Crafting A Tiny Open World: A Short Hike Postmortem

GDC Festival of Gaming
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 2 months, 2020–2022
YouTube
521K views · 6 years ago · talk · intermediate · evergreen

The solo developer of A Short Hike gives a GDC postmortem on crafting a small open-world exploration game. He covers the scope choices, the pixel-shader look made from low-poly 3D, and what it took to finish the game alone.

HN people recommend it as inspiration for solo game makers and as the source for how the game's pixel shader look was achieved.

“You might want to watch this for inspiration”
Game designGame art & UI
#ashorthike#gdc#indiegames#pixelshader#scope

6 comments from Hacker News

b
@butz2020 · in “Ask HN: I'm quitting my job, will create a game – any advice?”
You might want to watch this for inspiration: Short Hike Post-mortem (▶ this video) about single developer struggles. Of course, this is one of successful stories, so your mileage might (and will) vary. Give yourself tight deadlines and see if you can stick to them. Do not be afraid to bail out early, if you see that game development is not working out. I'd suggest keeping your daily job until you at least have minimal working prototype of your game and get positive feedback. As for games on mobile platforms, be prepared if you will create something new and unique - it will have dozen of clones on day three after launch.
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k
@kiliancs2020 · in “Crafting a Tiny Open World: A Short Hike Postmortem”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
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N
@NortySpock2022 · in “Isometric Pixel Art”
Not the same method, but as I recall the developer of the game A Short Hike did a similar procedure - mostly to allow him to quickly draft 3D models and hide the low-poly models, artifacts, and "glitches" behind the pixel shader. ▶ this video GDC presentation by the developer of A Short Hike My review: a fun, calming, and enjoyable 2 hour game with a heartwarming ending.
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a
@annnoo2022 · in “Ask HN: Non-violent video games with great stories?”
Maybe not the greatest story but definitely one of the loveliest games I've played was A Short Hike. It is a kinda short (~5-6h) feel good game in which you more or less just have to explore a holiday island and meet different other Animals The developer held a talk on the GDC how he made the game: ▶ this video
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y
@yorak2021 · in “SpriteStack Voxel Editor”
Nice. The resulting graphics style reminds me of a Short Hike, which is a family friendly bite sized 3D adventure and exploration game. I'm not affiliated in any way, just enjoyed the game with my kid. It has a nice balance of story, challenges, and some platformer action. link Edit: IIRC the shader a Short Hike used was discussed in the GDC talk by the game's author: ▶ this video
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p
@pketh2020 · in “On Small Games”
oh sweet, I didn't know that existed. checking it out now ▶ this video
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