David Szymanski, known for retro horror games like Dusk, discusses game development, Unity challenges, short game benefits, immersive gameplay in Iron Lung, Boomer shooters, and reflections on game creation.
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Quick takeaways
David Szymanski excels in developing short retro horror games like Dusk, showcasing his unique storytelling and game design skills.
Transitioning from Unity to Godot, David demonstrates adaptability and problem-solving in game development, emphasizing the importance of creative coding solutions.
Collaborating on projects like My Friendly Neighborhood, David balances personal and group initiatives, showcasing his time management and teamwork abilities.
Deep dives
David Zymanski's Game Development Journey
David Zymanski, a prolific indie game developer, reflects on his journey, starting with short dev cycles on survival horror games like Butchers Creek. He shares his transition from Unity to Godot for future projects, highlighting his band-aid coding approach to address unique challenges in game development.
Challenges and Triumphs in Game Development
David discusses the evolution of Butchers Creek, his white whale project in development for several years. Despite setbacks and doubts, he finds unique solutions like creating unique IDs for objects to enhance the game structure, showcasing his creative problem-solving skills.
Balancing Solo and Collaborative Projects
Amidst his solo endeavors, like Dusk and Iron Lung, David illuminates his experience collaborating with family members on projects like My Friendly Neighborhood. He reflects on managing time and priorities between personal initiatives and group endeavors.
Reflecting on Code and Development Efficiency
David shares coding anecdotes, like utilizing object names and transforms as unique IDs in Unity for better organization in-game saves. He emphasizes the importance of adaptable coding approaches and highlights the creative solutions found in the game development process.
Future Creative Ventures and Platform Presence
As David prepares to finalize Butchers Creek and transitions to Godot, he navigates platform presence, mentioning Steam Creator as a key source for updates. He also explores new avenues for engagement, such as YouTube and Twitch, for sharing his game development journey.
David Szymanski is a video game developer focused on short retro horror games. He created the hit FPS Dusk, along with Iron Lung, Chop Goblins, and the upcoming Butcher’s Creek. He’s also involved in the production of the upcoming Iron Lung film.
David joins the podcast to talk about his work, how to capture an appealing retro game feel, why he makes short games, developing in Unity, looking beyond Unity, and more.
Joe Nash is a developer, educator, and award-winning community builder, who has worked at companies including GitHub, Twilio, Unity, and PayPal. Joe got his start in software development by creating mods and running servers for Garry’s Mod, and game development remains his favorite way to experience and explore new technologies and concepts.