I'm gonna be deliberately vague as I'm worried if i publicly accuse them they will obfuscate the tracks as much as possible.

I have been working on a game for the past 6 months, wrote it in raylibs and C++. I recently made a WASM build of the demo and threw it up on a cloudflare page so that i could share it with a few friends and previous co-workers...(ive now taken this page down now)

1 day later. I stumble upon a GitHub page....with a cloned copy of my demo, using all my assets... which they are claiming was made with an LLM in "one shot".

within the GitHub page , it contains what seems like Claude's translation of the WASM code to JS... my original demo's levels, and my original demo's assets stuffed into JSON files (presumably to obfuscate where they are from).

At the moment they published the demo under a pseudo name , so my current plan is to hold off on acting to see if they go though with the effort of finishing off the game themselves and shipping it or if they are just gonna release the stolen demo for the internet points and then leave it as abandonware.

what should i do and or, what can i do?

outside of that, i wish to post this more so as a warning , that "the future is now" and this is apparently a thing people are sad enough to do.

Hi!
I would love to create a game to propose to my bf.
We have been together for 8-9 years and he introduced me to gaming. (I was a 90s girl so I played ps1-2 and Nintendo but before meeting him I hadn’t played for more than 10 years!)
From TLOU to God of war.
From hollow knight to Elden ring.
I would love to make a very easy nostalgic type game similar to the Pokémon yellow-red style but with him/us and different gaming scenarios (I thought about it playing a very recent game that I won’t name because of spoiler)
I don’t want to use Artificial Intelligence to learn or to write it for me.
I’m guessing I’m having 6-12 months time to do it as a hobby
I would love if someone could teach me or recommend where to learn.
TLDR: I want to create a game to propose and I need help with how to start

Hey guys! I hope everyone is well! How do y'all find playtesters for your games for constructive criticism?

Being a long time developer in the logistics space, I've shared my early demo with my engineer and gaming friends, but so far that list isn't that big.

I'd love to get more feedback so I can learn from how the game concepts are received, plus any bugs or game balance issues.

I'm far along enough to have about a few hours of gameplay (hopefully) along with load / save games that should track nearly every single thing that is relevant, down to your character position and whether you aim down sight or not.

I know you can use noise to create the base of a terrain in Blender but these maps have a lot of very obvious "points of interest" that have to have been hand made in some way, like the giant hole in The Forest. And how do you possibly go about texturing something that big so that it looks natural?

That probably isn't the right wording!! Basically, I have two separate levels I want to create, but each one only works in a different game engine. Is it possible to do level one on one game engine and then somehow transition the player to game two to do level two?

I only ask because each level is a very different "type" of game (think going from 2D visual novel to a 3D action game). The problem isn't making either game on a respective game engine. Nor is it about carrying over variables or anything like that. I just need to know if it's possible to have game one, load screen, game two, with a seamless way to connect them for the player.

I've come quite far along in a prototype for a game I've been writing in Bevy. I've been working with Rust daily as part of my job since 2019, so the Rust language is both familiar and comfortable for me. One of the things among many that I appreciate with Bevy is how composition is so natural to the ECS-based engine.

Just for kicks, over the weekend, I tried to re-create the game using Godot. I also see why people like it. The ability to see how the assets look in an environment before running th game can be addictive. One of the things I tried to do was to achieve composition to a reasonable level of composition.

In Bevy, I'm able to build individual plugins that deal with the player, lighting, terrain, ammunition, etc. Each one of these plugins is in a separate crate of its own. As I make more games, I'll have accumulated an ever-increasing library of plugins that I can compose to make most of my next game simply by loading the ones I need into the game.

I tried to do that with Godot, even going as far as watching several tutorials on Godot composition. But so far, while I can get some level of composition and reusability, I get the sense that re-using these pieces in other games would still need me to rework it so it can fit into whatever new node structure it sits in.

Can anyone tell me where I went wrong?

Hey I know this isn't necessarily a game dev question, but I figured there's a chance here someone has some experience.

I want to rotoscope my arms and hands for a first person view. What would be the best approach to capture a recording?

Using my pixel 7 on a tripod and standing behind it?

Strapping my phone to me somehow?

Or getting a go pro and strapping that to myself?

A friend and I are working on our first video game, so we have very little experience in the industry. Our game takes place in an old-school computer terminal that requires players to use a command-line-like interface. It’s begging for a tutorial, but we’re really trying to resist the urge to put one in.

Are we being foolish?

Here’s a little backstory that’s necessary, I think:

When we first sat down to start brainstorming ideas for our game, we decided on a puzzle game. We both love puzzle games but routinely find that the ones that are commercially successful are often too easy for our liking. So our goal very quickly became to make a brutally challenging puzzle game.

During one of our first days actually working on this project, we decided on ONE guiding principle that we wanted to prioritize over everything else: we wanted to make the player feel as clever as possible.

And so we agreed that any time we had a decision to make, we would always prioritize this one thing. If something might take away from how clever the player would feel but another option would add to it, we’d go with the other option regardless of what else that meant.

This principle has made making some decisions much easier than it would have been otherwise, which is great. But one thing we keep going back and forth on is a tutorial.

People who don’t know anything about a command line interface on a real computer will, understandably, be lost when they’re dropped into our game. They’ll struggle with it a bit and will have to learn how to use it.

During our play tests, we watched exactly that happen. People had no idea what to do or how to do it at first. They stumbled through at first, but they gradually came to understand what the different commands were and how they worked. And when they did, they felt accomplished and clever.

You might see our dilemma now.

We’ve made this game purposefully very challenging, not to alienate people but to create the kind of game we want to play and then appeal to the probably very small audience who also wants that. We have this idea that making games for a very specific audience is better for us because we just can’t compete with the games with mass commercial appeal (for now, at least). And so the audience we’re targeting would also be the type that would appreciate their hands not being held.

But we struggle with that because some of the people who playtested our demo (not public yet, so we have very little feedback so far) actually liked the game but specifically said we should probably include a tutorial, even though they did feel clever when they “figured out” the interface.

Right now, we’re leaning toward no tutorial. What do you guys think? Is this foolish?

EDIT: I should have been more specific. We really don't want to add a formal tutorial to the game, but we do offer some guidance. For example, when the game opens up to the terminal interface, there's a flashing cursor next to a ">" that suggests the player should type. And then if they type something that isn't a command, they get an error message that says, "Command not recognized. Try HELP for a list of commands." Then they get a help menu to explore if they want to, and they can type "HELP <specific command>" to get more info about how to use that specific command.

Even at this level, our play testers said a tutorial would be helpful, but we're torn since we feel we do have some guidance in there.

I've been studying on a Games course for 4 years now (in my 4th year). I started out in my first year on a Design course learning 3D modelling, animation and production. I wanted something more technical, so I restarted onto a Programming course with Mechanics, Graphics and UI.

I've been to lots of networking events where I've met amazing and talented people in this Industry and befriended a number of them. Seeing them getting laid off or having their friends and colleagues losing their job feels extremely demoralising. I even spoke to my lecturer about job security, where he told me it never existed in Games in the first place.

I'm set to graduate this academic year, and given the environment, I feel that no matter how passionate, talented or well connected someone is, they are still at the mercy of their management's competence. At this point, I find there are better Industries and roles out there which offer higher wages and more security for the same level of stress.

Am I paranoid?

Is it masochism masquerading as passion?

Is all of it overblown?

Maybe the fine individuals of this community may know something that I just don't, and could help reassure me it's not just doom and gloom. It's just sucks knowing for every Peak or Expedition 33, there are countless games and people who poured their everything into a game that never succeeded (or saw the light of day).

Hi there! Well I saw that I had low wishlists (around 50) and my game was on a good early stage to already drop a little demo on itchio before dropping a bigger one in Steam. Now the problem is.... Absolutely no one downloaded it! Should I market the demo too, and if so how? Or did I make a mistake by dropping it too soon?

My game is called FROM THE DUGOUT

I am making a medieval like game and i want to find fonts for it. It is like akinator, but you are akinator. I cant post image of game here. I am using Deutsch font, but it is harder to read i guess and i use it everywhere. Should i use multiple fonts? What fonts do you recommend? Thanks

Having worked on a title from prototype to launch, I'm wondering if a mid level designer needs a portfolio site. It seems like reading the resume and looking at gameplay footage on YouTube would suffice? Even when I was the interviewer I only ever read resumes. And we hired some great people. It doesn't feel like anyone has time to look at websites when studios get swarmed with applicants.

Nobody I know in this industry above entry level has a portfolio. Curious your thoughts.

Hi everyone!

I've been working on some ideas for a game project that I'm pretty excited about, but I'm not really sure what the best way to move forward is.

I don't know anyone personally who works in game development, so I'd really like to hear from people with some experience in the industry and get some advice.

I'm trying to figure out how to take what I have right now and turn it into something more concrete, and what kind of path would make sense for someone in my position.

I see myself more on the creative side. I really enjoy creating stories, characters, worldbuilding, etc. I mostly want to understand where I should start and what I should be focusing on.

I’m tuning impact feedback for a game built around high-speed collisions. Screen shake, hit-stop, zoom, chromatic effects, and camera recoil can make a good hit feel incredible.

They can also make a fast game unreadable, uncomfortable, or genuinely inaccessible.

The hardest part is that the effects feel great in isolation. I can trigger one heavy collision in a test scene and think, “Yep, that lands.” Then three collisions happen near the arena edge, the camera is moving, particles are firing, and suddenly nobody can tell which direction is safe.

I’ve added a reduced-motion option and separate effect levels, but I do not want accessibility settings to feel like “turn off all the fun.” Ideally the low-motion version should communicate the same force through timing, sound, animation, and directional cues instead of simply deleting feedback.

How do you test the line between satisfying and exhausting?

Do you design the reduced-motion presentation alongside the default version from the beginning, or build the full effect first and then find alternate channels for the same information?

I'm also struggling with hit stops feeling more intentional rather than laggy? Maybe it's a timing thing....

I'm making a 2D platformer (yes, I know it's an oversaturated genre) with a focus on bright colors, charm, secrets, and light RPG elements. I want to create a bright and cheerful experience filled with soul, in a genre filled with plenty of dark and depressing games, with muted colors. I truly believe I have a target audience out there, but I'm struggling to reach it. I post videos to Reddit and devlogs to YouTube, but they don't gain much attention at all. Does anyone have any advice to reach my target audience?

I have ADHD myself and have been trying to make a game as a solo dev for around 3–5 months, but my progress has been really slow. I get bored and distracted easily, especially when I get stuck. I’ll start doing anything that gives me more dopamine, modeling, animation, VFXor even something completely unrelated to the game.

Sometimes I won’t feel like doing anything for several days. Then suddenly I’ll get the motivation back and work on the game with full passion only to get stuck again. I’ll sit there scratching my head, look at the time think I’ll continue tomorrow and then end up doing nothing the next day.

I used to work at a game studio and we successfully published a game, but working alone feels completely different. There’s nobody pushing things forward when I lose interest or get stuck.

I’ve tried writing tasks down on paper or in Obsidian, but when I’m stuck on a game mechanic, I end up avoiding it by polishing a feature I already have because that’s something I’m comfortable with.

So I really want to hear from other people with ADHD who managed to actually finish and publish their own game.

How do you do it? Thanks!

I am developing a game and want to ensure player retention; what are your thoughts on this?

I saw a post recommending that developers send their games to very small YouTubers because they're more likely to cover them.

The advice itself makes sense, but I really don't like the way the post talks about these creators.

If someone with 200 subscribers takes the time to play your game and make a video about it, they're not just some SEO tool you found because nobody else will cover your game. They're a person who chose to spend their free time playing something you made.

Especially as a small indie developer, I think it's worth remembering that every person who shows genuine interest in your game is someone you should appreciate.

Don't treat small creators as disposable marketing channels. Treat them like people.

A small audience doesn't make someone's support less meaningful.

So currently I'm having a dilemma.

I am making a deckbuilding game, but the gameplay is not turn based, and will hopefully be moderately fast. Not like mess up for a split second fast, but fast enough that you should be playing attention. With short moments to glance down at your hand. Bullet hell-ish, but not as extreme as they can get since I want you to be able to be having moments to glance down and weave cards in.

So the first problems are these:

• How do I make cards quickly identifiable without taking up too much screen space? The easier they are to identify, the faster I can make the game.
  • Currently the plan is to have just half the card sticking up out the bottom of the screen. With a picture to identify it taking up most of the space, as well as the cost and other information at the top of the card above the picture. Possibly above the card itself but may look weird.
  • The number of cards in your hand is limited to a small amount, so there is plenty of space to have them not overlapping.
• The second problem is how I allow the players to learn cards when they cant remind themselves what they do without pausing. In turn based games you can obviously take a moment to read the cards. But in real time you would have to pause to read them if I make them large enough to have half the card off screen, because I wouldn't want hovering them without pausing to eat your clicks or something.
  • I do have wasd controls. so hovering them to have them pop up while playing could be an option, but could still also lead to some frustrating scenarios..

I plan to have a moderate amount of cards be ideal for a deck. so that you can't just cycle your best card asap over and over. But I do want you to be able to be able to have a solid amount of repeating cards for the weaker ones. current estimate is 20-30 cards in your deck at a time. maybe more if you choose to go for it.

But plenty of repeats. So maybe 7+ of a particular lower tier card while you have 1-2 copies of each super powerful card in your deck. and varying number for rarities in between.

And here is the next problem:

• I want the player to be able to modify the cards in some ways. For a basic examples you could add a poison effect to a dagger throw card or something. Or make it fire bonus projectiles. So how do I show you easily which cards you have modded?
  • currently I have two ideas
    • the first one is have extra images show up on the picture of the card you can see. Like a poison bubbles icon if you added a poison effect to this card.
    • The second one is to have a small "buff bar" above each card showing bonus effects that have been applied to the card. This has a bonus benefit of potentially being able to label key effects of the base card for remembering the important effects of a card at a glance while you're learning the cards. For example a poison dagger throw would have a poison icon on the "buff bar" above the card for if you have any effects that synergize with poison or something. This is at the cost of more screen space though.
  • The other idea I have is to have a modifier apply to all copies of the same card in your deck. So whenever it shows up you just have to know which card it is, and potentially combined with one of the above two options you can be reminded of mods it has. I don't love this idea, as it could often lead to an obscene jump in power based on what modifiers you find. To the point where balancing around a player potentially having found those options could make it feel incredibly difficult to win otherwise.

Quick estimate is each card would take up about 1/9-1/10 of the bottom of the screen width wise while being slightly wider than they are tall in the visible area.

So, How would you go about this? Do any of my current ideas seem good or have any obvious flaws?

Hey I'm developing a detective game. It's my first solo project, and I'm a bit lost on the narrative side. I have the core idea, but I'm not sure how to balance realism, the story structure, and player clue gathering.

For example I'm trying to build a unique magic system in my game. I've been using AI to work through ideas, but it just says every idea I come up with is the greatest ever so its not working. How do you guys work through the design of your game especially if you're trying to do something unique? How do you decide if your idea will be fun?

I started learning python last year and it was pretty fun, I learnt the basics but didn'tgo further then that. The past few months are stressful though I've started a new school after being homeschooled since last january and I really want to do game development as a hobby and do computer science as a job. My main issue is that right now im learning to use godot but im never finding the right tutorial and its always instead "do this and then that" never "do this because it does that" so i always end up copying the tutorial and learning absolutely nothing, I don't even get how the engine itself works. I wanna try and change how I learn by maybe reading the godot docs and avoiding tutorial hell but at the same time it's the only help out there I have. Does anyone have like tips because im 15 and im genuinely worried that me not learning quick enough will make me lose interest or simply fail at this hobby. I've also dreamed of being a game dev (specifically roblox at first) for 5 years.

Is it all a scam to sell them on the gray market? Like is it just one guy with 200+ email addresses that asks for a free media key?

What are the other nefarious results of keys falling into the wrong hands? The whole thing is pretty nuts and I wasn't expecting my dev inbox to get filled like this