Making a Multiplayer Game In 3 Months

My ABOUT ME says, "The life of an independent software developer could be compared to that of a rat. In other words, I am a rat." and not unlike a rat, the smell of a better meal occasionally distracts me from my loftier ambitions.

​This is the story of Gum Squad.

It all started when I looked into the Steam API. Multiplayer support? Peer to peer connections?

I wondered to myself what kind of game I'd make if I weren't shackled to a passion project. I've made awful looking survival games in the past... and had even promised multiplayer - though I'd never delivered on it before.

Project Explore - My very first Steam game

It has been 12 years since I started down this road and I've learned so much. Surely, I'm capable of delivering a proper multiplayer experience. Just like that, I started chiseling away at some basic networking code.

Then there was some concept art that felt like it simply poured itself out onto the screen.

In a matter of days, I had the basics of a small 2D shooter game. It already had slightly-not-stupid enemies and the sensation of a game built with too much scope. Now in hindsight, it's obvious to me that I was started down an all too familiar road...

Changing The Rules - The Deadline

The one mistake I always make is that I give myself a year, two years, why not ten years? But this time I wanted to change the rules. 3 months. It could go into early access, and I would perhaps feed it some updates later on, but the majority of the core features and content needed to be done within 3 months.

Presentation Is Everything

Something has been missing from the majority of my marketing efforts. Presentation. A good game trailer doesn't necessarily mean you have presented your game to its fullest potential. It's a combination of good art, understanding your audience, and making a promise to a potential customer.

This stuff has always given me the ick. I'm not a door-to-door salesperson. I'm a lil artist fella and I don't care about these sorts of things but this time, I would try my best to care.

I hired my super fantastic and talented friend, NyanKind to make a cute (but intense) animated teaser as well as the key art for the Steam page.

Additionally, I setup a stricter schedule for myself for streaming. Having a regular schedule certainly helps with self-regulation.

It has been just over 2 months since I started and with just about 3 weeks left, the future is uncertain. I'll be releasing a longer-form YouTube video about the development cycle with more information on how this game got finished so quickly, and of course my silly self.

Be sure to follow/wishlist the game to keep up with the potential success and/or trainwreck that's sure to ensue.

P.S. I forgot to mention that I made an entire website for this game lol