My name is David Peters, or PD_CGT professionally. I'm a 4-year game developer and 8-year artist. Currently I'm working on SomnaBuster, but my past projects (solo and collaborative) include Cycle Chaser H-5, Memoire 0079, and Tetherlure.
SomnaBuster is a 2D platform game, the gameplay and setting is similar to NiGHTs and Ristar, though the story and setting takes its own direction. I actually started SomnaBuster as a test for learning platforming game design, I wanted to get the fundamentals down so I could make a boss rush game, something like Alien Soldier. Eventually the scope of the idea ballooned out of control and became a full-time game.
Development has been all-encompassing, I'm actually working on it full-time while doing a few part-time gigs to sustain myself. My last game was the same case, and I was struggling to maintain my energy and focus for that, but hindsight has helped me get over those hurdles while making SomnaBuster. Healthy non-gamedev hobbies has helped, too.
All my own games are made in Construct 3, it's an engine I learned in college for an educational gamedev gig. You can do everything in code blocks, it's extremely fast if you already know in your head how things need to be functionally organized. It's not ideal for a lot of genres, it has a lot of limitations and weird quirks with controlling instances of objects, but I've used it long enough to work around those quirks.
Outreach and marketing has been extremely difficult, it's a very polarizing time to be your own marketer. There's so much content coming out with so much overpowering noise, it's hard to make your game stand out. Many social media platforms that people regularly use for marketing have been getting worse, too - the algorithms for Twitter/X, Youtube, and others discourage any content that doesn't fit specific molds or buzzwords.
Your first priority is you and your stability, not your game. Be happy, healthy, and grateful, and that will give you the strength you need to get through the worst parts of gamedev. If there's any time where it feels like you're not getting anything done, take a break, unplug yourself. You'll be right on your feet as soon as you get back.
Thanks for taking the time to include me on your website. SomnaBuster is almost across the finish line; I hope other indie devs get the support they need to cross the finish line, too.
-David
❤️
