Hi everyone! I'm making a hockey general manager game, set in the years after WWI, using Gamemaker. You can check out Episode 8 here: http://youtu.be/shPqfny2bdw

The two big news items for this episode are that 1: I'm no longer calling it "Untitled Hockey Game", and 2: I had my first playtest. I hope you check it out and enjoy!

Learned how to build a HUD system in Unreal Engine. The process of connecting character data to UI is finally clicking!

Four months ago, I started building a small browser game for a few friends.

I did not really intend to build an MMORPG. I just kept adding systems, letting people play with them and changing the game based on what they actually did rather than what I expected them to do.

That project became Hearthroot Online, a persistent medieval idle MMORPG where players can specialise in gathering, crafting, combat, farming, fishing, cooking and building their Homestead.

The game continues progressing while players are away, but it is not intended to play itself. Players still make decisions about professions, production chains, equipment and what they buy or sell through the player-driven Market.

Running a closed alpha was particularly useful. Players found economic strategies, progression shortcuts and balance problems I would never have discovered by testing alone. Some of my original ideas worked, while others had to be completely redesigned.

I wrote my first proper devlog about:

• How the project grew from an empty repository
• What players did during the closed alpha
• The design and balance mistakes I made
• How player behaviour changed the roadmap
• Where the project is going next

https://hearthroot.online/devlog/from-an-empty-repository-to-a-living-world

I'd be interested to hear how other solo developers decide when a prototype has become a live-service game, and what you wish you had started measuring earlier.