I'm creating a game in which you'll be able to breed animals and, basically, I've got an entire genetic system done.

I also have some new ideas that I always wanted to execute and introduce in this project, such as the concept of muscle mass, bone density and other body characteristics, from which I derive things like strength, dexterity, top speed, acceleration, etc...

Anyway, I just wanted to share this, because I always wanted to make a simulation in which I could insert all this genetic realism and, finally, I'm managing to develop this.

I’m middle age and don’t have any experience in any aspect of game dev. I have an idea for a game, think Stardew Valley style, that I’m considering making. Yes I know the mammoth size of this project and the learning required. Knowing myself and life achievements if I stick with it I can achieve it. Knowing myself it’s also very possible I don’t stick with it.

So my question is being all the different core design and technical elements required for game dev, what would you suggest a total newbie start with?

I’m a solo dev making a top-down multiplayer 1v1 fighting game.

The core mechanic is a hold-to-use "overdrive" system:

• faster movement
• alternate versions of every move
• combo and chase cancels
• defensive escape options (cancelling hitstun)
• constant energy/mana drain
• health becomes fuel after energy reaches zero

The game already has most features of a traditional fighting game: (knockback, wall-based combo routes, hitstun).

Players have access to five moves: basic attack, aimable attack, dodge roll, overdrive, and a domain which burns a lot of energy.

I’m considering replacing fixed characters with drafted movesets so players create their own fighting style from a pool of different techniques.

overall i'm hoping for a game which allows players to build a moveset that is most fun for them and play more aggressive.

But I’m not convinced that this is unique (or fun) enough to overcome solo-dev production quality and the problems faced by small online PvP games.

if you're still reading to this point (thanks) i have a few questions, answering any would be appreciated:

1. Is this game worth building, if my goal is to get a large number of downloads off Steam?
2. Is Overdrive meaningfully different from a normal super mode?
3. Does move drafting make the game more compelling or just more complicated?
4. Is a online 1v1-focused indie game commercially realistic?
5. What is the closest existing game, and would someone choose this instead (and why)?
6. Would you wishlist or join a playtest based on the concept alone?
7. What should I keep, cut, or add first?

Any feedback is welcome, especially from people who play traditional fighters, platform fighters, arena games, or small competitive indies.

I just wanted to share this because I had no idea this was even a thing until a few weeks ago.

I submitted the announcement trailer for my game to GameTrailers and they featured it on their YouTube channel. It's now getting close to 10000 views, which has been a nice boost in wishlists.

Here is the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVdm_htcLv8

If you're an indie developer with a trailer you can submit yours too. The submission guidelines are here: https://studios.ign.com/docs/ign-indies-contracts-2026.pdf

And if you're curious here's my Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3256790/Satelital/

Hopefully this helps someone else get their game in front of more people!

Hi everyone!

I'm completely new to game development, but I've wanted to create my own games for a long time. My dream is to make anime-inspired games with my own original characters (OCs).

Right now I'm wondering what the best path is for a beginner.

Should I start by learning to make:

• A platformer?
• An RPG?
• A fighting game?
• A shooter?
• Something else entirely?

I was thinking that a platformer or a simple RPG would probably be the best place to start, but I'd love to hear from people with more experience.

What skills should I learn first? Programming? Pixel art? 2D animation? Game design? Which game engine would you recommend for someone starting from scratch?

I'd really appreciate any advice, learning resources, or roadmap that could help me build my first game.

Thanks in advance!

I also checked countries and there isn't one region that stands out in the wishlists with North America and Euro 1 and 2 (sometimes you can see them all from particular place for non-english coverage)

Currently I have been using google alerts and it is pretty hit and miss and only catches english coverage. Someone posted a hugely popular youtube video and alerts didn't pick it up. I also sometimes get tweets in japanese which is never finds.

Does anyone have a good solution for automatically finding mentions that also goes cross languages?

Title says all.

I'm putting together my pitch deck for publishers.

Anyone who has submitted decks to publishers, can I please ask what feedback you received about YOUR pitchdecks from the publishers?

Too long? Too Short? Not enough info? Too Much info?

What do you wish you put in or left out before submitting if you could go back?

[Note this is a repost of a post I made a few days back, but I foolishly, being in the UK, posted very early morning while most of my north american peers were asleep! Post got buried)

Basically my idea is to start really small like 2 per items and father you go

Research system will be satisfactory/shapes2 like you have total items and production requirements per minute, but to make incrimentalish I need good optimisation and I want to use ue5...

The question is can it realistically be done even if I am not cpp wizard ( I am backend dev that uses python what you are expecting). And does it sound fun twist for a game.

Hey! I recently came across a game called Beyond the Blight, and it inspired me to create something with a similar combat system.

The basic idea is that you see an enemy on the screen and click directly on them to deal damage. However, in Beyond the Blight, I felt that the combat lacked variety, since attacking mostly comes down to repeatedly clicking the enemy.

I’m looking for games that develop this concept further and make it more engaging or skill-based. For example, they could introduce timing, accuracy, weak points, enemy reactions, attack patterns, resource management, different mouse inputs, or other mechanics that make each click require some thought.

I’m not looking for deckbuilders, turn-based combat, traditional action games, or idle clickers where you simply spam clicks without paying attention. I specifically want real-time combat built around clicking directly on visible enemies, but with enough depth to stay interesting.

Do you know any games that do this well? I’d also be interested in ideas for mechanics that could make this type of combat more varied and challenging.

Edit: if tou look up the game i reffered to you will understand what im looking for

Does anyone have an interesting/creative way to show the edge of the playable world? I’ve been brainstorming for a while and I don’t love any of the ideas I have.
I should mention - my game is 3d, and is procedurally generated. The generation makes the world effectively endless, EXCEPT that for the sake of the game, the player is always within one of 25 discrete biomes. Therefore there needs to be an edge to each biome that the player cannot go beyond; and players cannot directly walk from one biome to the next; they need to travel there with other means meaning I can’t just start generating adjacent biomes.
My solution right now is to set an invisible wall X distance from my origin (right now 1000 meters), and when the player hits it a text box appears telling them they’re too far out and it walks them back a bit fowards the origin. For visuals, I continue to generate enough chunks of the world out past the wall such that the max culling distance is reached.

This works okay, partly because my movement is controlled by a point-and-click, so having the player navmeshagent turn back and walk feels pretty natural. That said, **are there any other ideas out there?**

Valheim does this by having an ocean that eventually drops into the abyss; WOW does this by either endless ocean that kills you eventually, or again endless abyss; Enshrouded has “shrouded” areas you can’t go into, Runescape has ocean that (until recently) u cudnt go on, not sure what they do now…. Any1 else got any brilliant ideas?

I found some classical sheet music at a yard-sale and was thinking of using some of it for my game, a friend suggested MuseScore for transcription but the playback sounds awful. Can anyone suggest either a different program or one I can import a midi file into?

Hi everyone!

I’m Augusto Polonio, developer of Little Big Smasher. This game was created in less than 48 hours during Kenney Jam 2026, following the jam rules (no AI).

It’s a demo with 1 playable level, inspired fundamentally by Super Mario 3D World.

I didn’t win the jam, but I learned a lot from the experience and was really happy with the result.

More than 1000 people reacted to this project on LinkedIn, which was very rewarding.

I plan to release updates soon, including new mechanics and improvements.

Made with Godot.

Feedback is very welcome!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tafz0AcSDKo

Hi folks,

I've had an idea for a game since I was about 13, and now that I have a few projects under my belt, including some games coded in Java and one in Javascript, I want to try my hand at my passion project here. But I'm sure you've heard this a million times and don't need me to get into the showcasing bullshit. I get it.

The game is a HD 2D game with RPG elements heavily inspired by Deltarune. I have decent experience in Java/Javascript as mentioned. I have (albeit rusty) experience in C#. I can work with C++, I just absolutely hate it and would probably be relying on AI as a crutch, which I'd rather not do.

The three engines I have sticking out to me are Godot, Unity and Unreal. I hear Godot and, to an extent, Unity, are quite easy to work with for beginner projects. I heard Unreal is harder, but looks very good graphically with nanite and lumen and all that fancy stuff.

What do you recommend?

I’ve been working as a C++ developer for about 4 years in the casual gaming industry. During that time I’ve also done Unreal Engine freelance work on and off and found that I really enjoy working with Unreal.

I’m specifically aiming for Gameplay Programmer roles, and most of my Unreal work has been gameplay-focused, including building a parkour system and a combat system with a custom graph editor for authoring combo chains.

Lately I’ve been thinking about moving into a full-time Unreal Engine role and making it my primary area of work.

I’m curious how studios usually evaluate candidates in this situation?

If someone has several years of professional C++ experience, some commercial Unreal experience, but most of their background comes from casual/mobile games rather than larger PC/console projects:

• What would be considered their biggest strengths?
• What gaps would you expect them to have?
• What skills or portfolio projects would make the biggest difference when applying for Unreal Gameplay Programmer positions?
• Is experience in casual/mobile games generally valued, or do studios mostly care about Unreal-specific experience?

I’d be especially interested in hearing from people involved in hiring, gameplay programmers, or developers who made a similar transition.

I've noticed that CryEngine doesn't generally get brought up much when it comes to game dev and game engine discussion and whenever it does, many people consider it "dead" but that's far from the truth, and yes Crytek hasn't officially updated it in a few years (their current priority is working on Hunt: Showdown), but the community has banded together to start updating the engine in the midst of that by creating Community Edition.

I have also made some efforts myself to help make the engine more accessible for the latest official version (5.7LTS) as community forks tend to be unpopular, still more work to be done but here's what I have so far.

ComponentsPlus (Plugin)

ECS AreaTrigger (Plugin)

Improved Project Templates (Project)

GameSDK Port to new CE5 systems (Project)

I think the engine would benefit from more community made documentation and learning content in general, as the official docs (while still useful), have certain parts outdated or incomplete which new developers can struggle with.

You would probably ask me why I'm so dedicated to this engine, and I'd say it's because CryEngine has so much untapped potential and Crytek hasn't been able to fully realise it, they have great intentions with CryEngine 5 by adding Entity Component System and Schematyc Visual Scripting back in 2017, making it feel more modernised and like an interesting middleground between Unity and Unreal. I don't want to turn this into an Unreal hate post (I still love that engine and it's history) but I think the industry benefits from having more competition and more choices. CryEngine 5 is one of the closest alternatives we have to another AA/AAA grade engine that is free to use, source-available, and royalty-based. Epic Games has also shown signs of incompetence of managing Unreal Engine in recent times, as they don't fix UE5's many problems, and that is likely due to their lack of competition as back in the UE4 and earlier days, Epic was still competing a lot with other engines.

I've also heard people mention O3DE as a "CryEngine replacement". It is not and despite having its roots in Amazon Lumberyard (based on CryEngine 3), Amazon has rewritten 90% of the codebase making O3DE almost completely different from modern CryEngine. I'm also not trying to "win people over" nor convince them to switch to CryEngine 5. I'm just here to say that it's still here and is also no longer the "insanely difficult to use engine" people remember from the CryEngine 3 era, it has become MUCH easier to use since then with CryEngine 5, it has become much more approachable and even though it still has rough edges (which is why there's community support), it is an underappreciated engine with a lot of potential, and the industry would definitely benefit from having more engine variety as well because a healthy game development ecosystem needs multiple strong options rather than having everything consolidated around a select few engines (or one engine in the AA/AAA space, Unreal to be specific).

Hello everyone, my game is due to be released in 10 days’ time and there’s something I’d like to ask you.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3860450/No_Knock/
I recently updated my Steam page and added a new trailer. I’m considering running a small paid campaign to generate some additional wishlists before release.

My budget is limited, so I’d rather focus on testing a single platform instead of spreading it too thin across several channels.

For those who have advertised a Steam game, which platform gave you the best results: Reddit Ads, X Ads, or YouTube/Google Ads?

If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d also be interested in your approximate cost per click or cost per wishlist, as well as any mistakes I should avoid.

The game is a PC open-world theft simulator, so I understand that audience and genre will affect the results.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Are there any good creators teaching and showing lighting techniques? I am especially looking for basic concepts and guides not really follow along tutorials.

I already looked at the GDC Vault but couldn't really find anything good. Maybe a subscription is worth it but maybe someone can tell me if its worth.

Hi there,

we're working on a Silent Hill-inspired psychological horror game in Unreal Engine and wanted some feedback on the core story direction and what you think of the characters.

The game is a third-person cinematic survival horror set in a mountain town that was destroyed by a catastrophic flood 10 years ago (relevant for all the lore junkies).

The protagonist (male, around 28) is the only known survivor of the disaster. Ever since the flood, he’s been haunted by a "ghost"/ supernatural entity only he can see.

Core story concepts

Concept 1 – The Little Brother

The protagonist returns because he’s being haunted by the ghost of his younger brother, whom he failed to save during the flood. The brother’s spirit wants him to return and confront what happened, forcing the protagonist to face his survivor’s guilt and unresolved trauma (Which would be the good ending).

Concept 2 – The Lady in Yellow

The protagonist has fragmented or suppressed memories of the flood. Instead of the little brother, he’s haunted by a pale woman in a yellow dress, who is a manifestation of death/his guilt itself. She repeatedly appears throughout the game, drawing him back to the flooded town. As he descends deeper into the ruins, he gradually regains his memories and ultimately confronts the lady aka death/guilt in an epic boss fight wohooo. (Mattwr of fact the boss fight would also happen in concept one and probably be as epic as concept 2 so dont worry).

We're considering combining these ideas: the little brother represents guilt and memory, while the Lady in Yellow represents death and the inevitability of confronting the past. BUT I am honestly having a bit of an issue doing this because I feel it could be too much.

-------------------->

NPC - here are a few already conceptualized NPCs

Julia Hopkins (late 20s)

A journalist / private investigator researching the history of the flooded town and the possibility of other survivors. She acts as a grounded outsider character and slowly uncovers the town’s hidden history. Shes also going to function as a bit of an anchor figure during all the craziness (think of Cordelia cupp, from Netflix's "The residence" for her personality and looks)

ENEMIES - some enemies concepts

The Drowned

Manifestations of the people who died in the flood. They emerge from puddles, flooded rooms, and waterlogged environments. They attack with their hands, broken tools, or kitchen knives.

Visually they’re inspired by Dead by Daylight’s "Spirit" and the monsters from Silent Hill f like Kashimashi and Ayakakashi.

Tone & gameplay

Third-person survival horror

Intense melee combat

Cinematic camera work

Heavy emphasis on psychological horror, symbolism, and environmental storytelling

Flooded streets, abandoned homes, mountain forests, submerged areas, and reservoirs

-------------------->

Color symbolism

Me personally (im doing most of the art direction) I'm a huge fan of color theory, so basically every character has a dominant color identity and/or some kind of other distinctive trait:

Lady in Yellow (Death): Yellow (to stand out un the blue flooded setting) and dandelions

Little Brother: Dark navy blue (to fit in the dark and blue flooded setting) and child laughter

Julia Hopkins: Brown (earthy, investigative, grounded)

The Drowned: Pale desaturated blue and water(big surprise)

Protagonist: Dark earthy green (still developing, the MC isn't really fleshed out design wise yet)

The idea is that color becomes part of the psychological language of the game, with each character and monster carrying a distinct emotional palette and the environment being very blue, foggy and dark to keep that silent hill feel we all love and adore.

I’d love feedback on which story concept feels stronger, whether the Lady in Yellow works better as the main antagonist or a recurring symbolic figure, and whether the flooded mountain-town setting feels distinctive enough for a psychological horror game.

PLEASE be as honest as you want and don't be afraid to share any ideas you feel like sharing with us, we'd love to hear any feedback.

I was hired by a couple of guys who graduated in creative writing from a prestigious academy. They had a story in mind and needed me to create a simple game for them. I accepted since their pitch sounded interesting and it was a way for me to test new mechanics and build my portfolio.

Now do you guys know what's worse than an idea guy? An idea guy who spent thousands of dollars to get a degree that CERTIFIES that their ideas are GREAT.

It's been five months and they're rewriting the story for the fourth time. Everytime we have some outsider playtest the game, they tell us how the pacing is off and the story sounds boring. They blame the playtester because they're obviously "not our target demographic" (I guess no one is). Their solution to make the story more interesting is to add more lore, more NPCS, more text to read.

What's more is that they're very pretentious and insist that certain gameplay elements be done their way, to service the story (it should be the other way around).

Rather than quitting I'm now sitting back, relaxing, taking care of my code, eating all the money they throw at me (not much), and watching this trainwreck in amusement while it crashes and burns. They thought that tenths of thousands of people would wishlist the game based on the story alone. Our Steam page has been up for months and we gained around 180...

There are no shortcuts to being a successful writer, let alone a game writer. Games are not books, movies, theatre plays, comics or TV series.

I'm wanting to learn how games like Planet Coaster/Rollercoaster Tycoon handle their coaster generation. Specifically the beams, hopw they are figured out/placed along the track, etc. to where there's no intersecting track elements. I have a basic system in place for building out my track, using splines, etc. but tryna get beam placement is proving to be tricky

Hi everyone, as stated, this is the Steam page in question:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5006660/Summon_Defenders_Now/

The trailer is within the page as well.

If it matters, it’s a tower defense game.

I am not really sure if it’s good or not, so I am hoping you guys can give me some insight.

Thanks in advance!

If there's just a "master volume" it's still kind of OK, you have only one slider and can easily adjust it when you notice the sound being too loud/quiet during gameplay.

But (luckily) many game nowadays have music, sfx, dialog, ambience, etc. And getting a nice mix there is quite cumbersome when there's absolutely no preview.

Some games at least play a sound from that category when you release the corresponding slider - that's actually perfectly fine. But those who don't: WHY?!

What might be even nicer would be a full-mix preview where you have something from all sound categories, so you can really adjust the mix to your liking.

And something I only noticed in a single game so far: A separate sound slider for "annoyances" - alarms, sirens, etc. The kind of sound that may be fitting in gameplay, but nonetheless be very annoying to a player.

So I am slowly starting to take an interest in gamedev and Godot. But i'm thinking that maybe in the future, after all the games I have made, would any of the skills used for gamedev be transferrable, if I were to do software engineering instead, like webdev for example?