PLEASE START US OFF BY INTRODUCING YOURSELF:


G'day! My name is Martin, a 30-something indie game developer from Australia, and I call my little studio SporkTank. Thanks for including me into these developer diaries, very generous of you to give back to the indie dev community.


I studied computer science at university before working as a software developer and data analyst for many years. I always loved video games, and making games was how I first learned programming before ever actually studying it. Eventually I decided to take the plunge and work towards making game development my career.



TELL US ABOUT RITA.

The game is an extension of a Godot Wild Jam game from back in 2022 (thanks for featuring that on your channel back then too! - https://youtube.com/watch?v=mvciiWodKtY). I've changed the look of the game but the core mechanic is pretty similar. The game inspiration was very close to my heart and the gamejam edition went well so I decided to develop it into a complete release.


Rita is a casual word-based puzzle adventure game, with some light platforming, metroidvania and storytelling elements. It is intended to make the player feel smart as they progress through the world and simple-enough puzzles. You play as a chicklet named Rita, exploring her local town, collecting letters (among other things), and solving word puzzles in the newspaper. This progresses the story and opens up more of the world. There are additional side-quests and extra puzzles along the way.



HOW HAS THE DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY BEEN

Maybe as smooth as I could hope. So still bumpy! But progressing okay. Honestly the hardest part has been marketing!

Check out Rita on the PAX AUS INIDE SHOWCASE and see for yourself!

https://aus.paxsite.com/en-us/features/indie-showcase.html


WHICH GAME ENGINE DID YOU CHOOSE AND WHY?


I chose Godot for this project, as it's the only engine I've ever used! I like the clean and simple nature of it. While not everything "works out of the box" like it seems to with other engines (maybe I'm wrong), you can generally get what you need done and you learn a lot along the way.


WHAT'S BEEN YOUR BIGGEST DEVELOPMENT HURDLE SO FAR?

Gosh, where do I start? Learning how to make the game look nice enough has been hard. I'm very much a programmer, with programmer-like art skills. But by using asset packs, watching tutorials, and getting feedback along the way, things are slowly improving with regard to the look of the game. 

Aside from that I'm finding marketing to be very difficult (does that count as a development hurdle?) - I followed the HTMAG* Steam page course and have a decent Steam page for the game I think. However, getting people to visit and wishlist, that's another problem!


ADVICE FOR FELLOW DEVS?

Pick something you are confident is within your abilities, and resources (like time and money). Once you've decided, do whatever you can to get it to the finish line. There was so much to learn towards the end of my last release (http://s.team/a/2278300) and if I was going in blind this time then I might not have a good estimate of how much work is left to do. Finishing what you start is a skill in itself, I think it helps with other aspects of life as well - it's good to be a person who finishes what they start. Oh you didn't ask for life advice? Haha, feel free to cut that last bit then. :)




ANY FINAL THOUGHTS?

Like life, game dev is a journey, enjoy it... and wishlist Rita along the way.

 https://store.steampowered.com/app/2984850/Rita/

-Martin

❤️