vittro
Level: Smiter

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Hey folks!

After logging countless hours in incremental games, I decided to craft my own adventure: BubbleByte! (Wishlist on Steam)

This cozy, cutesy game blends idle, clicker, and tower defense mechanics — all inspired by my cat Byte’s fascination with soap bubbles. 🐈

In short: you start as a lone bubble popper, earn money by building up clicking combos, and purchase upgrades and cats. As the game progresses and you discover more types of cats, the automation aspect kicks in: by strategically arranging cats of different types in the right way, you can start earning a lot of money very quickly!

There is a prestige mechanic that grants game-breaking permanent upgrades, and a map exploration mechanics that unlocks legendary cats with unique minigames and mechanics.

Oh, and I've made sure to throw some DROD-related easter eggs in there... When you purchase cats they get a random name assigned to them, and let's just say you might spot some familiar ones!

I'd be happy to hear what you think, and I'm also looking for some beta testers to help me tweak the balance before release -- both veterans of the genre and newcomers are appreciated! ❤️

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http://vittorioromeo.com

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[Last edited by vittro at 02-28-2025 01:21 AM]

skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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I usually play idles on mobile but hey, wishlisted and I'll certainly give it a go!

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vittro
Level: Smiter

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skell wrote:
I usually play idles on mobile but hey, wishlisted and I'll certainly give it a go!

Thank you, I appreciate the support!

I'm not sure I would describe it as a full-on idle game... I'm still making some final balance tweaks, but at the moment I'm quite pleased with the flow.

Early game is a bit more on the active side with clicking combos.
Mid/late game is more about picking a strategy and choosing the most impactful upgrades for that, optimizing cat arrangement, and occasionally interacting with the various minigames.

If you've played Cookie Clicker, the active-to-idle ratio is quite similar. Maybe I should add some sort of "rested state" where inactivity boosts production, for people that prefer idle games...

Anyway, here's a few more sneak peeks!

This is a prestige upgrade that allows some cats to open up portals to hell:
https://i.imgur.com/tAPs0H5.mp4

And, most importantly, this is a bubble shader I wrote today. Do you think the game looks better with it on, or should I leave it off by default? Performance cost is not significant.
https://i.imgur.com/k9lIWiQ.mp4

____________________________
http://vittorioromeo.com

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[Last edited by vittro at 03-01-2025 04:13 PM]

skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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vittro wrote:
I'm not sure I would describe it as a full-on idle game...

To be honest most clickers are actually idlers in disguise - even in games where you can optimize for clicking it's very rarely that clicking is better, even with auto clicker.

And Cookie Clicker is pretty idly in my opinion, fairly quickly you get to a point where clicking is just not worth it. I never got far into the game though, maybe it changes at some point in the future. I mean idly in terms of clicking, a lot of idlers benefit from looking at it 24/7 and buying upgrades as soon as they are available.

Anyway, what I meant is that I usually play those games on mobile because it aligns with my brain a little bit better .

Maybe I should add some sort of "rested state" where inactivity boosts production, for people that prefer idle games..

Your call, really, but I've played too many idlers in my life and I personally prefer games with strong opinions that do their own thing rather than yet another identical structure just with different programmer art thrown at the top of it. If your game is clicky and the fun is in clicky...

I like the shader version better, I'd leave it enabled by default!

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vittro
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skell wrote:
Your call, really, but I've played too many idlers in my life and I personally prefer games with strong opinions that do their own thing rather than yet another identical structure just with different programmer art thrown at the top of it. If your game is clicky and the fun is in clicky...

I like the shader version better, I'd leave it enabled by default!

That’s a great point about a game having its own identity - if I tried to incorporate all the feedback I received, it wouldn’t feel like my game anymore! 😆

I’ve made a lot of progress over the past few days, especially on the graphics side. My girlfriend created some extra backgrounds, and one of my best friends is composing a few BGMs. Each of these is themed around the unique cats you unlock as you progress. To tie it all together, I implemented an "unlockables" system that lets you freely select these backgrounds and BGMs after unlocking them once.

Here are some sneak peeks!

- https://i.imgur.com/zQBk0Qo.mp4
- https://i.imgur.com/Kpk5FKf.mp4

I also revamped the trailer, keeping in mind that most viewers decide within the first two seconds whether to keep watching. This new version is much more direct and to the point:

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWsr9I6lYDo

What do you think? Would this be a better fit for Steam and social platforms like Reddit compared to the first, more slow-paced trailer?

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vittro
Level: Smiter

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BubbleByte is now released
It would mean a lot to me if you tried it out and spread the word!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3499760/BubbleByte/

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mrimer
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Looks cool. Congratulations on the release! =)

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skell
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The game is fun!

I don't want to get stuck trying to write a wall of text so that's all I have to say .

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Citrus
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Found a cat named Halph! Good game.

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vittro
Level: Smiter

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Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement and the kind feedback! I am glad you are enjoying the game.

If you do have any constructive criticism in mind, please let me know -- always eager to make the experience more enjoyable.

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skell
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

Rank Points: 3789
Registered: 12-28-2004
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Some random thoughts:

- I stopped playing for a few weeks after doing my... 4th or 5th prestige. I was put off by how much fiddly work there was with moving and placing cats every ascension.
- But then a few days after your message I got back to the game and finished it on the next run.
- I ultimately enjoyed it! It was really, really dumb in the silly and fun and good way. I'd say it's a very similar genre or category of idlers as Gnorp Apologue, which I enjoy. The time investment was very sane, the fun I had was worth the price, the fact there is an ending that you can reach before getting bored with the game is highly appreciated.
- I absolutely do not care about getting any additional achievements, I have somehow managed to convince my brain to no longer care about those in Idlers and I am not planning to change that for ANY game.

I don't think there is anything that could be changed to improve the game that wouldn't require changing its core. It was fun, I am glad I played it!

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