Crafting a Tiny Open World - A Short Hike Postmortem

Explore the development journey of "A Short Hike" in this 31-minute GDC Virtual Talk from 2020. Discover how Adam Robinson-Yu pivoted from a major project to create a tiny open-world game, delving into the creative process, technical challenges, and design decisions. Learn about working within limitations, implementing crunchy pixel aesthetics, custom shaders, and 3D pixelation techniques in Unity. Gain insights on meeting deadlines, efficient asset reuse, landscaping methods, and balancing open-world gameplay. Understand the importance of player guidance, silent repetition, and setting expectations for indie game releases. Uncover valuable lessons on game development, from prototyping to Steam page traffic analysis, in this comprehensive postmortem of a successful indie title.

Intro
A Short Hike Postmortem
Short games are a thing!
Working Within Limitations!
Crunchy Pixels
Simpler Models
3D Pixelation in Unity
Referencing Colours
Custom Unlit-ish Shaders
Custom Lighting Ramp
Easy UVs with Unlit Style
Post Processing Effects
Making Art Within Your Limitations
Meeting the Deadline
The Scrum Board You Know and Love (?)
Reusing knowledge, tools, and assets
Landscaping
Triplanar Shader
Terrain Painting
Custom Tooling
Cutting corners...
Why open world?
Things don't always go as planned...
Provide Guidance
Use Gates
Silent Repetition
Prime the Player
Balancing The Final Area
The Humble Original Release
Setting Expectations
Sweet Release!
First Week Steam Page Traffic