Last Saturday, October 28th 2023, I showcased Over Many Waters at the Hashtag Gaming Arena in Herndon, Virginia. From 4PM to 9PM I had new players sit and test the game, for better or worse. These events are crucial to get live feedback and opinions from the perfect strangers. Most of the time, these strangers are honest and willing to lend the feedback needed for the growth of an indie game like mine.
What I Brought to the Show
As a solo indie game dev I have no pushback from large teams. Getting as many playtesters during early alpha build prototyping is a pretty big deal for me. During the month of October I set out to design and implement a first-time user experience tutorial level. However, my time was crunched down to the final hours as all three of my living grandparents had hip operation within two weeks and my father went in for a 7mm kidney stone. Making my rounds and spending quality family time wasn’t a second thought. I had to put development on hold.
The time spent away from development did not discourage me. The day before the event, I spent 14 hours developing and polishing the tutorial level. You can try out the slightly bugged build on my itch.io. Indie games are seriously rewarding and seriously difficult to create, but I love crunch-time and really knocking out my goals. Working under pressure drives me, so I want to set as many goals and attend as many events as possible.
At previous events, I have had mostly positive experiences. I started developing Over Many Waters full-time after the BIG/BeSTA Indie Game Dev Day on July 15th in the Baltimore area. The success of that event encouraged me to go all-in on developing my Aztec-Fantasy RPG, but not all events go according to plan.
Knowing How to Fall as an Indie Game Developer
My next show was in the basement of a bar/restaurant in Baltimore City during the Artscape’s sideshow, Gamescape 2023. Leading up to the showcase event, I had worked on numerous large projects for my other business (Xsealer Asphalt) and took on the week-long Brackey’s indie game jam. I lost focus for a bit and it cost me greatly.
During Gamescape, my playtesters uncovered critical game bugs. I was ashamed and disappointed in myself. I even attempted to resolve the bugs on the spot and pushed a stable build for players to get through. To be completely transparent here, that version of my game sucked so bad that it was effectively rated the worst game at the show. Visitors received tickets upon entry to the showcase. They were told to give a ticket to their favorite game or indie game developer. I was the only dev to get zero tickets .
The good news about this is that having a game build that sucks doesn’t mean you have a game that sucks. Knowing how to fall gracefully is important as a solo indie game dev. When I took MMA in my early 20’s, the first thing we learned was how to fall. The point is to fall gracefully enough that you don’t injure yourself and you end up in a recovery position that could lead to forward progress. That’s exactly what I did with my next build.
Progress Building
I feel much better after my last two shows: Opening Night of Maryland STEM Festival at Howard Community College, and Hashtag Con in Herndon, VA. My next event is another STEM Fest event coming up on November 12th at the University of Maryland, Ritchie Coliseum. By that time, my tutorial level should be polished and I may also have a few more NPC’s built in. By the way, the NPC’s are critical to Over Many Waters and will be just as significant as the Seafaring and Exploration!
I hope you have enjoyed keeping up with my progress. As always, please Wishlist on Steam and join the chat on Discord. Check out my walkthrough below: