7 Years of Indie Game Development - The Making Of Sapiens 

I don't know you at all, but in the publishing scene at the end, when I saw your family standing behind you, experiencing the same excitement, supporting and applauding you, I realized what a beautiful family you are, what a good father you are, and you did this for your family. sometimes you don't need to know, but I felt you closely my friend, you have accomplished something very nice, considering the family support and living conditions for many years, you have finally overcome the difficult paths, you have been a great source of motivation for me, congratulations

Fantastic game with seemingly endless potential. Other games in this genre feel outdated in comparison. Impressive for EA release.

I’m addicted to this game!!! You gave me the game I’ve wanted for years! Thank you 🙏🏾

Your reaction to the release at the end with your family was so fucking wholesome. Congrats! You are living the game dev dream

much respect for not giving up, we all know how hard that can be as a gamedev

I'm also an Indie Game Developer, but develop games for mobile phone. After two years of hard-working, I've completed publishing two games on Android and iOS stores: Squid Cannon, Twitch Balls. I will continue to develop more games as it's not only my favorite but also my ambition to be successful in Game Development.

31:50 I really like the name Sapiens that you landed on. Because that name isn't JUST prehistoric humans. It is a game about Sapiens. It could be prehistoric, medieval, modern, future, or anything. Because of this you aren't stuck with only cavemen. It can go as far as you want and the modders want.

I discovered this project literally a few hours ago, and now just minutes ago you upload a video discussing launch! I have missed so much, but I’m very much looking forward to release!

Been playing this game for the last week and it's brilliant! I'd love to see some sort of interaction with Rivers and the "terraforming" that can be used to create Sapien-Made Canals and such! Looking forward to the future updates 🙂

Just found out you made Blockheads. I put so many hours into playing that game on one of my first smart phones I got as a teenager. That’s awesome!

It’s been an amazing journey to follow ! Absolutely crazy to think I was just 9 when you started work on this- congrats on the early access launch !! :D

Such an amazing game, and it’s been awesome to follow along for the past couple of years.

Been one heck of a ride watching this project for the past few years and finally seeing it come together! You've made something really special and I wait to see where you go from here!

Very interesting, thanks for compiling this! And congrats on the launch!

Hi Dave! I have followed this project and your devlogs since 2019 and hats off to you. Great video, awesome journey and the dedication to stick with the project is really respectable from the perspective of indie game developer. I wish all the success to you and Sapiens.

been following your videos for a veryyyyyy long time, happy to see its in EA now been busy with work

Dude its been amazing to follow the progress for so long, and then actually see it come out and get to try it, it makes it fell so much more special, and the game is really fun too, congrats!!!

Congrats mate! It’s been great to see this grow over the years, very inspirational. Huge respect from Melbourne.

Following the development of Sapiens has been a lot of fun, I hope the game continues beeeing developed for a long time And really, well done making the game (its amazing) and pushing through past the honeymoon period of the development process

I've been watching from the beginning. It's fantastic to finally be able to play it. You're an inspiration to us Devs just starting our journey!

I have been following your progress for a while, it awesome to see the progress that you have made.

I remember watchin the first devlog about 4 years ago, and then this fell of my radar. But now looking at this, the whole journey.... WOW, I'm truly amazed.

congratulations! not sure when i started watching your channel but this has been a really fun and exciting journey. The game is rock solid and i can't wait to see what the future brings

Very inspirational journey! Glad I could watch it happen!

This was a fantastic journey and thank you for first doing it and documenting it and then of course sharing it all with us! Thank the kids and your mrs! what a team!

Very inspirational. Love the last part of the video with release and the family is around. Best of wishes! Keep up creating.

Congrats man! Been watching you on and off for a while. Hope your game release is going well.

This is a long one! Looking forward to watch it.

Just purchased it!! Im excited to play it and support your hard work.

Throwing in the songs used in the blockheads was very nostalgic! Congrats on the game will definitely be picking it up! Followed this game for a few years amazing to see all the progress that has been made really well done!

Been looking forward to this for years, looks amazing. can't wait till I can get a new PC

Very proud of your journey, your passion is amazing. Keep it up!

Playing your game right now and loving it! The scale of the world and the potential is mental hope u keep going with it

Insane work! I'll go grab it from steam soon. Such a passion project - i Love it.

I follow your journey since a very long time. You achieved something amazing. Congrats. I will look forward to explore the game ♥

Congratulations on the successful release Dave, your hard work has paid off. This is just the beginning, Good luck and thank you for giving us all a great game.

I don’t think any video I have ever watched has inspired me as much as this, I can’t wait to make something as incredible as this. Amazing video and an even more amazing project, off to buy it now. Cannot wait to see this game grow!

Congratulations Dave on a truly excellent game! I've been having a blast and really looking forward to future additions. Hope you get great success from your solo work.. so well deserved! ;)

Congratulations for your hard work, your video is amazing

Congrats, Dave. Very inspiring work to see just how far you've taken this project from 7+ years ago.

I've been here since the 5 year video. looking forward to playing this when my new PC gets here. hopefully by the end of the week I'll be enjoying your labor of love!

This is simply amazing to watch. I only started on the original playlist a week ago - and I have watched the entire list during that week. Big congratulations on the entire journey. I am a bit envious on actually committing fully to a project - especially of this magnitude. Just purchased 😇👍🏻

Thank you for showing us your journey. I've been following quietly since it was first brought onto steam to be wishlisted.

congrats! following your videos for a couple of years now. fascinating how long ago some changes happened :) Keep up the great work! Cheers Simon

You are incredibly inspirational. Thank you for your gifts to this world!

Congratulations to you and your fantastic game :) Love the hard work and humble attitude, you're an inspiration and the fact that you have a family and still working so hard, it can't be easy! Also , great video seriously, summing everything up like this, makes for a really kickass story. All the best from Sweden!

It has been an awesome experience following you all these years, and I can't wait to see more! :)

Thank you for the wonderful opportunity you have provided, allowing us to follow along. Makes it all that much more special and inspiring. Not often do you get a chance to get this close. Appreciate it, looking forward to the road ahead

Hi Dave, just spend the last few days playing your game having come across it on Steam. Been really enjoying it, but then I came across this video. I had no idea one guy built this on his own. Blew me away to find that out. Fantastic game awesome work, thank you for making it.

Well done man, this is a great game and I am glad I followed the progress over the years. I wish you all the best with this and all your future plans

Been watching you work on this since the beginning and I’ll be getting the game soon!

This was very enjoyable to watch. Good luck with further development.

Thanks for this great game and also the documentation of your journey, it motivates me to keep going with my own App. Looking forward to more content and stuff to do in Sapiens.

Beautiful game Dave! I wish you the best with this game and many other you'll make along the way! Great video as well.

It is truly an amazing journey to have been with you for the past 4 years. I remember when I was 17 and started my Blender journey and said this game is going to be unique and I still think it is. I can't wait for the near future when it has multiplayer, vr and more. keep up and thanks for the game

absolutely great - love how you kept grinding

It’s so good to see hard work and dedication, I will definitely be picking this up from the shop Thank you for this, this is MASSIVELY inspiring

Wow what an incredible video! Watched the whole thing and it was truly inspiring. Last I saw of this was when you got that first big view spike! You've really achieved something extremely special

Always hugely inspirational seeing the process and hard work solo devs put in to their games. Great video, congrats on the EA launch!

From one Kiwi developer to another, congratulations on the release! So cool to see more Kiwis getting their games out on the global stage. I loved watching the uploads over the years it was amazing to see all the progress being made. So happy the game has finally released and that it has been received every well, can't wait to see where it goes in the future!

This is so wholesome and inspiring even though I know nothing about game development, so much passion and effort will definitely buy this game when I have a pc again sometime! Great job man!

wow, the dedication you have man, it's trully impressive! the longest I've worked on a project was for about 1 year I can't even imagine spending 7 years on a project without quiting or loosing track of what's what, and you documented the entire thing as well, This channel is a gem! and I'm sure gonna go back and watch the entire series and learn from it. I hope to see this game one day on steam or other platforms because it deserved to be seen and played for all the dedication and time you put into it. keep it up!

Really great video man, and fantastic looking game. Your love for game development really shows. Well done.

The scale of this project is unreal. The amount of effort and problem you must have had to overcome during that development time is insane... Really well done. I can see how much this means to you. Good job my friend 🖤

Looks exactly like a game I'd like. Thank you for your hard work and congratulations for the release. Off to get me one! Cheers!

Awesome. Great dedication over the years! Great to see how you've progressed!

I looked back at your channel and I totally used to play blockheads when i was a kid, about 7 years ago. my mind is blown

This is the absolute best pubblicity imo. I've seen the reviews, many lament the lack of content, but they clearly don't understand the work that went behind this. I might not get around to play your game very soon, but i decided to contribute, all the best

I can't stop playing this game! I can't wait to see the final product (and maybe expansions?) No rush, I am here for the long haul. Thank you so much for such an awesome game!

Dave, thank you for this. It was a wonderful story to watch.

came over from thinmatrixs channel, and look what ive found! Another goodie

Very awesome work!! Very good job documenting all and working on the game of your dreams for more than 7 years :D Good luck with the game sales and I hope than all goes well!!

I've never seen your channel, or mentions of your game. Viewing this summary has made me very interested, and you've just made yourself a new "follower". I'm looking forward to following your progress on the game. Good job and best of luck on your game.

I've been following along for quite sometime, admittedly I haven't been a good youtube user by supporting your videos but I'll definitely be buying your game!

16:45 I like the idea of standing commands! I also like how RimWorld has a forbid command that if you don't want people to interact with something you can forbid them from doing it. That way you can have some standing commands to harvest your wheat fields for example but if you have some decorative bushes, trees, wheat, etc. Around you can forbid them from harvesting it. Edit: 42:40 hmm... I can see how automation can lead to you not really having a lot to do and that makes sense. For farming though I really do believe you should be able to automate it. Food is something that is passing and going all of the time by the day and so is something your Sapiens should be able to automate. Or else as you get larger and larger towns (or even just multiple) you will have to spend far too much time simply managing the food they have. At the moment food isn't an issue but that is only because it is FAR too easy to survive. Seasons pass quickly and plants never die. So after harvesting a few banana trees (for example), after you plant them you now have a infinite food source that when under a roof almost never rots.

Congratulations! It's fantastic to see how well this has gone.

It is very emotional to see you in real finally (theres was only a voice). 7 years.... wow. I remember the generation of the planet and the making of seasons. It's been a while I haven't seen the videos. It is now a huge amount of work and the resukt is brilliant. You can be proud of you. REally. Congrats.

1:03:08 since we are talking about mines I wanted to ask you how you and the community feel about horizontal mines. Now I understand that the way that the terrain functions this is simply just impossible with your way of digging which is better for pit mines (which I love because they leave a large impact on the world!) But it can be quite difficult to mine in very mountainy terrain as the slopes become too steep very often. That is why I thought that perhaps we could have some sort of structure like a mineshaft entrance that would then allow your camera to get underground and for you to mine shafts with a line tool like how paths are made and hopefully fences in the future. There could be various widths for technologies in the future like extra wide shafts for minecarts (or tunnels with trains perhaps but that is FAR later into development.) You could also have parts that would allow you to make stair or ladder rooms to go up or down a level to make more compact or deeper mineshafts. The way the terrain works currently actually really works with with that level system as when your dig out a secondary entrance it will be on a level already to match the tunnel networks. A MAJOR issue with this though is how the camera system would work... I could imagine a top down view working pretty well when building the tunnels however I feel like that might not fit the game. (I wouldn't have an issue with it but others may.) Of course you can always do your standard 1st person view to walk around the mines if you want to but that wouldn't work when trying to make mineshafts I think. Edit: I guess maybe you could still do your 1st person view if you could somehow make it look like you were actually underground and not just floating under the world and seeing through the ground. Another thing I thought of though is that this system would actually allow you to dig below sea level as all you would need to do is not render water underground... I say that as if it is easy when I actually know hardly anything about game development but I do believe that should be achievable. But going far underground would allow you to find metals that you normally wouldn't which I think would be cool... Of course it would probably be behind some kind of research that would allow you to brace your tunnels or something to prevent collapse.

BIG Congratulations 🎉 for all the hard work, effort, and time you put into this game. I hope it has been a rewarding experience. This is the best game I've played all year. 🎉

I can;t believe I've missed this devlog series. I didn't know about the game till now. Looks absolutely fantastic!!!

Just had this video pop up in my recommended and I thought it looked familiar. You mentioned the algorithm picked up your "4 years of dev" video and it clicked, that's the video I saw 4 years ago. Amazing you're releasing!

Dude , this is amazing! As someone who really values music in games, hearing that theme song was a great moment. This is the first video I’ve seen, hoping there’s more to watch about this game

This is incredible. I first played the game on the Steam Next Fest earlier this year and the 3 day demo made me so eager to play the full thing. I bought it right after launch and have been playing a bit every day ever since. The game was already amazing enough on its own, being so much fun already and having so much potential to future additions, but now knowing its full story it got even better. What you've done is really inspiring and motivating, thank you so much for the game you're developing and for sharing its history! I'll be sure to follow this journey from now on, all the best to you!

I was already blown away by this game when I played the Next Fest demo, but this just gave me a whole new appreciation for it. What an awesome documentary! Thank you for sharing your entire journey with us.

I teared up a little seeing the clip of your family gathering around to watch the game be released :') Going from watching these devlogs for years to actually being able to play the game and enjoy it for hours myself has been an amazing feeling, great job sticking with the project for such a long time and I'm excited for it's future!

Just bought it I'm so excited to play and happy to support!

I'm sooooo excited!! Just purchased/downloaded the game. Found out about it today and already in love. I can't believe the amount of work you put into this. I think that the sky is the limit for you with this one!

Thank you so much for this video. It's so interesting to see the process of making a game like this. I couldn't resist buying the game as a result.

Non-I-just-had-an-unsolicited-idea comment: I've been watching this dev process for several years now, and it's been an absolute delight to follow along. Every time a new video pops up on my feed, I drop everything to see what you've been up to. I've been holding off on picking up the game for procrastination reasons, but it's been on my wishlist since that was an option, and I'm really excited to play around with it. All the best to you and yours, and thank you for putting something beautiful into the world. :)

Mate you definitely did not fail with this one!! Awesome game, in fact it is my new favorite to play. Thank you very much for this.

Nice work! I'm compiling programs with half of my cores/threads and the game still runs smooth as butter without messing with priority. Thank you for the work you put into performance, i think it will be a solid base for the future. Best wishes!

Love the idea of what this could become! Keep ur passion alive ! =) Will def buy this to try it out.

Thanks for the reflection. Learned a lot. only for this i will buy the game...for me as a hobby game dev i know it's a huge challenge what you're doing!

Thank you for your efforts. You created such a fantastic game. Ive had it less than a week and already have 20 hours into it. All of it is fantastic!! Again, Thank you.

Truly an inspiring journey, thank you for this

been watching the devlogs since 2018 or 2019, not 100% sure. been a wonderful journey so far! cant wait for the future of this wonderful game

Amazing progress!! Just bought the game, can't wait to see where you take this 😁

You and your family are creative, optimistic , focused, logical and most of all .. courageous! Thank you all for continuing to build such a beautiful and fun game as a family.

it's been great following along the last few years, congrats on a great game and successful release :)

I really loved this tale of a game developer.. as a former developer myself (not games - never was that talented) i though still feel the different phases.. and the pressure. You got all my wishes for succes with your game.