With my stimulus money many months ago I bought a gaming PC. This was my first gaming related purchase since 2013. (GTAV for 360, my last console) Over the first part of the pandemic I spent a lot of time indoors with my gamer roommates and played some games I had missed but what really inspired me to get a PC was the idea of modding and potentially developing games. When the hobby was new I got really into it, aided by ADHD hyperfocus and some amphetamines from a friend, but inevitably burned out.
My main two projects were a 16bit 2D sidescroller starring my cat that I was making in Stencyl (discovered after falling in love with an indie game made in it [Skateride]) and Making modded maps for SkaterXL (I got pretty good at modeling but I'm still vexed about textures and working with them between blender and unity projects)
AAAAANNNNYYYYway all of that to say who else here does game stuff? I want to get back into it and perhaps collaborate on some games with a commie lens, if anyone needs pixel art/animation or blender models?
I'm currently in the final stages of developing a game called Xenologist. It's about exploring an alien planet, with an attempt to remove the colonialist elements found in many other exploration games. Therefore, there is no base building, resource extraction, combat, etc. Your goal is purely to learn as much about the planet as you can within the allotted time. You do this by uncovering the map, studying wildlife, and befriending the indigenous tribes, who will give you things like maps, food, and interviews in exchange for gifts. The planet is randomly generated with each new game.
Some screencaps:
Main view, exploring the map
Studying the wildlife is a simple game of pressing your luck: the closer you get, the more data you get, but as you approach, they get more agitated. Get too close and they'll flee or attack.
The first step to befriending a village is to study them. Some clues are red herrings, but some tell you what gifts they're likely to want. This village has to subsist on mostly bitter foods, so they would most likely highly value candy.
And indeed, the candy is well-received.
A few gifts earn their trust, and we meet with the chief.
An interview tells us of the village's history and culture, and gives us a big one-time research boostI started it early last year, and I estimate I'll be done in another 1-2 months.
You're not the only one! One of my biggest sources of game ideas is stuff I wish I could find.
back when i used to do casual game dev i was the same way. or i'd try to resurrect some obscure old commodore strategy game or something i'd played once and had a vague memory of.
I think its use in exploration-based games has settler colonialist roots: historically, such bases in lands being explored were set up to establish dominance over the land, expand the reach of the setter culture, and act as strongpoints against indigenous resistance.
That's not to say that nobody should play games with base building, but it would be at odds with what I was going for if the player was dropping fortresses all over the planet.
hell yeah. has that Oregon Trail look with Star Control vibes. i'm excited to try that out.
This is cool as fuck, great work! Anywhere we can keep up to date or maybe you'll post it here when you're done?
I'm using an outdated pirated program to make something.
So you know.
I mean, the pirated version of RM2k3 was the only version that was available outside of Japan for a decade so you know.
I don't know who were the ones who translated RM2k3
I know a Russian guy(?) named Don Miguel translated RM2k, which also came with its own sample game Don's Adevnture lmao. Also the Name Hero function in that version was fucking broken and didn't work.
Also, I know how to, but I don't have the time, so I'm not actively working on anything. Which doesn't help you, I suppose.
I go game stuff, all 2D projects. I've posted stuff on one of this discords, but I'm kind of hesitant to post anything here because it's under my Human name as well as uses the name of my composer, who as far I know, is not as political as me.
I've never really gotten anything to completion, so I don't really ever have anything to show off. I have pretty much no traction, no one knows about my games.
I never finished my cat game beyond implementing basic platforming mechanics and making a bunch of art and animations. Nor have I released a skaterXL map. Ive made some playable SkaterXL maps but they look terrible and I havent shared them with anyone. :shrug-outta-hecks:
I spent 2 years on a platformer I never got in a playable state. Wish I had learned earlier that you should start with a bunch of small 2 week projects until you know what you are doing and are established enough to make your dream project.
I've enjoyed toying around in Unity but have taken a break due to getting a new job and a toaster computer. I started working on some shitty 2.5d action game using Pokemon Mystery Dungeon sprites since I have zero artistic talent, but like I said, I haven't touched it in months.
Hoping to buy a new computer and get back into it soon, it was enjoyable.
I've played around a little with Unity, currently dabbling with Godot since it seems a little more manageable for a new person
edit: I have a few cool game ideas if anyone wants to collaborate. My fave is a fusion of Crazy Taxi and roguelikes where you choose your fares through insert uber parody app and you can pick rewards like more gas, car upgrades, etc. The narrative is something like "I need to go across the country for a heart wrenching reason, but I cant afford the gas to go there in a straight shot, so I'll do fares across the country"
When I was a kid I made a small rpg using one of those readily available game engines, mostly exploring, trading, talking to people/monsters, and puzzles, wanted to see what a 'pacifist' rpg would look like and I didn't have as much experience with an array of games as I do now.
These days I just like tinkering and modding, don't really DIY my own. Don't have the patience nor time. I can port blender models in and out, rig them up to a desired skeleton/anims, but diy from scratch is another story.
I've done some tinkering with Unity, Blender, technical art stuff like particles and shaders, and a few games' built-in editors. My biggest and most complete project by far was a mod for Torchlight 2, all my stuff is 1-2 steps away from my real name though so I ain't linking shit :shrug-outta-hecks:
I'd say I'm pretty good at drawing and you might say metroidvania is my favorite type of game
I'm a hobbyist game dev. I'm currently creating an incremental/idle game using the c# Blazor framework, which compiles entirely to webassembly on the browser, which rules.
I also use Stride3d engine for any games that need a 3d engine.
godot is a very good community owned game engine if anyone is looking for one
Well yeah that's potentially pretty interesting Comrade, you're interested in doing art and @OutrageousHairdo mentioned wanting to work on a project to do coding. So, uh... maybe we actually have a potential dev team?
I told him that I'm waiting to hear back on some important news before I commit to anything, but possibly we could coordinate on something!
I must give my thanks to Goadstool for the recommendation. It would appear networking indeed works! If you'd like to engage in any effortful or artistic projects I'd be happy to be a part of it. Just be mindful of scope and know that I cannot offer anything but code.
I also do sound design and music and would be down to help anyone in this way, as well.
