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Indie Game Development Thread 3: Indie Jones and the Template of Doom

In this case, I think it would be better to join a team of game developers, and I have seen a lot of job positions on linkedin for all areas of game development and you can work remotely. You should try it. I am not very good with programming, but I have a general game development knowledge on all areas, but not specialist on any specific area. Like you give me some assets and I build an entire game out of it.

Why not do some smaller projects that you are passionate about, which will help you learn a lot, instead of caring about making money even before starting?

Don’t focus on the money, focus on having fun making your own game. I’ve been making games since the 80s, all are crap and only one got an actual ending, one has been in development on and off for nearly 20 years, still loving fiddling with them.
Currently working on a simple platformer made in Unity with the platformer template, drawing everything by hand on the iPad, kids come up with enemy designs. The Unity community is very helpful when you need C# help and there are assets for almost everything if you don’t want to make everything by yourself. Check HumbleBundle for nice collections of useful dev content.

I already do program for my job, mostly embedded systems written in C for factory machinery, plus some PLC ladder logic stuff. I have also played around in my spare time for years with various little ideas for games and stuff.

Working with others is not going to be a thing because I no doubt make more money doing what I do now. But if I could land on a great idea then I could split my time in half between my current work and a game. But as I said I have no great ideas to make it financially worth it 😢

And yes if I was to come up with something, I would probably use Unity which I’m already very familiar with.
 

Kataploom

Member
Yes, getting a good AI is very hard, but yours is looking good, the enemies are following the player very well. But would be better using something like an AI Kit from the Assets Store? I am using a complete AI framework for my game in Unreal Engine 4, as you can see on the post below. Cheers!
Thank you for your comments on how it looks :D The idea of working on this is to know how things work internally... Of course I'm not doing EVERYTHING on my own, like nav mesh which I'll just use Unity own system, but I can later try doing my own nav mesh system too... I don't plan on selling the game, even tho I want it to look and play well, it's mostly a learning project.
 

Kataploom

Member
I’ve been programming since I was a kid and would love to make a game. But I can never think of any ideas that would be worth seeing through. As in, they would actually make some money if I put all the required time in.
Try making game clones... I started making internal prototypes and stuff but I've been doing my own small stuff cloning other game levels and/or mechanics, this is one example https://datfellow.itch.io/farino-the-marino

It helps a lot to get started without having to worry about what's fun and what isn't, just for the sake of working on games and learning so.
 

Fredrik

Member
I already do program for my job, mostly embedded systems written in C for factory machinery, plus some PLC ladder logic stuff. I have also played around in my spare time for years with various little ideas for games and stuff.

Working with others is not going to be a thing because I no doubt make more money doing what I do now. But if I could land on a great idea then I could split my time in half between my current work and a game. But as I said I have no great ideas to make it financially worth it 😢

And yes if I was to come up with something, I would probably use Unity which I’m already very familiar with.
If having no idea is holding you back then I’d say just make a metroidvania, it always works 👍

Top of the head morning idea: Make the whole thing take place under water, that’ll challenge you, deep water diver exploring a sunken ship, think Exile but under water. Have gear pickups and upgrades in the form of underwater cutting torch, oxygen tanks, weight belts, magnetic boots, lamps. Weapon: harpoon, cutting torch. Hazards: air supply, water streams, ship breaking apart, weird deep water creatures, could have a big octopus hunting you too. If you want to do a Castlevania SOTN upside down castle you could have the ship slide over an edge and drop down and flip upside down.

There, have fun, start working! 😊👍
 
Try making game clones... I started making internal prototypes and stuff but I've been doing my own small stuff cloning other game levels and/or mechanics, this is one example https://datfellow.itch.io/farino-the-marino

It helps a lot to get started without having to worry about what's fun and what isn't, just for the sake of working on games and learning so.

I already have made many clones, plus various mechanics and ideas. Not knowing how to code games is not my issue, it’s having good ideas that stand a chance to make money.

I guess I’m hoping for a largely new idea, instead of just making something from a well trodden genre. That’s where the difficulty comes in…genuinely new ideas are really hard to think of.
 

udkultimate

Member
Fursan al-Aqsa Remake: Brutal Combat Gameplay

Take a deep dive into the frenetic, gory and bloody Combat Mechanics of Fursan al-Aqsa Remake, the most BASED and REDPILLED game of ALL times, created by Nidal Nijm, the most BASED game developer on Steam:



Buy Fursan al-Aqsa Classic now on Steam and receive the Remake as a free update:

Mobile Version Combat Gameplay:


INSANE Explosions Gameplay:
https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursa...osque/videos/fursan-al-aqsa-remake-explosions

Screenshot_-_26_11_2022_03_24_55.png


This trailer shows the core gameplay of Fursan al-Aqsa Remake, the updated combat mechanics and also the updated enemies AI and the updated Zionist Soldier Model (the 1st variation).

You can notice a HUGE difference and improvement on the enemies behaviour, thanks to this AMAZING kit I am using for Unreal Engine 4:

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/ai-behavior-toolkit

This is one of the most advanced Artificial Intelligence Frameworks for Unreal Engine, as it is based on behaviours. So you setup different behaviours and reactions for the enemies, alongside situations to trigger these behaviours, like what the enemy should do if he sees you, if he hears the bullets, or if he hears other enemy dying close to him, what to do if the players gets out of his sight, patrol, investigate, and many other cool things. But as always, I changed a lot this AI Framework, added many new functions and extra features (I improved the AI hearing and peripheral vision), and I also integrated with this another Locomotion System:

https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/advanced-locomotion-system-v1

I used from this system mainly the Ragdoll Physics and some of the movements (since I added some new animations) to make the enemies animation a bit different from the player's animations (just like in Fursan al-Aqsa Classic). This way makes the game's animations more appealing and varied.

Screenshot_-_26_11_2022_03_25_37.png


Other new feature I implemented is the new Super Headshot, which blows up the enemies' heads with a Cinematic Camera. To perform the Super Headshot you simply need to perform a headshot while in bullet time. Super Headshots now give player 30HP of health, while Normal Headshots give player 15HP of health. However, for keeping the gameplay balanced, there is a cool down time on both the Bullet Time and the Super Headshot.

I already remade the Knife Kills (Stealth Kills) in Unreal Engine 4, and now it works perfectly, it is easier to perform, and it is not buggy as on the classic version. You just approach the enemy from behind and press V. But you need to approach him without too much delay, because if you stay too much behind him, he will feel your presence, turn around and shoot at you! I will add the front kill animation as well. The knife kills give player 50HP of health!

Screenshot_-_24_11_2022_01_54_06.png


Added the Wall Running, which makes the player invincible for some seconds, and also the automatic health regeneration (1HP by second), there is no need for health packs anymore. So removing the healthpack means the best way to gain health is killing the enemies, so this will turn the player in a killer machine haha!!! So you must kill to survive!!!

The next step now will be finish the demo mission, since now the basic game framework is done. I hope now in the end of December to release Fursan al-Aqsa Remake Demo on Steam and Fursan al-Aqsa Mobile Demo on Playstore, to allow you have a taste of what awaits on the full game.

fursan-al-aqsa-remake-IndieDB-GOTY-2022.png


Last but not least, the Indie of the Year 2022 competition has just began on IndieDB:

https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursan-al-aqsa-knights-of-al-aqsa-mosque/images

And since Fursan al-Aqsa Classic Definitive Edition (the last update) fixed the biggest problems of my game (security cameras logic, mission objective indicators, mini map, checkpoints and so on), I think now Fursan al-Aqsa is very enjoyable on its actual shape, so you can enjoy it while waiting for Fursan al-Aqsa Remake, and I kindly ask you, PLEASE VOTE ON FURSAN AL AQSA MAYBE IT CAN BECOME AMONG THE BEST INDIE GAMES OF 2022, which in turn will give the visibility Fursan al-Aqsa needs to be a trully successful indie game.

Thanks and until next time!
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Thinking of getting back into some game devin'. Should probably go back to one of my older projects, but I want to tackle random level generation so I'm going to try my hand at a roguelike (as in, a game like Rogue).

Wonder how that'll go in Game Maker. Aside from the level generating there's also pathfinding and FOV to take into account, two other things I've never coded before, but I guess that'll make for a nice learning experience.
 

udkultimate

Member
Fursan al-Aqsa Game made in the list of Top 100 Indie Games of 2022 at IndieDB. So vote for making it among the Top 10 Indie Games of 2022!

Steam Winter Sales and Top 10 Indie Games of 2022

Hello dear friends!

1671303806.or.92202.png


Fursan al-Aqsa Game made in the list of Top 100 Indie Games of 2022 at IndieDB:
https://indiedb.com/groups/2022-indie-of-the-year-awards/top100

Now it is competing on the top 10 of 2022!

Just scroll down to Third Person Shooter Category and click on the red button to vote!!!

1671303935.or.12851.png


Maybe if my game makes among the top 10 of 2022, this can help it to get some visibility to increase the sales, in sha Allah. As a muslim I do believe that the ultimate success and blessings is in the hands of Allah (God), but sometimes, specially now in our era of social media, we all know that just one post about a game may get viral and may make that game become a hit and success, like this game here:


After this tweet post here, a gameplay video uploaded by a Netflix employee, which reached almost 6 millions of views:


The game got coverage from almost all gaming websites and many youtubers and streamers on twitch, and I am sure this helped the game to sell a lot. So maybe something like this can happen to my game, only God knows... While this does not happen, I will keep trying, in sha Allah (God's willing).

And on next tuesday begins Steam Winter Sales and I will give a HUGE discount for Fursan al-Aqsa:

1671303691.or.82711.png



As you already know, buy Fursan al-Aqsa Classic now on Steam and receive the Remake as a FREE Update over the base game. I kindly ask for those 7.367 users who have my game on their wishlist to please, buy my game to support me! Every copy sold trully helps me!

Also, as I commented before, I applied for getting a remote job of character animator in the games industry because my game's sales on Steam are going slow and they are not enough for me making my living. I have great hopes that the Remake will be more successful, in sha Allah (God's willing), but I need a fixed salary, incoming until I finish the Remake, which I think I need from 8 to 10 months. So with a remote job I will be able to work on my game in my spare time, but I will work with peace of mind and be more productive. Working distressed fearing for the future of your family is very bad, indeed...

Even though I understand about all areas of game development, but I think that characters animation is my strength, and as so I built a portfolio and would like to showcase here some work of mine which many of you have never seen.

In example, this is a very old cutscene animation (the first cutscene) I made for my game, Fursan al-Aqsa, but in the end I decided to don't add on the game now, maybe in a future DLC or even another game. To be honest, I made this animation more as a study for myself, and I think this animation looks cool, and it serves to showcase my skills with character animations:



Also here is the compilation of ALL cutscenes I made for my game, the actual version on Steam (almost 11 minutes of cutscenes):



And here is something I made just for fun (and I think it looks hilarious), on the time I was porting UDK Engine (the engine I used to develop my game) to PS3 and Xbox360. You can see this has the same game menu and interface logic of Fursan al-Aqsa, because I used this build of the engine (my custom build) to develop Fursan al-Aqsa:



And for those who have never seen my game running on PS3, here is, the first 5 missions running on my PS3 with HEN (Homebrew Enabler) installed:



So that's all for now my friends.

May Allah bless you!

Cheers,
Nidal Nijm.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
Still working on my roguelike. I've done the part of the level generation that takes care of the layout of the dungeon, which is built of interconnected rooms and hallways. All that's left is adding decorations, defining a "critical path" and filling the level with enemies and other stuff. Still a lot to do but I'm getting there.

Heres's an example of what the algorithm is able to generate right now:
1671305945287669.png


Gotta admit, coding all this has been quite fun. Seeing my random dungeons getting more complete and more complex as the week went by was very satisfying.

I've also taken care of pathfinding, which has been much simpler than what I was expecting thanks to Game Maker's built in features.

Fursan al-Aqsa Game made in the list of Top 100 Indie Games of 2022 at IndieDB. So vote for making it among the Top 10 Indie Games of 2022!
Congrats man! What did it take to make it there?
 
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udkultimate

Member
Still working on my roguelike. I've done the part of the level generation that takes care of the layout of the dungeon, which is built of interconnected rooms and hallways. All that's left is adding decorations, defining a "critical path" and filling the level with enemies and other stuff. Still a lot to do but I'm getting there.

Heres's an example of what the algorithm is able to generate right now:
1671305945287669.png


Gotta admit, coding all this has been quite fun. Seeing my random dungeons getting more complete and more complex as the week went by was very satisfying.

I've also taken care of pathfinding, which has been much simpler than what I was expecting thanks to Game Maker's built in features.


Congrats man! What did it take to make it there?
WOW man, I trully admire your skills to generate random dungeons. I am not a programming guy hahaha, and I don't even have an idea of how to make procedural level generation. Congratulations my bro!!! It's coming nicely. And I think this has a very good market, roguelike games. Keep up the good work!

About my game, I think this is a result of hard work promoting it on social media since 2018, almost 4 years developing this last version of my game, and publishing on many forums, releasing it on Steam, getting people to play and give me a feedback, listening to these feedbacks, improving my game to please my players and so on.
 

neko.works

Member
Hi everyone, happy new year :messenger_beaming:

I'm currently working on 2 new games planned for this year :messenger_grinning_sweat:

  • Episode 3 of my JRPG series "Light Fairytale". Here's the first trailer.



  • A retro arcade racer "Super Night Riders S1" - I'm also turning this into a series with S2 already planned :messenger_grinning_sweat:

rgcg7Rw.gif


More info on my website: neko.works or Twitter: twitter.com/bakanekofr

By the way, most of my games are heavily discounted now so please have a look :messenger_winking:

Good luck with your projects :messenger_grinning:
 

udkultimate

Member
Hi everyone, happy new year :messenger_beaming:

I'm currently working on 2 new games planned for this year :messenger_grinning_sweat:

  • Episode 3 of my JRPG series "Light Fairytale". Here's the first trailer.



  • A retro arcade racer "Super Night Riders S1" - I'm also turning this into a series with S2 already planned :messenger_grinning_sweat:

rgcg7Rw.gif


More info on my website: neko.works or Twitter: twitter.com/bakanekofr

By the way, most of my games are heavily discounted now so please have a look :messenger_winking:

Good luck with your projects :messenger_grinning:

Man, I love these retro racing games, looking forward for this. I already shared some of your work on Twitter. Congratulations man!!!

And now a new update of my game:

Fursan al-Aqsa Remake Demo Release Trailer

fursan-al-aqsa-demo-release-trailer.png




This is the official release trailer for Fursan al-Aqsa Remake Demo, the most BASED and REDPILLED game of all times developed by the most BASED game developer on Steam, me, Nidal Nijm.

Fursan al-Aqsa Remake is a brand new version of the iconic game Fursan al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque!

This demo can be downloaded from Steam, IndieDB and Itch.io:


https://www.indiedb.com/games/fursa...a-mosque/downloads/fursan-al-aqsa-remake-demo

https://nidal-nijm-games.itch.io/fursan-al-aqsa-knights-of-al-aqsa-mosque

As for those who own Fursan al-Aqsa on Steam, I updated the game launcher with a new button to launch Fursan al-Aqsa Remake Demo.

Updated_Fursan_al-Aqsa_Game_Launcher.png


If you do not own my game yet, do not miss the last days of Steam Winter Sale to buy Fursan al-Aqsa by 50% OFF and get this Remake for FREE, once it is finished!

Some observations about this Demo:

1- I forgot to add the command to return to main menu whenever the player does not get any rank on this mission.

2- I forgot to teach players how to do knife kills (I assumed you know because of Fursan al-Aqsa classic), just get on the enemy's back and press V once you see the icon "Finish Him". For the full game I will add more executions, not only with knife, but also with pistols and rifles, in the best John Wick style!

3- I made Fursan al-Aqsa Remake a bit easier than the Classic version because many people did not enjoy the overly hard challenge of Fursan al-Aqsa Classic. Think on this demo map as something like a Tournament Map, E-Sports (hunting enemies) to train your skills and train how to perfect the new gameplay features like Wall Running, Headshots, Super Headshots, the updated Bullet Time, Knife Kills and also exploding Grenades on Air!

So I kindly ask you to play this Demo and give me a sincere feedback.

Until next time!
 

wtftad

Member
Yo guys, it's been a while !

Dropping by to announce I actually launched the official website for the game I've been working on :)

https://helvetii-game.com/

(now the game is to guess which podcast's promotional code I used for the squarespace website)

Necro bump!

This game was released this week and I do rather enjoy it!

Gives me strong Vanillaware vibes. Great job on the game and I hope it does really well for you and your team!

Steam Page

tu8wuwS.png


ajrulbN.jpg
 

udkultimate

Member
Fursan al-Aqsa Mobile Release Trailer

This is the release trailer for Fursan al-Aqsa Mobile, the most BASED game on Playstore!



fursan-al-aqsa-mobile-demo-download.png


The most BASED game of all times now comes to Android to piss off Zionists and let them Seethe and Cry! Get ready to smash Zionist Thugs on the Go! Fursan al-Aqsa Mobile is a world-class Free to Play MOBILE-first experience, down to its core and it comes with full Google Play Integration (Player Stats, Achievements and so on):

Screenshot_20230207-214929_Fursan_al-Aqsa_Mobile.jpg


Screenshot_20230208-200725_Google_Play_Games.jpg


Screenshot_20230208-200729_Google_Play_Games.jpg


Get it now for FREE on Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.NidalNijmGames.FursanAqsaMobile

Please, download, play and leave a sincere user review and rating on Playstore!

PS: For the best experience and to increase the BASED factor it is recommended to play this game inside Buses and Airplanes.

I know no one likes Ads in games, but be sure that whenever you watch or click on the Ads I integrated inside Fursan al-Aqsa Mobile, you will be helping me TOO MUCH, in sha Allah!

I plan to release new missions periodically, and for each mission I will add some achievements, to make the game more enjoyable while players wait for the next mission. I am also thinking on doing the same for Fursan al-Aqsa Remake on Steam, release new missions one by one instead of waiting 10 months to release all missions together.

This is a similar approach to Early Access, but for new players who buy the game, they will have access to the full campaign of the Classic Version, and they will be able to play the Remake, periodically, mission by mission, and this Remake will be a free update.

A nice addition is that finally I was able to integrate Steam Online Subsystem with UE4. Now Fursan al-Aqsa Remake is fully integrated with Steam and I also added some cool achievements on the Remake Demo (only for those who own the game on Steam), so now you will have a lot of fun unlocking them.

Screenshot_-_11_02_2023_16_20_41.png


Screenshot_-_11_02_2023_16_20_54.png


Added to this, I made some small changes (listening to your feedback) which improved a lot the gameplay experience:

* Return to main screen if no rank earned;
* Increased bullets speed to 27000 (it was 9.000 unreal units);
* Increased the time for reset Super Headshots to 20s;
* Reduced the Super Headshots Cutscenes duration;
* Increased the health regeneration to 5HP by second (instead of 1 HP) because with faster the bullets the game became a bit harder;

If you have my game on your Steam Account, you just need to update the game for being able to unlock these achievements. If not, so please, buy my game to support me.

Cheers and until next time!
 

mopspear

Neo Member
This is my game: MOMOgatari

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It's a hybrid shmup/rpg. You can walk around and talk to people like in any JRPG but then you choose a mission which is a side-scrolling shmup stage with a boss at the end. You earn money by killing enemies in the shmup stages, which can be spent on items and upgrades in the RPG stages. Abilities can be earned in the RPG stages which carry over to the shmup stages, and so on. I think it has good back and forth between modes, making each matter. There will be a few "town" areas but right now, there is only the ship you are stationed on that you can explore. You can see more updates at my website: www.moptec.net

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mopspear

Neo Member
I really admire all the projects in this thread. It's all very inspiring stuff.

Out of curiosity, when do you guys work on these things? I feel like I'm always burnt out from my job such that I don't want to do anything but play games on the weekends.
I have a ton of tiny breaks at work as an online ESL teacher. I also wake up really early to work on it before work. Also, I get super addicted to coding sometimes and ride that motivation wave as far as it takes me.
 

TintoConCasera

I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
I really admire all the projects in this thread. It's all very inspiring stuff.

Out of curiosity, when do you guys work on these things? I feel like I'm always burnt out from my job such that I don't want to do anything but play games on the weekends.
After work and on weekends. When you like your own project, working on it is almost like a game, and can be very fun and rewarding.
 
This is my game: MOMOgatari

22.png


It's a hybrid shmup/rpg. You can walk around and talk to people like in any JRPG but then you choose a mission which is a side-scrolling shmup stage with a boss at the end. You earn money by killing enemies in the shmup stages, which can be spent on items and upgrades in the RPG stages. Abilities can be earned in the RPG stages which carry over to the shmup stages, and so on. I think it has good back and forth between modes, making each matter. There will be a few "town" areas but right now, there is only the ship you are stationed on that you can explore. You can see more updates at my website: www.moptec.net

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Interesting, I never saw that combination of RPG and pure shooter instead of battles. The font is really clean and I like the 4:3 ratio. I'll try the demo when I get a chance.
 
I have a ton of tiny breaks at work as an online ESL teacher. I also wake up really early to work on it before work. Also, I get super addicted to coding sometimes and ride that motivation wave as far as it takes me.
How did you find your way into coding? What language are you using currently?

I work full-time as a software engineer, and it kinda takes a lot of the joy out of writing code. I don't know your situation, but I would assume it's better that you don't do this for your day-job.

After work and on weekends. When you like your own project, working on it is almost like a game, and can be very fun and rewarding.
I totally get that. With respect to game dev, I imagine there's a ton of upfront work/boilerplate before anything tangible is produced - like displaying a 3D triangle with basic lighting. Thinking about that has intimidated me and made me feel like it would be a long while before I would start to see the results of my labor.

Then again, I've never actually used a pre-built engine and my experience mostly comes from my computer graphics + game dev courses in college where the emphasis is just on building your engine with 3rd party libraries.
 

mopspear

Neo Member
How did you find your way into coding? What language are you using currently?

I work full-time as a software engineer, and it kinda takes a lot of the joy out of writing code. I don't know your situation, but I would assume it's better that you don't do this for your day-job.
I make everything in GameMaker Studio 2 so GML. It's great for 2D stuff. I'm trying to be a front-end web developer but no one will hire me.
 
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