u/unixfan2001

Just thought I'd create a new post to share my progress.

After having been sick with the flu most of last week, I spent all of Sunday and Monday working on GLAND (my engine is called SCUNK and its mascot is a skunk. So the naming convention just fit, while also staying true to the tradition established by the fine folks at LucasArts with SCUMM, BYLE, CYST, FLEM, MMUCAS and the unreleased SMEGMA), a new IDE for developing (primarily*) point and click adventure games that can be run in both ScummVM and a custom bytecode VM I maintain for ports to more exotic or lower end systems (Atari ST, Amiga 500/1000, 3DO, Sega Saturn, PS1. You name it, I probably got it).

The main goal in developing GLAND is to create a user-friendly development system that enables non-developers to contribute to indie game development and even complete laymen to start (and hopefully finish) their own little games.

The final release will ship with the ability to both package and test games in emulation (for Amiga, Atari ST, PS1, Sega Saturn, N64 and 3DO) as well as transfer the final binary to the target hardware via common USB debug protocols.

The final release of GLAND will be made available completely free-of-charge.

That being said, I still need help getting my game funded so I can work on this care-free.

* Technically, the scripting language is Turing-complete so you're not really limited to just point and click adventure games. In fact, I have made several non-adventure games in that engine and GLAND will include non-adventure templates as well.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/happy-ferret/tomas-king-of-rejection/posts/4695183

Kind of short notice but is anybody gonna be at Fantasy Basel (Swiss Comic Con)?

I'm going there today. Would love to meet other indie devs.

I'm quite desperate. After getting fired in January and burning through most of my savings in an attempt to find a new job, I finally bit the bullet and used a life insurance payout to found my own game studio.

Things were going great on the marketing front. I dispersed 500 flyers across two countries, gained a small but loyal following on YouTube and Bluesky, and have a dozen people who signed up to be notified when my Kickstarter would launch.

Fast forward to a few hours ago and I've been met with a handful of demands by Kickstarter as well as the insinuation that I used AI (I checked it myself and, funnily enough, one screenshot is being detected as human created whereas the other is claimed to be AI. The only difference between them is a big ole textbox with some dithering I drew on top of the background). They demand I declare my project as using generative AI as one of the requirements to proceed. I feel this would unfairly penalize me. NVM the other demands which include more digital rewards and fewer physical rewards, which is really not sensible for a retro point and click adventure game on Dreamcast, N64, Saturn, 3DO and other platforms my engine supports.

Is there any somewhat profitable alternative to Kickstarter and any "hack" to inform people who are subscribed to the Kickstarter prelaunch page?

I accidentally used a paid service when creating the QR code for my flyers but at least that part could turn out to be a boon now because they seem to allow changing the URL associated with the QR code.

Was hoping to promote my game at Fantasy Basel this week so I really hope I can find a way forward.

I've been in this spot where plans never work out and effort is never rewarded.

Back in 2023 I was launching my own small retro gaming brand, only for my "father" (I don't wanna call a "man" who mercilessly beat his wife after cheating on her for 5 years, burglarized my apartment and paid somebody to rough me up my father, because that's not how anybody should treat their own flesh and blood) to destroy everything and ruin my family.

Fast forward to 2026. My mom passed last year, our family cat Garfield joined her soon after (the little fellow wasn't the same after her passing) and, having lost my job in January, I decided to use my last savings to found my own company the proper way.

I spent the first few weeks building a small but dedicated social media following, handed out a total of 500 flyers, went to all sorts of local video game events (I was gonna head to Fantasy Basel next week to further promote my game. Now it all seems for naught) and proudly stared at the follower count on my Kickstarter pre-launch page ticking upwards.

This was gonna be my chance to make my life better. I know I could have succeeded.
I put everything into that project. All my money and all my energy.

Now Kickstarter has decided I'm apparently not "worthy" of creating another campaign because the campaign I created in 2023 (which raised 1,283 euros. It was a hobby project. Not something I intended to do full time back then) remains unfulfilled.

My plan was to fulfill it this Christmas, after having secured enough financial stability to actually work on things full-time. I get Kickstarter wants to protect its customers (I've been scammed on that platform often enough myself) but I think it's unrealistic and unconscionable to block a larger project over a very small thing that still receives regular updates as well.

I don't really know what I'll do now. This was really my only plan and I don't even have enough money to pay rent at the end of the month anymore. At this point I'd accept a predatory loan just to stay afloat a while longer.

What depresses me even more is that my mom was right about all the things she had to leave behind at the old house. On her last day, mere hours before she collapsed, she kept talking about how she was sure my "father" had already sold or destroyed all her belongings.

The fact that my lawyer is being ignore whenever the topic of my mom's belongings comes up kind of confirms that to me. Mind you, I'm her only heir and all I have in terms of an inheritance thus far is paying off her debt (which I also can no longer afford to do now).

I'm tired of humanity. I'm tired of a world in which good people always lose because bad people are free to scam, abuse, deny and steal while the rest of us have our hopes and dreams crushed at every turn.

Curious. I'm a small indie game developer who specializes in 2D point and click adventure games. I also love porting ScummVM to new platforms (I'm kinda shocked at how lackluster the FM Towns port of Monkey Island 2 is, compared to the DOS version. Would love to fix that while also enabling other Lucas Arts games to run on FM Towns).

Is there any widespread community interest for new games for the FM Towns? What particular machine would be the best one to target?