How To Escape Prototyping Hell

[@apoxfox]

The first 500 people to use my link skl.sh/apoxfox12241 will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare!

[@silchasruin4487]

What you said "Follow the fun" is extremely important. I've learned that it's okay to set aside your gripes about your game if it doesn't detract from it. I wish I had even a fraction of your artistic talent. I've tried to learn and I don't have all thumbs when it comes to art, more like all brick. I don't even have an eye for it, so art direction is a no go for me. I would argue that you don't even need platforming in your game, your game would look great as a Choose Your Own Adventure or story based horror/puzzle game. I've made so many prototypes and ideas for a game and ended up throwing them away because they were nothing but cubes or spheres as placeholders. It's also way better to flesh out parts of your idea because too many times I've spent way too much time on systems and behind the scenes code that I look at it months later and don't see any progress. Playtesting is also extremely important. I remember letting my older brother play Elden Ring, he doesn't play too much and what he does play is racing games. I actually felt bad watching him struggle with even the most basic enemies, and my helping by giving pointers about flasks and attacking or blocking was too much for him to process. Great video, love the art.

[@apoxfox]

I’m glad you resonated in some way, thanks so much for the kind words! Game dev certainly isn’t a linear path, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it :)

[@rmdcompositions]

Happy to be on the team! Let's get this party started! 😎

[@Jwduth]

Yo it’s the goblin guy! Peak composer ❤

[@Jad3D3v]

I can definitely relate to how prototyping hell goes down, as one of my projects has been through many identities and styles before it finally landed on a specific thing that works. I am glad to have this video to learn from so I can further strengthen my knowledge.

[@apoxfox]

It’s tough out here haha but at least we don’t have to go through it alone!

[@Jad3D3v]

@@apoxfox True that, and I look forward to showing off what I got in the works soon.

[@ZezGames]

Great vid as always, loving to see how the game is coming along!

[@ps780]

I feel like we forget this a lot, thank you for making this video!

[@akwashington]

This video literally couldn't have come at a better time for me. I've been banging my head against the wall with a game idea for over a year now, and I think I'm finally ready to let it go. Or at least let it become something different than what I've been building it up to be in my head. Great video!

[@apoxfox]

Love that for you, best of luck with your game!

[@mb_kieran]

i'm also a victim of the "art first, game second" mentality when it comes to game dev. i've pivoted to just writing down an idea for a game and then breaking down the systems and gameplay into pseudo-code so i can focus on the more important bits first. it's been working wonders and i'm having a lot of fun with it! now to actually make a game lol also, small nitpick: could you please credit the other games you showed off in your video? i saw binding of isaac and celeste, but there were some others in there that looked interesting and i'd like to check em out. also some people might not know what binding of isaac or celeste are. just a small courtesy for the devs and indie fans alike. thanks for the video brother!

[@gatorsoup]

Ah prototype hell, such a fun place. Great video with a lot of good info in it, a lot of stuff I def always need to hear. As an aside, I love the visual style of your game, it is really pleasant.

[@jomesias]

Great video thanks!! The first pass for a prototype is to break technical barriers!! After you know how the game engine will accomplish what you need, it’s time for pass 2: to make the engine do what you want, in the way you need it to! After this it’s all downhill, you’re not out of the forest yet but you have a tent built and you’ve found food and water lol I design in Unreal, and once you have the interfaces for you classes communication it’s just about improving and expanding! Best of luck!

[@apoxfox]

Great advice! Beat of luck to you too :)

[@devilichus]

Same struggles go on with character design and arts. When you blue sky iterate all the process goes faster but when you are building a big lore around the characters right out from the start yeah sometimes it helps but when you're trying to get a portfolio finished it truly confuses your perfection and cripples you having strong bond with the characters even before putting any effort for the alternative silhouettes and ideas. So my best characters so far doesn't even have a name now. I will find the names after the final illustrations. Now I only know their settings, and what equipments they should use for their survival and the villain hero separations. This idea makes me comfortable when trying and breaking stuff otherwise seeing them too important is just crippling the creativity and hurts the iteration process.

[@Dagan474]

It's over for me, friends... I'm going to the army for 3 years soon and I thought I'd be able to finish it in that time. Thanks anyway for the thoughtful videos, but this is probably the end of my journey.

[@Sharshor]

what's the app u used in 0:14 ?

[@AaronKnipe]

also curious about this

[@sheebajeeva2680]

Millnote

[@sebay4654]

I've been in prototyping hell for about 2 years, Because I admittedly struggle with most aspects of developing A Game which aren't writing. My Main Skill going into game dev is writing (characters and world's). Ive done several singular mechanics play tests between previous prototypes such as the Parkour (Wall running) system test but because i wrote that during a time when i was up for 4 days in a row my brain doesn't actually understand how it works just that i some how made it work even incredibly janky, i was told that it was fun as feedback, but of course because my brain doesn't even understand how it actually works now (especially since its now been a year since that prototype) i have no clue how to fix it's bugs or make it tie in to the skill tree, So Prototype abandoned and i feel like ive gone nowhere in 2 years because i don't even have a sketch of any of the characters (that I haven't deleted out of shame for them not looking like how i want them to look (if i can't get them to convey the characters vibe then it's a Fail to me) but i also cant even draw a perfect circle. And then theirs my literally nonexistent budget, Lack of and Anxiety in regards to the law, studio killing genre choice(Immersive Sims), My Depression and Anxiety which come from my C-Ptsd, along with being autistic even if high functioning on my own(that has its limits especially when i need to learn and master like 12+Different roles wnd perform them simultaneously to make my game as i envision it), and of course the fact thst im afraid to talk to people directly and am half hoping my comment doesn't get seen by anyone just so this exists more as a screaming into the void

[@kloa4219]

I needed this, I got stuck on this lol

[@Computerdom]

I did not completely understand but I did watch the video so it was interesting .

[@kantallive]

Please post the steam page to gather wishlists asap.

[@apoxfox]

Working on it!