DISTANT ILLUSIONS MONTHLY #1: Console Development Is A Nightmare

30 Apr 2025, 20:52 by Mors

Hey hey hey! It's ya boi Mors, and welcome to the first ever edition of our monthly newsletter, which we're calling "Distant Illusions Monthly", because...let's just say that the marketing department didn't approve the other name we had.

These newsletter posts will be sent to all our mailing list subscribers at the start of the month, though we will also make them available on the blog a week later. So if you want to stay up to date with everything Distant Illusions, subscribe! It doesn't cost any money, not that we'd ever be that greedy.

But anyways, let's get into it, because things are...well...going! Not going well, just going.

So Close, Yet So Far…

Let's cut to the chase:

Operius DX is basically done!

Except, uh, not really. Because console development (and I say this with the full weight of my trauma) is a complete fucking nightmare. Like, everything is fine and well with the Steam version, but actually putting the game on the Nintendo Switch has been a pain in the ass, and if I say any more about it I know Nintendo's ninjas will be on my door, ready to execute me on the spot.

Except, uh, I lied again. Everything is NOT fine with the Steam version. You know the part where you send the final build to Valve, and they nod solemnly and let you make the Steam page go public whenever you feel ready? Yeah yeah, that step. While I was dealing with the Switch port, I kinda just, you know, forgot about it, and the deadline for it is coming really, really close.

We were planning to release the game on May 9th, but thanks to the aforementioned issues and our (my) incompetence, there's going to be a tiny delay. Probably about two weeks, but you know how that goes. Ideally, it'll be out before the Switch 2 drops and makes everyone forget we existed, but fingers crossed. Expect an announcement post with the new proper release date soon™.

If you're reading this on the blog, though, chances are that announcement post is already up in the news section.

Also, if you haven't yet, wishlist the game on Steam will ya? Believe or not, this actually helps us quite a bit and it's not something a lot of people have done yet.

Price?

We thought long and hard about how to price the game, and then threw all that in the trash and went with:

$5

Yep. Just $5. Considering the insane amount of work we've put into porting the game, it's probably way too little, but this is also essentially just an enhanced version of a free game everybody has already played, so charging more for it didn't feel right.

If you want to support us further though, we will also offer the soundtrack to the game for $3 on Steam, itch.io, and Bandcamp. itch.io is preferred because we get a much larger cut that way.

So, What's Actually Different on Switch?

It's the same game, more or less. But here's the full list, for all 12 of you who care:

• The Steam version can run at any resolution, the Switch version is locked to 720p on handheld mode, and 1080p on docked mode.
• The Steam version can run at any frame rate up to 240 FPS, the Switch version is locked to 60 FPS.
• The Switch version also occasionally drops some frames because look, optimization is hard, okay?
• The Switch version might also have slightly worse graphics at places, but honestly you'd have to squint to notice.
• Both versions have separate online leaderboards, and the itch.io version lacks them completely.
• All versions of the game also have achievements. Yes, even the itch.io and Switch versions!

Honestly, if you've got a nice gaming monitor, the Steam version might be the better one to buy, but the Switch version is also great if you want to play the game in bed while ignoring your responsibilities, so there's also that.

And yes, the game will work on the Switch 2 as well. We're pretty sure about it. Mostly sure… Probably sure… Maybe sure… Okay, we don't actually know, but we expect it to work. If not then I'll end up having a personal talk with both Yoyo Games and John Nintendo.

I won't be able to pick up a Switch 2 at launch, so if you get your hands on that bad boy and the game explodes, let us know! We'll add it to the Known Issues list under “spontaneous console combustion”.

Le Forum

Meanwhile, in marginally less soul-crushing news, we're working on a forum, as I talked about it in an earlier blog post (you're reading those, right?). We're not killing the Discord or anything, we just miss having a nice, cozy, searchable place that truly is “ours”.

Cato is currently working on the backend side of things, and from what I can tell, he's got most of the basics in place. My job with it is to clean up the frontend and...well, I haven't really done much there yet. I've been honestly trying to finalize the blog sections first since there are still some kinks to adjust there.

So yes, it really is happening. You've been warned.

Secret Projects (Shhhh)

So, what happens after Operius DX? Well, a few things.

One of them involves another company (you know which one) and a project we're genuinely super hyped about! Though, full transparency, it's the kind of thing most of you will read about and go “neat” and then immediately forget about while opening a new tab to watch a 2 hour video on Super Mario 64 speedrunning history. But we are super excited for it, and that's what matters.

We will share more on this when we're legally allowed to.

The other thing we're cooking hard is Radium, our very own in-house engine designed to resurrect those crunchy, late-90s/early-2000s low-poly aesthetics, in all their true glory.

There's a lot, and I mean a lot to say about Radium, but I will leave most of that to Cato at some other time. Radium is 80% his work after all.

To clarify though, Radium isn't really a “standalone” project on its own. It's being made mainly to power our upcoming 3D platformer...which, yeah, we can't say much about yet either. Welcome to our life.

That's it? No Smash?

Anyways, that's it for this month! Hopefully, next time we talk, Operius DX will actually be out and not be a Schrödinger's Game, hovering between being done and not done. I'll probably also dive into some of the design decisions behind it. You know, what worked, what broke, and what ideas we had to throw into the trash bin. Maybe we'll even show you some of that mystery 3D platformer! No promises, though.

Once again, I urge you to wishlist Operius DX on Steam if you haven't already.

That's all! Distant Illusions out!

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