Jake from

@BRobo82 Here's a hotter take- they both look bad!

Now Digital Foundry is going to have to pretend that the plastic crap on the left looks better than the screenshot on the right. It’s a collective hallucination fueled by AI hate. The hate, which I partly understand, but I'm not going to lie to myself about what looks better.

@BenjiGameDev If I were to be incredibly reductive I'd argue gambling mechanics (risk/reward, chance) + "play" mechanics (experimentation, discovery, personal improvement) are all foundational to what we call "games". A bunch of primal itch scratching and practice

@BenjiGameDev 1000%. The convo around game mechanic ethics feels a bit immature to me, in that a lot of gambling mechanics, when removed from IRL money, scratch something at the primal root of "fun". People often say the mechanics themselves are unethical, which I think is oversimplified

the incredible success of neuron activation RNG gambleslop says something about the deeper nature of games that we're not ready to talk about yet

@CoffeeBeansDev - prone to needing a "booming" success to convince people it has a chance of sticking around, and probably more trust from established studios etc. It feels like the move for small solo indie games is a full release with very limited exceptions

@CoffeeBeansDev Kind of a "vibes" based opinion but I think early access is getting more and more challenging, especially for solo devs. As many have mentioned, many have been burned multiple times and especially with a solo dev, who knows if they'll stick with it or not. They seem a bit more-

I hate to admit this but I launched my first video game and it actually FAILED. And I want to be honest with you, and with myself about the reality of it 🧵

@Riftwalkergame Also great points; I think it's hard as a beginner to learn what is foundational, how to make use of packages and pre-existing systems etc but once you have that level of familiarity (25 years is incredible!) it seems a lot like being familiar with your toolbox as a mechanic.

I think another thing people overlook as a solo dev is you don’t need to recreate the wheel. There are a lot of solid tools, assets, and systems out there that can give you a strong foundation. The real skill is knowing how to take those foundations, reshape them, and build something unique on top of them. That saves a huge amount of time and money and lets you focus on the parts that actually make your game special.

Bounty hunter fans deserve better. So I’m building the game I always wanted... Riftwalker. A sci-fi bounty hunter game that is story-driven, open world, and brutal. Inspired by The Mandalorian, Dune, and Max Payne. 11k Wishlist on Steam store.steampowered.com/app/4109980/Ri… Support the journey patreon.com/RiftwalkerGame #gamedev #indiedev

@Riftwalkergame Thank you for the follow up; great points! Workflow / process familiarity with a given toolset is hugely understated for indie devs imo; Glad to hear its something you've thought deeply about and am excited for your progress!

Good question. I’ve been working in Unreal and game development for about 25 years, so I’m very comfortable with the engine and the scope of what I’m building. A lot of Riftwalker is designed around systems that scale well for a solo developer. I’m also building it in public, livestreaming development and sharing progress along the way, which helps keep everything grounded and realistic.🙂

@estroBiologist godoated

godot is absolutely goated btw

@9blomir My brain just cannot synthesize a concept that I care about AND can build in 2 weeks. And making games outside of a fulltime job and parenting, I feel like I can't work on something I don't care about 😩

I should go smaller. Even more focused. Even more narrow. A game in 2 weeks.

@qHugzz What is the point of anything? Is it to get very far and then just quit when you're at the top? Wipe's just facilitate the "journey" again; typically modified so that the journey is a bit of a different experience. Once you're at the destination what's left?

I don’t hate marathon, I just don’t know what I’m playing for. I don’t know what the point is if every vault item and faction rep gets reset every month, what is the end goal in this game? I feel like there is just no purpose, maybe that’s the extraction shooter genre. idk

@BenjiGameDev I found ToK unplayable at the 15fps it runs on the Switch 1; considering a 2 just for that and Donkey Kong

nowadays, I see the purchase of a Nintendo console purely as a tax to play new mainline Mario and Zelda games. I won't buy the Switch 2 until it has one of those. I never bought a Wii U

I remembered a convo I had with my wife (girlfriend at the time) where I was working a full time job and doing game stuff on the side and just losing all my free time that could be put towards spending time with her or my family. I told her I felt like I’m running out of steam to keep doing both and if I like ever wanted to idk do game development full time I was running out of time to make it happen. Decided I was going to try like a game jam and just go all in on it to really feel out if any of this was going anywhere. Entered the BIGMODE game jam where we made arctic eggs. it didn’t win anything but the reception was so positive it felt worth it to make it a full thing. Released it on steam a few months later and it did great. Complete coincidence (I think lol) but very shortly after I was let go from my full time job. But it wasn’t as scary as it should’ve been because arctic eggs gave enough financial security to last me awhile. I’ve been a full time game dev ever since, signed with a great publisher, and I still have no free time for my friends or family.

@SpiralOffline @EliasDaler @doublemaki_ I wonder if PSP and PS3 have different / more advanced "signing" requirements or something

@EliasDaler @doublemaki_ Oooh this reminded me to give the demo a shot. Works perfectly on my PS2 so far. Any idea why it doesn't work on PSP and PS3 though? I always thought that their backwards compatibility solution was pretty accurate.

like how far offsprite can an artist go before you get slightly bothered

@BenjiGameDev You could play them that way, but they (especially 3) have a lot of nooks and crannies and ways to "speedrun" that is more akin to the video

I feel like my memory of the original Sonic trilogy is completely different to everyone else's. those games were just regular mascot platformers, jumping over spikes and stuff

still chasing a creative career as the world ends

@FatCat_games @naeticus Quest timers are absolutely awesome when done with intent, impact, and in a scope that makes sense to do multiple playthroughs of. It does, inherently, cut out a large chunk of players that doesn't like them but that can be a good thing. Niche is >>>> for indies

@naeticus No, it’s just that certain quests have an expiration date and are tied to specific events. There won’t be a timer as such.

I'm making a Skyrim & Breath of the wild & Gothic inspired game focused on exploration and time management, where the world will perish in 100 days unless you take action.

@madcap412 they look sick af youre tweaking

How it feels to be 29

@Interestin27258 @Lockie_Glizzy And Wordpress in the year of our lord 2026??

@Lockie_Glizzy Why does your website remind me of a sports drink company

If you’re an indie dev and you’re thinking about finding another home for your game, I’d love to chat. We’re not exclusive - you can list your game anywhere. Glizzy is indie-only, built purely for indie devs. If visibility’s been your biggest headache, shoot me a DM. Happy to have a chat!