Hiya
The coming soon page is live on Steam! This is a huge step for me. When I got the email notifying me the game was approved, I felt emotions and everything. Obviously there are many games on Steam. At least 3 anyway. So it’s not a unique accomplishment but it is worthy of a cheeky smile and a cup of tea.
I think I actually convinced myself Steam wouldn’t allow a game such as mine to mess up their store. Which annoys me because I’ve seen some games which are questionable (I am trying to be positive so ‘questionable’ is as strong a word as I’m willing to use now) on the store front. I put effort into this. Made all the capsules, wrote the descriptions, recorded the gifs. It’s not a small undertaking, especially as a solo developer. (Not to discredit non solo developers). I got overwhelmed several times.
If you are planning to release a game on Steam I hope this is more encouraging than discouraging. I read so many times that you should get a steam page up and running as soon as possible but I think this is slightly badly put. What I would recommend is to start planning your Steam page as soon as possible. Look at the list of resources Valve has here:
Graphical Assets – Overview (Steamworks Documentation)
And start planning them in whatever spare time you have. Start the image capsules, think of catchy descriptions, record some game footage if you have any. Look over these resources as time passes and refine them until you are happy with them. Then when you are ready, you’ll not be starting from scratch.
I designed 3 different promo images and each had to be rearranged in various sizes and formats. My screenshots weren’t in the correct resolution so that slowed me down a bit. So when I started this process, I felt crushed by the amount of assets I needed to create under a silly self-imposed deadline (which I missed due to illness anyway). The process would probably be quite fun if you don’t put stupid restrictions on yourself.
I used to love this time of year. The cold felt comforting, the streets are less noisy, playing games while the wind and rain beats outside is my comfort. But over the past few years sickness has been inevitable, like Thanos, a reference I thought trite but Thanos is roughly the same colour I was over the past few weeks so it stands. Here’s what scares me about the following passage:
I have heard from people I admire that they work all the time. Even to their detriment. Masahiro Sakurai, the director of Smash Bros, worked with an IV drip. They always qualify this attitude by saying things like “It’s stupid to work this hard, don’t do it”, “Make sure you take breaks”, etc. I agree with all these statements, but at the same time there was a sense of pride to it, like I have worked so hard because I’m a badass, but you mortals should rest your poor souls. I’m genuinely not sure if it’s admirable or stupid. As most things, the answer is somewhere in the Lands Between.
I worked through my sickness, all apart from one day when my temperature climbed to 38.8. I’ve had sepsis twice and my symptoms where quite similar, luckily it came down and I am writing this now. (Sepsis sucks). Was that admirable or stupid? I have no idea but I’m inclined to think stupid. Sitting with a Steam Deck or Switch playing games while recovering sounds much safer than programming with a hot water bottle under the blanket I wrapped myself in. But then again, I wouldn’t have my Steam page up and running yet. There, I solved the problem. The answer is a resounding: GO ASK SOMEONE ELSE! I absolutely encourage you to take your time (if you have the luxury too) and look after yourself as best you can.
I suck at this. I have, right now, Death Stranding 2 installed on the PS5. I absolutely love Death Stranding. I played the original on the PS4 and then I played the PS5 update; I platinumed it and everything. It’s exactly the type of game I used to be able to get lost in. But I can’t shut up my stupid brain long enough to load it up. I bought it on release in JUNE and I’ve only cleared the first section. From the little I played I thought It was better than the first in every way.
I’ve seen the debate “Can you make games if you don’t play them?” and as a general rule I believe playing games is fairly essential to making them. Knowing what’s out there not only inspires ideas and stirs creativity but also helps you avoid making something which exists already. (As always, edge cases will exist. And also, I’m not exactly a jenios so I could be wrong). Also also, it’s very useful to know things you may not be thinking about, like:
Actual people, that exist in this world, believe that a game developer spends their days playing games. This is obviously the most ridiculous and ignorant way to view what we do. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to play some games.
Bye for now.