Developer Update

Wow, it's been over two years ago since I last posted an update. The reason I wanted to post something is because I felt that I should post something as a sign of life and yes, I still very much care about this game that I spent 4+ years of my life on. The reason I haven't posted anything is because I didn't feel I had anything worth while to talk about. Of course the pandemic hit and since then everything's been sideways.

First of all I want to once again show my gratitude to those who've left reviews, posted tidbits about the game and/or their experience. It's always appreciated and I do keep tabs on the game. A few things I'll point out is that this news post is mostly me talking about what I've been up to and what I am currently working on. I wish I had some sort of concrete news regarding STARDROP itself but I honestly don't have much. The project itself is now not even compiling anymore and I simply don't have the time to figure out why. I've wanted to try and fix a few bugs that have persisted but the way I handled mechanics is so vastly outdated that I get a headache looking at it.

Seriously, I've been working on a slew of prototypes (more on this later) where I am so much more efficient and capable in what I can do and how much more optimized I can do things, looking at the old project is rather perplexing. Thanks to working on it, I've learned a ton and thanks to working on new stuff I've been able to grow even more and I know that in the back of my head I really want to do another project this size or even bigger but for now I'm focused on smaller projects.

So, the pandemic also hit hard and during that time I've tried to start new projects. I prototyped a few ideas before it hit but once it did, it was hard to stay focused and I had one project that I pursued to completion, which is:

Play With Gilbert - Remake

At first I wanted to create a follow-up to the original PWG and started off on a new project but things just didn't sit right with me. The original game started out as a personal project for my daughter, I put a bit of effort into it and released it on Steam. That was in 2017, when I was still knees deep in development of STARDROP. No real expectations but the game seemed to do very well with the target audience and the parents were happy to have a game that didn't include anything predatory nor had any adult humor in it.

I was chugging along with the new project but as development went on it just didn't sit right with me to leave the old game as it was. I wanted PWG to have a higher quality ceiling. It also wouldn't sit right with me that the first entry in the game wasn't as good as it could be.

So I decided to remake the entire game from scratch. And then the pandemic hit. With all the stuff going on, working on a game like PWG was really something I need on a mental level. The light hearted ness of it all was making life just a bit more bearable. I soldiered on and released the remake abotu a year ago and it's been received very well! Super happy with the response and am glad it's finding a small but incredibly friendly community, very much like the one with STARDROP.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/740040/Play_With_Gilbert__Remake/
I made sure most of the old features returned but executed much better. Customization was greatly expanded. The levels were recreated and much better optimized. Coop was included from the start instead of tacked on and a lot of new features were added as well. and it's a project I am still tinkering on while having fun. No pressure.

I'll leave the trailer here, so you can have a look if you're interested. Again, I'm just sharing what I've been up to and putting a spot light on my other work.

Whiskered Away

This is a new and upcoming project. I've always wanted to do something with pixel art and I felt Gilbert would be a perfect fit. A relaxing platformer that doesn't demand too much from the player where I can dip my toes into the whole 2D development cycle.

PikuNiku was a huge inspiration and A short hike as well. A fun little platform and exploration game with quirky animals and other characters. Writing for it is something completely different and I'm having a ton of fun coming up with these characters and trying to bring them to life.

The game is coming along and will be released hopefully around summer. The game is still being developed and thus this current version is subject to change in various ways. You'll be able to add the game to your wish list if you enjoy the demo and for me to receive feedback so I can make a better experience in the end.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1922800/Whiskered_Away/
I also created a small simple trailer for the time being, A more finalized trailer will be created when I get to the final stretches of development but for now, it suits its job I believe.

The demo will be updated periodically when new content is added. I will be participating in the Steam Next Fest for June and hopefully release the game not too long from then. I want this game to be a fun experience with more character interactions and dialogues.

Other Projects

Of course this is far from what I've been working on. In fact I've started a number of projects which haven't worked out for me. I worked on a Zero-G sci-fi game, which was fun to work on but I couldn't find the gameplay loop. I'm keeping it in my back pocket for now and may turn it into a small game experience at some point. It's very different but too niche to continue right now.

Another project included zombies on a distant planet. In fact I wanted to tie this directly into the STARDROP universe, The colony mentioned near the end of the game but it was too big for me to tackle. I couldn't justify another four years working on a single title, so maybe I'll revisit it but at the same time I have been able to expand on some of the ideas I had for it and may do something different.

Project STARDUST

Project STARDUST is the latest one that I am working on slowly in the background. Since it's going to be a bigger project (not as big as STARDROP) I've not formally announced it yet. I do really like where it's heading and I am going to keep working on it while I finish another unannounced project first.

I will share a short clip of what it looks like so far. I don't have a complete story yet and it'll be a very different game from STARDROP. This one will have combat. It may even end up in the same universe as STARDROP but I'm not entirely sure about it.

Let me know what you think and if this is something that looks like fun to you. I've always wanted to make a shooter that is more leaning towards survival horror. Lots of people felt creeped out by the ships in STARDROP so that's an aspect I always wanted to explore and as I mentioned, I'm going to keep this one in active development.

Unannounced Project

Not much I can say about it yet. I will post an update here once it's publicly announced but it's something completely different from what I've done so far. Exciting but "horror-fying" at the same time., haha.

I Have A Patreon Page

I also decided to set up a Patreon. being an indie developer, now more than ever, isn't the easiest thing in the world but I really want to stay independent and this is one avenue that allows me to stay so.

I am really disliking the majority of where the games industry is heading towards, with worse predatory monetization schemes than ever before, half baked games that might and probably wont ever be completed and now the whole NFT craze. I just want to make fun games the old fashioned way by working my ass off, getting it finished and maybe then after release I'll add new content.

Anyway, getting side-tracked, the support I've received from my Patrons have been amazing and in fact has helped me more then they could suspect and they have my gratitude. So, if you are in a position and thinking to yourself, yeah I'd love to see more games from this developer in the future then you can always take a peek at my Patreon page and see what its about.

I've set up a few tiers and I believe the rewards for them are pretty neat. I've thought a lot about how I would go about this and it's fairly straight forward. Patrons will get access to the games I release via a Steam key and receive access to a number of my prototypes. If I have something interesting I'll post it.

Even if you don't want or cannot support me on Patreon, Joining the Discord server will enable you to offer support in the form of feedback and suggestions and being kept in the loop of what I'm working on, because I have a lot more planned than just Gilbert games.

IMPORTANT: Now I want to make it very clear that I am not selling my games on Pateron directly. This is purely for people who want to support me and my games as I do NOT want to compete with selling my games on Patreon. You will get rewarded on Patreon with the end product, but it's important to note that it's not a direct buy. I also want to make it very clear that you should be able to be in a position to even consider it.

MY PATREON

That's It For Now

Thank you for reading and if you made it this far! I believe I have some interesting stuff in the works. I really want to keep doing various genres and experiment with different kinds of games. I enjoy a range of different kinds of games myself and it's fun not making the same stuff over and over. I always wanted to make a shooter, so I got that covered with STARDUST. Whiskered Away is a fun little 2D game that I also, always wanted to do. My unannounced project is going more into the horror genre, which again, is something very different but I love a good horror experience.

Hopefully with STARDUST I can get back to sci-fi. I feel that once that one is finished I will hopefully be able to return to STARDROP. I've been going over how to return to that universe. Whatever I'll make, I'll promise to post it here for those who are interested.

Thank you and take care
Joure