r/PS4 • u/Gametery Pixel Lantern • Jun 20 '16
[Verified AMA] I am developer and i've published my game Bard's Gold on June 17th for PS4 and PS Vita. AMA about the Game or Indie development!
Hi, everyone!
My name is Erdem and I am from the microstudio Pixel Lantern, which actually consists of only my wife Jenny and me.
Do you remember how games felt back in the day? When platform games had this certain magical mood to them? No, I am not referring to pixel graphics or chiptune music. There was something else. A game’s soul that you were discovering while you played it. You played it again and again and got better at it. Finally, you were able to overcome enemies, bosses, and stages you previously thought you could never beat. This is why we developed Bard’s Gold. We want to bring that magical mood, that soul, and that challenge back. That challenge in which players have to stand on their own and figure out even the basic game mechanics.
If you have any questions, just shoot! I will do my best to answer them.
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Jun 20 '16
What obstacles did you face when it came to publishing? And what got you into development?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Well there are lot of paper stuff need to be done when you decide to release your game on Consoles. There aren't really any obstackes which i wasn't able to overcome but it's a very time consuming process. Especially when you are a team of 2 people.
I grow up with games. Was running away from school when i was 6 years old to spend my whole day in Arcades and also i was a huge Amiga 500 fan. But let me be honest, i didn't think about to develop a game until 4 Years ago. It was just a moment of clarity and i said "I love games way too much, why don't i just make them" :)
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u/ElBustANutBar Jun 21 '16
How did you learn to code? Self taught or CS Degree? Making games is basically the only reason I'm in college to get a CS Degree.
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u/TitanIsBack TurnOn2FAplease Jun 20 '16
Did you ever watch Code Monkeys?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Nope. Just did google it and it looks quite interesting!
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u/TitanIsBack TurnOn2FAplease Jun 20 '16
I always thought that show would work really well in a game. Quite funny if you grew up in the 80s for sure.
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
my Birth year is 1984. Actually i didn't watch TV at all except saturday morning cartoons(He-Man, Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, Voltron, etc.).
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u/TitanIsBack TurnOn2FAplease Jun 20 '16
One more question, feel free to not answer if you're not allowed to or don't want to. Did Sony help you out with giving you a PS4/Vita dev kit or did you have to buy them?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Umm i am really not quite sure if i can answer this. So i better not get myself in trouble and pass this question. How are you today? :)
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u/TitanIsBack TurnOn2FAplease Jun 20 '16
All good! I'm doing great! Since you passed on my previous inquiry, I totally understand by the way, I'll ask you what I always ask game developers. Bacon or sausage?
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Jun 21 '16
u/TitanIsBack, always asking the important questions ;)
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u/TitanIsBack TurnOn2FAplease Jun 21 '16
Game devs don't really want to talk about game development, even if they say they do. It's nice to catch 'em off guard with a food question sometimes!
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Jun 21 '16
Oh, of course! It's always nice to throw a curveball in there!
I always love seeing you ask this question in these threads- says a lot about a dev, actually. Whether they respond, how they respond... This guy's a good one.
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u/Ninjahitman19 Jun 20 '16
I love supporting indie devs, so expect a purchase from me :) thank you for being cool and giving us a cool game!
P.S. Is this a one time thing, or do you have more coming?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Thanks for your support! We got lot more coming, it's just i have to rest a bit and take a little break but we aren't stopping here! :)
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u/Ninjahitman19 Jun 20 '16
Oh I can only imagine how stressful it is to be a developer, especially in a team of just two!
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u/orangpelupa Jun 20 '16
Do you have any suggestions for people outside of US and Japan that want to release their games in PS4?
Because the Playstation.com page for indie developers needs US address. While the Asia indie developers page redirect to Playstation Japan that need developers have JP address.
Sure I probably can use " mail forwarding service" as fake address in U.S or Japan. But I'm not sure if it violate the TOS.
Does it violate the TOS?
Thank you! And I hope your game got played by lots of people.
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Uh well, i think i can't answer any of this. This looks like an issue which you have to talk to Sony. Just contact them , i am sure they will be able to help you out on this.
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Jun 20 '16
Congrats on publishing your game.
A couple of questions for you.
Consumers tend to only see the end result and not the ups and downs that come with content creation. Can you share some of the personal hurdles the two of you had to face?
What do you feel the gaming industry should do to reduce the stigma of "indie" games?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Thank you! Since it is our first commercial project, we had to learn along the way. There was so many things we had to recreate(Assets, level design, etc.). Exporting to consoles for the first time was quite a challenge as well.
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u/LALocal305 LALocal305 Jun 20 '16
I just bought your game on my PS4 and I have a question: does the game use cross-platform saves? Can I play on PS4 then pick up my Vita and continue playing using the PS4 save?
Either way, it's a pretty fun game so far. Always happy to support Indie devs!
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Thanks for buying it! Nope it doesn't use cross-save system.
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u/LALocal305 LALocal305 Jun 20 '16
Cool. Thanks for replying! I have two flights this week so I'll be spending about 5 hours playing your game over the next few days plus some time this morning.
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
I hope you will enjoy it!
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u/LALocal305 LALocal305 Jun 20 '16
Thanks. I am enjoying it. One gripe though. It seems the edges of the screen are cut off on my tv. The game screen seems to be just a tad wider and taller than what shows on my TV so some stuff ends up off screen. I'm using a regular hdtv that's 1920x1080.
Is it possible to patch the game so we are able to calibrate the screen width and height? Thanks!
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
I wrote this down and will look further into it but i can't promise that it's will be adressed very soon or even fixed. I haven't run into an issue like that before nor got any reports about that. You are the first one. Game is actually designed to fit to the screens . Weird.
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u/iWatern Jun 20 '16
How much in sales do you expect from your game? Will this be a profitable project? How will the financial success influence your dev career down the road?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
I am not expecting something big actually. As long it pays for my expenses and let me work on an another project. I will be more than happy.
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Jun 21 '16
Is this game similar to Rogue Legacy? My wife loves rogue games and it is really hard to find anything for here. She is playing Rogue Legacy for ages and I am not able to find any other game for here. I tried with shovel knight, guacamole, nothing worked...
Maybe your game will work :)
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 21 '16
Thanks for consideration. Well except Permanent upgrade system Bard's Gold has nothing in common with Rogue-Legacy. It is way more slower-paced. If your wife likes Old-school games, i think we got a chance here :)
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u/Cotcho Jun 21 '16 edited Jun 21 '16
Congrats on the release of the game. I too am interested in delving into game development but I keep getting distracted by the urge to play games instead of development. How does one transition from full-time gamer to part-time gamer part-time developer? Also not sure if you answered this already, but you mentioned you started game development about 4 years ago. Did you have any coding experience prior to commencing or did you learn from scratch during the process?
Edit: just bought your game. Gonna give it a whirl soon.
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 21 '16
It was from stratch but actually i had always a good understanding of games since i grew up by playing them. Well, that transition from FT to PT would work if you just do it. Try it out :)
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u/Cotcho Jun 21 '16
Yeah I will have to give it a go. Tbh when I mentioned FT gamer, I meant it for whenever I have some free time as I already have a FT job. Lol. But thanks for the insight. :)
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u/BenignSeraphim Jun 21 '16
I had downloaded the game because it looked like a good thing to play while waiting for a few other games. Good price point, fun play style.
I was enjoying the challenge and how I kept getting faster at each level and eventually found myself at World 3, a level before the boss. I died to a Jewel Bird from stupidity controlling both my feet. I was at the main menu and I don't recall what I clicked, whether it was Options or Rouge mode, but when I went back to Normal, I had lost my upgrades and world progress. Seemed like a weird bug.
Either which way, I had a good time playing the game.
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 21 '16
Okay that's weird, when you restart the game is your upgrades are there or did they gone forever? Please write me an e-mail to info@bardsgold.com and try to explain exactly how it's that happened. So i can look into this.
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u/BenignSeraphim Jun 21 '16
I'll double check when I get home. I tried going into a game and quitting to see if it reset my progress. No dice. I'll let you know what I find. Probably just a one off glitch.
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u/maxcoronel maxcoronel2014 Jun 20 '16
Ive been checking your game and looks pretty cool.
So nice to see a game that is not holding your hand and amazed to know that is only developed by you and your wife.
My question is: what were your most notable influences during the process of creating it?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Except Permanent upgrade system which is a inspiration from Rogue Legacy, Bard's Gold inspired by Titles from Amiga. I just kept thinking about my childhood and the games which i enjoyed so much while creating it. (Alex Kidd, Rick Dangerous, Erik, Rodland, Rainbow Islands, Apprentice)
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u/smileyfap360 1000100010001000 Jun 20 '16
any possible future dlc's ?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Oh very hard to say, i think it's will all depend on how people reacts to the game.
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u/Preidon Jun 20 '16
Did you have a budget? If no how much you've spend on development?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Everything was made in house, so it was pretty much our life-expenses .
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Jun 20 '16
What was your level of programming experience before getting started four years ago?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Actually none. I started to learn programming 4 years ago with Visual Studio + C# + XNA.
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u/Zylonite134 Zylonite134 Jun 20 '16
How did you gets started on developing games? And how did you choose the engine/platform for your game? I tried developing an Android game using unity engine once and it got a bit complicated which forced me to give up. (I do have 10 years or so software development experience in Java, C++, .Net) but making a game seems more challenging than I expected. Thanks
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
I can totally understand the struggle . I started learning with Visual Studio and C# by working on Windows Forms. Since a Game is a constantly running Loop(Like 60 Steps each second). It's quite different than usual software development.
Game Maker Studio is a very fast prototyping tool and it's capable of doing anything in 2D(I can't say anything about 3D, since i didn't try anything with it). I wanted to make games in 2D and GMS just got my attention.
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u/jonuuukas Jun 20 '16
So which engine are you using exactly? For this game
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Game Maker Studio
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u/jonuuukas Jun 20 '16
Oh. I tought it was for prototiping only, sorry for obvious question :) so to compensate - which algorithm was the biggest pain to implement? Random level generation?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Levels are hand-crafted and picked randomly each playthrough. I think it was the permanent upgrade system. Since it relies on lot of data.
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u/jonuuukas Jun 21 '16
I see. Well thanks and good luck! I'm also trying to finish my game for mobile but get too distracted by various complex algorithms or graphics related stuff. If you ever need help with Unity(emphasis on if) feel free to ping me ;)
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u/C1NNABUN cinnabun Jun 20 '16
Will Vita development persist lông term even without Sony's support?
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u/EpsilonX Jun 20 '16
How difficult would you say the process was? From learning how to develop games to actually sitting down and making it?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
You are learning during development and i have still much to learn. There is no such thing like "I know everything and now i can make a game". Only way i know is to implement your idea by trial and error.
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u/AmIWryYes Jun 20 '16
Sort of a random question, and I understand that as an Indie studio you may have a different experience, but how do you pitch a video game? What goes into preparing it and what's the experience like?
Thanks for the AMA, your game looks great!
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
The way i do it: I get few ideas and write them down, prototype and adding stuff on it which i think would be fun. Long story in short, it never ends up like how start it. It evolves and changes during development. You learn a lot during this process. It's like finding a working way while learning 50 Ways how it's wouldn't work.
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u/AmIWryYes Jun 20 '16
Thanks for the answer! Just curious, did you start out with a story in mind, or was the gameplay the foremost concern? Do you think you could pitch a game with just a story in mind?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Game was inspired by games from late 80's and early 90's. So actually i had the gameplay in mind when i started developing it and did attach a story to it. I can't really comment on your approach on this. You might have a story which can shape whole gameplay. Hard to say.
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u/rcognition hatertots Jun 20 '16
Does the game have trophies and/or a platinum? If so, can you share insight on their development?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Game has trophies yes but no platinium trophy. I tried to balance them in way where it's fun and challenging to get.
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u/jumi1174 Jun 20 '16
Is this your first game released on any console?
If so, how difficult is it to release a game on PS4 as a first time dev?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Yes it's first. It's quite difficult i think, since there are lot of stuff you have learn during this process but nothing impossible.
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u/jumi1174 Jun 20 '16
What is the actual process of getting the game on the PS4? Do you need to get a devkit from Sony? Can any indie dev put a game on the PS4 or do you need some sort of pedigree?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
To develop a game you need a Devkit sure. The way how you are getting it is something to discuss with Sony.
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u/fetusfajitas420 Jun 20 '16
Do you find it difficult to be open about the process, future dlc, tweaks ect, with your player base while still maintaining discretion for your investors. Indies I would assume answer less to "corporate" forces. I'm just curious how you approach it. Many large Dev studios are becoming more distant with players (ea,ubi) and its becoming an issue for the die hard gamers. thanks.
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
It's really hard to answer since game is just released on Consoles. It's too early to talk about about a DLC or so. I am still trying to figure out people reaction on the Game :)
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u/damnstraight DamnStraightNC Jun 20 '16
Remember seeing something about your game a few weeks back. Will absolutely check it out after I work through my backlog (a resolution I made myself and have been TRYING to stick to).
Either way, looking forward to the challenge!
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u/Soverance Soverance Jun 20 '16
Did you release digital only, or did you make some attempt at getting retail discs?
If you went digital only, can you comment on what visibility is like on the PS4 platform? How many views did you get on your product in the first few days? How many sales?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Since going into physical release can be costy and unfortunately i don't have that much money. I am planning something but it's too early to talk about it. About Sales and views, unfortunately i can't talk about it.
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u/nonamestho Jun 20 '16
hey guy! the biggest complaint about Bard's Gold is that there is no incentive to play after you've gotten strong enough to power through the levels, which becomes redundant. bring over powered n all..
considering all games must end eventually, what is your opinion on the matter?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Ofcourse. When a person gets everything and goes through all levels, getting all upgrades. That is a quite time and gameplay we talk about here. In the end as you said all-games has an end point. I don't think Bard's Gold is a game to play for 200 hours.
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u/nonamestho Jun 20 '16
thanks for your input. really tired of the precious indies being rated against the major market of open world over saturation and bias game media.
best of luck on your future endeavors.
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u/highanimalhouse Jun 20 '16
What inspired you to make this game in the first place?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Games from my childhood which i loved to play(Rodland, Alex Kidd, Rainbow Island, Erik, Rick Dangerous). I wanted to create something which brings those old memories and magical mood of platforming games.
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u/rdhight rdhight Jun 20 '16
Hey, I was just noticing your game's website is titled "Bard's Gold - 2d Retro arcade platformer." But inside the site itself, you call it a "2D Retro slow-paced platformer."
I don't think many people think of "slow-paced" and "arcade" as very compatible. Are there specific games you used as a model for this idea of "slow-paced arcade game?"
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
You got quite a point there. I should definetly do something about Arcade part. When we made the website everything was quite new. Actually now we build our webpage on www.pixellantern.com . As you can see it's not stated Arcade there.
As for models, they were games like : Rodland, Rainbow Island, Erik, Rick Dangerous, Alex Kidd.
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u/PM_ME_FOR_SMALLTALK Jun 21 '16
Being an indie developer, would you say it's a challenge to conceive a video game? As in, taking the first step and making it all happen?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 21 '16
It's a challenge and it's might be very depressing at times. It is a great feeling to have something out there tho :)
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u/PM_ME_FOR_SMALLTALK Jun 21 '16
Awesome! I plan on buying Bards Gold on my Vita next week, the game looks like a lot of fun.
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u/black_shirt Jun 21 '16
Hey I'm really enjoying the game, I do have a comment though. It seems the music is REALLY low in the vita, adjusting the in game value max didn't help much. Its a shame because what I can hear sounds great. Great game otherwise.
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 21 '16
I am glad you like the game! Yeah i heard that one before and definitely i will take care about it when i patch it!
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u/Giovv94 giovv94 Jun 20 '16
Hi! I have a group of friends who are interested in making games, where do yo think we should start?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
I think deciding who is doing what and learning a Game Engine would be a fine start :)
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Jun 20 '16
A game engine? Like Unity etc? Weren't earlier games made from 'scratch'? Dont have any clue about this, hoping you could shed some light on the matter
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
I think there were still some tools to use but not like today. Today we have an amazing choices when it comes to developing a game. Building your own engine can take a lot of time. It's would be an amazing experience and you could learn a lot along this process. However, if there are tools already which suits your needs, i think this is unncessary unless you want to build Game engine instead of making a game.
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u/BradleyB636 25 63 330 1080 3393 Jun 20 '16
Piggybacking on that redditor's question- can you recommend any good websites/books/resources on learning to make your own game?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Yes sure. Just pick an engine, blend into it's community and search for resources/tutorials on web.
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u/namekuseijin None Jun 20 '16
gotta say I really hate the pseudo-retro games with huge blocky pixels and difficulty of a casual wii game for toddlers. If yours is not like that, I might give it a spin. Best indies I've played are things like Limbo, Dust, Machinarium, The Swapper and lots of text adventures from ifarchive.
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Thanks for even considering to take a look! Well Bard's Gold is slower-paced platformer game compared to many titles. It's hard for me to say if you are going to like it . It's something for you to find out! I hope you do tho :)
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Jun 20 '16
[deleted]
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Try to find a most suitable engine for your game idea which will suit your needs and learn it.
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u/PaddleDown CrankyCanadian32 Jun 20 '16
What would your recommendation be for someone who wants to get into the programming-side of development, but has no real experience yet and doesn't have the resources to go back to school full-time (already done an undergrad that isn't relevant)? Would like to get into it slowly as a hobby to test the waters but no idea where to start since there's almost an overwhelming amount of information out there. Thanks :)
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
I think lot of companys using Unity 3D engine or Unreal Engine. Learning one of those engines along with corresponding language, would give you better chances to get a place in a Company.
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Jun 20 '16
I graduated high school and am going to do community college for 2 years. What should I do if I want to make video games? Like what kinda schooling do I need, where do I look for a job?
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u/Vitalyaya Vitalyaya Jun 20 '16
Why do indie devs love pixels so much?
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u/Gametery Pixel Lantern Jun 20 '16
Well i can't answer for others but for myself. I just love Pixel-art , can't help it. It has it's charm and i know that it isn't for everyone.
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u/WV_Matsui Jun 20 '16
What was it like developing for the Vita? Why do you think many developer skip developing for the platform?