What roles have you taken on in the past in previous projects, and which one was your favourite? Or has every project been solo?

I’ve been the lead designer, programmer, musician and sound designer for most of the games I’ve released. All of my projects have had at least one other contributor, if not a partner. Generally, I try to find collaborators with complimentary skill sets–art being the most obvious–but in a small indie team, I find it helpful for us to all know at least a little bit about everything, as we’re able to work together more effectively if we’re speaking the same language. As a result, it’s not uncommon for my collaborators to contribute code and audio as well.

Something else I bring to the table is my production and management experience. Although this is not usually a full-time role in a small indie team, it’s still quite important, as we often have deadlines to meet. I’m generally the one responsible for building the backlog, planning milestones, ensuring we’re prioritizing and focusing effectively, etc.

One of my favourite parts of game development–and luckily, something I’ve been able to do in all of my games–is creating the atmosphere. This is what makes the world feel alive, and although it’s hard to quantify what makes a good atmosphere, it’s usually some combination of audio (ambience, reverb) and tech art (lighting, post-processing, particles).

What coding languages and game engines have you worked in, and which is your favourite?

I started experimenting with making games when I was much younger, in the days of DOS and early Windows, mainly using Pascal and C++. Game engines were less common at the time, and so developers would need to do pretty much everything from scratch. This was a great way to learn, and I learned tons about the hardware (and hardware constraints), but I’m thankful for modern game engines as they enable us to focus more on the creative aspect of making games, which is the part I’m especially drawn to.

I’ve tried several engines and frameworks over the years (Torque, Construct 3, XNA, LWGJL, to name a few) but Unity is the one that clicked the most for me and I’ve been loyal ever since (even through everything that’s happened lately with the runtime fees). C# also happens to be my favourite programming language, so it’s win-win.

Unity, like most game engines, has many quirks, but you get to know them over time. Honestly, there hasn’t been anything I haven’t been able to do in Unity, so I’ve had no reason to explore other engines. For the record, I’m not saying you should use Unity, but rather, that you should try to find the engine that inspires you the way Unity has me.

What have been your largest musical inspirations for your game music?

That’s a tough one as my musical inspirations are diverse. If I’m writing melodic game music, you’ll hear some David Wise (Rare composer) influence, though I’m not sure it’s so much his influence on me as it is he and I sharing many of the same influences. If I’m writing ambient/soundscapes, you will hear influences from the Fallout series (Mark Morgan and Inon Zur in particular). And if I’m writing something uptempo, I’m likely drawing on my numerous influences from underground electronic music.

What have been your biggest inspirations for your game design?

My design influences are equally diverse, and I’m sure I draw on many unknowingly, but if I had to name two explicitly:

1. Spelunky has been hugely influential on my approach to procedural generation, which I use in the majority of my games
2. FromSoftware games are my gold standard for both game feel, and world-building.

I suppose the common theme with both is that they place a high degree of trust in the player: after a basic tutorial, there is very little hand-holding, and you just have to find your way. I appreciate this kind of design as a player, but it’s a fine line: I regularly get comments like “You could do a better job explaining _“. But as I often say to my collaborators, we must stay true to our vision, even if it risks alienating a few players. If we explain everything, we run the risk of explaining away the sense of wonder and discovery.

If you could go back and change one major thing about one of your previous games, what would it be?

That’s a tough one. Like many indies, I could have done a better job marketing my games. But honestly, this is something I will likely always struggle with and one of the reasons I’m considering working with a publisher for my current game.

I suppose something I could have considered doing differently is investing more heavily in one game. For example, I could have kept updating my first successful game, developed DLCs, a sequel, etc. Many studios find success with this approach, but I feel it would likely be too restrictive for me creatively. I need variety to thrive, and I find working on the same kind of game, if not the same game, for years, is challenging.

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Obvious challenges aside, I would say 2022 was a success for Infopulsevia! The banner headline is the release of Astral Flux, a retro-inspired action platformer with roguelike elements, which I developed in collaboration with Dutch indie dev/artist Studio VDS. (We have some really fun updates planned for 2023–keep an eye out!)

But what you may not realize is that I also collaborated with a local studio, BAGEL+BALLOON, on DIGIDAMARA: a unique online interactive experience that debuted in the spring. It’s like nothing I’ve seen before, and I think it has a ton of potential. I look forward to seeing how it develops.

When I wasn’t making games, I was writing, recording and performing music. And 2022 was a busy year, with multiple releases, a new band formed, and my return to playing live music.

Thanks to everyone who supported me throughout the year. I look forward to continuing to entertain you with my creative endeavours.

I hope your 2023 is off to a great start!
Adam/Infopulsevia

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Astral Flux is very much in the style of my other games: randomized levels, retro styling, twitchy action, strong atmosphere and immersive audio. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, then I have even more good news: we are currently preparing for an alpha playtest and would like to invite you to participate! In exchange for your time, everyone who checks out the alpha build and fills out a post-play survey will be entered to win one of 10 copies of the game at launch!

Note that we have limited spots available, so you’ll want to act quickly. (Registration is open until October 13th / selected participants will be notified by October 20th)

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Astral Flux is an action-platformer with roguelite elements. Join two scrappers who are lost in space and find themselves caught up in an intergalactic mystery. Traverse hostile alien planets, discover dark secrets, and face powerful foes in combat. Death is inevitable, but it’s only the beginning. Carve a new path forward using the knowledge from your previous attempts. You’ll need to sharpen your skills to unravel this mystery.

• Terrifying Beauty – Travel to distant dimensions and explore ancient alien ruins. The galaxy holds many secrets for you to discover.
• Randomized Levels – Death changes the world around you and no two runs are the same. To survive you must upgrade your skills and abilities on the way.
• Otherworldly Creatures – Fight or evade dangerous enemies across different planets.
• Challenge Rooms – Procedurally generated combat challenges reward you with powerful upgrades.
• Free Updates – The world of Astral Flux has been expanded with free updates like Balance of Power and Artifact Hunter.

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Instant Tropical Fish is a collaboration between artist JP Tiangco and Infopulsevia. It includes the following:

• 5 fish body types
• Dynamic skinning (includes 17 presets)
• Mix & match body types and skin profiles to create over 100 variations (plus: random skin generator can produce hundreds more!)
• Basic fish AI, including support for adjustable water height
• Fish spawner component
• Several extras (underwater props, caustics, and more)

Now available on the Unity Asset Store! (Note that Infopulsevia patrons already have access via Itch.)

P.S. Some big news coming up in the next edition of The Infopulsevia Times: a new game announcement! Stay tuned…

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Although this may seem like the end, it’s really just the beginning! As with all of my games, as long as there are players, there will be updates. I have so many more ideas I want to explore, so keep checking back, and keep the feedback coming.

Last but not least, I was hoping I could ask you a small favour: if you enjoy the game, please consider leaving a review or telling your friends. As a solo indie developer, I rely heavily on word of mouth and referrals to find new players; anything you can do to help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your support,
Adam/Infopulsevia

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Infopulsevia Games, in collaboration with JP Tiangco, presents a collection of tropical fish ready to be dropped into any game or project. Includes:

• 5 fish body types
• Dynamic skinning (includes 17 presets)
• Mix & match body types and skin profiles to create over 100 variations (plus: random skin generator can produce hundreds more!)
• Basic fish AI, including support for adjustable water height
• Fish spawner component

Extras:

• Underwater tropical props (shipwreck, reefs, etc.) to decorate your scene
• Caustics projector
• Aquarium demo scene
• Fish viewer scene

[User manual |  Web demo]

Available on…

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Greetings Infopulsevias!

Just a quick note to let you know that I’ll be speaking at the Game Dev Atlantic conference again this year! This year’s talk is entitled Proc Talk: A History of Procedural Generation Infopulsevia Games. I’ll be giving a brief introduction to procedural generation, and then running through several examples from my games (Brainmelter Deluxe, Cosmic Ray, and of course TOXICANT).

It should also be noted that the conference is entirely virtual this year, meaning anyone can attend! Additionally, for those with VIP tickets, there will be a virtual social event where you can chat with Atlantic game developers. Last but not least, it’s worth mentioning that game development students may be eligible for free tickets, so definitely look into whether or not that applies to you!

Hope to “see” you there!

Adam/Infopulsevia

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• How did you first learn about Discord?
• How many servers are you currently a member of?
• What do you use Discord for?
• How often do you use Discord?
• What compels you to join a server?
• What compels you to be active in a server?
• What discourages or prevents you from being active in a server? (including muting or leaving a server)
• What does your ideal Discord community look like?

Let’s dive in with some pretty pictures!

Analysis of the Results

Right off the bat, some of the findings were exactly what I was expecting: most users join Discord, and specific communities, because of a friend. Also not surprisingly, the average user is in many communities (more than 10), and as a result, cites too much conversation as being the main reason for not participating in a community. This would suggest to me that the typical user is looking for:

• A server that their friends are in
• Smaller servers where they can keep up and actively participate without getting overwhelmed
• Servers with contests/competitions and giveaways

You’ll notice that I left off the responses for “What does your ideal Discord community look like?”. This was a free-form question with a wide range of responses, but suffice to say, several of the answers backed up the above analysis.

I also observed a specific type of user in the data: “the silent type”. i.e. Discord users who are in communities, viewing content, but not actively engaging. Unfortunately, Discord doesn’t offer any visibility into this (yet), so I can’t say how many users like this are in the Infopulsevia server.

Key Takeaways

So what am I going to do with these findings? How am I going to apply them to the Infopulsevia Discord server? I would say my top three takeaways are:

• Word of mouth trumps everything: find ways to have existing members bring their friends to the server (a referral bonus of sorts?)
• Run more contests, competitions and giveaways (although I’d say in some cases the engagement wasn’t high enough to really justify this)
• Find ways to engage the “silent type”. They may not feel like chatting, but perhaps I can encourage reactions as a way of participating.

Is there something you’re seeing in the results that I’m not? Is there something you’d like to see in the Infopulsevia Discord that I didn’t cover? Just let me know, preferably via Discord!

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I’ve been developing and releasing commercial games in my spare time for over 6 years now. While it hasn’t been easy, I’m here to tell you it’s totally possible–even sustainable! In this article I will share some of the techniques that have worked for me.

Minimize distractions

Let’s start with the easy stuff: minimizing distractions. This is true of pretty much anything you want to focus on. Let’s tackle the really easy (and some of the most disruptive) ones first:

• Keep your phone on silent mode (better yet: do not disturb mode, or off entirely)
• Turn off all non-essential notifications (do you really need a notification that Jonny256 liked that picture of your lunch?)
• Keep your phone in a different room (or failing that, a drawer, or screen down). There is research that shows even having your phone in the same room can hurt your cognitive capacity!

I try to apply the same philosophy to desktop applications: resist the temptation to have your email, social media, etc. open (especially on a second screen–a surefire focus stealer). I personally avoid having any music or videos playing in the background. I’ve heard some say this helps them, but I’m skeptical.

Some people go so far as to have a dedicated workspaces which they only use for their craft and nothing else. While this is impractical for me, I can definitely see the benefit: it helps to create a physical/mental connection (i.e. “When I’m in this room, I’m focusing on ____”.)

Similarly, set expectations with your housemates. There’s nothing wrong with saying you’re off limits for an hour or two; it preempts the potential frustration of having your state of flow interrupted by random drop-ins.

Put first things first

To quote Stephen Covey’s 3rd habit, put first things first!

“Putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities. It is living and being driven by the principles you value most, not by the agendas and forces surrounding you.”

Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

Words to live by, if you ask me!

Part of living this habit includes maintaining a vision at all times. What’s important do you? Why do you what you do? What do you hope to get out of it? If you can’t answer these sorts of questions, you might not be ready to start.

Prioritize learning

This has bitten me a few times: not taking the time to learn a simple skill, and inevitably wasting far more time by not doing so. There’s actually a school of thought that says “If you’re not spending 5 hours per week learning, you’re being irresponsible.” I wholeheartedly agree.

Granted, you can’t learn everything, so you’ll certainly want to understand your limitations and have a network of colleagues that you can reach out to for help, but if it’s something fundamental to your craft, there’s really no way around this.

Starting is the hardest part

This is one of those universal truths, and one that never seems to go away with time! Some nights I really don’t feel like working, or so my brain tells me, but it’s a trick! Some experts believe procrastination is actually a defense mechanism, and the sooner you see it as such, the sooner you’re able to get past it. In most cases, as soon as I take that first step and start doing something, I get right into it, and before I know it it’s been hours!

Side note: along the same lines, I’ve learned that motivation is not something that one can rely on it. It’s great when it’s there–ride that wave!–but it’s rarely there when you need it.

Finishing is even harder

(Ha, I lied! Starting is hard, but finishing is often harder.)

This is something I feel very strongly about: finish what you start! The first few weeks (or months) of a new project are what I call the “honeymoon” phase. You’re still kind of infatuated with your idea, feeling pretty motivated, etc. A few weeks later, you start to lose this drive and it starts to feel like a grind. Eventually, you loathe working on the project, and you abandon it entirely, thus repeating the cycle.

Okay, that’s maybe a bit of an extreme example, but there’s truth to it, and it happens to the best of us! 

There are a couple ways to deal with this:

• Take a planned break. Don’t outright abandon it, but take time off to revisit an old project or take on a smaller one for a few weeks. Ideally, get to the point where you’ve all but forgotten about it, and then (hopefully) return to it with renewed enthusiasm. 
• Reduce scope. So maybe your idea for a ground-breaking MMORPG didn’t pan out, but could you make into a small single player RPG experience? You will learn a lot by finishing (and releasing) something, trust me! Finishing is a skill in and of itself, and it requires practice just like any other skill.

Write things down

While I’m a huge proponent of action over words, it’s important to know when to write things down. I’ve found writing helpful when:

• I’m trying to visualize the scope of something (i.e. how big is this release going to be?)
• I need to communicate information to others
• I know it’s something I’m going to forget
• I’m trying to change a behaviour (more on this later)

Whenever possible, I choose the fastest, laziest, cheapest way of writing things down: bullet points in Evernote (or your note-taking tool of choice), with minimal punctuation, formatting and a healthy dose of typos and grammatical errors. I really only worry about quality writing when it matters (public communications, articles, etc.)

The reward is the journey, not the destination

This one may go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: you need to enjoy game development to for any of this to make sense. If you conflate the idea of being a game developer with act of developing games, things will turn out poorly for you.

Making games is hard, often frustrating, and sometimes even isolating.

I love the process of making games; if you took away all the external motivating factors (the inevitable fame and fortune, throngs of fans mobbing you in public, etc.), I’m pretty sure I’d still be doing it. Would you?

Any progress is still progress

One common problem I’ve run into is a feeling of guilt over having an unproductive day or not accomplishing enough. I’ll let you in on a little secret: you can never do enough, so instead, find ways to silence this voice. One mantra I repeat to myself often is: any progress is still progress (so long as you’ve actually finished something). If I only got one thing done, it still moved the needle forward.

Personally, I resist the urge to measure progress in hours (with one exception, which I’ll discuss in the next section). This is generally a  meaningless measurement and will often leave you feeling even worse when you’re not able to hit your target. Instead ask yourself: did my accomplishments today make a meaningful contribution towards my goal? If not, do something different tomorrow.  

Change habits, one measurement at a time

Something that I’ve found particularly helpful for changing habits–partially inspired by the the Japanese budgeting technique Kakeibo— is writing things down. In particular, I’ve found that writing things down really makes you feel the weight of them.

For example, do you think you’re spending too much time consuming content (watching TV, scrolling news feed, playing games, etc.), and that it’s getting in the way of your craft? Keep a journal and see how it changes. If it doesn’t change by virtue of simply writing it down–I’d be surprised if it doesn’t–start setting targets for yourself.

Among other things, I’ve successfully used this technique to ensure I’m getting enough exercise (see: Take care of yourself) and not drinking too much alcohol.

Similarly, consider Stephen Covey’s 4 Quadrants technique to help manage your time effectively. The technique involves categorizing everything you do into one of four quadrants (right). Quadrant 2 contains the items that are non-urgent but important. According to Covey, these are the ones he believes we are likely to neglect, but should focus on to achieve effectiveness.

Take care of yourself

Nobody can expect to be productive when they’re exhausted–or worse, burnt out–so taking care of yourself both mentally and physically is paramount! To that end, here are just a few of the things I try to do as regularly as possible:

• Get a good night’s sleep! There is so much research into the value of sleep and the detrimental effects of not getting enough. Some people have convinced themselves they can run on a few hours of sleep, but they’re only fooling themselves! (I try for at least 7 every night)
• Eat well. While this can be difficult to do when you’re busy, fast doesn’t need to be mean bad. There are healthy pre-made and packaged options, just keep an eye on the ingredients and nutritional information. Lately, I’ve cut meat out of my diet and it’s had so many positive effects; right away I’m getting a much more diverse range of foods, and therefore natural vitamins and nutrients.
• Exercise. I try to find the easiest and fastest ways to incorporate exercise into my days. For example, I take the stairs everywhere, and I’ve been walking through our hilly neighbourhood every day during lockdown.
• Make time for family and friends. It’s easy to get caught up in a project and forget about socializing, but it’s important to our well-being as humans. I try to get together with friends at least once a week, and my wife and I have a few “rituals” to ensure we spend time together regularly.
• Limit caffeine, alcohol, and other stimulants. All of these are just crutches. I would not go so far as to say cut them out of your life entirely–they are wonderful in moderation!–but for some people it’s the only way.

Forge your own path

As they say, YMMV (your mileage may vary)! I’ve shared some of the things that have worked for me personally; that doesn’t mean they will work for you. Although I may have used strong language in places, please don’t treat any of these as absolutes. Ultimately, you need to try things to see what works and what doesn’t. 

I would advise against drawing comparisons or outright copying others. Learn from others, absolutely, but only you know what’s right for you, and it takes time to figure this out. (hint: this is a life-long journey!)

tl;dr;

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