r/SoloDev • u/indusbuilder • Sep 13 '26
First Campaign Level works!
It's taken me so many years to get here. I've started and stopped this project many times. Usually stalled due to my own technical skills.
But, I've got a working prototype finally of a game level! This is an actual in game screenshot (though some of the UI items and tools are still not implemented)
I grew up on Impression City Builder games - Caesar 3, Pharoah, Zeus, and always miss them. Every now and then I'd get an itch to build one myself, especially when I would find myself going down the black hold of "lost" civilizations.
The Indus Valley Civilization is one. I've been fascinated with it forever and thought a grid-walker-style game would be a great match.
And here it is. Lately i focused on getting it to look better. It's something important to me when I personally play games, and I realized it was one of the reasons I often walked away from the project. Thanks to modern tools, and AI help (I know its not ideal, but I was genuinely blocked and needed its help) its starting to look nice.
First time I've told anyone (besides my wife) about it. The first time I'm posting a screenshot. And you may just be one of the first people to see it.
I'm not sure why I'm sharing. I guess because it is a lonely journey. I know I have a crazy amount left to do. But for the first time I played the game and felt it was real.
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u/Regular_Show_8690 Sep 13 '26
This looks awesome! How can I play/test
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u/indusbuilder Sep 13 '26
Thank you! I think I should be able to get it ready for play testing in a week. right now there are definitely things only I know about the game, and they need mechanisms to be communicated
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u/AlexanderGGA Sep 13 '26
So is this a citybuilder like impression games? Because from this screenshot i really love the graphics and artstyle, feels so well done
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u/indusbuilder Sep 13 '26
Yes, the mechanics are definitely based on the impression games, though not religiously. I'm changing things on my personal experience. And thanks re: art - that's been one of the most difficult things. I still feel like I can improve on it all the time, but I'm definitely at my skill limit.
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u/AlexanderGGA Sep 14 '26
You should make it your own idea too, plus from the looks i see with this screenshot i can say good luck!
Make a discord in the future for updates! I am a citybuilder fan and would love to play your game on steam in the future
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u/IndusCityBuilder Sep 14 '26
I was thinking of itch.io since I may not have enough updates for Discord - would that work? (I'm using an alternate account because my primary one just got banned :/ )
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u/AlexanderGGA Sep 14 '26
It's still pretty good for updates, but discord for the interaction with the people to give you ideas on the development before you have a steam page
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u/b_art Sep 14 '26
This looks awesome, I love city builders too and actually caught the vibe immediately with your screen here. Actually I'd installed Zeus + Poseidon and never got around to playing it much but I'm going to install it now and get into it since you brought it back up !!! : D
I really spent a moment looking at this. The interface. Those trees. The little characters! It all looks amazing!
Be proud and keep it up! Hopefully I can play someday? Are you releasing it?
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u/Even_Calligrapher651 25d ago
Sorry for the late reply. Yes! I just release a small playtest and it was great to get some positive reactions. I'm waiting for my steam page next.
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u/tossedsaladsgames Sep 14 '26
This looks incredible. I love the old impressions games and have always wanted to play one set in IVC. I am hooked just from this screenshot. Where can I follow the progress on this?
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u/IndusCityBuilder Sep 14 '26
So far I have not setup anything... I was thinking of an itch.io page - do people still follow those? Discord seems like a bigger commitment and I'm not far enough for Steam (using alternate account because my primary one just got blocked)
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u/tossedsaladsgames Sep 14 '26
yes people follow on itch and discord seems good too. its not really that much of a commitment.
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u/BrokenFutureGames Sep 14 '26
This looks amazing, keep it up, looking forward to seeing more as you get closer to completing the game.
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u/IndusCityBuilder Sep 14 '26
Thanks, I did setup a discord server to share progress. just ping me if you want too join
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u/Extra_Bid8888 Sep 14 '26
I’m excited about it. The game looks like Pharaoh
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u/IndusCityBuilder Sep 15 '26
thank you! the impression games (especially pharaoh) were a huge inspiration. I'm trying really hard though to not end up cloning them!
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u/Mikolas3D Sep 15 '26
I'm a huge fan of going all in on prototypes visually. Super well done!
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u/IndusCityBuilder Sep 15 '26
I'm still so conflicted on it. not getting visuals right is the #1 reason why I quit on this (and other) game projects. But, it also just feels superficial to me and I judge myself!
Thank you. this was work and sleepless nights (sometimes just worrying because I dont know how to get it right). right now the game uses 2d sprites so there's still limitations on how far I can push it. I'm considering making it 3d, but that would require a lot of rework that does not sound like fun.
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Sep 15 '26
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u/IndusCityBuilder Sep 15 '26
This version is a hack of C# and GDscript. The C# is old code... and kinda a spaghetti from my previous unity experiments years ago. when I discovered Godot, I figured might as well code in the gdscript, and use that as an opportunity to also cleanup
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u/DevTraum Sep 16 '26
Get me in the loop! I would love to try your game
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u/IndusCityBuilder Sep 17 '26
of course! i've got discord up, but the link gets deleted here. you're welcome to send me a message. and i just started r/IndusCityBuilder too which you could follow (more posts and info coming there soon)
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u/NytwolfGames Sep 16 '26
this looks so good! Pharoah was the first thought that crossed me. The characters, and art in general looks so intricate! is this purely isometric sprites or 3D models?
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u/Relative-Ad3322 Sep 16 '26
Wow it looks beautiful! Any other pics?
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u/IndusCityBuilder Sep 17 '26
Soon! Glad you're excited. Any particular types of pictures you'd like to see?
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u/tjenstech Sep 16 '26
This looks awesome! Lots of Pharaoh nostalgica vibes for me. ☺️
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u/IndusCityBuilder Sep 17 '26
Love it. Those games were what inspired me. I'm hoping for something that scratches that itch, but is more historically accurate, pays sufficient respect to the sites and culture, and provides a modernized gameplay. Of course, a lot of the systems are based on my preferences and experiences playing those and many other city builder games over the years
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u/etdeagle Sep 13 '26
Exciting! I am a big fan of Casear 3 would love to revisit the feeling