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[JobLeonard]

Heyo!

Been a little bit. Unfortunately still no luck with the publishers I've tried. The game is almost complete though, which is cool, even though it currently probably doesn't have the launch support to go anywhere when I release it, I'm still trying hard to change that though. Whatever the case, I hope the people who do play it find it great! It'd actually be pretty cool, I think, to have a small community of people who really like it. That way I could do, like, giveaways where I can mail out hand made sculptures of the game's characters or something to fans.

Anyway, I've been doing a lot of polishing tweaks (changing things from just functional to actually looking good) and cutting some things that aren't really worth investing the time into. I changed the look of the main character Jim, since the old model I made like a year and a half ago and I've gotten much better at the art since then. But I'm worried this new one might look too cute, like to the point where it's a little generic looking? Let me know what you think. The new one is on the right:




also been finishing up the game's intro...


(gif capture got messed up at the end of that last one, whoops!)

You may have seen it on twitter, but I made this promo art too, which I think came out nice...


Yup, well, that's it for now. I guess I'll be back with more stuff soon. Thanks!

Ya know, I never realised he was an old dude with a moustache until now!

I like the new version, he's perfect.

So have you considered itch.io or something like that?

[Penguinoccio]

The new model is great and much more clear

I love your art man

[JobLeonard]

BTW, put your twitter handle in your signature so you can get some more followers through TIG. And maybe link this thread from your Twitter bio page.

EDIT: Scroll up to the banner, click on "Profile" -> "Modify Profile" -> "Forum Profile Information"

And for everyone else in this thread:

https://twitter.com/ConorGarity

https://nobodysgames.com/

[JonKelliher]

This looks so whacky and insane! Love the art direction, and the characters seems great. Fingers crossed for you getting a decent publisher deal! In the mean time keep your head up and polish, polish, polish!

[anotherDev]

Thanks guys!

@JobLeonard : you mean posting on the forums on itch.io? or releasing a demo or something? I thought about releasing a small playable build. Maybe I still will, It just still has a lot of bugs I need to get rid of. probably not a bad idea though, even if it tends to turn people away, can't hurt to get some feedback.

[Yong]

This looks hilarious, very charming. I think a demo will really help to draw some attention to your game. There are some who thinks a demo might end up hurting sales but I think the potential attention far outweighs any negatives (if any?? I really don't think a demo will hurt sales).

Keep at it! Your game definitely stands out. You just need to get it in front of more people.

[JobLeonard]

probably not a bad idea though, even if it tends to turn people away, can't hurt to get some feedback.

From what I understand from other devs is that it has the opposite effect: it gets people on board

[anotherDev]

Alright, I'll probably have some sort of demo on itch.io next week :D Ill let you know when it's up!

[ObscureTales]

We love the visual style, we believe that we are developing a unique work.

[nathy after dark]

Late reply on the new look for Jim: I'm not sure I'm sold. The original one looks more young, naive, and starry-eyed, which makes for a funny story of disillusionment. The new one looks like an older, sadder anti-hero, and I think that changes the vibe dramatically. Idk.

[anotherDev]

Ok. Ok. Ok.

AND WE'RE BACK! I'm still alive, yes! Also have not stopped working on TGIT! Here's some new promo art I've been working on! Still have some work to do on it I think, let me know what you think!

I've been porting the game over to Unity, and using the process to sift through the design and fix various issues. Its resulted in a far more polished and focused(and hopefully better!) game.

I'll go more into more detail later, just wanted to say I'll start posting updates here regularly again(once or twice a week) and that this is still very much in development!

Thanks to those who stuck with me!

[bombjack]

The clay art is really cute 

[LunaTeo]

A claymation game, huh. I haven't seen a good claymation game in forever.

Interesting, I'll follow this and see if goes somewhere great.

[JobLeonard]

Yes! This just made my day! :D

And HOLY MOLY it looks soooo good in high definition!

The edges are so seamless - that must have taken ages to clean up.

Looking forward to seeing more new stuff!

[JobLeonard]

I just found your last twitter post with the link to the Unity Projects page:

Explore fantastic and inspired worlds full of emotionally unstable and spiritually lost characters as you chart your course to becoming the greatest garbage man who ever lived... a true middle-class hero. All lovingly hand crafted using thousands of sculptures and stop-motion clay animation.

The Garbageman Of The Year Award. The most prestigious title a citizen can achieve in this wasteful world. As the trash produced by the world grew more and more abundant, society placed more and more value on the efforts of garbage men and women, previously the world’s most thankless job. Soon they were praised more than the biggest artists or sports players, idolized as true middle-class heroes. With this, many set out to pursue their career as a sanitation engineer. To follow their dumpster dreams. You, Jim, hope to prove to the world that you have what it takes to be the best who ever lived. But there is only 30 days left until the Garbageman Of The Year Award is given to the best, do you have enough time to make your mark on the world?
This Game Is Trash is an open world action adventure game in the same vain as something like the old Zelda games, but with added elements of some of my other favorite game series like Pikmin and Paper Mario.
The game works on a day system, where you are given a limited amount of time each day to explore, fight, collect trash, interact with characters, or whatever you decide to do!
It’s a story about the ability any given individual has to become great at what they want to do, and (perhaps more importantly) whether or not they really should.
Meet friends, plan out your days in a world where every second counts, stop the evil White Trash organization and fulfill your dumpster dreams!

https://connect.unity.com/p/this-game-is-trash

Looks like you went away from the apocalyptic storyline (or is it still there but not revealed until later in the game?)

[szczm_]

Why does this look so goooooood Good luck in further development!

[anotherDev]

Hey, thanks guys!

Very glad you guys like the art! It takes me quite a while, but I think it's really shaping up nicely(If I may say so myself)!


@JobLeonard: Thanks so much, really means a lot    Honestly, I'm still wonky on the main story, even after all this time. I've adapted it more to the themes that seem to be emanating over time naturally from my character writing. I'm bad at many things, but I seem to have a knack for character writing rather than, like, traditional  linear storytelling? So it's sorta manifested itself in the game in such a way where there's a bigger focus on a bunch of short, character-driven stories that all fall under similar themes. Even with the main villans/recurring characters, it's more about who they are than what they do in the game? If that makes sense? I am worried about the repercussions of not having a tighter overall narrative, but in my experience playing games, I honestly think the medium is more suited toward character-driven stories, since it allows more room for the open-ended nature of a video game.

My goal with it also is to allow the player to get more completed stories in smaller play sessions. One of my issues with video game storytelling is that even the great ones, like something Naughty Dog/Neil Druckmann will write up, often take 15+ hours to finish. I've always been a fan of smaller, more compact(but still meaningful) stories like episodes of the twilight zone, and that seems to be the way the game is naturally leaning to over time.


Been working on a new trailer basically the whole week, features a bunch of dioramas that take forever to set up so been a little lost in the weeds.




I'll have some updates I made to the game's design in a few days. I'm not sure the specifics of the future of the project, a lot of the base structure is in unity, but the publishers I've sent it too have had issues with the game's design, so I've been spending the last few months trying to focus/fix that. Game Design is not my stength, but I feel confident in the direction it's heading. Not sure if I'm going to try publishers again or go the crowdfunding route. I'll share more soon!

Thanks again folks!

[JobLeonard]

I'm not sure the specifics of the future of the project, a lot of the base structure is in unity, but the publishers I've sent it too have had issues with the game's design, so I've been spending the last few months trying to focus/fix that.

So I clicked on that one twitter person's profile links and ended up at https://mixtvision.de/games-publishing/

Games Publishing
At Mixtvision Games Publishing, we are looking for artistically unique games that have a story to tell.

We are on the lookout for games that walk the fine line between art and commerce.

Our vision is to help create and publish games that deliver unique and deeply satisfying user experiences.

We believe that games should be more than pure fun and mindless time-killers.

Therefore our mission is to bring artful entertainment to fruition.

Maybe want to give them a shot?

[cynicalsandel]

thank goodness this is still happening

[anotherDev]

@JobLeonard: Thanks! I'll check it out!

Alright, took me a bit longer than expected to post this, sorry, working hard on the next trailer/ some sort of crowdfunding plan.

So a bit on the design changes:

The game is still an action-rpg type with old school zelda combat, but as I mentioned the gameplay wasn't doing it for the publishers I was sending it to. Doing this on my own has really made me aware of what I'm good at and what I suck at. I seem to have something with the art and writing, those are my favorite parts to do, but I think the issue was the gameplay BETWEEN those story/cool art moments wasn't engaging.

So I changed up each world a bit to have, what I'm calling, AREAS. These are more linear parts of the world where I have more control over the tightness of enemy/environment/encounter design. Each Area has a specific number of trash to clean, usually a unique mechanic that it explores, and it's own short little story that plays out as you go through it.

For example:

Stuart's Toxic Trail is an Area in the first world that features the game's first main boss, Stuart.





The area is all about the game's dash mechanic, which allows you to dash forward quickly and gives you a small window of invincibility. So it starts off with simple turrets to dodge, then throws a new Fat Rat enemy at you that is weak and slow, but dashes at you quickly, forcing the player to dodge if they don't want to take damage, then continues to expand on these ideas and twist them.





All the while, some of the rooms continue the story of the Area, in this case introducing Stuart and a trio of recurring enemy characters, leading up to a boss fight at the end of the area.



These are similar, I suppose as a dungeon in these kinds of games. But they are shorter and more frequent. I like to think of them more like a level in modern mario games.


Importantly, I think this game will ALWAYS be about the story and the art. I believe those areas are its best chance to be something special, and those are the things that make me jump out of bed at 3 in the morning to write a new character, or draw a new design or something. But I work so hard on all the other parts that I would hate for one area of the game to come across as lazy or not thought out!



FINALLY(this is a long post, sorry) I've been thinking of changing my twitter and general social media presence from myself over to a bunch of rat characters from the game. There's this meta narrative throughout the game that it was created by a team of insecure rats, who call themselves Rat Team 28. I get social anxiety, as I'm sure many game developers do(how else are you supposed to sit inside and work on a project for this long?!?) and really can't stand social media "marketing" but I think it might be more entertaining for everyone if it wasn't me desperately trying to get my game the attention I think it deserves. I'm also better at selling my characters than I am at selling myself.



Just thought I'd put that idea out there, not sure if it's a bad idea.