The Internet Played My Game (and it did not go well)

[@advancenine]

Thanks for the amazing feedback on this video, everyone. This video is now months old and I've addressed the issues I discussed in it. I apologize to those of you who felt I was complaining. This was simply me identifying and communicating issues which I had not resolved yet. In the weeks following this video, I was able to improve the situation and the demo median playtime and wishlist velocity have both been massively increased (which I am beyond excited about). Thanks to this amazing community for making me better! I would be super pumped if you played the new and improved demo: store.steampowered.com/app/2300340/Night_Stones

[@Drakkart]

that is a neat little thing you got going there. checked out the demo game crashed at first launch on osx but worked the second try. since there are no controllers for macs i am kinda screwing around using wasd but it is a neat little casual adventure game. Now i guess with 245k views your game pretty much got all the attention you wished for so congratulations! well done!

[@advancenine]

@@Drakkart thanks for giving my game a chance. I appreciate it. You can use controllers with Macs if you want to play with one. I’ve implemented universal controller support so should work with anything you can throw at it. Have fun and thank you!

[@Drakkart]

@@advancenine hmm but is there a controller that works? idk maybe meanwile there is... thanks for responding and as said best of luck to you.

[@advancenine]

@@Drakkart there are hundreds of controllers that work with the game on Windows, Mac, and Steam Deck. Is there a specific controller you are having an issue with?

[@Drakkart]

@@advancenine i just recall that i tried to connect a controller a few years ago went wrong never tried again because well i have a mouse you know ;)

[@booi_mangang]

if there are five coins, put five coin sprites. It looks more rewarding

[@advancenine]

Thats a good call... I like that. Easy to implement and is fulfilling to players. Great idea. Thank you!

[@georgezimmer5622]

@@advancenine Was gonna comment on this too, it's all about feeling. Change the color, make it red, make a different sprite like a pouch, it's up to you but don't make it a regular coin sprite. In the player mind this is something common, it doesn't mater if the text say 5, it's still something you see everywhere, it's not special, make it special.

[@ccharboneau344]

Make different denominations and make them flashier/sound more rewarding to pick up, like how WL3 does it

[@marksmithcollins]

@@advancenine Or at least 5 chimes effect

[@DoctorTemblor]

Getting rid of numbers is a good idea to me

[@BuckeyeBunny]

It's truly refreshing to see a dev who wholeheartedly is passionate about the game AND listening to feedback, even when it's not always positive. I love the vibrant graphics and exploration offered by Night Stones, which is why I backed it on Kickstarter. Looking forward to playing future iterations, and yes, I dig that responsive music. 😁 p.s. Wait, I'm "sarcastic?" I didn't think anyone would notice. 😈

[@advancenine]

I appreciated your feedback so much! It was so fun to watch you play. I love your chill vibe and you have no idea how much I appreciate your support on the project! PS: I didn't think you were sarcastic but it said so in your KZbin About page so I didn't want to give viewers a false impression :)

[@Ed-jk1mg]

I also have a day job and 3 kids, still, 13000 wishlists seems like a huge number to me, I just don't see how that's a failure. and this is your first game, right? Seeing how fast your developing I'm sure it will keep getting better in the future. good luck

[@advancenine]

Heck yeah its a massive number and I'm blessed to be fortunate enough to acquire so many. But what Next Fest taught me is that this number just isn't enough to bring organic visibility to the project. Being ranked 150th sounds great... but very few people will get to the 15th page of search results when looking for a new game. This is my sixth game and I have nothing but failure behind me. But every failure teaches me something and I remain hopeful I can find sucess in a project eventually :) Thanks for your awesome support.

[@Ed-jk1mg]

@@advancenine I see now. Yeah I guess when it's a sixth game then it's another story. I'm doing my first game and that amount of wishlist would be a dream come true. with each project you learn new stuff and receive important experience, you'll get there someday. I'm actually impressed that it's your sixth project, never give up! Out of curiosity is this your best project? Comparing by rank

[@advancenine]

@@Ed-jk1mg This is my best project by a country mile so my failures are definitely teaching me something. And just so its said I am so appreciative for everyone's amazing support on the project. The very last thing I am is ungrateful.

[@superdookiebros3788]

An issue with being 150th is like what was said, that's the 15th page. Usually I stop after 5-6 pages when I'm looking around for indies. Unless it ends up being a breakout like Palworld/Helldivers 2, it'll be too easy to get drowned out given how many daily simultaneous releases there are, that come and go instantly.

[@Ed-jk1mg]

@@superdookiebros3788 well I guess it depends on what you call a success. A 100k revenue in a year would be a dream come true and I would be free to continue making games for at least two years, so that's a success for me. Palworld is an extreme exception

[@diegofloor]

I get that you are trying to make this a business, but careful when taking player's feedback! Don't compromise your ideas too much to appease questionable requests. You know that saying 'the customer is always right, on matters of taste'? what it means here is if the player tells you he is bored, that is the an unquestionable truth. They are bored. When they try explaining why they are bored and come up with something like "I would not be bored if I could hit enemies on the head with a stick" that is not necessarily true.

[@alpaga4820]

Very well said. It's kind of like in medicine. The players always know how they feel better than anyone else, but they don't always know exactly what would make them feel better. That's why some study game design for years to know how to elicit the intended feelings. It's not just about knowing how to code.

[@sujimayne]

Players are great at detecting issues, but not equally so at providing solutions.

[@CircusFreaks666]

That's very right

[@foxxy706]

One thing I heard was „the player is always right when identifying a problem, but always wrong on how to fix it“. I can’t remember where I heard that, but In my personal experience this is right most of the time.

[@tTaseric]

One of the things my game dev lecturers would always tell me is that players are really good at noticing that something is off, but really bad at telling you what it is. That's why QA can be infinitely more complex than "being paid to play games"

[@Ghost_Pig]

From my perspective, your game lacks a unique selling point. I mean it looks cute and is obviously made with a lot of passion and heart, but as a player I am not interested in what you put into it, I want to know what I get from it. Is there a unique gameplay mechanic? Will the story make me cry even 10 years after I played it? Will I find things in the world I have never seen anywhere else? Not sure if you are just not communicating this well enough. Maybe you could narrow it down to one or two major points (your should play this game because...) and base your marketing on that. BTW I know I sound like a business consultant moron And please don't forget: even if you think your are not successful as a game developer - you are successful as a KZbinr and a community builder. I love watching your devlogs and I know for sure I am by far not the only one.

[@bearwynn]

yeah it doesn't have any immediately identifiable hooks from the footage I see

[@duhsein]

Yeah, it does lack that extra flare to distinguish it from being a generic looking game. The main character itself is very bland since he's just a generic looking boy. Using primary colors (blue and white) in your character design is not appealing, even more so if he's exploring the land, he should have the appropriate equipment and apparel for such feat. The same applies for the overworld, way too many primary colors and most of them been in same hue and saturation. Tunic is a great reference for character and environment design in this type of game,

[@SoularSpectrum]

market it as a "dungeon crawler without combat" that's pretty unique

[@advancenine]

Yo! This is super helpful insight. I’ll work on my messaging about the games unique selling points. Thanks for pointing this out. PS: you don’t sound like a business consultant moron. You sound like a helpful business consultant and I truly appreciate it!

[@kroanosm617]

I agree. It just feels like something is missing. I need missions, intense combat, difficulties to overcome with big rewards for succeeding. The game needs to make me addicted.

[@scottlott3794]

A quote from the video: "I'm not trying to make MY dream game, I'm trying to make YOURS". That's your #1 problem man. If you make something YOU love to play, others will love it too.

[@advancenine]

While I appreciate your sentiment and admit it’s a tough pill to swallow. In this specific case, the data is against you. Since this video, I’ve been better about implementing audience feedback and this has improved my median demo playtime by over 5x. This, in turn, has led to a massive influx of wishlists and the problems I revealed in this video have been resolved.

[@OandCoGames]

lol "1-foot-tall baby" really caught me off guard. Thanks for sharing your experience at NextFest. Progress looks excellent and it's great to see you iteratively refining the game based on feedback and playtesting. I'm excited for this one!

[@advancenine]

Can you believe that guy!? I should be 2 feet tall... MINIMUM! Thanks for the kind words and support. I truly appreciate it!

[@Nathan_Baker]

HELLO GUYS, I love your game as much as night stones and my excitment for both are imesurable, but remember PARTICLES!!! XD

[@OandCoGames]

@@Nathan_Baker lol don't you worry, we've got thems particles coming.

[@TheSpiritForceGD]

The addition of the fang weeds is a good one. It adds a little excitement that comes with having an "enemy" present, but they are more like puzzles/obstacles that don't go far enough to betray your original no-combat vision for the project.

[@skandev1921]

One thing i think would be a good addition , is when an npc interaction is needed to progress i thnk it should have some kind of visual indication like An exclamation mark on top of its head for example

[@advancenine]

This is such a good idea. You will see this change in the next version of the demo and I REALLY appreciate the suggestion. Thank you :)

[@skandev1921]

@@advancenine Exciting!! looking forward to it =)

[@tibitzu365]

Yeah, but that is so cliche. Good idea but I would do something a bit different like like making the npc flash a gold color or flash a speech bubble above the head with a message and an identifying sound.

[@dawk7]

​@@tibitzu365It's cliche because it works. Although for sure, gotta mind how eye-catching the marker is: It has to be eye-catching to keep it noticeable, but not too brutal as to be annoying.

[@tibitzu365]

True. I just hated how many games used exactly the same interfaces of WoW because that's what worked for that game. I couldn't count how many clones of that game there were.@@dawk7

[@moonshot9056]

If you want to restrict people getting out of bounds, please don't add invisible barriers, do something cool like add a wind that blows them back into the map, I always love it when little things like that are added.

[@CateWeiss]

I have been following for a bit now, and just finished playing the demo. One thing I noticed that I'm not sure has been pointed out yet - I was able to carry a box from the little house over to the locked gate and set the box next to the wall. I then jumped on top of the box and over the wall without getting the key which then allowed me to jump cut straight to the next areas. You might want to implement something to not allow you to leave the house area with the boxes. Maybe a pop up from them asking you not to walk off with their things? I'm very excited for this game to release! You're doing awesome with it. :)

[@advancenine]

Whoooooooooooa! Thats an amazing bug to find. Nice job. That was really smart to carry it that far. Great idea for a fix too. I'll do it. Thanks for your help :)

[@jonathanj8303]

There's a flip side to being 150th, and that's while you 100% want Nightstones to be commercially successful, the definition of 'success' is way different for you than even a studio of a dozen people. In the 60's Rover/LandRover were just a minor player in the UK car market, and some journo asked the CEO if he was worried about having only 3% of the market. "Not really, because it's exactly the 3% I want." I don't know what the conversion rate will be for the 13k wishlists, and obviously making that number bigger is always good, but I'd guess that a lot of those 'reseravtions' are from people who are watching the dev logs. They're actively interested and they like what they see. I'm not saying you should rush to make Nightstones2 in 2025, but if you deliver this game to match their expectation, you'll then have a big pool of happy customers who like what you've shown you're good at.

[@lucbloom]

Exactly. I’d be interesting to see how the other games got wishlists because showing a cool robot or a space marine will get the 14 yo boys hyped and then do a hard pass on release day. Meanwhile the dinosaurs are watching this passionate Dad chase his dream and get charmed by the nostalgic feel of it. Zzzzzip goes the wallet.

[@advancenine]

I totally agree with your sentiment. I'm on a path to deliver the best game I possibly can and trying to garner attention for it. If it doesn't work, well, at least have my day job :)

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

@@lucbloom From what I've seen, this game will probably appeal to two types of player: the more mature folks like you and me who're looking for a cozy game with interesting gameplay mechanics to relax after a stressful day at work, and younger kids who haven't been conditioned by their peers to dismiss the colourful world and cute graphics as "lame" yet. The teen demographic will probably not be interested though, and that's perfectly fine. Know your audience and all that stuff.

[@lucbloom]

@@EvenTheDogAgrees true. On a side note, exposing my kids to this game keeps them in the 2nd category as long as possible. Thanks to Rivertails, It Takes Two, A Short Hike, Untitled Goose Game and the likes.

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

@@lucbloom Let me add another suggestion: Ibb & Obb. Only downside: you absolutely need two players, as it's a cooperative platformer.

[@KyuubiNoKami]

If i had to summarize your game it would be : "go somewhere - > Press A -> go somewhere else" The main problem of the game is lacking a "why". There are tons of puzzles,gliding,platforming etc. but this is just the world, the playground. What is needed arent more puzzles, enemies, QoL updates or rewards. What is needed is a reason so the player WANTS to endure your playground, to reach their own goal that satisfies them. Players want learn, not only mechanics but about the world, characters, their role in this world. They want to be needed. The demo so far gives none of that feeling. I can see this game be a succes in a more farm sim environment, but that would require way more characters and story development aswell as a town and house to build up. But as a classic platformer, it cannot compete with any of the other platformers out there, and there is no easy improvement that can be done on the game to catapult it to the front. Either steal from the succesful platformers the best mechanics or create a bestselling, gutwrenching story to attach it to. Or... just create the game that you would like to play. Usually that leads to way more success than listening to trends or feedback.

[@Mello_Made]

I think the game looks beautiful. But I also think it looks repetitive. I would love to see new biomes introduced and new points of interest. Each building might be a different layout but overall felt the same because the color pallet and textures stay the same. I love the changes so far and proud of you for accepting constructive criticism! I wish you the best of luck on your journey, and I hope that soon you can make game development a full-time career!!!

[@PingsGolf]

Love this devlog in particular. Showing how you tackled the problems in yiur game is always so nice to watch and learn from. Game is looking better and better each video 👍

[@CartoonCoffee]

Haha too be fair I’m also a 1 foot tall baby! But you make a great point, I’ll have to fix this in the next Night Stones Redraw. And the game is looking great! I’m glad all that feedback you’re getting is making an even better game. The more I’m in this game dev / digital product space, the more I realize it all boils down to customer service haha. How well you can listen to and implement feedback is everything.

[@advancenine]

I'm nine feet tall in real life. Just saying :P Thanks for the kind words and all the help. And I totally agree with you -> customer service is EVERYTHING!

[@dreamteckstudio]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. It's crazy how similar is your experience to ours even down to the numbers in terms of wishlists. But man, when you said that you added combat and Night Stones wasn't about that previously, it hit very close to home because with our own game we went the same path. 😮

[@advancenine]

Yo! Good to see you guys here. Love your game, love your stuff. Lets keep going and be the next indie game success stories. You in?

[@dreamteckstudio]

Heeey, thanks for replying! Yes, no backing down! We wish you all the success you deserve with Night Stones. It looks super polished, will definitely try out the demo as soon as I can get a breath of fresh air xD @@advancenine

[@Cutiebb444]

I’ve been watching night stones since dev log 2, seeing this man’s determination during these logs are so motivating to me. I’m so proud to see this game come so far ❤

[@wtmftproductions]

This was one of the most honest and relatable game dev videos I've seen in a while. Thanks! I feel encouraged! I am working on a game and also have a full-time job and family so very little time to work on it.

[@SkyGuyJedi]

well, you hooked me. i just wishlisted it and i will be playing the demo and probably putting it on my channel. Great job and it's so refreshing to have developers who care about players.

[@advancenine]

Really appreciate your kind words. And thank you sooooo much for considering showing my game on your channel 😀

[@NZMPlays]

Brother man, youre a great inspiration for anyone trying to believe in themselves getting into game dev. Its not an easy market and the gamer culture is the worst its ever been. Everyone is burnt out, everyone is over saturated. There are millions of games now, everyone has a huge backlog they will never finish. I dont have the answers here of course. But what youve made is a great piece of work and has awesome look and tech qualities to it. Youve done such an awesome job with this since its inception. I salute you dude. Please keep up the work, and make sure to rest when youre tired. There is no rush!

[@advancenine]

Hey. I just wanted to let you know this comment means the world to me. And I really appreciate your kind words and motivation. You’re an amazing friend! Thank you!

[@hahentamashii]

Didn't know you were at NextFest or that you had a kickstarter. Dedicated YT videos about these events prior to their being over would be good, you have 36K followers, some of them would be happy to participate. Congrats on your progress so far and good luck going forward.

[@advancenine]

I appreciate the feedback. I always worry I come across as too much of a salesperson. So its refreshing to get the insight from you that I could get away with making dedicated videos when I need audience participation. Thank you!

[@hahentamashii]

@@advancenine I totally understand that feeling. This is a business and you're selling a product though. Part of community building is keeping that community informed. You don't have to try to 'sell' to your followers if you don't want to, but keeping them in the-know is important. I've really enjoyed your videos so far. We're following to support you, let us do that.

[@advancenine]

@@hahentamashii Wow well thats insanely helpful feedback. I needed to hear that. You are a good friend. Thanks for your support and your awesome advice!

[@iamsushi1056]

@@advancenine your enthusiasm, genuineness, and effort going into what is obviously a passion project sells it for you. I wouldn’t worry too much about that side lol

[@Soulessblur]

@@advancenine If you're worried about it feeling too salesy or forced, perhaps it would be a good idea to time a devlog around one of these big events and include its announcement in the video, rather than make a seperate video. Especially because you run the risk of the KZbin algorithm not showing it off. This entire series is basically a self-sponsor anyway, so it should feel totally natural.

[@damiencrossley7497]

A developer taking feedback and attempting to improve on it?! A rare site in today's gaming world. BEST OF LUCK TO YA!

[@HomeCode]

Thank you so much for the update! I couldn't wait to play Night Stones and then played the demo (which I loved every second of) but was one of the peeps who felt motion sick with the camera movement. Definitely resolved! I was so happy to play the demo again and enjoyed it even more. I'll be playing the demo and exploring for a long time still :) Thank you for making this game. It's everything a game should be :)

[@advancenine]

Sorry for making you sick, peep! And I appreciate you letting me know. Its so helpful to hear what people don't like about the game. Honestly, I think its more helpful than hearing what they do like. Thanks for being cool and helpful!

[@HomeCode]

@@advancenine Please don't apologise at all! I really don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I'm prone to motion sickness and can't even play most FPS games. I love the exploration, the music, the entire vibe of the game. I just started replaying A Short Hike because I've been excited for Night Stones. Thank you so much for your efforts in this. Me and my family are cheering for you :)

[@DesignerSlashGamer]

Looking forward to showing my audience the game. I think it is excellent. I love the attention to detail and the adventure vibes!

[@advancenine]

Yo! Dude what are you doing here? I love your content. I would really appreciate a share with your audience. Thanks for the kind words and the amazing support!

[@DesignerSlashGamer]

For sure! I love games that have heart. I'm sure my viewers will really enjoy the game!@@advancenine

[@tonygoff7994]

You are clearly talented and have your head in the right spot to improve without changing the game's identity. Your going to succeed here, but just need to keep trying. Seeing as how I'm a stranger whose managed to watch your video in it's entirety, I would say your about to see the growth you need. Good luck!❤

[@bortimer96]

Hello! I’d like to share some critique that may explain why you might not be getting as much of a following as other KZbinr game devs are getting (even though your videos are 10/10). The main reason I’m not interested in wish-listing is because it doesn’t look like I’ll experience anything new that I haven’t already experienced in all the other open world fantasy-like games. In a fast-pace industry, I’d consider asking yourself “Why would someone play my game over any other open world game? What makes my game unique and eye-catching?” Just my two-sense, wonder if others feel the same way. I think a major improvement for me would be to make the main character less soulless looking.

[@patriks247]

Lol. It's two cents, not two-sense...

[@jacobbau8328]

Think this is just a you thing. I love games with this kind of art style like tunic and I find it to be bursting with soul, much more than any same old triple a realism game.

[@advancenine]

This is super good feedback. I needed to find the right audience for the game. I changed the steam tags to identify players that would like the game better and the issues I identified in this video have been resolved. I’m learning everything is iterative :)

[@rashadcolvin3518]

Regardless of the opinions of the game during Next Fest, I'll definitely be ordering the game on day one. I appreciate all your hard effort and dedication to this project. Thank you for giving us a first hand look a the process.

[@advancenine]

Aww thanks for saying that. This type of comment is so motivating. Thanks for being so dang cool :)

[@carlos7mh]

i gotta say, the stylized visuals are AMAZING! I'll be playing it for sure. Also love the dynamic music. Details like that breathe life into any game experience

[@inevgames]

I just discovered the channel, the game looks pretty good. Appeal is one of the most important steps to get a game bought and your game has it. I hope your game will come to good places.

[@advancenine]

I really appreciate the kind sentiment! Its very motivating and you have no idea how helpful it is :)

[@iamsushi1056]

I’m so glad I recommended you look into dynamic music! It makes the game so much better

[@advancenine]

I'm glad you recommended it too! It makes the world feel so alive :)

[@Blackthornprod]

great job implementing feedback man :)! Loved the devlog

[@advancenine]

Thanks dude! Appreciate all the amazing support along the way. You. Are. Amazing!

[@brandiepop]

this is what makes a great dev and you tend to see a lot more in indie devs, you actually are willing to accept that if you are making a game and there will be problems and even if you think a part of the game is perfect that doesnt mean it is, youve done a great job here showing off your ability to listen to constructive criticism and change a game for the better of potential buyers

[@Jed_Herne]

Love these devlogs!

[@advancenine]

Heck yeah! Thank you! I watched some of your stuff so I’d write tighter dialogue for the game so its amazing and rad to see you here!

[@designator7402]

I can tell you right away that your new _coin pickup_ animation will confuse a lot of people, because it makes it seem like the coin ends up on the floor, not with your character. You'll have a ton of people doubling back every time they pick one up and get frustrated because they didn't need to.

[@KittyKatty999]

Here's an idea: Give the Player the ability to unlock different "Skins" for the Player Character. Lots of people love the ability to customize their character, especially if the skins make them look like other characters or monsters. Zombies for example. Or any kind of cute anthro creature. That could help attract animal lover crowd to the game.

[@mikevwal1295]

Found out about your channel today, love the wholesome vibe you’ve got in your videos and that you’re eager to create a dream game for your audience! 😊

[@jabberwockythemonkey]

This is a great video. I love to see when people put out something they’re proud of but don’t get discouraged when it doesn’t perform as well as they had hoped. You’re listening to feedback and implementing it to create something even better. This is the right way to go about it. Well done!! Love your work!

[@Sizzyl]

this is a cool devlog, will be interested in seeing this game progress

[@Doughnut445]

I love the particle effects. I think it really brings a much needed feel to the game! I love the amount of polish you are doing, and it’s coming out GREAT so far! Keep on keepin on my man! We all share the same dream

[@sabrina0013]

I really enjoy this devlog series because your presentation is endearing, and it's easy to listen to and nice to look at. But being honest about the game itself I would never play it. It's very paint-by-numbers in its mechanics and world design, which makes fantastic demonstration material but doesn't actually do much to excite me. The character and environment art are well polished, but they don't provoke any thoughts beyond "yep, that's a generic fantasy setting". I think you might get more interest from potential buyers and supporters if you hinted at more intrigue. It's not enough to have done a good job making a game. You have to really focus in on what sets it apart.

[@denkkab1366]

> Treasure chests giving 2 coins was unfulfilling, so I made them special Clip: You found 5 coins! God dammit... Jokes aside, the improvements for the demo look really good, happy you were able to see the issues from the players' perspective and not force "your" way into the game without consideration

[@advancenine]

This comment is like death. Cmon! Thats a 250% bonus! Its the deal of the century. Thanks for the witty comment and kind sentiment...

[@denkkab1366]

@@advancenine it is indeed a great deal. Love the dedication and commitment you have for the game, just wishlisted it on Steam :)

[@Ghost_Pig]

Damn you, I just came here to make that comment 😅

[@daviddonachie5333]

Just spent 15 minutes fighting the horror of trying to fly with WASD (and holding down the space bar at the same time) to get to the chest on top of the hill below the falls, and nearly chucked my laptop away when it had 5 coins in it ...

[@advancenine]

@@daviddonachie5333 wow thats an impressive feat on a keyboard! Its easier with a controller and you can remap the keys if you wish. Any proposed improvements? Thank you so much for trying the game :)

[@GraphicOG]

This game looks fun-love me some top-down Zelda-and also gives me A Short Hike vibes. It particularly reminded me of A Short Hike when you talked about your game's camera, which seems to work similarly. Just putting it out there that investigating A Short Hike's systems could be fruitful!

[@Ish.ntsharma]

welp been here since day 1 and still in love with the devlog and the game. its been an amazing journey comming from just starting to all of this, dyam bro amazing

[@piocujj847]

This song at the end is beautiful omg, i was reading the comments listenning to it. Amazing!

[@advancenine]

Aww thanks for telling me this. All credit goes to the amazing Jonathan Oster for the music. He's made all the music for the game and I'm lucky to be working with him. There's a link to his website in the description if you want to hear more of his awesome stuff!

[@Digitt6]

dude your game looks absolutely BEAUTIFUL! idk how that can ever be a failure

[@haylees_cozycorner]

Okay this was one of my faves I played during NextFest and I’m so glad to see your transparency about the experience and what you’re doing to make the game better! I can’t wait to it all come together and I’m definitely going to check out the new demo this weekend! Keep up the amazing work

[@headscratchgames]

I really like your solution to the treasure chest and coin thing. Makes exploring the world for optional rewards feel good while also making the chests feel better. Double improvement!

[@jorgiewtf]

I’m playing your game first thing tomorrow morning. I’m a dad with 2 kids as well and you’ve inspired me immensely! Thank you! Also, I’m in school for 3D animation right now and one of my required classes is learning how to use game engines. Unity is one of them. This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it!

[@Pixelkabinett]

You and me are asset bros (I chose some of the same ones!)! That's how I know you got TASTE! The game looks awesome, keep up the good work!

[@frybreadandjam]

OMG thank you for being on MAC! I'm downloading the demo to play now. I've added to my wishlist and followed your game.

[@nickmudd]

The fact that you improved things after feedback makes you better than many AAA studios 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@advancenine]

I REALLY appreciate your feedback. The majority of people here felt the opposite which really surprised me. So your kind and validating feedback means the world to me. Thank you!

[@moonstar_connor]

Props on listening to feedback and continuing to iterate on your game! I think the polish and added depth from the new mechanics will go a long way!

[@whamcogames]

Played the demo, and loved it! I can't wait to see where you go with this - wishlisted!

[@theschmalam]

My boyfriend and I are excited to play your cute cozy game and can't wait to see the amazing things that are coming. Keep up the amazing work!❤😊

[@TrixHouseDev]

1:43 I feel you. I also have a full time job and a daughter, and I have just started developing my first indie game. Currently I don’t have even the hope for this to become my new profession, even though I would love it. For me now it’s just something more than a hobby and whatever more comes from it will just be a plus!

[@brendolbreadwar2671]

Im not sure if this game has a character creator but thats one thing that i LOVE in a game. If i can spend 30+ mins making something special, i will care so much more about that character.

[@Brxdz588]

this game looks absolutely amazing i had looked at some videos a while ago and i thought the game looked sick i have come back to your page and theres alot of new stuff i hadn't seen in my opinion this game is so good and i think it could become really big

[@xNeoGenesis]

I really liked the demo and will check out the updated one. The game is taking great shape with all the feedback you are implementing!

[@QvsTheWorld]

Of the top of my head I would say it's never bad to add npc reactions to players action. Example: - During the hit stop when an enemy is dispatched, the other nearby npc (enemy or neutral) could have a small ! over their head. Enemies could enter an aggressive or fleeing state in response. - If the player is required/expected to walk by someplace they did something, like cutting a tree, an npc. Anything that reveal more character to npc or acknowledge the impact of the user action on the world. Two things I like to keep in mind for having variety in gameplay - DKART Challenges (Dexterity, Knowledge, Adaptation, Reflex, Timing) "I think therefore I am" - Principles of animations translate well into gameplay, like charging a shot and letting go in mega man could be viewed as an application of the Anticipation principle. Having loved "A Short Hike" I'll definitely check it out if you have plan to port on switch or PS4.

[@Ari-pq4db]

This kind of video/updates are awesome , please keep them coming ❤ , love your hard work

[@dankmemequeen9581]

Pretty sure your game will be successful at launch, this was just a little bump you needed to polish things up to perfection. Great work, can't wait to play the full version!

[@Lamborghini07]

This is awesome! I will have to retry the demo again. Im VERY happy to see you fix some issues I didnt like as well as seeing you progress and mature more for the game if that makes any sense. ☺❤

[@MrDavidCollins]

My immediate reaction is that I have already played better games that look like this. I would strongly suggest advertising the features that make it stand out, ones that are easy to show. Being brutally honest, I'm just not surprised it isnt grabbing people.

[@mario_luis_dev]

this game is shaping up quite nicely, I love the art style 😍 Wish you the best of luck man, hope you can make a viable business out of this

[@BigSaur]

Massive respect for holding a job, raising kids+family life and working on this. I really struggle to work on my stuff after a full day of all that.

[@DanielSantallaa]

Mate, an honest opinion here that I think would greatly improve the marketability of your game: change your playable character. The best selling games on your genre usually go for a more appealing character, some use animals, others use more distinctive designs, etc. Whatever you wanna do, but right now your main character is not something that one could describe with a few words. You wanna have a character that people can go "oh, I loved that game of the yellow squirrel", "that game where you are a dude with red suit and can run super fast" or "that game where you shoot ink and can turn into a squid". Currently your game lacks that one liner that people can remember. Best of luck!

[@cattysplat]

The most popular games all have human characters. But it could definitely look more unique.

[@nicksohacki7114]

just finished the demo - i loved it!

[@advancenine]

Thanks so much for playing it! I’m glad you liked it. Keep your saved game around! I’m going to push a big update this week so you can explore Twilight Hollow :)

[@DemoniteBL]

Just for the fact that the game has a demo this video gets a thumbs up. lol I wish every game had a demo.

[@foxidgamedev]

Awesome work! The light trails for the electricity is so beautiful.

[@Krillbait95]

I saw the glide mechanic and it got me interested. Cozy games are also really popping off right now, so you could lean into that. I'm gonna download the demo and try it tonight!

[@lazarillo3976]

Your game looks amazing! Im definitely going to add it to my wishlist. Wish you the best of lucks!

[@HausOfZombies]

Hey, I just wanted to say that I think it is amazing that you are making a game and putting it out there :), I wish I had that kind of talent to do so. I played the demo awhile back and enjoyed it, I liked the fact that it's vibrant and it kind of gave me a Zelda vibe. I look forward to playing it in the future :).

[@iamsushi1056]

“Kind of a Zelda vibe” Well, funny you should mention that. Rumor has it there will be Zelda Easter eggs in the final release

[@ChaloopaJoe]

if i had a better PC i'd totally be streaming this demo ahaha. I also LOVE the mechanic of the switch having a physical beam you dont want to cross. there's so many good puzzle oppertunities there and i dont think ive ever seen something like this in a game before! awesome stuff!

[@KristenDiBenedetto]

I have been following your channel for a while. I love the relaxing vibe of your videos and all the behind the scenes information you give on game development. I just played the demo (and wishlisted) and thought it was so charming and fun. I don't have a gaming computer, so I had to play on the lowest graphics settings, and it was still beautiful. Also, I thought the music was lovely and noticed how it changes when moving or idle. However, I did end up turning the music volume down to 2 because I found it too loud and distracting (I thought it was perfect at volume 2). I was thankful to have these performance and preference options. I love the world, characters, and story so far. The subtle mystery and magic kept me interested in exploring and talking to everyone. Like the characters hinting at future abilities and items, or finding a puzzle that I couldn't solve yet. I appreciate the large font size for dialogue and contrast to the background speech bubble, but I do think it would be nice to have some options for font size and background opacity. And I agree with another comment saying that a volume option for the typing sound would be nice, as well. Overall, I enjoyed the easy going pace of the game. I like how it gently nudges you in the right direction, but overall you are free to explore and go wherver you can reach. I spent some time just exploring, admiring the scenery and ambiance, and looking for the hidden coins. I was dissappointed when the demo was over (but I thought the dialogue was cute). I will definitely be exploring a bit more with the glider and looking forward to the full release. :)

[@MiniatureGiantsGameDev]

Subbed as a father of 2 with *limited* coding experience I can identify a lot with your journey! Looking forward to following it and watching it unfold.

[@kurrytofu8130]

Your game look magnificent. I'm fond of cosy and colourful games. I hope your game will do well and that you will succeed ! I'm downloading your demo to have a look at it!

[@advancenine]

Thanks so much for checking it out the demo. I hope you love it but look forward to hearing what to improve if you don't. Thanks for being awesome :)

[@kurrytofu8130]

@@advancenine No problem, I'll be more than happy to give some feedback :)

[@zenco7936]

Maybe you didn't get the wishlists you wanted, but your game looks charming and cosy. Be proud of that. Some of us would kill for that many wishlists :) GG and just subbed to you!

[@Олег_Евсеев]

Facts

[@ponodude101]

I just caught up on the last 7 months of dev logs. So sad I missed the kickstarter but this game keeps looking more and more amazing with every passing update! I've had it wishlisted for a while but I'm so excited for the full release and am gonna go play the demo now! Update: Just played the demo and it was so much fun! Love the relaxing atmosphere and the way puzzles and exploration are implemented and integrated together is just some great game design. Teasing the player with giving them a new item or ability if they come back after exploring to find some other item feels so good. Can't wait for the full release!

[@sgtswagmason9013]

Yay my favorite devlog series is back!

[@KryyssTV]

There was a really good GDC talk from the publisher Humble who did some excellent analysis on what types of gamers buy what types of indie games. Your lacklustre attention at NextFest confirms many of their findings with the main one being that indie gamers are typically people who prefer titles with varied systems to learn and non-linear gameplay. So what you have here is the opposite of what appeals to your target audience and the GDC talk also showed that console gamers typically don't bother with indie titles because they think they're of lower quality than AAA or AA games. Part of that is down to them (ignorantly) associating visual fidelity and realism with a good game. Just because this is a cosy game doesn't mean is has to be limited in features. That feedback you had from testers about the 1-button and how they wanted a different item to defeating enemies is symptomatic of them unconsciously needing variety. Even simple controls mean those synapses aren't firing as much as the player needs. What gamers called "depth" and "mastery" is just a buzzword for the need to learn something. And it doesn't need to be complicated either, you just need to keep introducing features that keep those synapses stimulated.

[@advancenine]

Hey this is really cool insight and I really appreciate the comment and help. Any chace you have a link? I was unable to find that specific video. Thanks in advance and thanks for being so cool.

[@jakubdthomas]

I think that this game has stunning visuals and together with the music it has really relaxing vibe. :) What would catch my attention more though, would be going a little bit deeper with the story, giving enemies some persona and agenda maybe. So when I would be going through the cave, I wouldn't just want to pass it and defeat all my enemies, I would want to catch someone running away with a key/map to my kidnapped love. Or when I would search for treasures, I would want to find the only thing, thing surrounded by legends spoken about by all the mice, only thing that can defeat the villain that drove out kind citizens from the neighboring village. And so on. Maybe there is something like that and it only wasn't spoken about that much in this video. Just saying that something concrete and needed in the plot would be big motivation for me personally to search the treasure for :) Meanwhile, kudos again to what you've accomplished while having full-time job and kids. It's a great work which I believe will be successful regardless of what I say here :D Fingers crossed!

[@michaelgriffis6450]

Downloaded the demo and really enjoyed it. Can’t wait to try the updated demo!

[@NathanielJamesProd]

Best of luck. It seems like the game is really improving!

[@ryanmckenzie5918]

I'll be checking out the demo! Been following this for a while. I'm hoping to develop a larger game project, and your videos have been extremely interesting to me.

[@LotusKay36]

Thanks for sharing your experience. One quick fix feedback I have is for the stick weapon. It isn’t visible in the dungeon, making the texture a warmer brown should hopefully be an easy fix.

[@advancenine]

Thats good feedback! Thank you! You're right. It hardly shows in the cave at all. Thanks for your fresh perspective :)

[@BelieveInUrself93]

I think the main character you play as needs something distinguishable to their look. I don't mean for this to sound unkind, but they're not very memorable right now. They've got the unique hair that's nice and looks good, but it's not really enough. Some sort of addition to the wardrobe maybe - a cloak, a necklace, a kilt, I don't know. The neckerchief just looks like an undershirt most of the time from the lighting, so it might just even be as simple as making it stand out more. But this looks really fun and has been added to my wishlist and I'm wishing you success.

[@dbp_pc3500]

Your a great game dev! Keep up the great work !

[@iamsushi1056]

Yeah, my poor emulator couldn’t handle the demo. Parallels for MacOS likes to go insane with culling so most things were invisible (I call it the “Sushi Difficulty” Setting. Real fun in bullet hell games). Hopefully one of the next demos will be natively available for Mac users like the release game will!

[@advancenine]

Thanks for trying an emulator. Thats crazy awesome. There is a Mac release available (but not for Intel Macs will be supported at release). So if your Mac isn't an Intel, you should be good to go. Just wanted to make sure that was clear :)

[@jakebeneski1977]

I like this guys attitude. Success is sure to follow for you!

[@Jinerin]

Do have to say that the art style is adorable and I am here for it

[@kipporah]

Love all the sneak peaks at the end there :D

[@JoshsBricks]

Great job as always Ryan!

[@advancenine]

Stop commenting! Find more bugs, you slouch :)

[@joyfulfishman5445]

Game looks great, wishing you the best Ryan!

[@bissash05]

I played the demo and I actually liked it, i have some feedback that hopefully can help on the feeling of the game: 1- I found the light some times a bit too much, specially in the cave, and im refering to the central part of the light, is a bit instense, the ilumination is beautiful, just the points are a bit intense. 2- I would love to see some animals, we can interact or even some birds flying. I bet you have thought on adding this. Its really insightful to see the feedback you got from this Steam Fest, I can see this game is going to perform well on lunch day!

[@advancenine]

Super good feedback! Thank you! I really appreciate the help. I love your content btw...

[@GabrielAguiarProd]

Interesting! Keep up the fantastic work.

[@advancenine]

Whoa! Thanks for the kind words. You are the dude you taught me how to write shaders. Your content is soooo amazing. If I can ever fo anything to help you, I would welcome the opportunity. Thanks for all your help along the way.

[@GabrielAguiarProd]

@@advancenine Cool! Glad I can help a fellow game dev! :D You are doing great btw 💪

[@advancenine]

@GabrielAguiarProd aww such a cool thing to say. Means a lot coming from you. Thank you.

[@TheAnxiousOwl]

I dunno, 13k sounds like a great thing considering all the studios out there competing. I'd take it.

[@advancenine]

It’s a MASSIVE number and I’m super grateful about having 13k wishlists. And placing 150th sounds amazing but that’s really the 15th page of search and it’ll be hard for people to find me there. But now that I know this, I can do better :)

[@TheAnxiousOwl]

@@advancenine Videos are great advertisement :3

[@CornerstoneMinistry316]

You inspired me to start gamedev on RPGmaker mv because I'm not a programmer. But I really enjoy your devlogs so it made me want to create. I'm not going to sell it mind you it's a personal project

[@lauralune3859]

Hey, I just found your video and discovered your game. I love the atmosphere you've created in it! 😊 Added to my whishlist. Good luck with your project!