Michele Pirovano - making Dotage

dotAGE: Trade Secrets is out NOW on Steam with a new release trailer! - Send Pips to explore the wilderness - Craft boats, build carts, and tame horses - Trade coins and send trade expeditions - Three new elders with unique mechanics!

I just prototyped a minimap and I realized I always wanted a minmap inside a game. Oh how I missed you, minimaps!!!!

The greatest joy of solo working

Ok this design is getting a bit out of hand I need some physical helpers

Mesmerizing

Ok people help me out, what's the golden standard on nested tooltips nowadays? Because I'm going to have so much data-driven nesting that I'll make Paradox cry!

I heard that the new hot tech to make games is now "vibe coding"? I don't know about that, but I'll let you on a secret I've been practicing "vibe planning" for 20 years. It consists of waking up, and deciding on a whim what feature to creep on for the day

For my next project I decided to bring back a lost art in videogame making. I am going to make a game.... without cards. NO. CARD. ANYWHERE.

#Archrebel is probably the most heartfelt tribute to the classic REBELSTAR and LASER SQUAD games created by Julian Gollop. This demo is a complete short game, and you can easily put 20+ hours into it if you plan to see it all. #gamedev #Indiegamedev

I heard you like traits So your traits now have meta-traits And the meta-traits now have a meta-meta-trait 🕶️

Happy third birthday, dotAGE! store.steampowered.com/news/app/638...

My current status with design

So, you know all that industry wisdom? Make small games, no feature creep, etc etc. Wise wise. Wise. BORING! I am going full feature creep for next project è_é I'll just call it "my style"

Back to work! Not working for a few weeks felt so weird, but now ideas keep flowing, both for dotAGE and for... new stuff I'm playing with ;D

Hello Elders! Some cool news! - New version is up with some tweaks! - Starting to work on new updates to add more gameplay customization - Also prototyping a new project! Exciting :D - Switch version of Trade Secrets coming next week! store.steampowered.com/news/app/638...

Players seem to love imprisoning all the depressed contagious villagers regardless of the game

Ok I know it's hot out there but come on Pips [*] Fixed having a Cat or Dog VIP making Pips naked in some UI elements

The issue with adding new resources to the game is that Pips always find a way to make everything worse!

You can now get a village full of Goldlings! :D [*] Fixed Goldlings soft locking if trying to procreate

This might have been buried in the changelog, but the side Buildings UI now has some cool new features! - Check exactly what buildings you have in the village - See if you have inactive or unavailable buildings - Paging

So, what's your favourite expedition in the DLC? Here is mine!

Oh look it's basically Mewgenics now

Ok, I am adding in the new update information to the Agepedia about how to use the new Machines!

Now that is a nice change in the last update [*] If you find a way to make children work, you now need to pay them too

[*] Fixed visual bug with some choice events mentioning Pip Milk

Players asked if cats can ride horses. If you know me, you know the answer already.

The new DLC added a lot of uses for the new exotic resources... and I had my fun in adding some more media references!

Social commentary on balancing the new DLC is spot on

It looks like players are adapting to the new mechanics in... unique ways

Time for a funny bugfix: [*] Fixed a bug where if a Pip would come back home by himself while a rescue party was searching for him, the rescue party would never return

What's that? Subtle critique inside the game? How quaint!

Oh yay

I like how this player here is enjoying the new mechanics... even if in a bit of a morbid way

I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for the three new elders, using the new mechanics! :D

Look what old friend I found in my parents house

Fun dotAGE fact: did you notice the animated seagulls in the intro animation? They have no practical purpose in the game, but it's a reference to one of my favourite game intros! Can you guess which one?

Yes I went to check out several schools for my little girl a few weeks ago

I'm adding some hints to introduce elders (also for older ones!)

Based on what you build, you will get different expeditions available! For example, once you build the Docks, you will have access to water expeditions. Of course, until you also build some boats, you are not going to get very far...

The addition of horses opens up new ways to gather food, with 'Harvester' buildings being able to reach and deplete all creatures in a tile in a single turn! (Also, this might be the only description that breaks the fourth wall in the game)

Wheeeeeeeee! ok this was fun to animate

Big announcement! dotAGE Trade Secrets comes out in TWO WEEKS! Out June 3rd! - Send Pips to explore the wilderness - Craft boats, build carts, and tame horses - Trade coins and send trade expeditions - Three new elders with unique mechanics! More: store.steampowered.com/news/app/638...

Big announcement! dotAGE Trade Secrets comes out in TWO WEEKS! Out June 3rd! - Send Pips to explore the wilderness - Craft boats, build carts, and tame horses - Trade coins and send trade expeditions - Three new elders with unique mechanics! More: store.steampowered.com/news/app/638...

Damned capitalism!

It all starts with a Gate, a special building that lets you access the outside world by sending Pips out, or welcoming the Goldlings that want to trade with you!

Reveal time, AGAIN! It's time to showcase a new DLC Elder... Granny! - Singleton time: no more than ONE building of each type - Play in her small Garden - All Professionals can work anywhere! - She makes food! - Go on special Trade Expeditions to gain more buildings!

Reveal time! The upcoming Trade Secrets DLC will have new elders! Meet Wanna, the Merchant! - Access seasonal, always changing markets - Focus on Trading expeditions - Pay a wage to your Pips or they'll go on strike! - Make lots of money!