As I'm writing this update it's the 9th of April 2022. It's been a full year since release. Damn.
TLDR
Thanks guys for giving this little game the time of day, even if you are someone who didn't really like it. The game might not be serious and the concept might be silly, but I have always been serious about doing what I can to make CARNAL a fun and quality distraction from daily life. You dudes are the coolest and know that I truly appreciate you guys for even giving it a shot in the first place ːsteamthumbsupː
Looking back
I learned a lot during this past year of releasing and updating a game. It's been an interesting experience, one that I honestly have had to process pretty much on my own. You see, game development isn't really a thing in South Africa. There have been a handful of games that came from here, but it's still widely regarded as an "overseas" thing, and it's not part of our Afrikaans/Boer culture.
I had no one here that I could talk to or ask advice. Most of my friends didn't play 90's shooters and did not share a multifaceted/worldly cultural input. So believe it or not, you guys actually played a huge part in the updating and fixing of the game, and helped direct a lot of the improvements that CARNAL now has. Don't want to single out anyone, you guys know who you are, the discussions are filled with your wisdom :)
Some anecdotal things I learned:
- Making a functional game isn't too difficult...
- But making good design decisions is
- You cannot please everyone. Seems obvious, but mercies like me learn it a bit later in life
- 90's shooters are a universally shared comfort zone, which transcends nations and cultures
- Having a full game cost $1 is an admirable ideal, but it doesn't translate well into the real world. It seems to negatively affect perceptions of a game's quality.
- Not having marketing or someone to help with that does have a huge impact. Again seems obvious lol
- People like to save their progress, and like choosing when to do so. Even if it's not really needed.
- People in general don't like camera movements or headbobbing.
- AI intelligence and the perception of it is very a subjective thing. For some it can be good, for others bad.
- Whether or not movement in a game is well designed depends on the person
- Speaking of subjective: LEVEL DESIGN. Some will love it, others will hate it
- People are VERY sensitive to sound.
- There is quite a sizeable amount of players that like to change their keybindings.
- Mouse acceleration is hated across the board
- There are a few people who play with inverted mouse controls
- Very few PC players actually use a controller for FPS games
- Speaking of controllers, the harderst thing was implementing full controller support
- The amount of ultra-wide monitor users is slowly increasing over time
- Things you hope players will appreciate is often the last thing they notice or think about
- Appropriate music helps the game experience
- Don't make actual jokes. You know, like about real life stuff. People don't take kindly to that sort of thing anymore these days
- Don't make promises you can't keep. Players don't forget
- Most people are reasonable and want to see things be the best they can be
- You guys are pretty okay :D
There have been a ton of challenges making this game, and even more mistakes made by yours truly. But at the end of the day I think it was worth it, and I'm glad my friends encouraged me to put CARNAL on Steam. I only hope it was a fun and nostalgia inducing experience for you guys, and that your memories of playing the game were sweet. Not bitter, cause that would suck. Thanks a billion my guys, know you have my gratitude and that I really like you all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0ZHlp6atUQ
Looking forward
In keeping with tradition I'll be brutally honest with you guys. I have made some progress, but it wasn't without some challenges. There's no easy way to say it:
I am having doubts about this sequel idea.
Simply put I don't know if anything I make will be good enough or whether it will do well. I have been watching CARNAL's numbers/analytics for past few months and it seems that it will remain an obscure game, and the thought of investing in a sequel is becoming scarier with time. There are so many old-school style shooters available now, and it's frankly become an over saturated genre, kind of like how it was in the 90's.
With so many players on the field and a lot them having the backing of publishers and social media, the possibility of a new CARNAL standing a chance or being successful seems more and more unrealistic. I am just not sure that having a decent "boomer shooter" is enough anymore.
Currently I am not ready to scrap the idea yet, but I do want you guys to understand my concerns. I am not a money or business minded individual, I don't care about those things, but even I am starting to wonder about the financial viability of this endeavour. I guess I'm just afraid that I'll be spending all this time, money and effort on a game that will quickly fade into obscurity like it's predecessor.
I really don't want to dissapoint anyone, at least that's not the idea. Perhaps I'm making it too much of a big deal for myself, who knows.
So in the midst of this slow building panic, I have been trying a few things to make this sequel concept more "attractive". Maybe I wasted my time, but I'll share some of it anyways. For these tests I veered away from the old-school aesthetics a bit.
These were captured using Unity HDRP, using all it's modern rendering techniques. They walk, talk and shoot at you.
Seems left field all of a sudden I realize, but I'd rather be open with you guys than keep it to myself, even if it's not very enthusiastic stuff.
I'm going to take a break from this game stuff a bit, clear my stupid head and all that. Point is I think that for the sequel to get somewhere, I will have to adapt and the game will need to evolve, maybe even move away from the first person perspective. I don't know.
On a high note
Again I hope this experience with the game and everything relating to Steam has been a positive one. I never thought I'd make and release a game, so thanks for playing! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and as always don't be a stranger ːsteamthumbsupː
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZvTfn22KPM