Two Showcases in Two Months

This summer I have had two amazing opportunities to showcase Razorlocks to potential players: the Indie Video Game Fest and Supernova! Seeing people experience the game firsthand is always incredibly informative and it’s been a few years since I last got to do this. However this time I was accompanied by my lovely fiancée Pixel Tanuki Games showing off her own game, Marceline and the Night of Enlightenment. Just over a year ago I never thought I would have someone to share this kind of experience with who has the same passion for game dev.

Event 1: Indie Video Game Fest

This was a one-day event packed with tons of players. We lucked out on our table spot being right in front of the elevator and stairs on the second floor. We had an almost constant stream of players trying out our games, and sometimes even a small crowd watching and waiting for their turn. While it was invigorating to have so much interest, it made it difficult to take breaks.

Event 2: Supernova Indie Game Booths

While the main focus of this event was Super Smash Bros. tournaments, there was a section of the venue dedicated to indie games invited from the prior Indie Video Game Fest event, since both took place in Baltimore, MD. This time we had adjacent but separate tables/booths rather than one long, shared table. Foot traffic was less significant with more stretches of downtime, but there were still plenty of players over the span of four days during the event.

At Supernova I also set up two devices to showcase the game instead of one to accommodate simultaneous players, plus keyboard and mouse as an alternative to Xbox controllers (I personally think KB+M is the optimal way to play due to the grapple aiming).

Digesting the Feedback

After gathering many notes on player behavior and suggestions, I feel more confident in the direction of the game than ever! Most people who tried the game commented on how good the movement felt, even those who remarked that they typically don’t play fast-paced or movement-heavy games. The majority of players also commented on how fun the game was even if they didn’t entirely click with the gameplay loop and mechanics. A handful of dedicated players spent 10+ minutes completing everything the demo had to offer (15 mini trials and 2 races).

A key addition to the demo was a new linear tutorial level built out of assets from the existing Runner’s Ridge level. The design philosophy was to not force players to stop and read anything and encourage experimentation with inputs. For the most part this worked well enough, although I did have to add non-blocking info popups after the first showcase since basic input prompts were not enough to explain certain aspects.

About a third of players would read all displayed information and tips while carefully executing suggested moves. Another third wouldn’t read anything and would button mash or quickly run through while trying different button prompts that popped up. The last third was somewhere in between, reading a bit then charging through. One thing that may have skewed results is the controls printout I had on display, enabling the players that didn’t want to or have to read the in-game text. Overall I think the current format works well since the majority of players were able to grasp the core mechanics enough to progress through the tutorial level without me having to give tips.

A really cool thing to see at Supernova was two players racing each other to complete the demo faster which was not possible at the Indie Video Game Fest. One of our booth helpers, SomeRanDev (game dev who streams and makes videos), raced a few times against a kid who returned every single day to play both of our games. This also made it abundantly clear that Razorlocks needs to have some kind of local (and maybe online) multiplayer even though I’ve been avoiding entertaining that idea. The game has been wholly designed as a single player experience thus far, so making split screen races and mini trial challenges that are performant will be a challenge. Setting up simple races against friends online may actually be easier in some ways; however ranked modes and matchmaking are beyond what I can reasonably support.

It was really special to see people get so attached to the game and actively anticipate its release. This entire experience confirmed I do have a great game in the works, and it’s just a matter of getting it done and in front of the right people.

When is the game done?

…

I’ve been working on the game for 8 years as of this month, and it always seems like the full release is about 2 years away. Realistically the Steam demo could actually drop next year based on the state of the game. It has finally found its footing and I’ve figured out how to build fun levels and content in a way that feels achievable, even though there are still a lot of systems I have to get sorted out:

• FMOD integration (replacing Unity audio + redoing most sound effects since they’re 7 years old)
• Redesigning particle effects to look juicier and less flat
• New reusable character and hair rigs (adding more characters beyond Razorlocks and Doublelocks is cumbersome and their prefabs are completely separate)
• New menus and UI (settings, controller remapping, progression, localization; data-oriented populating of elements)
• Unlocking new blades and pins (I collect enamel pins IRL and think having a virtual pin board in the game could be a fun way to show progression)
• Split screen multiplayer (refactoring a bunch of systems that assume the game is single player)
• Maybe basic online multiplayer with friends or creating lobbies the old fashioned way
• Make sure the old ghost replay system still works for time trial levels
• And then some…

I will probably be scrapping the idea of alternate outfits and hair styles since those are very time consuming to make. I also need to avoid reworking too many parts of the game with how much I’ve learned over the years despite how bad the code is in some places. If I do manage to release the Steam demo next year, then a 2028 full release could actually happen since the demo will represent the quality of the final game. This will mean it took me a decade to make the game, almost a third of my life! It’s scary how fast time goes by.

This been a very long journey and the game has changed a lot, but I’m starting to see what the finished version of Razorlocks could look like.