Solaria
Introducing Solaria (and TeaHands, too)
My very first devlog on Itch.io, what a milestone! So I better introduce myself first.
Hi, my name’s Michelle and you can call me TeaHands. I’m an early middle-aged UK-based hobbyist dev who has been playing games since the 80s, but only learning to build them since 2020. My heart lies mostly with building, management and simulation games but I do occasionally go wild with a bit of Deep Rock Galactic. Love fibre crafts, Eurovision, the Green Bay Packers, and eating too much bread.
I’d also like to introduce you to Solaria, my current main project. And in fact I did introduce people to Solaria a few weeks ago in the form of this very short video so if you prefer that format, knock yourself out:
Also available on PeerTube: https://makertube.net/w/hey4ThPd2eAVfgS9qd4rGs
After a few years of very sporadic game jams, some completed successfully and some utterly failed in various interesting ways, I decided to jump into my first proper commercial project. And after a lot of umming and ahhing and my first idea turning out to already exist (and be universally hated according to the reviews), I decided to go with a city builder!
Why? Well because I like city builders, basically.
Of course, city builder is a genre that lends itself to deep gameplay and startling complexity, which is not on the cards for me as a solo developer. My only remaining option was to figure out how on earth I could make a minimal game in the genre without all of that unachievable nonsense.
Will I succeed in creating a game for other time-poor oldies like me without making it boring? Will I fall victim to scope creep and my husband’s frequent “helpful suggestions” for new features?
Only time will tell.
The first proper devlog has been delayed due to the fact that I’m still recovering from a very badly timed covid infection, but will hopefully be uploaded soon. And I will of course add a written version here too!
My videos go up on both YouTube and MakerTube, I post regular updates as well as other nonsense on Mastodon, and there’s even a thread on the new Godot forums! Wherever and however you prefer to follow progress, I’m very happy to have you along for the ride.
p.s. unexpectedly early Steam page coming soon, watch this space!
Solaria
A minimalist, solarpunk city builder where the city builds itself!
| Status | In development |
| Author | TeaHands |
| Genre | Simulation |
| Tags | 3D, City Builder, Family Friendly, Hex Based, Minimalist, solarpunk |
More posts
- Let there be NIGHT! (and also people)Apr 04, 2024
- Aesthetics, hexes and a Steam page!Jan 29, 2024
Comments
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PS if you can, try put up your Steam page as late as possible - if you have a good trailer and art, a clearly described game, and maybe even translated the page into a few languages, the algorithm gods will like you and you can ride the initial surge of traffic for ages.
Well, first of all it’s in for review already so a bit late there😅
But also, interesting theory going against the grain of the typical “might as well set one up sooner rather than later” advice. In this case and with recent events it makes sense to me to do it now, but it’s definitely something that takes a bit of thinking about and everyone’s goals are different.
Might turn out to have been a terrible decision but there’s only one way to find out!
Yeah! I'm curious how it goes! I set up my Steam page relatively early and I got a ton of traffic in the first 48 hours, and now not a lot. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer 😂
I'm very excited to see the progress of your game!! 😊
Base-building games are indeed incredibly complex, so keeping your scope down is a fantastic idea!
Now just to see if I can stick to it, haha. Cheers!