icons.
  • Weapon names were not very clear since they went for style over telling you what the weapon was, so now it's icons. Some of these icons are bound to change since not every icon is clear on what you're picking, but it's better than before.

I got a teammate!

So a bit ago I went to a school field trip/competition and one of the events I competed in involved a teammate. I got someone to work with, and we "made a game" for the competition. We lost. After the event, he decided to join my project. Until the end of this game's development, I now have a teammate. This should mean I can develop the game faster since I have someone who can take care of tasks for me. He should also be my ticket to an original soundtrack. For now, I'll call him Destiny since that is his online name.

Anyway, I'm sorry there isn't a new level. I was focused on helping my teammate get to know the project and polish. School is coming to an end, which means I'll have much more time to develop the game. My teammate goes to my school, so he also gets more development time. This game is in pretty dire need of levels, especially if I want to finish the game before August, so I'll have to lock in.

Thanks for reading!

Update 26

A week early this time.

New Content

• 2-2 has been added.
  • Sector 2 is now halfway done. With that, so is your journey through the game itself.
• New obstacle: lasers.
  • These are unmoving obstacles that turn on and off. Most lasers give you a warning when they are about to go off. Anything that touches them takes 20 damage and gets pushed back a bit. Some lasers may also be permanently on or only deactivate when a switch is hit.
• Added the Firing Range.
  • You can now test out any weapons you want to use without having to go into a level. The 4m, 8m, and 12m markers help you get a feel for how each weapon performs at close, medium, and long range.

Content/Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where enemy spawn sounds played all at once when you entered a level.
  • Your ears are now safe.
• Fixed weapon descriptions being inaccurate.
  • Lots of weapons had outdated descriptions, so I made them up to date.

Balance Changes

• Buffed the Little and Mama Shotties.
  • Their fire rates increased by 0.25. This is more impactful for the Little Shotty since it needs two shots to kill an enemy, but the Mama Shotty also benefits when you are not in one-shot range. Since long range weapons seem to be more appealing, this should make you want to use close-range weapons more.
• Buffed the Scallywag.
  • The fire rate increased to 1.25 and the damage increased to 15. 1 shot per second was much too slow and 12 damage was too underwhelming. I originally thought it shouldn't instantly kill drones, but now I think that is appropriate. It also gives you another reason to use the weapon.
• Buffed the Room Cleaner and Launch Controller.
  • Their fire rates have gone from 1.25 to 1.5. While each shot dealt good damage, especially when you hit enemies directly, the fire rate was rather slow for weapons with only 4 shots before reloading.
• Buffed the Peter Piper.
  • The fire rate is now 2. I felt this weapon was much too underpowered compared to the rocket launchers, so this should give it an edge.
• Nerfed the Old Couple.
  • The spread has been increased from 5 to 10. I felt you could still deal too much damage in quick succession from farther distances. With 24 shots that deal 6 damage (144 damage total), I think the trade-off should be that many of those shots miss at farther ranges.
• Buffed the Minigun.
  • The fire rate is now 15 and the mag size is now 60. I felt I overnerfed this gun, so I gave some of the shots back and improved the fire rate.
• Reworked the Prayer Sprayer.
  • The fire rate is now 15 (originally was 12), the spread is now 15 (originally was 30), and the mag size is now 40 (originally was 60). I've come to realize that there isn't much spread you can add before the weapon becomes practically unusable beyond being right in an enemy's face, so I decreased the spread. I also wanted to give it an advantage over the Old Reliable and Salt & Pepper at close range, so the fire rate was increased to lower the TTK if every shot hits. Finally, I think these changes will make close-range killing really good, so I reduced the mag size to prevent you from killing too many enemies quickly.

This week was quite productive, so I decided to update the game early. I'm hoping since summer is coming that I can work on the game more. I want this game released before August, so now I'm focused on getting what this game needs done. I'm hoping to get every level and essential mechanic/system done before June so that I can spend the last month polishing and making sure the game is ready.

Thanks for reading!

Update 27

Some new, some old made new. (Did I already say this? I'm only 27 updates in and I'm already running of headlines.)

Better Firing Range

The old firing range had a serious oversight: It did not have the camera be the size it is when you're in combat. This meant you didn't get the right idea of how weapons perform. Now, the firing range lets you see how weapons do at up to 15 meters.

New Level

2-3 is out, the last regular level of Sector 2. This is definitely my most ambitious level yet, with more rooms than any past level and the most unique rooms so far. It also takes the short part of 2-1 where you can go split paths and takes it farther. Overall, I'm rather proud of it, and I'm hoping Sector 3 is crazier.

Other Changes/Additions

• The cannonball's collider is smaller.
  • I made this change because when the cannonball's collider (solid hitbox) was the same size as the trigger (hitbox that things go through), certain interactions were impossible. I'm hoping now that it's smaller, it allows the trigger to hit things.
• Enemy cannonballs have less bounces.
  • Instead of 5, it's now 3. Cannonballs have 5 bounces so it can hit plenty of targets, but since there's only one of you, this just means enemy cannonballs were excessively hard to dodge. Now that it's 3, it's more manageable, especially when there's multiple cannonballs (you'll definitely feel that in this level).
• Pause screens now have flavor text.
  
  • I decided to spice up the pause screen by giving you a blurb when you pause. You get a different one for each level. These blurbs give you lore, rather silly observations, and some... ...implications. Enjoy!
• Added explosive barrels to older levels.
  • I felt that explosive barrels were seriously underused. I mean, there were two in one room in one level and that's it. I decided to sprinkle some into past levels to either make them more interesting or make them easier. I think you'll especially appreciate the Tankinator's barrels. He won't, though.

Plans

• Better enemy pathing
  • Right now, enemies pick a random spot near them and go to it. If something they avoid is close to them, they change direction to get away. However, not only is this pretty buggy, like how two enemies being to close to each other makes them freak out, but it's also limiting since it's the same logic for every enemy and is not remotely flexible. I mean, drones will literally just keep bumping into a table if one is between it and you.
• Redo the Tankinator
  • The Tankinator is by far the buggiest part of the game. Not just that, but he kills performance. I have a good computer, and even it has a lag spike when the boss starts. He's also just generally annoying to fix. This means I'll need to build him back up from scratch, which may lead to a rework of the fight.

I definitely have a long way to go, but I now have a release window: August. This means once school ends, I'll have a three month window where I can work as much as I want. I'll also get more help as my partner will be more available too. This should be when the levels are all made and everything is in place. I'll let you know more when we get to that time.

Thanks for reading!

I didn’t have time to focus on this game due to finals, so this update will be out either next wednesday or the wednesday after.

Update 28

Sorry for the delay.

New Boss

Introducing the Dualist, a boss who uses two weapons at once. The first phase has you dodging shots from a rifle and a shotgun, then in the second phase, he pulls out an SMG and a grenade launcher. He's much harder to hit than the Tankinator not only due to his size, but also his speed and tendency to change directions. He's also much more relentless with his firing. However, if you can beat the Tankinator, you can beat this guy too. With him done, sector 2 is complete. I plan to release a video showing off the sector on YouTube.

Sector 3 Teaser

This is a look at the first room of 3-1. The level's a work in progress. This sector will feature the elite enemies that I talked about back in update 16. The X weapons I talked about may not be the same as they were in update 16. Only 4 levels are left!

Other Stuff

I tried to implement A* pathfinding to make enemies smarter, but it ended up making them too buggy. Since I'm releasing this game by August, I decided to stick with the normal pathing, even though it's quite flawed. If I make another top-down shooter, I'll save A* for then as I'd be remaking all the code anyway since this code isn't too great. It's never good to overhaul a major system when the release deadline is so close.

Thanks for reading!

Update 29

I felt productive.

New levels: 3-1 and 3-2.

3-1 is definitely the biggest level in the game in terms of sheer size. It also features 3 routes in the first half of the level, letting you pick between an obstacle-only route, enemy-only route, and a mixed route. 3-2 is linear like usual, but isn't any easier. That obstacle section towards the end is also rather crazy IMO.

Other Changes

• Rebalanced player and enemy weapons.
  • The player shotguns fire faster for a faster TTK to promote getting close. Enemy heavies' shotguns also fire faster.
• UI is better.
  • I added a wave counter so now you can see how far you are in a fight. This was especially useful in fights with more than 3 waves, as you generally don't expect more than 3. The UI is also a cool gray instead of a straight up gray to make it look nicer.
• Dashes refill and weapons reload automatically when a fight starts.
  • Before, if you wanted to enter a fight with everything topped up, you had to stay out of the room and reload everything before you were ready. Now that everything (but the medkit) reloads instantly, you can just walk in and begin fighting.
• New dash sound
  
  • The old one was so much fitting for doors so I changed the dash sound. Play the game to hear it.

This is probably my most productive update for this game. I now just have one regular level and one boss left. After that, I just need to add an intro and an outro, then implement the saving system and progression, then I'm pretty much done outside of bug fixing. I'm confident I'll get this game done by August.

Also, this will be the last update you get to play. In the next update, I will be closing Early Access so that people will need to buy the game to get the content. The game will likely be $5 and if you're not sure of the game's quality before you buy it, the page will have a demo.

Thanks for reading!

FYI I'll be on a week long trip, so this next update may come out a week late.

Update 30

Home stretch!

Early Access closed.

As of today, Early Access is gone. If you want to play the game again, you will have to wait until release.

One month until release!

The game is officially going to release on August 15th. The game's core content is done, I just gotta refine some stuff and add a bit more that is needed. I plan on having the whole game finished by the end of July so that I can focus on making sure the game is truly good to go when it's out.

Levels 3-3 and 3-4 made.

Levels 3-3 and 3-4 are done. I'd normally show you a picture, but this time I'll keep them a secret. However, I must say, I think 3-3 is definitely the hardest level in the game. I'm now done with level making!

No OST, sorry.

I wanted to have an original soundtrack for the game, but my composer didn't have time to make the tracks (he's a high schooler who's also doing college classes), so I had to cancel that. For this project, I will use royalty free music with the tracks listed in the credits so you can support the composers.

What is left to do?

All I gotta do now is add the intro and ending, add a system that saves level progression, weapon progression/choices, and hat progression/choice, grab some more tracks, and redo some menus like the weapon select.

Any more devlogs?

This is the last devlog until the game is released. I will make one more devlog the moment I release the game along with one final devlog a month after as I look back and reflect on this game's development and how it does the first month of release. If I fix any bugs or whatever after release, I'll probably use itch.io's devlog feature.

Thanks for reading!

Release Update

Finally out!

Released the Game.

You can go to https://century178.itch.io/basement-raid if you want to check out the game. For the first week the game's out, it's 20% off!

What's next?

In about a month or two, I plan on making a video talking about the game's development and success/lack of success. It'll mainly be just describing how I felt during development and what I learned from making the game. Once the video is out, that'll be it for this game.

Thanks for reading!

Final Update

Time to put this game to rest.

This is my first commercial game I've ever released. It's only a small $5 game, but still something I'm proud of. For this final devlog, I'm going to recap the game's development history and talk about the results.

Before Basement Raid

This game is actually my fourth fourth game (at least it was, but my two multiplayer side projects now make this the 6th).

After Comet Flip, I decided to make a simple platformer. The concept of this game was that you were able to flip the world between two states. However, my attempt to actually make this game ended up with something that was just plain uninteresting. I think I ended up releasing a demo for this one, though if I did, that page no longer exists. In fact, the project as a whole is gone. I think I spent about 5 months before scrapping it.

After scrapping this platformer, I decided to make a simple top-down adventure game where you had to scale a massive tower in under an hour. The tower was meant to be a large maze of several different paths, with you having to figure out the best route to get to the top as fast as possible. However, this game had the same result as the platformer: I couldn't make anything interesting out of it and the project was wiped. I think this game lasted 2 months before being axed.

The last scrapped game was a sort of platformer where you were dropped into a room and traps would come at you from all angles. Saws, enemies, arrows, and other hazards would come wave after wave. I remember this one lasting 4 months before meeting the same fate as the other two.

Perhaps I could have made these three games work, but I was nowhere near skilled enough to make these projects to my liking. Considering how much I've grown as a developer during Basement Raid's development, I think I can make these work now if I had a good plan and was willing to commit to it.

Basement Raid's Beginning

This game was started May of 2024. I didn't have much of a plan, I just wanted to make a futuristic top-down shooter. I just made a simple player, a few simple weapons, and some enemies that moved towards you. Over time, however, I began adding stuff like dashing, improved enemy behavior, new weapons, and other stuff. In only 1 month, I was able to get a demo going. This is where the devlogs started.

Working on Basement Raid

This wasn't a game I was working on full time, it was just a hobby project. When it started, I wasn't even old enough to be able to get paid, and my initial expected release date would've been before I turned 18, so money wasn't expected.

When the game started, it was summer and I was pumped to keep working, so I dumped a lot more hours than towards the end. I think I would spend a total of 12 hours or so a week, as opposed to just about 4-6 towards the end.

As time went on, the enthusiasm faded away and I started to get sick of working on the game. It wasn't exactly burnout, but rather just feeling like I was stuck on this game without satisfying progress. I never really had a plan or a schedule, so I was just adding random stuff for the most part. It wasn't until about the last 6 months of release that I had a set plan, and at this point, the scope I originally had (20 weapons and 5 worlds with 4 levels each) was shaven down by a lot.

I eventually got Early Access started, but ended up getting no feedback or attention (that I was aware of) outside of people I knew personally. This was my biggest sign that this project wasn't going to get much attention. Completely my fault, as my "marketing" was just these devlogs (which weren't even Itch's official devlog feature) and the only two videos I made were the EA (now unlisted) and release trailers. Not even a YT short. At the very least, I was able to get my second demo (pre-early access) in the eyes of a youtuber that was playing his viewers' games (shout out to Bewky) and got some praise for it.

I ended up getting one of my schoolmates onto the project in the hopes of an original soundtrack (Soulen) in exchange for part of the game's revenue. However, this deal ended up dissolving due to his lack of time and my lack of money, though Soulen did help with coding and playtesting when he was on the project, which was highly appreciated.

On August 15th, 2025, the game was finally released.

After Release

So, how much did my game make in the first month? $10. I'm not bummed out since I wasn't expecting much, but I was kinda surprised it was such a low amount.

I also ended up finding a serious bug, which was that the double-fight room in 1-3 would start both encounters at once if you died while the second encounter was active. This bug should now be fixed. As far as I know, the game does not have any other serious bugs. I do not intend to fix any more bugs, so this game will be the way it is for the rest of Itch's life.

I don't expect any more sales or attention, so this marks the end of the game's life.

The Lessons I Learned

• HAVE A PLAN AND A SCHEDULE.
  • This project would have been finished much faster if I had a solid plan and a solid schedule. The lack of direction and accountability (even with regular devlogs) is why the game took so long to make.
• If you get someone onto your project, make sure you can provide what they want.
  • A cut of revenue doesn't matter when the game makes almost nothing. You should have guaranteed income for them.
  • If not income, don't try to bring money into the conversation in the first place, just let them help for their own enjoyment.
• Market properly and regularly.
  • Do videos regularly. Utilize any marketing channels you can, like shortform content and various social media platforms.
  • Make sure your marketing is mostly visual. Don't expect audiences to read (I know this devlog is a wall of text but whatever) and don't expect them to listen to long rants. Use videos that immediately show what you want to show, with talking only to explain what needs explaining.

Conclusion

This game, although not a commercial success in the slightest, was still a good stepping stone for me as a developer. I learned and improved a lot of skills during the game's development and came out a much better developer. I also learned some good lessons along the way. While the game's development was hindered by aimlessness and demotivation, I pushed forward, locked in, and finished the game. For that, I am proud of what I made. For the final time this devlog...

Thanks for reading!