For some reason doing it that way sounds extra fancy to us. At least it does to me. More formal I guess?

I can’t say it matters to me that much what order it’s in, but that’s just the same order we say it in when fully written out. March 23, 2025. 03/23/2025.

+1 to this. And yes I’m extremely biased as a kid from Seattle.

So excited for this game but definitely waiting a bit for things to get straightened out.

People like that really aren’t fair, are they? Save some talent for the rest of us. 😅

It’s worth noting the dude worked his ass off and had financial support to pay living expenses from his partner:

For four years, he says, he worked an average of ten hours a day, seven days a week, on Stardew Valley. Luckily, he was living with his girlfriend, a graduate student in, appropriately, plant biology, and to help stay afloat he worked part-time as an usher at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre

Not diminishing his accomplishments at all, but I think it’s always good to compare effort to effort, resources to resources, rather than simply team size. Most people can’t spend 4 years with that pace without investment backing.

One thing I’ll throw out there is while there are rare cases where a solo dev really does everything themselves, when you see a really ambitious looking result from a supposedly solo dev, it’s very likely they either contracted things out, bought/found assets, or had on and off help from people. It’s only solo in the sense it’s their vision and they get to put things together/make all the final calls on the game.

Making stuff solo is hard. I’m doing it right now and I’m purposely trying to use a lot of stock assets for art and music because the game alone is already a massive task by itself. Don’t be afraid to use what’s out there. If your game feels good to play most people will never worry about whether you hand built every blade of grass. In other words, go for as small a scope as you can, and don’t be afraid to cut corners.

And gain new tech debt in the process!

No, don’t you see?? Statistics are against you! That means you shouldn’t even try.

/s

I definitely agree about going back to more bespoke engines.

Is it taking extraordinary measures, or is it more leaning into the hyper realism look because that’s what people expect when they hear UE5? Not a rhetorical question, I just would assume the latter.

I mean I guess if everyone was using the default settings and buying assets off the unreal store you might get that, but the engine doesn’t come with graphics. You can make whatever you want in it. You could make a ps1 era looking game. You could make something like windwaker. You could make a 2d game. It’s just a set of tools.

Don’t get me wrong, the engine does have strengths and weaknesses, and lends itself better to certain things. That makes games of a certain type gravitate towards it.

Definitely feel your pain in unity. I made a game with it and we had so many technical problems. UE has some major issues too though. None of them are perfect. Godot is getting better and better but it’s still very far from a mature engine.

Gamer PSA: UE5 does not automatically make a game better or worse, it’s just a set of tools. The game part still has to be made. End PSA.

I don’t think anyone will be able to give you general tips that actually help. You should find someone willing to edit you. That’s the best way to improve at writing.

That was my understanding as well.

“⚠️Publisher DESTROYS launch on Steam button after CATASTROPHIC sales!!!😲”

You expect me to READ!? The audacity! 😤

I haven’t found one that’s good enough that i can say it’s a favorite. I think it’s usually best to seek out an engine for each project because they all have major upsides and major downsides that can make or break a project.

Here’s a very deep cut. Myst 4 Main Theme: https://youtu.be/yXu6ZYy2WLg

Really gets going at 1 minute in.

This guy’s name is dollar bill?