Indie Vampire Syndicate: Gangs of MoonFall - Hybrid FPP/Overhead Turn-based Cyberpunk Vampire RPG

[ropetight]

Good on ya for sticking to your guns. I've always said the lines between mainstream art and hardcore porn needed to be blurred. You're a pioneer.

 

[Tyranicon]

Some vague WIP screenshots. Interior of the Taggert Terminal Facility. The Eclipse.

Currently working on a "real" trailer.

 

[Tyranicon]

More vague screenshots with vague accompanying text.

Underground brutalist vampire palaces.

The Far Shore.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

What is up with the Beksinski references?

 

[Caim]

For a second I thought I was in another thread and thought "Man, Todd is really trying with this new Starfield DLC".

 

[Tyranicon]

What is up with the Beksinski references?

I finally get to flesh out the stranger parts of my setting.

I like pixel art and all, but it was too limiting.

 

[Vincente]

#KeepMoonFallWeird

 

[Tyranicon]

TL;DR-level rambly blogpost ahead. Originally written for other game developers.

Vampire Syndicate will be my “make or break” project

long

Treading water doesn’t work in "small" indie gamedev. You need a big success to survive, not only thrive. My next game will have to do this for me, or I’ll have to leave game development. I don’t want to seem dramatic, just truthful.

It’s now been almost five years since I’ve made the perhaps ill-advised decision to quit my corporate career for a long-held dream. Game development is a pie in the sky scenario for creatives, and like most of those, it’s very difficult to find success in. I’ve been lucky enough to be among the few solo developers who have found some measure of success. But it’s not enough.

It’s very hard to sustain a career making games by yourself. The industry is the epitome of feast or famine, where you’re riding high off the launch of one game, but that has to last you for years.
Very few people can do it. And I know of only one that’s in my genre (RPGs) that has done this as a career with multiple titles to his name, a personal idol of mine, Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software.

Vogel was a pioneer. He started shipping shareware on floppy discs. And he’s almost one of a kind in the games biz. If you are in small gamedev in 2024, you are trying to stay alive in one of the most competitive periods we’ve ever seen for this industry, amidst a massive downturn of fortunes for a lot of established players and the market as a whole. Frankly, it’s one of the best and worst times to make games.

I dove headfirst into this making silly RPGmaker games, so you know I’m not one of the smart ones.

But there was a plan. I knew, even a decade and a half ago, when I had this crazy notion that I wanted to make games, that I needed a hit. Small successes may sustain you for a few years, but not anything long term, especially if you want to grow. For that, you’ll need something massive. I’m talking about a Stardew Valley or Undertale type success.

These are well-known. They are games that made the industry rethink what solodevs are capable of. Many would call them masterpieces.

The fact that you need to create a masterpiece in order to achieve some level of financial security is insane, but that’s the field I’ve decided to go into, and I’m not blaming anyone else.

So I did what everyone suggested. I made a very small game. Then I made a bigger game. Then I made a 30-40 hour RPG with four faction questlines and a ton of characters. I did very well with that one. It sold well over 35,000 copies, it’s reviewed pretty well by people who played it, and I’ve made a small name for myself as “that one guy who makes RPGs with porn in it.”

But it was also deeply flawed, buggy, slapped together with bandaids and chewing gum. I’ve absolutely mangled RPGMaker with so much custom code that it barely resembles anything made by someone who knows what they’re doing. It is the definition of a passionate amatuer’s learning project.

Am I ready to make a masterpiece? No, probably not.

Not to mention the hilarious fact that I am migrating from RPGMaker, which is often seen mostly as a hobbyist engine, to Unreal 5, which has a reputation as a very complex engine for even professional coders, which I am not. I’m a writer. Not a programmer, or an artist, the two skill fields who historically have had the most success in this field. Especially as a solo.

This entire journey has been one long climb up a very dangerous mountain. But I’ve already come so far. So there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that I’ll make the attempt for the peak.

But it’s terrifying, and it’s a tall order.

I guess the takeaway from this rambling is that if you’re at the start of your journey, reflect on this: can you actually succeed where most will fail?

But don’t take that as merely discouragement. It is simply a question of asking yourself if you think you’re up to the task, divorced of your ego. Ego has never helped anyone in this field, but honesty will. And it may save you a lot of trouble.

I wish you luck, and I hope I have some on my side as well.


-ManlyMouseDan

 

[santino27]

I really do think the switch to U5 is not only going to unleash your creativity/vision in a way that RPGMaker couldn't support, but also widen your potential audience significantly. Just have to hit the ground running with a solid initial product, and also spend some real time working on the kickstarter pitch (and building the audience/expectation for that kickstarter) before launching it. (No more 'welp, I just threw it up there and whatever happens happens, guys.')

I think there's a huge market for what you can bring.

 

[Abu Antar]

If possible, have a prototype demo ready, if you go the crowdfunding way.

 

[NecroLord]

TL;DR-level rambly blogpost ahead. Originally written for other game developers.

Vampire Syndicate will be my “make or break” project

long

Treading water doesn’t work in "small" indie gamedev. You need a big success to survive, not only thrive. My next game will have to do this for me, or I’ll have to leave game development. I don’t want to seem dramatic, just truthful.

It’s now been almost five years since I’ve made the perhaps ill-advised decision to quit my corporate career for a long-held dream. Game development is a pie in the sky scenario for creatives, and like most of those, it’s very difficult to find success in. I’ve been lucky enough to be among the few solo developers who have found some measure of success. But it’s not enough.

It’s very hard to sustain a career making games by yourself. The industry is the epitome of feast or famine, where you’re riding high off the launch of one game, but that has to last you for years.
Very few people can do it. And I know of only one that’s in my genre (RPGs) that has done this as a career with multiple titles to his name, a personal idol of mine, Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software.

Vogel was a pioneer. He started shipping shareware on floppy discs. And he’s almost one of a kind in the games biz. If you are in small gamedev in 2024, you are trying to stay alive in one of the most competitive periods we’ve ever seen for this industry, amidst a massive downturn of fortunes for a lot of established players and the market as a whole. Frankly, it’s one of the best and worst times to make games.

I dove headfirst into this making silly RPGmaker games, so you know I’m not one of the smart ones.

But there was a plan. I knew, even a decade and a half ago, when I had this crazy notion that I wanted to make games, that I needed a hit. Small successes may sustain you for a few years, but not anything long term, especially if you want to grow. For that, you’ll need something massive. I’m talking about a Stardew Valley or Undertale type success.

These are well-known. They are games that made the industry rethink what solodevs are capable of. Many would call them masterpieces.

The fact that you need to create a masterpiece in order to achieve some level of financial security is insane, but that’s the field I’ve decided to go into, and I’m not blaming anyone else.

So I did what everyone suggested. I made a very small game. Then I made a bigger game. Then I made a 30-40 hour RPG with four faction questlines and a ton of characters. I did very well with that one. It sold well over 35,000 copies, it’s reviewed pretty well by people who played it, and I’ve made a small name for myself as “that one guy who makes RPGs with porn in it.”

But it was also deeply flawed, buggy, slapped together with bandaids and chewing gum. I’ve absolutely mangled RPGMaker with so much custom code that it barely resembles anything made by someone who knows what they’re doing. It is the definition of a passionate amatuer’s learning project.

Am I ready to make a masterpiece? No, probably not.

Not to mention the hilarious fact that I am migrating from RPGMaker, which is often seen mostly as a hobbyist engine, to Unreal 5, which has a reputation as a very complex engine for even professional coders, which I am not. I’m a writer. Not a programmer, or an artist, the two skill fields who historically have had the most success in this field. Especially as a solo.

This entire journey has been one long climb up a very dangerous mountain. But I’ve already come so far. So there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that I’ll make the attempt for the peak.

But it’s terrifying, and it’s a tall order.

I guess the takeaway from this rambling is that if you’re at the start of your journey, reflect on this: can you actually succeed where most will fail?

But don’t take that as merely discouragement. It is simply a question of asking yourself if you think you’re up to the task, divorced of your ego. Ego has never helped anyone in this field, but honesty will. And it may save you a lot of trouble.

I wish you luck, and I hope I have some on my side as well.


-ManlyMouseDan

Wish you luck, bro!

 

[Anthedon]

Will Tyranicon ascend Mount Olympus to take his rightful place next to the Codexian father of the devs/gods (Cleve) with a Vampire porn RPG? It would only be fitting.

 

[NecroLord]

Will Tyranicon ascend Mount Olympus to take his rightful place next to the Codexian father of the devs/gods (Cleve) with a Vampire porn RPG? It would only be fitting.

You forgot to add Prosper.

 

[Storyfag]

Will Tyranicon ascend Mount Olympus to take his rightful place next to the Codexian father of the devs/gods (Cleve) with a Vampire porn RPG? It would only be fitting.

Or will he share the fate of Icarus, for daring to fly too close to the Sun?

 

[Luka-boy]

Or will he share the fate of Icarus, for daring to fly too close to the Sun?

I never asked for this.

But I am okay with this turn of events.

 

[Vincente]

TL;DR-level rambly blogpost ahead. Originally written for other game developers.

Vampire Syndicate will be my “make or break” project

Good luck.

 

[Storyfag]

Tyranicon, to be clear: the Icarus comparison was too poetic to pass by, but personally I wish you the best of luck

 

[Spectral Pontifex]

Upsell your game on Kickstarter and rob them blind. I am sure VS will do well. It's gonna be rough in certain areas for sure, but your ability to deliver an interesting story, worldbuilding, and C&C is the crucial element. The game(s) after VS will be a bit easier to make with all the millions in your bank account.

 

[Vincente]

And remember Tyranicon , if you can't make it, just turn to drip feeding porn addicts on Patreon with Ren'Py and Daz.

 

[Tyranicon]

And remember Tyranicon , if you can't make it, just turn to drip feeding porn addicts on Patreon with Ren'Py and Daz.

Is that my version of "quit gamedev to make furry commission art?"



Also some more eye candy:

 

[ERYFKRAD]

TL;DR-level rambly blogpost ahead. Originally written for other game developers.

Vampire Syndicate will be my “make or break” project

long

Treading water doesn’t work in "small" indie gamedev. You need a big success to survive, not only thrive. My next game will have to do this for me, or I’ll have to leave game development. I don’t want to seem dramatic, just truthful.

It’s now been almost five years since I’ve made the perhaps ill-advised decision to quit my corporate career for a long-held dream. Game development is a pie in the sky scenario for creatives, and like most of those, it’s very difficult to find success in. I’ve been lucky enough to be among the few solo developers who have found some measure of success. But it’s not enough.

It’s very hard to sustain a career making games by yourself. The industry is the epitome of feast or famine, where you’re riding high off the launch of one game, but that has to last you for years.
Very few people can do it. And I know of only one that’s in my genre (RPGs) that has done this as a career with multiple titles to his name, a personal idol of mine, Jeff Vogel of Spiderweb Software.

Vogel was a pioneer. He started shipping shareware on floppy discs. And he’s almost one of a kind in the games biz. If you are in small gamedev in 2024, you are trying to stay alive in one of the most competitive periods we’ve ever seen for this industry, amidst a massive downturn of fortunes for a lot of established players and the market as a whole. Frankly, it’s one of the best and worst times to make games.

I dove headfirst into this making silly RPGmaker games, so you know I’m not one of the smart ones.

But there was a plan. I knew, even a decade and a half ago, when I had this crazy notion that I wanted to make games, that I needed a hit. Small successes may sustain you for a few years, but not anything long term, especially if you want to grow. For that, you’ll need something massive. I’m talking about a Stardew Valley or Undertale type success.

These are well-known. They are games that made the industry rethink what solodevs are capable of. Many would call them masterpieces.

The fact that you need to create a masterpiece in order to achieve some level of financial security is insane, but that’s the field I’ve decided to go into, and I’m not blaming anyone else.

So I did what everyone suggested. I made a very small game. Then I made a bigger game. Then I made a 30-40 hour RPG with four faction questlines and a ton of characters. I did very well with that one. It sold well over 35,000 copies, it’s reviewed pretty well by people who played it, and I’ve made a small name for myself as “that one guy who makes RPGs with porn in it.”

But it was also deeply flawed, buggy, slapped together with bandaids and chewing gum. I’ve absolutely mangled RPGMaker with so much custom code that it barely resembles anything made by someone who knows what they’re doing. It is the definition of a passionate amatuer’s learning project.

Am I ready to make a masterpiece? No, probably not.

Not to mention the hilarious fact that I am migrating from RPGMaker, which is often seen mostly as a hobbyist engine, to Unreal 5, which has a reputation as a very complex engine for even professional coders, which I am not. I’m a writer. Not a programmer, or an artist, the two skill fields who historically have had the most success in this field. Especially as a solo.

This entire journey has been one long climb up a very dangerous mountain. But I’ve already come so far. So there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that I’ll make the attempt for the peak.

But it’s terrifying, and it’s a tall order.

I guess the takeaway from this rambling is that if you’re at the start of your journey, reflect on this: can you actually succeed where most will fail?

But don’t take that as merely discouragement. It is simply a question of asking yourself if you think you’re up to the task, divorced of your ego. Ego has never helped anyone in this field, but honesty will. And it may save you a lot of trouble.

I wish you luck, and I hope I have some on my side as well.


-ManlyMouseDan

May you fuck the industry in its ass long, hard and deep. Godspeed you crazy sonofabitch.

 

[Lord_Potato]

And remember Tyranicon , if you can't make it, just turn to drip feeding porn addicts on Patreon with Ren'Py and Daz.

Is that my version of "quit gamedev to make furry commission art?"



Also some more eye candy:

A question: are these magazines of your design or are they placeholders from purchased assets?

Also, do you intend to use those U5 assets as they are or modify them to closer depict the unique character of your world? I guess its a question of resources including time, but what is your aim and ambition?

As always, good luck with your project. I hope Vampire Syndicate proves be a great win and places you on the among the ranks of most successful solodevs.

 

[NecroLord]

Tyranicon Are you really gambling your entire independent game dev career on whether or not your game is going to succeed?
You can always just go for the "quantity is a quality of its own" approach and release porn games and people will still buy them.

 

[Readher]

If I could give one suggestion for the game that I feel would have a good impact on the crowdfunding and interest in the game in general, it'd be a stylized UI. The sterile, modern, barebones UI has became very common since a few years ago. Gone are the days where each game's UI would feature art that fit its setting. A throwback to that would immediately draw people's attention I think. Since your game is set in a cyberpunk world, I think a throwback to some of the older electronic styles like System Shock could be good.

 

[Tyranicon]

A question: are these magazines of your design or are they placeholders from purchased assets?

Also, do you intend to use those U5 assets as they are or modify them to closer depict the unique character of your world? I guess its a question of resources including time, but what is your aim and ambition?

I have relatively limited 3D modeling experience and everything I'm currently using is either a store asset or an asset that's been lightly modified in some way.

I do have Blender and some basic knowledge, but at this point I really shouldn't be doing every single thing anymore. I'll probably end up hiring somebody. I already have a few in mind.

Tyranicon Are you really gambling your entire independent game dev career on whether or not your game is going to succeed?
You can always just go for the "quantity is a quality of its own" approach and release porn games and people will still buy them.

Well, it's always been the plan. The problem is I'm doing the dumbest thing in gamedev: I'm not changing to match market trends, I'm attempting to force the market to bend around me.

There's any number of things I could've done to make money easier and more reliably, even in gamedev. I have refused to do that, either because I think it's not ethical or because I just don't respect it.

Like I said many times, I could just churn out low effort VNs and sell them for 5 USD a pop. They'd be extremely profitable if I started my dipping my toes in more extreme fetishes too. But that's not interesting at all to me.