A Huge Publisher Played My Game And.... (Devlog)

So massive publisher played my game and had some things to say...

[thomasbrush]

Thanks for watching! Hope you learned a ton.

[darenn-keller]

Hey Thomas! Thank you for the shout out, I really appreciate it. You're right, for both of us it was a great learning experience and I don't regret it one bit! Thanks for sharing your own journey with Devolver, it's very interesting to see how it's been for you. Would be great to get in touch and discuss gamedev someday. See you! 😊

[sontrajamfemininegaze]

What the heck. KEEP IT IN SCOTLAND. Scottish dogs versus English cats is something millions of Scottish, Welsh and Irish people would love to see. 😂

[Ironroc]

Absolutely loved this style of video. It's cool to hear about what going through these steps is like. Also looking forward to seeing what braveboy becomes!

[unityalexdev]

what a killer video ! story is insane, personal experience, editing, sound design...everything dancing together so well, man that's a masterpiece. Good job!

[hamzahgamedev]

wow, I am in the process of pitching my own game to various publishers and this video's timing couldn't be more perfect. 💌

[grinningtiki]

Critic on Braveboy: The dogs get lost in the grass. Maybe have patches and you can cut them with the spin attack?

[jamesbowling]

Ever since the first little demo you posted about this cute dog game way back when it was just a brain-break from working on Father, I have loved it and hoped there would be more of it. Thomas, this game looks beautiful and I love the name/theme/music/idea/barrels etc. I know you'll probably have to change it a bit to make a publisher happy eventually, but I personally hope you find one that sees the value in it as it is.

[shawns]

My wife, kid and myself are still waiting for Braveboy to come home! Good luck and thanks for the insight!

[jaymarksman]

09:27
I don't think open world and old school platforming are mutually exclusive, as open world isn't really a genre, just a setting/framework. A Short Hike comes to mind, which kind of feels like the best of both worlds to me.

Thanks for sharing, this was a great video!

[LucidVisions]

It’s so great that you are highlighting your disappointments. So much of your content is about the positives and the you can do it mentality which is great but your response to the disappointment is the most inspiring thing and the willingness to share this. Great edit too!

[ghabrielF]

Really cool to see how things work behind the scenes. Great content!

[AndrzejGieraltCreative]

Crazy stuff Thomas, good on you for sticking to your vision.

[JJSmalls]

The executives not getting the Braveheart reference... there's no point in shifting the theme entirely because of that. You would have been chasing a moving target at that point.

[Gathrey]

Just because someone doesnt get or understand your game, doesnt mean thousands of others wont get it. Sometimes you just gotta trust your own understanding and research XD loved the video and the great insight you shared!

[CrowleyBlack]

What do they mean the Scottish theme is cringey or tropey? I actually like this idea.
Although, they do have a good point to remove the barrels.
Would be cool and funny to replace it with a catapult for the dog be flying.

Would also be cool to see other players play as Scottish dogs or English cats.
But that is more of a live service game. Good for open world though.

[SubzeroBlack]

Honestly the first time I saw your game I thought of "Spyro with map zones connected with Platform mechanics". I don't know if thats the vision you are aiming for but I think you have a hit with this game as long as you stick to your vision.

[ImSim_Cook]

Immensely helpful video for an aspiring dev! Especially anything to de-mystify publisher-interaction 😅

Also (and you obviously didn’t ask for this but figured I’d throw it out) it is by no means uncommon to have a sort of macro type of traversal in an open world game, which gets you from isolated areas to isolated areas. Almost thinking the whirlwind from Elden Ring, which works on the x axis rather than the y, as in the case of your donkey Kong barrel mechanic. I also really like the barrels, and what might be perceived as a mechanical dissonance could probably be righted by grounding it more in the world. Say they are hanging from ropes which are constantly raveling and unraveling or something like that.

[FromTheAtticTV]

The comment about Scottland being cringy or tropey is baffling to me. Also, what's not to get about "Braveboy"? It's a dog... that also happens to be a knight... He's a BRAVE...BOY! You know, also like what everyone says to their dogs! Tbh, I feel like, even in other fields, when people struggle to picture what the final product could look like, they want to change everything. Happens to me all the time with films lol. What's weird is that these people work for Devolver, so "picturing what the final product could look like" is definitely something they do all the time. Only thing I agree is the barrel thing; I feel like you could come up with other means of traversal that are more related to dogs. It does feel like something extracted straight from DK. But I truly think what Braveboy needs, overall, is just a year or two of polish, iteration, etc.

[Shallsoar]

It's like: pitch to pitch to pitch to... Self publish. But this is a great video, and this passion is what we all need!