itch.io

Thank you! This made my day. 😁

I totally agree. I'm hoping to have that or a similar feature added by the end of the game jam, but if not, then by the project's final release. Thanks for the feedback! 😄

I'm getting a loading error for the magic attacks. "Loading Error - Failed to load: img/animations/StateDown1.png". But I'm really enjoying the concept so far! It makes me think a lot of scenes from Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

No worries on the tips! And don't feel like you can never use jumpscares; more the point is to make sure that they're deserved, or that the game has substance outside of them.

On discord you can find me under the name dragonskiesgames. I sent a friend request! I'll probably be really sporadic with dms and stuff, but if you ever need feedback for projects or starting steps for coding, I can help out some.

For sure. I made the mistake in this project of using a third-party inventory system which, as you could tell, was much less convenient than ut's simplistic ui. Thanks for the feedback!

I can't speak as well to the horror genre, being more of an RPG fan myself. But I do have a suggestion.

In my time playing RPG games, I've seen a few that use horror elements to induce fear in certain scenarios. What I'd recommend is avoiding the typical walking-sim-in-a-dark-environment-with-jumpscares stereotype (You can still use these elements, just don't rely on them). Instead, use things like a loss of player control, unbearable / weighty choices, and imminent danger to push the horror feeling. 

Here's an (entirely) sarcastic vid with some tips on what NOT to do when developing a horror game (and stuff that may help):

How To Fail At Horror GamesYouTube · Artindi156.4K+ views · 1 year ago

All great advice! I'd love to help you get on your feet with unity; I'm self taught as of about 3 years and a ton of YouTube, so I definitely would like to help out. I don't know if itch has a built in dm feature, but you can also find me on discord for some first steps.

Thanks for the time! See you probably on the other thread.

Assuming you're trying to raise interest in your game among non-developers, here's some ideas:

• First, and most importantly, use engaging visuals (images, especially gifs). I cannot emphasize this more. This makes your posts more interesting than just a bunch of text, which personally turns me off to read. Cover images are also nice. I don't personally use them due to keeping my focus on actual development, but the more visuals the better.

• Don't use bullet point lists for new additions, except maybe at the end. Write as if you're trying to engage an audience, not as if you're trying to bore them to sleep. (I'm not saying to write unnecessarily long paragraphs either; keep it to the point, but make sure you're being interesting about it).

• Don't feel limited to what's 'normal'! For some reason my devlog post titled Coffee Break got more views and boosted my project more than any other logs, despite having almost nothing to do with development. Why? I don't quite know, maybe it's because it was unusual? Different? Personal? I'm still trying to figure it out. Besides this, indie developer legend Toby Fox used posts like this to crowdfund his game Undertale. Don't feel limited to the typical spitting-out-facts approach. Try something fun every once in a while! There's no shame in doing it at all.

Hope this helps, and hope your game development journey goes well!

Wow, thanks Jamnade! :D

Contacting streamers occurred to me too, especially as I'm getting closer to completing my next jam game. Is there a specific site where you can find these streamers, or is it more a research project on the developer's end?

Feedback for my projects would be awesome, as I've just started working on itch. I'd love to do the same if you're an active developer.

Seriously, thanks for the reply! It was exactly what I deeded!

Good to know it's a shared feeling, lol.

Lol, fair. When I posted this project I hadn't really considered page styling, so I'll probably fix that up real quick.

Makes sense. I've definitely enjoyed following discussions in the community page; talking with other devs is really nice. :D

Any suggestions for what third-party audiences to look for? I tried instagram, but that flopped pretty quick.

Hi everyone. I'm an extremely active game developer working on a new project. I'm by no means a professional, but I've advanced enough that I want to engage the indie community a little bit more and have my projects seen. This is a two-part question, but one that's been on my mind a lot lately. 

What can I do to start building a community around my games? Similarly, how can I engage more with the itch community in general? What has made a difference for you guys in these areas, and what mistakes should I avoid?

Thanks for taking a look! Any advice helps.

No worries! I love interacting with other indie game enthusiasts; it gets boring sitting behind a desk developing games without interacting with the indie game community.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. It seems like your intentions are good; as long as you reflect that in your words, you should do fine. 

What helps me criticize others well is focusing all your criticism on the game (NEVER target the developers) and try to end on a positive note (such as bringing out a call to action or even counterbalancing it with something that impressed you).

Please share your YouTube channel with me! I'd love to give you a subscribe and support what you're doing. :D

Edit: oh just saw the link below, oops. Subscribed!

I'm not a heavily publicized game developer, but as a passionate designer I still think I would have some insights in this area.

Of course I'd ask you to cover the genre and my favorite parts of the game during your review. I would love to have a spotlight on my bullet hell's story/characters (being a passionate storyteller and fantasy enthusiast) and bullets (because of the genre). 

When it comes to the developer's preferences, it's pretty case-by-case. Maybe asking them if there's anything they want you to cover would help beforehand. But when it comes to the genre you can probably make a good guess, as Halkind mentioned earlier. Bullet patterns for bullet hell games, movement for platformers, 360 no-scopes for shooters, you name it.

But beyond that, I'd love to see some of your unique thoughts thrown in. My views about my games are skewed by perfectionism and hours of hard work that gives me a feeling of emotional attachment to often times irrelevant systems. For example, I recently built a dialogue system from scratch that I'm more proud of than my bullet hell system sheerly because of all the hours I spent optimizing it and working out its kinks... and my game's a bullet hell game. Depressing, right? 

We need external viewpoints to keep ourselves in check, so some comments directly from your perspective would be incredible as well. Something honest, even if it means blatant criticism, but also hopeful - suggesting improvements instead of tearing the game/developers down.

See what stands out to you, good or bad (preferably a mix of the two), and share your thoughts. This gives you a chance to develop your own style and give developers feedback they wouldn't normally expect... which is almost always awesome to have.

Hope this helps!

This is such a cool concept, implementing machine learning into a fully animated game like this! Do you think you'll revisit this project sometime in the future?

Bro that's literally where Deltarune was made... sick!

The movement was so broken that I straight up celebrated at the ending... XD

Awesome game!

Solid game! I really liked the character art and the simple mechanics.

I know you're probably not in development anymore, but for future reference a checkpoint system would make the game much more repayable.

Keep it up!!! 

This is awesome! What platform did you use to make it?

Dude, this is such a cool concept! I've been playing for hours and still enjoying it! Well done!

This game is so aesthetically pleasing! Sick style

I've never seen that kind of puzzle solving implemented into a platformer! Awesome game!

Anything goes! Just keep it appropriate for all audiences (nothing explicit, no hurtful comments, keep swearing at a minimum).

My fav drink changes with the day, but I usually default to hot mochas.

Dude, awesome project! I love to play chess normally, but this game is a super fun spinoff!

What went wrong and what went right? Any feedback, especially this early in development, is deeply appreciated! I'll do my best to answer every question presented.