'Tenants of the Shade' — 4X Settlement Builder

I accidentally made bogs, marshes, and fens while testing Water V2. The little 🟨 are wetland candidates from the terrain/drainage model. #ProcGen #GameDev #TurnBasedThursday #Devlog #IndieDev

Bronze Age city-building, but water access actually matters. Rivers, canals, reservoirs, and irrigation are becoming part of how settlements survive and expand in Tenants of the Shade. This is my first irrigated town 🌊 #TurnBasedThursday #GameDev #IndieDev #StrategyGame

A settlement, some crops, a seasonal stream, and absolutely no guarantee the player knows what they’re doing. 🙋🌱 Water V2 irrigation is in progress. 🌊 #indiedev #gamedev #simulationgame #WishlistWednesday

Herding village → crowded little town. 🛖🛖 Two settlements are starting to sprawl into each other, the sheep have instigated a shadow government, and there’s a peek at the new stock tanks at the end. WIP from Tenants of the Shade 🐑 #GameDev #IndieGameDev #MadeWithUnity #SimulationGames

Once again, it's #TurnBasedThursday, and we're officially hosting it this week! #GameDev and #IndieDev, please show us your projects! And if you're a turn-based gamer, have a look, you're sure to find something you'll like in this thread! (don't forget to share to show support!)

Simulated water for simulated people. 🌊🙋 Water V2 is coming together in Tenants Of The Shade: rivers, streams, lakes, water levels, and settlements that depend on all of it. This system is going to matter a lot for how civilizations grow. #GameDev #IndieGameDev #TurnBasedThursday #strategygame

This week’s #ScreenshotSaturday: dynamic seasonal water 🌧️ Water V2 means monsoon floods, shrinking dry-season rivers, and a landscape that changes with the season 🌊 #GameDev #IndieDev #CityBuilder

Water V2 is still just debug lines and markers, but it’s already cutting surprisingly pretty canyons into the terrain, where it can force its way through. Still rough, very nerdy, and very satisfying. #GameDev #IndieDev #CityBuilder #Unity3D #MadeWithUnity

Debug lines everywhere — but beneath the chaos, the town is thinking. Tracking homes, workplaces, paths, and occupation markers as people move through the settlement. Messy, but it’s the good kind of messy. #GameDev #CityBuilder #StrategyGame #SimulationGame #IndieDev #Unity3D #ScreenshotSaturday

First rough version of Bronze Age tech tree. Early choices are basic but foundational: water control, brickery, and ranged weapons. It’s a WIP, but these are the first techs I'm wiring into the game. (I made up brickery, sounded fun) #GameDev #IndieDev #StrategyGame #BronzeAge #TurnBasedThursday

Working on tracking "I go you go" turn-based tactics combat. Gets trickier when you weave in world events and blocking decisions. #turnbasedtactics #strategygame #indiedev #gamedev #4x

The sheep were, in fact, only the beginning. I just posted a new Steam update covering route movement, fishing, upgraded herds, smarter rival units, new Events/Encounters, terrain polish, and clearer interactions across the map. store.steampowered.com/news/app/344... #IndieGameDev #CityBuilder #4X

Honored to host #TurnBasedThursday! 🛠 #GameDev folks, show your #turnbased games below, and use the hashtag above 🎮 #Gamer folks have a look, as there are a lot of TBS gems in here, out or in the making Spam our favorite buttons 🔁/❤️ to show your support, and comments are very much appreciated!

First there is a fire. Then a path. Then a town. Then a people. Working on my turn-based city builder. #TurnBasedThursday #indiedev #citybuilder #strategygame

A few towns made by players during last play-test! Best part of showing the game in person is watching people make choices I didn’t expect — then going home with a notebook full of fixes, ideas, and “oh, that actually worked” moments. #indiedev #gamedev #citybuilder #ScreenshotSaturday

Build the Routes. Move the units. Defend the towns. Question the sheep. #StrategyGame #TurnBased #GameDev #Unity #CityBuilder

Forts, towers, units, and NPCs can overlap. Tiny hover/selection details matter a lot here — because the moment the interface feels frustrating, the world stops feeling real. Still fine-tuning this in Tenants of the Shade. #GameDev #IndieGameDev #Unity #4X #StrategyGame

Got the first version of fishing working. People can go to nearby rivers, lakes, or ocean and fish from the shore. Determined by settlement priorities. Still rough, but it’s nice seeing another little survival system come alive. #GameDev #IndieDev #Unity #CityBuilder #Simulation

Debugging in scene view hits different. Suddenly every NPC remembers they have free will. #gamedev #Unity #AI #Simulation #WIP #GameDevLife

A little more life on the map. Kids in the village, sheep in the grass, guard towers at the forts… and a ship that clearly had a bad day. #ScreenshotSaturday #gamedev #indiedev #citybuilder #strategygame

Starting from just a few footsteps, a settlement slowly organizes itself. Paths emerge naturally—shaped by resources, neighboring towns, and the daily routines of its people. #ScreenshotSaturday #gamedev #indiedev #4x #strategygame

All hands to battle stations, this is not a drill! It's the official #TurnBasedThursday on Bsky! Calling all #GameDev aces: tell us about your #IndieGame; post your project below! Tag your friends! Tag your enemies! ❤️ Players, share the love and help spread the word about your favorite games! 🔁

You found a city on a hill, battle in the ravine, and turn survival into prosperity. Been doing work on military unit tactics, hover behavior, and UX. Small changes individually, but together they’ve made the game feel much more engaging. #ScreenshotSaturday #gamedev #indiedev #4x #strategygame

Combat’s feeling better. The warriors used to be chess pieces. Now they’re rigged models using my "people shader", so they feel like a part of the world, just ready for a fight. I also passed a turn to make the clip last longer and immediately got punished for it. #gamedev #TurnBasedTactics #wip

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It's an honor to host this week's official #TurnBasedThursday! 📢 Calling all #IndieDev and #GameDev folks to show off their turn-based games below! Love #turnbased games? ♥ / 🔁 great games in the replies and @ who should be in this thread!

New town hover/select effect coming along. Needed something that didn't get in the way of other elements, while still making the highlight clear. #gamedev #indiedev #citybuilder

Thanks for hosting this #TurnBasedThursday! Sharing a few moments with the people in my city-builder: camera follow, daily routines, inspect menus, and some more expressive hover feedback for towns and characters. Plus, naturally, capes and brooches. #gamedev #indiedev #TurnBasedThursday

HA! YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS IT? NO! It's #TurnBasedThursday again! Devs! Share your turn-based games in the replies! Gifs, videos, screenshots ahoy! Turn-based fans! Support your favorite turn-based games and SHARE THE LOVE! GO! GO! GO! #gamedev #indiedev

Early river dev clips—simulating flow with water “pucks” carrying volume downstream. I’m dangerously close to calling them Wahxels 🌊 #gamedev #indiedev #unity

Gave the town NPCs robe layers for more color and motion, and now the close-up ones have way more presence than I expected. Built on top of my instanced billboard setup, so it still stays efficient. Turns out capes help. #gamedev #indiedev #unity #screenshotsaturday

One of my favorite things in development is breaking LOD settings just enough to reveal a whole second society. Near people: work the farms Far people: visit the well, saunter through the plaza, phase through walls #gamedev #indiedev #citybuilder #simulation

Putting it together 🧩 From an Old Master’s maps → into a living title screen. This is a "collage animation" of how I made the current title screen. #gamedev #indiedev #GameArt #ArtHistory

Trying to make the world push back a bit 🌍 Not just building—but reacting: droughts ☀️ floods 🌧️ wandering groups 🎪 Some of this is still literally “Option A / Option B” right now #gamedev #indiedev

🐘 Took down the Steam page for Roundfoot today 🐘 Not gone—just walking a longer road. It shaped how I think about worldbuilding and systems— and it still echoes in what I’m building now. #gamedev #indiedev #unity #worldbuilding #TrailerTuesday

Working on the “Route” system — a core mechanic for linking towns, resources, and territory. Early playtests: confusion 😅 Now: starting to click. A lot of it comes down to better signifiers. #indiedev #gamedev #citybuilder #4X #GameDesign

Smarter combat AI. Enemies now push for high ground — and it shows. But smarter AI is exposing new problems: when both sides are jockeying for position, things can turn into awkward “leapfrog” situations. Now it’s a design question. #gamedev #indiedev #CombatDesign #TurnBasedTactics #GameDesign

Playtested the game this weekend — such a welcoming, creative space. The most valuable thing for me at this stage: feedback, feedback, feedback. I think it’s time to integrate a tutorial — or at least some subtle “nudge” tips to help steer player actions. #indiedev #citybuilder #screenshotsunday

Working on menus. Gold & Food use drill-downs. Others come from diegetic world elements. Trying to visually connect the UI to the source object. Will start with simple lines and iterate from there. If it's janky, iterate! #indiedev #gamedev #4X #Unity #simulationgame #uiux #gamedesign