itch.io

Hello! I'm a C++ programmer using Unreal.

I'm looking for a long-term partner to share the gamedev journey with. To make a flexible duo that shares in the business as equal partners, 50/50. I'm mostly interested in someone with art skills. Since that is where I lack skills the most.

For the right person, I would be open to all kinds of arrangements. You could help me finish the game I'm working on at the moment or I could help you build yours. But the goal is to make something commercially viable for Steam. 

I'm working fulltime on this, including weekends. So I'm always available.

You can check out some of the stuff I've worked on here:
https://developinghermit.carrd.co/

My discord is: developinghermit

Hey! You can still add me in case you're working on something or if you need someone to bounce gamedev/business ideas with. 
Discord: developinghermit

Hey Brent! Would love to chat. You can reach me on discord: developinghermit.

Hello! I'm looking to find a long-term partner/co-founder to create games with. This is my second post. The feedback I got helped me gain more clarity on what matters to me most and I've refined the post further.

The Goal

My goal is to build a business, not just make games. I happened to choose the field of gamedev to do that in, because it strikes a good balance between my interests and my skills. So I wanted to leverage that. 

I look at gamedev more as a science. If I make a game that nobody's interested in, that tells me I still don't understand some important pieces of what makes a good game. Or my execution is lagging behind my understanding and I'm just unable to deliver on the plan.

The point is there are always reasons for the outcome and I'm interested in understanding what those reasons are. Improving on them going forward and releasing a better product. Rinse and repeat the cycle.

What I am really allergic to is attitudes along the lines of "it's mostly luck", "marketing is impossible without a huge budget", "people don't appreciate good games anymore".

I've done a lot of games market research and it's one of the things I love to do. There are plenty of people out there who make a very comfortable living from games who have no social media of any kind, so you never hear about them. But they consistently produce games that do well. That's not luck. They know something we don't. They think differently than we do. It's a skill and knowledge gap that we need to overcome in order to get there.

The Strategy

I see a gap in the market that I like to call "small multiplayer co-op/pvp games". It's games like Peak, Tricky Towers, Nidhogg, Stick Fight, Bopl and so many others.

AAA studios are not interested in small multiplayer games. They make Overwatch, they make League of Legends. They're not gonna make the next Tricky Towers. There's just not enough money in it for them.

Most indies are not interested in multiplayer games because they are notoriously hard to get right. There's a lot more technical knowledge that is required in making a truly playable multiplayer game that is ready to ship. 

I specialize in responsive fast-paced multiplayer using rollback netcode. It's what many fighting games use, such as Tekken. Overwatch uses it. I'm sure League of Legends uses some version of it. 

My strategy is to stay in this "small multiplayer game" space and keep compounding my codebase, expertise and knowledge. Making each game significantly better than the last, precisely because each game builds upon the lessons learned from the previous title. Instead of making completely unrelated random game ideas each time.

Who I'm looking for

I'm looking for one person and only one. To make a flexible fast-moving duo that shares in the business as equal partners, 50/50. I'm really interested in someone with art skills, because programmer + artist is the strongest combination. However if you really resonate with my goals, with my strategy, then I want to hear from you regardless.

What I've been doing

At the moment I'm working on a multiplayer physics based game inspired by the movement mechanic from the game "Getting Over It".

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fyuCmIkeL6JUSLn6l3-tFxSIwnmkIHmf/view

Previous examples:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2484140/Wicked_Brawler/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3566790/Too_Many_To_Kill/

https://papacashew.itch.io/ (gamejam submissions)

Some fundamentals on color theory and especially "values" would help here. Value is how light or dark a pixel is and it's what controls what our eyes are drawn to. Higher values will draw more attention than lower ones. And it is the contrast between those two that will create visual clarity for the player. 

Look at a screenshot of your game with all color removed and only values remaining. 
It is incredibly hard to make sense of what's happening in this scene. Where is the player? Where are the enemies? What's an important element to the gameplay, what is there just to look pretty? It's impossible to tell.
Make it a practice to constantly check your game visuals with only values and see if it's readable.



Compare that to a screenshot from Rogue Genesia. I can fairly easily tell what's happening in the scene.
I think in Genesia's case the healthbars above the heads help a lot. But also value contrast is much better.

The biggest issue is the visuals. There's no cohesive visual style. It's also hard to understand what's going on at any given moment, because there's so much visual noise that important gameplay elements get drowned out.

The game's identity is also not clear. Some sort of vampire survivors type with gathering resources, but none of it looks particularly compelling.

Not sure what your goals are with this game, if it's a hobby project or more than that. But it's very far from the standards you'd have to hit for it to be commercially viable in the current market.

Hello! I'm a 32 year old gamedev from Europe.  

Looking to find a long-term partner/co-founder to create games with.

My Philosophy

The more I do solo gamedev, the more it dawns on me what a massive constraint this is on what is possible to accomplish. No matter how skilled a person is, they still only have the same 24 hours in a day as everybody else. Time is such a massive factor that can only be overcome by teaming up.

I believe that the results from a good partnership don't have to be linear either. It can be exponential. 4x or 8x. So to me it seems like a problem worth solving.

So why doesn't everybody do this? It turns out this problem is so hard to solve, that if your goal is just to build some specific game you're currently working on, it will probably be faster and easier to just do it yourself.

It's actually a lot like looking for someone you want to marry. In order for the marriage to work, there is just a huge list of things that have to align between the two people. This is someone you'd be working with every single day after all.

I know my current project will take a massive slowdown hit because I've decided to commit to this search. But my strategy is very longterm. I'm not here to make one game. Or two. Or Three. So I'm willing to take the hit.

My Deal-breakers

Here's some of the things I need us to be aligned on right from the start, otherwise I don't think we're a good fit.

•  I'm from Europe. If you're not, this will create a lot of problems for both of us. Due to timezones and legal matters.
•  I'm 32 years old. If you're much younger than me, this is very unlikely to work out. Chances are we won't align on life priorities, philosophies and many other things.
• I've been using Unreal Engine for a long time. I'm also a C++ programmer. Which makes it the perfect engine for me. I don't plan to switch at the moment.
•  Even though I'm familiar with all the hats a solo gamedev must wear, my primary strength lies in programming. It would be great if you could cover my weakness, which is art. However I will say that this one is not a complete deal-breaker for me. I think it could also work with us both being generalists.
• I do it fulltime, every single day, 365 days a year. Yes, I will be doing it on Christmas Eve. Yes, I will be doing it on New Years. I have a lot of projects I can show that I've worked on. You will see some of them at the end of this post. I have nothing against people taking a more casual approach to gamedev, but that's not me and it would make for a poor match.
• I'm only interested in building games people want to play. In other words commercially viable games. I'm not looking to make my dream game. I'm looking to serve others.
• I plan to be in this industry for a long time, my reputation matters to me more than money. If you want to use shady tactics to squeeze more money out of a project or build a game you know from the start is shit just to cash in on a trend, then it won't work. My primary focus is building a quality product.
• I have a habbit of doing games market research and I can tell you with a high degree of certainty that even with a tremendous amount of effort from our side, if we're lucky, we MIGHT make 50k gross revenue within the 1st year. After steam cut and other cuts, that would be closer to 25k net. I just want us both to be on the same page that the goal is not to pump out one game and then quit when it makes you less than minimum wage at McDonalds. This is to be expected and the subsequent games we make can be a lot better.

From Strangers to Teammates 

We're not going to team up the first day we meet. Trust is not built overnight. This is going to be a long process. The first step would be to simply have a few casual chats to quickly determine if it's worth going forward.

After that, the ideal scenario would be if you're working on a project of your own - we could start with a few days a week I switch to helping you with your project with anything you need, and then a few days you switch to help with mine. I think we could spend a lot of time in this stage. Both of our projects are benefitting already in this stage, after all. So no need to rush it.

Finally if we're both happy with how well we work together, we could start discussing more serious future arrangements and joining forces fulltime.

Next Steps  

If you think we would make a good fit, then you can message me on discord developinghermit telling me a bit about yourself and what you've been up to.

Examples of My Work  

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2484140/Wicked_Brawler/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3566790/Too_Many_To_Kill/

https://papacashew.itch.io/ (gamejam submissions)

I'm currently working on a PVP multiplayer physics based game. The elevator pitch is "Getting Over It, but PVP".

Thank you, that's very helpful! I appreciate it.

Hello!
These are awesome and I could probably make use of them in my project. But there is no license included anywhere.

What can they be used for?

Very fun game with a surprising amount of polish. But very hard. After many tries I managed to get the second box on the second platform. Then died soon after that and didn't have it in me to restart all of it again.

Fun game! The impact the bullets have hitting the enemies is very satisfying. But when the enemy hits you (the player) it's hard to notice. I found myself dying a couple times not even realizing I got hit. 

Ohh you're right... I didn't see the hours, lol. I take it back then! You like to play it safe, don't you.

This game is the spawn of the devil! It may just be the kind of game I like, but it was quite addicting and fun. But I got too frustrated after dying 30 times in one spot that I gave up :D 

The hand drawn art is adorable! Very impressive submission and submitted 1 minute before the deadline? You guys really like playing it dangerously haha.
One of the top contenders in my book.

One of the top submissions for sure. Highly polished, the idea is fun and creative. You even added sliders for Music and SFX volumes! Well done.

Hello fellow endless runner! I like the idea of the game. Very simple mechanic, but gets complex very quickly with more diverse obstacles.
Only thing I would change is add some breathing room every X obstacles. So the game has tension ups and downs.

Made me feel like I'm playing a multiplayer game with lots of other people. Really fun! 

Couldn't pass "The Gauntlet" level no matter what. What's the secret to fly high enough over the spikes? The game definitely has an addictive quality to it. It kept me wanting to keep going. One thing I would suggest is to allow the player to walk in all directions. There was a lot of frustration when picking up gasoline cans that are like 1 cm behind you, but you can't just walk backwards, you have to turn the camera 180 degrees. The whole game is frustrating of course, that is the point. But this one isn't the fun kind of frustration. While the flying and failing is the fun kind :)

You found a way to get rid of the documents? You're probably the  first one to do so! Appreciate you giving it a fair shot. It was definitely lacking more direction for the player as to what he is supposed to do next. That is besides putting boxes on his head :D 

I'm with you on that one. The guy who did the graphics did an amazing job in such a short time. Glad to see people noticed.

There was no time spent on optimization, so I wouldn't be surprised if it ran poorly on some machines. All props to the 3D artist who worked on this project, he did put a lot of work into the environment! Glad you appreciated it.

Oh wow, never heard of this one. Thank you for sharing! I will definitely give it a shot myself on my next projects.

Thank you for trying our game!

Yes, the 3D artist on this project did an incredible job. From the characters, to the animations, to the level design. Unfortunately the scope was too big and we didn't have enough time to implement and polish the objectives in the game. Let alone think about sound design. Appreciate the feedback!

Thank you, appreciate it! :)

Very short game, which I kinda like in a game jam actually. There's too many games to play them all to completion and it's nice to find some that you can finish! But the ending with white screen was a bit confusing. I didn't understand if I won or it's some sort of bug at first. There was also something off about the physics of the jump. It felt too linear, moving like an elevator up/down. It might feel better if it used some kind of curve. Congratulations on your submission! Merry Christmas!

A simple mechanic elevated by great pixel art, great execution and of course... elevators. It could honestly make for a very nice mobile game! Merry Christmas~

The game is honestly quite fun. I would of finished it, but it looks like it has no checkpoints and that was a bit too much for me, to restart the level from the very beginning after getting far. But great submission! Merry Christmas <3

The mechanic of shooting to move is done well. Wasn't a big fan of panning the camera with WSDA, I would of rather just seen more zoomed out view all the time and focus on the shooting. Well done though, it's a great submission. Merry Christmas to all of you! 

We both made office games, haha. Honestly love the art and the way everything moves. Plus the middle finger is just the cherry on top!

Very funny interpretation of the theme "Going Up"! The running shoulder move is a bit too overpowered. I just kept spamming it and destroying everyone. Also when game restarts, it's a bit frustrating to not be able to skip the cutscenes and just get back to the action.

I might be a bit bias, cause these type of games are one of my favorite. But I think the mechanic has a lot of promise and is fun to play with. It is frustratingly fun!

This game is a great example of how much music can add to the experience. Pass my praises to the composer please.

Hello! 

I would like to find a 3D artist I can team up with more long term. What better way than to start with ZenoJam and see if we work well together. 
My primary skill is programming. It's what I do for a living and I've been doing it for over a decade. I'm also quite familiar with Unreal Engine after 2 years of dabbling with it and producing a series of different game prototypes.

Just to keep expectations in check, here's a little about me. I am 29 years old. I have a job, I have a wife, I have a kid. So I will not be available to work 24/7 during the jam.  I want to use it as an opportunity to explore new game ideas and mechanics. Have fun with it. Instead of stressing myself out trying to create perfection. If you're at all interested in teaming up, then let's chat on discord and see if we are compatible. See you there! My handle: Cashew#4466

Hello! 

I would like to find a 3D artist I can team up with more long term. What better way than to start with ScoreSpace Jam and see if we work well together. 
My primary skill is programming. It's what I do for a living and I've been doing it for over a decade. I'm also quite familiar with Unreal Engine after 2 years of dabbling with it and producing a series of different game prototypes.

Just to keep expectations in check, here's a little about me. I am 29 years old. I have a job, I have a wife, I have a kid. So I will not be available to work 24/7 during the jam.  I want to use it as an opportunity to explore new game ideas and mechanics. Have fun with it. Instead of stressing myself out trying to create perfection. If you're at all interested in teaming up, then let's chat on discord and see if we are compatible. See you there! My handle: Cashew#4466

Hello! 

I would like to find a 3D artist I can team up with more long term. So we can try our best on multiple game jams. Short ones, long ones. And just in general our personalities need to have good chemistry, so we can have fun working with one another. 

My primary skill is programming. It's what I do for a living and I've been doing it for over a decade. I'm also quite familiar with Unreal Engine after 2 years of dabbling with it and producing a series of different game prototypes. Just to keep expectations in check, here's a little about me. I am 29 years old. I have a job, I have a wife, I have a kid. So I will not be available to work 24/7 during jams.  I want to use game jams as an opportunity to explore new game ideas and mechanics. Have fun with it. Instead of stressing myself out trying to create perfection.

If you're at all interested in teaming up, then let's chat on discord and see if we are compatible. See you there!
My discord: Cashew#4466

Took me a while to figure out how to target different colors. The UI is a bit overwhelming at first. But the game itself is awesome! Hitting the balls is so satisfying.

So far this is my favorite game of the jam from the ones I tried! The game design is so clean and it's always clear what you're supposed to do next. And when you fail you know it was your own mistake. 

Thanks for the submission. Best of luck!

Okay, that clears things up a bit for me. Press U and then choose a direction where you want to kill.
And the space trick to skip a turn I didn't realize!

I think I am prime example of how big walls of text get skipped. I think you're right, you did put those instructions somewhere, I just skipped through it, cause I wanted to play the game haha. I think button prompt icons on the screen with a short text would work for even the laziest and most impatient of us. So when I walk up to the enemy a prompt would appear "Press U to  swing sword", then "Press direction in which you want to kill". That's only in the tutorial level.