{ Alex Itsios: Game Dev & Writer }

  Before I explain why I made this decision, let me give you some context about last year’s Spooktober Jam. Participating in this jam has become a tradition for me—this will be my fourth time taking part. However, this time around, I’ll be taking on a different role. While I’ll still lead the project, I won’t be handling the programming. Since I don’t have much experience with the Godot engine, I’ll focus on what I’m best at: production and narrative design. The idea for the narrative of this game came to me last year, right after finishing our entry for the previous Spooktober Jam. I thought, “What if we did a twisted version of the classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, but with a humorous twist similar to  The Addams Family ?" And that's when the idea for  Cook or Be Cooked  was born. At first, I shelved the idea because I had other projects and personal matters to focus on, but the concept kept resurfacing in my mind—how the story should unfold and how the visuals could com

  It’s been about a month since I wrote a post explaining why I chose Unreal Engine 5 to develop my game. Now, after several frustrating months of trying to overcome engine-specific barriers, I’ve made the difficult decision to switch to Godot. It’s a bit embarrassing to admit this after all the time I spent learning Unreal, but some issues with the engine, particularly with 2D development, made it impossible to continue. I want to clarify that I’ve been learning Unreal Engine for a few months, mostly for 3D game development, which Unreal excels at. There’s no doubt that for 3D, Unreal is one of the best engines out there—if not the best. However, when it comes to 2D games, the situation is entirely different. Unreal Engine has so many issues handling purely 2d games that make the engine impossible to use. Let me try and explainthe roadblocks I’ve faced over the past few months to better understand why I’ve decided to switch. Camera Bounds The biggest challenge I encountered from the b

 This topic has been on my mind for months, but I was never motivated enough to fully explain why indie game development is vastly different from smaller AAA (or AA) productions. While, on the surface, it may seem like indie developers can borrow techniques from AA-AAA studios, the reality is entirely different. Having worked in both AAA and indie teams, I can confidently say that the only true similarity is that both create video games. But first, let me clarify what I mean by "indie game development." I'm referring to small teams, often fewer than five people, or solo developers, who work with little to no budget—unlike AA or AAA productions, where budgets can reach several millions. AA games, are indeed smaller versions of AAA productions, sharing many of the same workflows and resources. Now, let’s focus on why indie developers can’t simply borrow strategies from AA or AAA studios. The Small Business Analogy To put it simply, being an indie developer is like running a

 ​It’s been a while since I last updated my devlog, and a lot has happened over the past few weeks. First, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Gamescom this year, where I was given a booth to present my game. Shortly after returning, I faced some personal and family issues that required my attention. Despite these challenges, I’ve had time to reflect on my experience at Gamescom, which I’ll share in this post. Now, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of my experience from Gamescom this year and whether it’s worth participating as an indie developer. First, let me clarify what I mean by "indie developer." This term is used quite broadly these days. An indie developer could be someone with no budget, working alone or with a small team, or it could refer to a team working on a AA game with a budget of $10 million. In my case, I’m referring to indie developers with little to no budget, and I’ll discuss what value Gamescom can offer for developers like us. Gamescom Steam Festiv

 As much as we hate them, cuts in game development are often necessary. If I’m being honest, I’ve never worked on a project where we didn’t have to make some tough decisions. You start with bigger aspirations—dozens of sprites, backgrounds, and CGs—only to realize that everything takes an insane amount of time and resources. Parallel Pulse was no different. The original vision for the game was something akin to TWEWY in terms of combat, but with a narrative more aligned with the Persona series, where you bond and hang out with friends. The game started as an action RPG, and until mid-May, I was set on this approach. But then reality hit—with each sprite taking way more than what I had initially thought it'd take. In a previous devlog, I gave you a glimpse of how much effort goes into creating a single sprite sheet. It goes without saying that this became a nightmare for me—and not just for the main character but for each enemy as well. Every enemy needed at least three animations,

Our culture is characterized by the pursuit of perfection, and video games are no exception to this. As the video game industry has grown, games have become increasingly polished and sophisticated. With this growth, smaller solo or indie studios have emerged, giving them the opportunity to make a living from their games. However, to make a sustainable living as an indie, you need fast development cycles. Imagine working on your game for six years, only to release it and see minimal profit. You might realize it wasn’t worth the time and switch careers. Or, on the other hand, you might dream of making a living from video games but realize you can’t sustain yourself for four to six years to complete your passion project, leading you to abandon the idea altogether. What if you followed an approach similar to that of game developers in the 80s and early 90s? Back then, development cycles typically lasted 6 to 12 months, and many games still managed to turn a considerable profit. Of course,