It's been a wild ride for us at Human Computer. A little over a month ago, we submitted Ballgame for the Day of the Devs San Francisco Edition and just about a week ago, we demo'd the game at that very event.
While we've been working on the game for some time, the deadline to host our first in-person demo was a hot one. We had around three weeks to polish and make Ballgame ready for folks to play. It was a fast-paced journey but it resulted in such a great way to announce and share our debut game with the world. Here are the highlights.
People like Ballgame.
Our demo ran well and we got such great feedback. Each person on our team also brought along a Steam Deck and at one point, we were running demos on our standard machine alongside four Steam Decks. The feedback was very positive and folks had great ideas for ball abilities, multiplayer modes, and even a few requests for a level editor. We're still very bullish (ballish?) on shipping this year, so we are taking some time to consider the feedback and what will fit into plans. It means the world to us that overall there was a positive reaction to what we've been making.
Connecting with the dev community.
Collectively, we'd never participated in Day of the Devs with a demo; but, as former attendees, it was so meaningful to show the game at this event. Not only did we get great feedback but we also became part of the DOTD community which means connecting and knowledge sharing with other devs. In particular, it was incredible to connect with folks working on games like Grindset T.V., Dosa Divas, Worming from Home, Over The Hill, Petal Runner, and so many other games!
We made a trophy!
And… nearly gave it away to our FIRST demo of the day (Smirky with 26!). But, we ended up with a dramatic finish (necessary for any ball game) with Tiago scoring 21 on the very last demo session of the day. We learned that people love trying to best their score and cheer on others with tips and tricks as they are playing. We'd call that a birdie!
Sharing our game was rewarding.
Some very cool people checked the game out and said some really nice things (“It all seems quite chaotic at first glance. I live for chaos. I'm in.” - Engadget). We quickly cut together an amazing trailer and it was the perfect way to share the game. And, we loved how folks described the game to their friends: golf at the speed of pinball, Worms-Meets-Sonic, and downright fun.
What’s next?
We are taking a closer look at what we are making, planning our production schedule, as well as what our first online demo might look like later this year. For our YouTube channel, we’re putting to gether a developer diary about our experience getting to Day of the Devs – it’ll be up soon. Make sure to subscribe to follow along. Thanks for coming along for the journey!