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The VGR Forum has been really active the past 36 hours. Love to see it!

Even 2021 is ridiculous, if we assume that the riumours that it entered pre production this year are true them were talking 2024 or 2025.

Afternoon, good morning, or whatever time it is where you're at. I'm part of a little indie studio known as Neon Arkade Games (I handle the business nonsense), and I thought to myself "I wonder what game development is like?" I mean, I understand it from my perspective. Working with advertisers, store fronts, social media, so on and so forth. But I had a unique position, where I could watch game development in-detail from afar. And now that we approach our first major sale with our flagship product, the first installment The Amazing Fantastics, I thought it would be a fun opportunity to interview our lead programmer, and to share our game development experience. For the sake of simplicity, we'll be referring to myself as BL and our lead programmer as LP. BL: "What was it like making TAF?" LP: "Extremely rewarding! This game has evolved so much over the years that it’s almost unrecognizable compared to before in terms of both art and gameplay. It’s been like watching a kid grow up." Personally, this one was interesting to learn. I was brought in relatively late, since my skillset isn't too useful in the super early stages. I got to dig through all the old files, looking at concept art, early builds, so on and so forth. It's really encouraging to see videogame development as such a wonderful artistic platform. It's an outlet unlike any other, and I truly believe it's best to stretch your creative muscles as much as possible. BL: "What about game development caught you off guard?" LP: "How tough it can be to get your game noticed." This is definitely true. Marketing is hard. Really hard. Without immense funding, it can be very difficult to get your game off the ground. We're still working hard to this day, months after release. It requires plenty of time, effort, and raw manpower. The best advice I can provide is to start early, and work consistently. Develop leads, work on building connections. And out of all of that, SPREAD YOUR EFFORTS! Don't focus on any singular marketing venue. Word of mouth, let's players, paid ads, it's all important, and only through a 'combined arms' approach will you see results. BL: "What's your favorite part about the game?" LP: "Building your team little by little, learning all your heroes’ moves, strengths, and weaknesses, and trying out new strategies. And the art’s awesome too!" The last bit I want to comment on the most. Having such a dedicated art team has been amazing. Indie devs in the modern era seem to, and with good reason, often rely on unique art styles. This is two fold; one, most indie teams don't have the raw manpower to produce photorealistic, AAA graphics. Two, a unique art style lends itself greatly to recognizability and marketing. It catches the eye and draws people in; Cuphead being one of the best examples. So it's definitely something I'd recommend focusing on. Having a unique art style, coupled with interesting gameplay, is necessary for any indie game to strike itself out on the market. Without those two things combined, you risk just getting lost in the sea of steam trash and early access. BL: "If you could've done one thing different, what would it be?" LP: "I would’ve tried out a different animation method that would have let players create their own hero. We’re such a small team that it wasn’t feasible to have both high-quality pixel art and character creation, but it’s something we’re definitely going to revisit in the future." This goes onto a key point that we recognized during game development; be realistic*, and don't stretch yourself too thin. It's very easy to dream TOO big, and end up with a game that never gets accomplished. State clearly the main goals you want to complete in game development, and while be creative, don't overload yourself and end up with a game that's never done. Looking at you, most of steam early access.* BL: "What was the best part of development?" LP: "Watching our universe slowly come to life has been very exciting. We’ve got so much planned and this is only the beginning." It's true; one of the main goals we set for ourselves, as discussed earlier, was to develop this game in an episodic fashion. This allows us to focus and spend more time polishing a smaller, more precise game. Which then lets us tailor the experience to provide exactly what we want to show. BL: "The worst or most difficult?" LP: "Motivating myself to keep going even when it felt like I was never going to finish the project." To any other game devs out there, this one hits the hardest. It's very easy to give up on a project. While it's easy to just say 'don't', I want to give some personal advice that I used myself. Schedule, schedule, schedule. If you get stuck, don't treat it like a hobby. Treat it like a job. Get a planner out, break down what needs to be done, organize it by workload and plan everything out. While making a game is a passion, it's also work, and should be treated as such. It might not seem fun, but if you want to actually release a game, it's just how it is. BL: "Anything you'd like to add?" LP: "We’re on sale right now! The Amazing Fantastics: Issue 1 is only $4.99 for a limited time!" See 'marketing is hard' from earlier in the interview. But hey, it's true; we're going on our first Steam Sale! BL: "Who's your favorite character?" LP: "My answer will change depending on the day, but Vipera’s for sure up there. She has no superpowers but still kicks ass alongside people who run faster than sound and can lift cars." Everyone loves a good underdog who manages to keep up. As for myself? I'd have to say Singe. You've gotta love that voice. Thank you, Jonah Scott. "And what are you most excited for players to experience?" "Our superhero take on RPGs. The Amazing Fantastics is what you’d get if you crossed Final Fantasy with Marvel and DC." It was really kind of shocking to see such a lack of Superhero RPG's. For a field as popular as it is on the big screen, the superhero-genre was severely lacking. We got a few in the 2000's, but lately? Dry as a desert. Which brings me into my last point: find your niche. This plays along with the art style and unique mechanics. As in any market, you need to carve out your own little plot of land. Find, thematically, a field you both enjoy and that's (relatively) untapped. The most simple example? Don't try to make Call of Duty: The Indie Game. You don't have the resources or manpower to compete. Instead, become their neighbor. And that wraps up our interview! If you'd like to check out our game, it's over here on Steam. If you have any questions for myself or our team, I'd be happy to answer them (or have them answered)!

First, Welcome to VGR. Second, respect. That's old school. Third, could share more about the restoration of the old consoles you spoke of and how you get them to work these days? I can barely get a Nintendo 64 to work.

I've been playing it for a good time now. it doesn't seem to show the hours played but I would guess I have 50-70 hours on it and I'm really loving it. I am a sucker for rpgs and open world games but this is my 'goty' so far. Superb game with great combat and stunning graphics. (PS4pro)

Thread closed. Contribute meanginfully to the forum, then you can self promote. You'll even receive positive responses from our community members 😉

Don't expect a release at all. That's a fools errand. If you don't see and hear it directly from R* then it's not going to happen. Some series, no matter how popular just have to end when they are standing on top of the mountain. Companies know when to quit. Say they release a GTA6. What if it bombs so bad that it ruins the entire franchise? Will you still be glad they released it? How many times have we seen that? Too many to count. We've also seen companies quit while they're ahead with a game and move on to making something else. So if it's not on the R* website, it's not going to happen. This is like asking when R* is going to release the next Zelda or Mario game. Not gonna happen unless/until you see it on their site. Their OFFICIAL site.

Fixed 😛

I think it's this one:

http://chng.it/gc642R7xbc

China is a communist country lol. US companies have always (and will always) be banned from China Anyways this is a great decision by Trump and I think Democrats would agree. TikTok should not be allowed in the US as long as it is owned by a Chinese company. 1. Our data is being sold to the Chinese government 2. China doesn't allow US companies in their country. Why should we permit theirs in our country? What's fair is fair.