Shanty Town - [ Devlog 13 ] - Why Worldbuilding is Important

ShantyTown is a relaxing city-block builder game where you create a dense urban environment in a compact area by placing objects one at a time. Build organically growing unique city scenes in this unusual world that are a delight to behold.

Today we're looking at the wider world of ShantyTown, how I come up with my ideas and why making an interesting world is important to setting the player's expectations.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:18 New background look
1:08 Adding vehicles
1:45 Mix and mash creatures
3:07 Refactoring and UI
4:10 The "Dream" of a game
5:00 Games with good dreams
6:00 Games with bad dreams
6:55 Kainga's Dream
8:07 ShantyTown's Dream
9:13 Conclusion

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Kainga: Seeds of Civilization, is currently on summer sale, so if you don't have it, now's a good time to get it!

Let me know what you think, and if you'd like to see more!
-Kainga Dev

#devlog #unrealengine #gamedev #indiegame #ue5 #indiegame #indiedev

[derekng]

I got lost, but i made my way back to this amazing channel❤

[averyangrygardengnome]

A game which I believe delivers perfectly on both world-building and mechanics is Rain World. The setting itself singlehandedly got me interested in brutalism architecture and the dystopian world mixes perfectly with the gameplay. It fully delivers and I have absolutely nothing negative to say about the game.

Also I love the the topic in general. I feel topics like these are a great mix with you showing off what you've developed thus far. Keep it up!

[RealPeoplePerson]

Love the world you have build here. I was a bit skeptical after the last devlog, but it has really come together well.
On "the dream", something you kinda touched on was that the game's promotional material must be able to communicate the dream. Starfield and Star Citizen are great at this in part because the audience already has many applicable sci-fi fantasies constructed from other media, making their job a lot easier. An abstract, mechanical game like Balatro can communicate a dream well by showing the depth and variety of gameplay and the many exciting and half-broken builds the player will be able to create.

[Lilly-]

"Aspects of recognizable animals"... insert truck 😂
Also procedurally generated leg movement sounds like a recipe for chaos.

Unpacking sounded like a cute little minigame but it has the best diegetic story telling I have ever seen.

[Themomos]

Every time I watch a new video the game gains personality! Love it keep it up 😊

[abfy]

Hi, really nice progress! (Also cleaning up old code is always good)
The world looks great, but I feel like there is a small disconnect between what you build and where you build it. There could be things that connect the two, like building a certain building changes something outside the build zone, or animals (birds, crabs, rats...) come and sit or interact with buildings you placed.

[quakxy_dukx]

I’m a really big fan of the direction you’re taking this game. Keep up the great work

[HappyHyena]

Love the devlogs and how the games shaping up! :)

[DerFreiegedanke]

I found your fundamental philosophy about fantasy, promise, and fulfillment to be a great way to look at a game's success. It's often hard to pinpoint why a game fails or succeeds, but your viewpoint is a good way to look at it. There are more aspects to it, but it's still a good foundation. - In Kainga, I still have runs where the technical difficulties with pathfinding and AI regarding building frustrate me to the extent that I have to put down the game for a while. But still, if asked, I would recommend the game for its unique playstyle and extensive content.

[sirjamesfancy]

9:18 Shadow Of The Colossus & Ico have beautiful immersive atmospheres to them.

You mentioned Skull & Bones which I happen to have just played & I agree it's lacking (but has potential). I don't feel as immersed in it as I do in Sea Of Thieves. But SOT is limited to earning only cosmetics. Interiors in your game would help immerse me more. I want to sit in the little restaurants & houses.

[DerFreiegedanke]

Confirmed Sake is made of people in this world. - I love your style! Keep it up!

[SicoSiber]

this was a really good video, every thought process and decision was well explained and helped me learn more about what makes a game better or worse. incredible job!

[Эдуард-явщ]

love you and I support you, I wish that you don't get stuck in the project kainga, it has a very cool potency.❤❤❤

[moojie_]

seeing the more advanced world here makes me wish there was a futuristic version of kainga

[sziklamester]

Looking nice I could imagine this game to be similar like Kenshi but more focus on city building.

[alangregoryvitek]

Against the Storm was a game I really wanted to like but it just never sold the fantasy/dream to me personally. Someone described it as Warcraft 3 + Sim City and on paper that’s true, but I just couldn’t get into it.

Weirdly, Minecraft Dungeons didn’t try to sell me a fantasy but I was hooked by it and played hundreds of hours.

As a game dev, getting that dream right is so important but I never had it codified like how you presented. Thanks for that!

[freshglizzy]

Now this is my kind of thing. I dont want to play the ideas guy, but what if parts of the area where you build the shanty are populated with random large, abandoned buildings and ancient infrastructure? Shanties are usually built in layers around existing buildings, so seeing how someone can adapt to the landscape around them might make things more dynamic

[Gue]

I gotta know what that background music at 1:00 is. It goes pretty hard.
Also, you got yourself another wishlist! I dig the vibe of the game. It looks like you can get get pretty detailed with the building, at least compared to most city builder type games, so that's a big draw for me!

[lChronosl]

Came for the devlog, stayed for the memes.

[evanpie]

I love the world! It reminds me of half life 2