Game Devs Grappling with Design Choices
17 posts across 3 communities in the last 60 days; 41% from r/IndieDev.
“https://i.redd.it/1zpp1lralvvh1.gif Grid-based RTS sound a bit weird, it was originally designed like Elona or Stoneshard at very begininning. But I want a team waifu build gameplay rather than solo protagnist, so it became like this. Usually enemy will only attack the closet…”
“I've been working on a strategy game for a while now and I've put most of my time into the actual systems. Economy, buildings, armies, research, wars, multiplayer stuff... that side is starting to feel like an actual game. The problem is that visually it's nowhere near the same…”
“I really want to add a character creator to my adventure game . The character that the player creates would be shown in the journal alongside the other characters. But the characters are drawn like the old-timey western wanted posters (as shown in the last picture), and I want…”
Multiple indie game developers are seeking feedback and advice on design decisions, including character archetypes, gameplay mechanics (grabs strategy, combo systems), and puzzle elements. There's a clear struggle to balance player freedom with structured experiences.
SOURCES (39)
“https://i.redd.it/1zpp1lralvvh1.gif Grid-based RTS sound a bit weird, it was originally designed like Elona or Stoneshard at very begininning. But I want a team waifu build gameplay rather than solo protagnist, so it became like this. Usually enemy will only attack the closet character, and all…”
“(NOT made with AI!) Hello there, what do you think of these visual styles for a medieval city builder/management game? Which of them would you find more appealing? submitted by /u/Murmur1611979 [link] [comments]”
“I've always been interested in open world games and have thought about designing my own. But I'd love to hear opinions on designing/building urban areas within an open world game. When looking at some popular open world games, such as Skyrim or Genshin Impact, they feature urban areas such as cities but they are heavily condensed for game play purposes so only have like 20 buildings and like 30 NPCs. So I was curious, when designing/building different urban areas such as Kingdoms/cities,”
“Hey everyone. Over the past few months I've been working on a tower-defense game idea, where the player can design their own units by assigning equipment (weapon, armor and artifact) and customizing their appearance + name. I'm still using basic shapes and placeholder models, but that's because I want to make sure that I have core mechanics in place, along with a solid coding base. Nevertheless, I like where this is going so far. The unit creator works well, the gear elements are vis”
“Hi everyone! ^^ So, I've been working for more than 2 years on a VS of my game together with my team (It's a soulslike with strong focus on ranged weapons) I wanted to somehow "recreate the wheel" by adding some layers to the typical Lock-On system Traditional Lock-On works more or less like this: the aim is always focused in a specific spot What I want to do is taking that concept and turn it into something more like the VATS from the Fallout Saga; but I really have no idea on”
“the game is a puzzle game where swapping palette changes the mechanics of the tiles as well. they have complicated rulesets so showcasing multiple like this might not be too clear. I'm curious to know how understandable it is from an outside perspective. submitted by /u/SunshrineStudio [link] [comments]”
“I'm working on a PvP game where you build your own fighter from the ground up. First: you create your character and customize their appearance Then you choose their height and weight, and this isn't cosmetic. Their physical build directly affects their stats and can unlock different special moves. A heavier character might gain Strength and access powerful moves, while sacrificing Agility, whereas a lighter character could be faster and unlock more agile or evasive techniques. Weapons gi”
“Hello everybody, I am a solo dev making a tower/wave defence/rts hybrid where you build your whole setup individually on different-sized canvases -army, towers, and a core (a 30x30 grid canvas) to survive incoming enemies. I sketched out most of my core systems, gameplay, and general concept direction. Image 2: The story is simple: Peaceful times (tutorial), First Contact of the Unknown (Total loss and retreat), regrouping and going back to fight the enemy through the Outskirts, the Line..etc. D”
“Hi everyone, I'm a big fan of the Fire Emblem and XCOM series and I've been slowly working on a design for a sci-fi SRPG but I'm wondering if anyone could recommend any good tools or plug-ins for getting started on the practical side of things. I was thinking of looking into RPGMaker and it's many, many, tools & expansions, but also I know that if it exists, someone's made a Unity plug-in for it. So I'm a little lost as to where to start For context, I've got a de”
“I've been working on a strategy game for a while now and I've put most of my time into the actual systems. Economy, buildings, armies, research, wars, multiplayer stuff... that side is starting to feel like an actual game. The problem is that visually it's nowhere near the same level. It's not ugly, but it's very much a game built around menus, maps, numbers and information rather than impressive graphics. Part of me thinks that's completely fine for this kind of strategy”
“But how do you guys build and decide items for your game I think it's my worst work so far I have some story items But in general I'm looking to build a cool combo and build with items, but don't know how to start and I'm breaking my mind over it So far everything has come up so generic Items that multiply score or stuff like that without fun and strong build Sorry yeah weird question Got any opinions? Tips? Should I have more thoughts about it maybe something will come up sooner”
“Hello guys so I'm actually creating a game about a wizard that decided to use a sword to catalyze the Vael which is the magic in my game's word, but the consul of the 5 mages didn't like his idea and decided to throw him away from the tower. With this quick summary of my game what do you guys think abou this cover? It's not finished yet, we're still going to finish the character in the center because it's still just a silhouette. Art made by my Girlfriend who is really ne”
“https://preview.redd.it/37ja1flmkdlh1.png?width=3839&format=png&auto=webp&s=f634f15fc07aaef03f17936e6fd77c2fe8b5932f submitted by /u/Season_Famous [link] [comments]”
“I really want to add a character creator to my adventure game . The character that the player creates would be shown in the journal alongside the other characters. But the characters are drawn like the old-timey western wanted posters (as shown in the last picture), and I want the mc to look the same. The problem is, I don't know if a color palette this limited would be okay. It's distinctive and original, but would it be okay to refer to skin tones and hair colors as shades and limit th”
“Hello all! As many before me have written, I made the decision to create my very first game. For the past 2 months, I’ve mainly been thinking about the games I enjoy playing, the kind of games I want to create. My long-term goal is to eventually create my own small game studio with a small team, but for this project I’ll be working solo. Out of all the game ideas I want to make, this is the one I decided to start with. The game is about a magic board. You have a grid where you place and equip di”
“This image was generated by AI. A game where any job can become powerful. 10+ jobs , 6 boimes, and monsters galore. Race against other parties to complete quest, craft weapons and armor. You only have one life to experience this random generating world and learn it's secrets. If you like a challenge and you don't mind grinding to feel powerful look for isekaied to an infinite dungeon coming to mobile and pc submitted by /u/FUIgodfather01 [link] [comments]”
“I've been working on a game like this for a while now. The goal is to create a modern geopolitical strategy game inspired by games like SuperPower 2, wigh more polished mechanics for diplomacy, economy and AI I'm trying to understand whether there is still enough interest in this type of game and whether players would consider buying it if it were executed well. submitted by /u/Final-Gazelle-804 [link] [comments]”
“I'm currently building a top down 2d game, and it's based in a full city. The game plays in four chapters as I have designed the story around, and the city itself is split into four districts - Slums, Suburbs, The Strip, and Heaven. The first one I am designing is the Slums, and I have designed the key locations of missions and stuff. But the map itself is undesigned. My characters are 16x16 top down, so I want to know how big should a map be for it to be explorable for an area like the”
“I have a question. I need to populate my enemy pool in a short Swords&Sorcery JRPG Menu battler (like final fantasy, chrono trigger, etc.) i'm creating. Story idea so far: There is a kingdom ruthlessly driving people out of their homeland due to a zombie plague. the first storyline will be the first main character's odyssey through the wilderness to reach civilization, facing zombie-like undead and guards of the kingdom. the second will be the prince in charge of clearing out the (zo”
“After a heated debate in our team's last meeting, I decided to post our artist's drawing of this character for our oncoming game. What do you think? Would you say she's an assassin or a thief? submitted by /u/Ceres0 [link] [comments]”
“So I used real historical art and cropped out the faces/characters so the player can choose them as their character. Next up I'll give each merchant in the game a face I guess. For those curious: Argosy on Steam submitted by /u/CoffeeOrc_ [link] [comments]”
“Hi guys, We are developing a co-op megabonklike with my friends. Our maps are created with procedural generation. Right now we have two options, one has sharp corners and the other one has soft corners. Which one do you think works the best? All feedback is important to us! I will tell you our preference in the comments below. Thanks a lot <3 submitted by /u/Heavy_Juggernaut_261 [link] [comments]”
“For about a year I've been developing an idea for my own game. I have a lot of concept art, character designs, notes, and a general vision for the world and story. I'm a very creative person, focused more on writing, characters, art direction and worldbuilding, but I don't have a programming background. The technical side of game development feels a little intimidating, and I'm not sure what the best path is to start learning. The game I'm imagining is a narrative RPG with a”
“I have the history, mechanics concepts, gameplays drafts, characters, antagonists, enemies. But i dont know what to do first, grey box? modeling assets? i have a draft of a level, but in unreal is too empty and no life. What the next steps? submitted by /u/banzeiro [link] [comments]”
“Now, as the post title states, I'm needing some inspiration and peoples opinions. I'm currently working on a setting I very recently made, meant more to be akin to an RPG rather than a full story. While I have no faith in it reaching the level of a fleshed out RPG with systems for creation, exploration, combat, leveling up, ect ect ect... It's what I like to do. A big time D&D fan in a town where nobody plays it. So, that's why I'm making this setting. A writing project m”
“Game is Raze The Realm . It's a strategy roguelite where you command large pixel art armies. Chosing the commander will essentially select your starting buffs/debuffs/spells and your tech tree for the run! submitted by /u/cpsii13 [link] [comments]”
“I’m a complete beginner at game dev and I am struggling with the map of the game. My inspiration is hollow knights map layout, however, I can’t even make a single region that looks good and not to mention how the regions are connected to each other. Do you have any tips on how to improve or how to start drawing good maps layouts ? submitted by /u/Deni_I [link] [comments]”
“My inspiration is custom Daggerfall like game but on a much much much smaller scale. Also without a procedural generated map. But I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing in unreal engine. I just need some starter tips from some experienced devs that know what they are doing. submitted by /u/eldenbuilder12345 [link] [comments]”
“Hi everyone, Our team is making a turn-based video game called The Black Lynx . We're a small indie team, just 3 of us, and we've been working on this for a while now. We have the core mechanics in place (our ReAction system, dodge mechanics, character abilities, etc.), but we're running into some design roadblocks that we could really use some help with. We're looking for someone with senior game design experience who might be willing to offer some insights or guidance. Not look”
“I already have the map I'm currently just making the different colord provinces But It's still quite confusing on what I should do achieve this as there is a large lack of tutorials on making grand strategy games submitted by /u/Extra_Preference4636 [link] [comments]”
“Im stuck between 2 options for my game. Archetypal characters whose abilities are in line with their look/identity, or open ended customizations & builds or build archetypes. For example, you choose fox mask and gain stealth bonus from it Or You choose the fox mask and have a stealth build submitted by /u/GamerForImprovement [link] [comments]”