After three years of waiting, my anticipation for the Biggleboss Incident is at an all-time-high, and the countdown to the game’s completion feels closer than it’s ever been. I simply cannot describe how excited I am to play!
You talked about one chance to make a good first impression which is true however a lot of the long-term successful indie game developers say they don't make the bulk of their money from the initial release of their game but the long tail effect of having their game out over a long period of time. The GDC talk 10 years without a hit talks about it. Also, Dave Gilbert (Wadget Eye) talks about how he makes consistent sales long term and has released multiple games and tries to release one game per year and took about 2 years longest to release a game. His first game Blackwell Legacy was made in about 4 months and he started with several small adventure games in the same series to build an audience and repeat sales from people who liked the game getting the next game in the series. He contributes his success to having multiple titles bringing in small consistent money so he can continue to build his next game.
Your game looks great, don't overthink it! Be proud of the achievement of finishing a project like this on your own, it's no easy feat! ..I hope I'll finish mine! 😅
We're all in this together for the journey and community, not just for the destination. I don't think anyone has any illusions about someone's first game - in fact, we're here because it's your first game! That's what makes it so appealing.
Am I the only person who tends to actually DISlike voice acting in video games? I usually just find it kind of irksome and pointless. This isn't me saying don't put voice-overs in your video game, this is just me telling you that not everyone is going to refuse to buy your game because it doesn't have enough/good enough voice acting. Secondly, maybe you mention something pertaining to this in an older video I haven't seen, but as for animation have you considered taking a look at the RU-vidr Toniko Pantoja? He's an animator who makes instructional videos and online courses, and while I haven't watched all his videos, what I have seen of him gives me the impression of an easygoing and helpful person. Some animators get kind of stuck-up and mean, I'd hate for you to reach out for help and get smacked down with some condescending retort.
Voice acting is worth its weight in gold on the indie market precisely because of how few indie games do have it, which in turn is because of how freakishly expensive it is. Makes you stand out. Although I don't think he should take this route. Point'n'click games sell like crap anyway and it's unlikely that even a full-fledged voice acting would do much of a difference, all while flushing down the toilet the last chances of the game actually at least recuperating its budget.
For what it sounds like you have planned, I don't think you need to use video. You can always add a whole bunch of random animations to a temp scene to check for a possible frame rate issue given the quantity you want, but I would be surprised if you had any issues in 2D. Problems are much more common in 3D with complicated models but your art should be simple quads each.
it would be really good if you had a Steam page soon (if it doesn't already exist) because with all the videos you can also make sure that your game is wishlisted. It's extremely important for your future visibility on Steam, which isn't exactly easy for indies and adventure games. And I want to buy this game , oooh yes! :) Maybe another info: You can also create the steam page first only with screenshots and make the trailer later.
As a general rule don't worry about how hard something will be on the game engine. Computers these days are too powerful for what we give them to do anyway. You had better cost out the voice acting before you start on it btw, it costs way more than you'd think it would which is why a lot of games end up with a few voice snippets at the start of the game and important parts but the rest gets left out. If you do your own voice acting the key thing to pay attention to is inside voice vs outside voice. Half of why people who haven't voice acted before sound amataur is there's a subconscious "I'm trying to talk but not loud enough that I'd bother anyone in the next room" quality. Like try your loudest boldest "AH-HA!" and feel in your body if you are partly worried that someone else might have heard you. That's normal but in voice acting you have to get rid of that, though once you recognise it you're halfway there.
Using a video cutscene is the best solution in sense of both engineload-wise and creating-wise. Theres only one hinder to it; testing. Game engines automatically deals with different screen resolutions but when it comes to play pre-made videos they all need some testing and meddling, different video codecs show different results, your game has to ship including that video codec and some of those codecs are not free for commercial using. Even it is easier to use/create a video cutscene in a game, those are the challenges waiting for you.
Same with me "nearly done with it" with the actual game, but in actuality it's a lot of work left. Mostly special case animations that has a quite long list, and if i should really do it, not sure i will but AI voice acting by myself. I've tried it and it's possible but it is a lot A LOT of work
really awaiting for the game. i will buy it just to support, and im sure ill enjoy it too! i really have my own adventure game on mind, but too scared and busy to do
As my personal point and click adventure (that is only in demo phase now) I have cheated bigtime. I also had completion anxiety and need to finish all lose ends. It just put a “To Be Continued” at the end and I promised myself to do it differently the next time. Now I have chosen the McPixel route and go for mini adventures. But your game is a full point and click adventure and even has a climactic ending! So you are much better than you think. And you created an audience that will definitily buy your game. So to speak with with your own words “Without further ado, I am going to release my game”. Hope you will! No pressure though!
I believe in you! Really looking forward to buying the game and locking myself in a room for hours. Don't even care if it isn't perfect, it's just so inspiring to see something grow from nothing to completion. If you make it all the way I promise (myself) I will finish my next project.
I'm into it, but I'm kind of eager for you to be done not only so that I can play the game-it's exactly my type of game-but so that you can maybe start a new devlog in which you'll actually have things you can show! You can't really show the progress in these devlogs, which is the primary thing that people watch these for, because everything left is a spoiler, lol. Keep it up, you've already got my money, and my support, which I guess are kind'a the same thing.
Answering your question about choosing between engine or video, I'd generally recommend video. But depends on the engine too. Video is a safe way to go because it only depends on the format the engine is supporting, it's not limited by the capabilities of an engine, you can be sure that it works for everyone and nowadays you can make it very small. But having it based on the engine is more flexible in ways that you can make it more interesting, advanced, add interactive elements. Can also be combined with both.
I personally recommend doing your cutscene in engine rather than playing a video. In my experience it’s a lot easier to tweak and edit, plus you’ll be able to better take advantage of AC’s features like subtitles.
Good to hear that the game is (finally!) nearing completion - I'll keep my fingers crossed that it does come out in 2024. Just to say that from what I've seen so far, the game is looking pretty good and you shouldn't have any worries about releasing it. Secondly, I'd personally stay away from FMV as it doesn't really seem to fit in with the rest of the game. It can work in some circumstances but I don't think I've ever seen a traditional point and click game use them, and for good reason.
I was just thinking about this project the other day. I feel that when creative work and decisions are done and the game is feature complete, all that is left is fixing bugs and polishing. And i hate this part. All the fun parts are done, and now all there is left is grind. Having said that. Finish the game even if it doesn't meet your expectations. Published game even if not prefect is infinitely better than something unfinished sitting on your hard drive somewhere.
Finish it. It’s going to be good. You made sure of it. Maybe some people don’t feel that way. Maybe it won’t make a ton of money. Maybe it does? Maybe you learn and do another one. Maybe you don’t. But nothing happens if you don’t finish it.
Command & Conquer integrated video clips into the RTS genre very successfully. I don’t think there is one right way but definitely, videos can work as in-game experiences if done right. Especially if the player is given clues about what’s happening when transitioning from interactive play to a video clip.
You could make a mockup video with voicework edited into the video. It would just be a trailer and would be subject to change, but would help you get something posted early.
It is a beautiful honor to be featured in one of your devlog episodes, Ads! You know how inspiring your community was for our game, so thank you very much for this gift 🥰This feeling you're mentioning I think it's something very common in the creative world... Have a great holiday and during this break try to remember why you are doing this in the first place 💛
Oh, one other thing: My offer to do voice acting at no charge is still on the table. I ain't sayin' I'm a master or anything, but I think I could give you a worthwhile performance. If/when you start doing auditions, please give me a ground-floor opportunity. I have a very nice $300 mic as well with a pop-filter and wind-screen, so the fidelity, if nothing else, should be there.
@TheGreatUndergroundEmpire Voice acting is the kind of profession that people think almost everybody can do because it's just so easy. Well, I've been exposed to a couple of fan dub projects for games in my life and it was so painful trying to be nice to people because of all the effort they went to even when the final effect was complete and utter crap. And that's not even to mention the dizzying differences in mic quality.
