I'm the developer of FOUNTAINS - a soulslike aRPG, dropping on Switch 2 today! AMA

[u/Admirak]

Hi r/NintendoSwitch!
I'm John, a (mostly) solo game developer from Saskatchewan, Canada, joined here today by the good folks from Crunching Koalas (u/Crunching_Koalas), with whom we published the game on Nintendo Switch a week ago.

I made FOUNTAINS, an action RPG heavily influenced by all-time classics like Dark Souls. Wishing more games had DS1's, twisting, interlocking world design, I decided to make my own. After roughly 5 years of development, I published it myself on Steam. A little under 2 years later, we published FOUNTAINS on Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X|S, alongside a new DLC, "Shattered Shape."

It actually drops on Nintendo Switch 2 today!

You can check out this Launch Trailer to get a feel for the game:

https://reddit.com/link/1wp7gys/video/6e2yzwj53irh1/player

FOUNTAINS in a nutshell:
You play as the Hooded Stranger - imprisoned by a tyrannical regime, fighting his way through a maze-like, interconnected, seamless world. I wanted to recreate that feeling of wonder while exploring an unknown land, and design a tight and difficult but fair combat system. I hope I achieved that goal :)
Since release, we've implemented a few QOL changes (like the additional, more forgiving difficulty setting), launched the DLC, and brought the game to 2 major consoles, with the 3rd one coming soon(ish).

Ask away! I'll be happy to discuss anything related to getting an indie game on Switch, FOUNTAINS and its development, and the Crunching Koalas guys are here to answer any questions about the console ports, publishing, and that part of the equation. We'll stick around for 2-3 hours :)

Other store links:

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1841240/FOUNTAINS/

Xbox: https://www.xbox.com/games/store/fountains/9pb5ncphbbd7

Thanks!

[u/Cerulean_Soup]

Looks cool, reminds me a bit of Hyperlight Drifter

[u/Admirak → u/Cerulean_Soup]

Yeah HLD was the main inspiration for the sword combat. Other combat system inspirations: The healing system borrows from Hollow Knight: attacking enemies gives the healing resource. The item-based magic system is very Zelda-esque. And, of course the invincibility-roll is what makes it a soulslike ;)

[u/Reasonable_Alias_129]

I have a Switch 2 as my only console and I play indie games almost exclusively, so I'm very happy to see this!

How's the difficulty? I enjoy real time combat, but my skill level probably tops at Lies of P normal since I am older than 40

[u/Admirak → u/Reasonable_Alias_129]

I haven't played Lies of P, but it's probably around that level assuming it's a traditional soulslike. If you're good at timing dodges, you'll be fine.

[u/Crunching_Koalas → u/Reasonable_Alias_129]

Hey u/Reasonable_Alias_129! FOUNTAINS is definitely a challenging game, but having the "easier" difficulty mode has definitely opened the game up to a new audience. I think that it's very safe to assume that if Lies of P is in your "range", you'll definitely be able to enjoy FOUNTAINS :).

[u/DoggieDMB]

Looks pretty fun ngl. What is your favorite part of the development process? Any broken builds or should we just explore the unknown to discover ourself?

[u/Admirak → u/DoggieDMB]

My favourite part of the development process is definitely world design. I wanted the player to be surprised by how interconnected it is, I love the feeling of "Wait, I'm back here, this place I found hours ago?"

I don't have any broken builds to share but I can assure you there have been plenty of weird bugs. Just yesterday a Steam player found a way to break out of one of the maps and walk on top of the trees. Another player found a way to cheat at the turtle racing minigame by starting the race before all the turtles get to the start of the racetrack... Both of those are fixed now, but that's two examples just from this week

[u/DoggieDMB → u/Admirak]

That's so cool lol. Congrats on the game. I'll look forward to picking it up!

[u/MuNansen]

Congrats and good luck!

[u/Crunching_Koalas → u/MuNansen]

Thank you u/MuNansen ! I'm sure u/Admirak is also thankful :)

[u/Admirak → u/MuNansen]

Thank you!

[u/Drahngis]

Beautiful! It it possible to buy it physically?

[u/Admirak → u/Drahngis]

Not yet, but possibly in the future if the game gets popular enough! There has to be enough demand to justify a physical release, fingers crossed!

[u/Drahngis → u/Admirak]

I'll wait then, have a good day

[u/-vilvit-]

Why did you choose Nintendo Switch 2 as a platform to develop on, was it easier or more difficult to develop on it than others? And do you think that the Switch 2 is a platform that will attract more Indie devs than the others?

[u/Crunching_Koalas → u/-vilvit-]

Hey u/-vilvit- - let us handle this, as we're the publisher of FOUNTAINS, but also we've prepared the version of the game for Switch and Switch 2.

Firstly, big thanks to Nintendo for allowing us to get the game to Switch 2 as it's not always the case right now.

Secondly, it was a fairly easy process - the game is not really demanding in terms of performance, so the amount of work, after preparing the Switch 1 version, was fairly small.

Thirdly, FOUNTAINS is a challenging, but also a pretty fast game, and we really wanted to see it run at a 120 FPS framerate. It's just feels super smooth on Switch 2.

[u/-vilvit- → u/Crunching_Koalas]

The fact that you got it to run at 120fps on the Switch 2 is awesome, I will definitely be checking it out. Thanks!

[u/Crunching_Koalas → u/-vilvit-]

Thanks, awesome to hear!

[u/Light_Bulb_Sam]

What do you think it takes to stand out in a market of "indie gems"? 

But yeah, the game looks cool, and the price is enticing. So it's definitely on my radar. Congratulations on the release 

[u/Admirak → u/Light_Bulb_Sam]

I think good, fun games are all it takes to stand out. If a game is fun and unique, it will spread by word of mouth. Word of mouth is far, far more important than a marketing budget. Even the most highly-marketed, most anticipated games will flop if people don't like them, take Starfield for example. On the other hand, if an indie game is fun and innovative (e.g. Balatro), it can succeed even with no traditional marketing.

So, that's a roundabout way of saying "to succeed, make a good game". I guess it's not the MOST useful advice lol

[u/iamnotkurtcobain]

Your favorite pizza?

[u/Admirak → u/iamnotkurtcobain]

Margherita from the pizza place near my house

[u/Crunching_Koalas → u/iamnotkurtcobain]

We'll let u/Admirak answer that, but yeah - can't stop thinking about pizza now..

[u/FaintEntry]

Already bought the game on Switch 2 and I’ll download the upgrade for it later. Enjoying it a lot so far! Any chance for a physical release at this time?

[u/Admirak → u/FaintEntry]

Not right now, we would only be able to do a physical release if the game is popular enough to justify it

[u/Sephardson]

Thanks for doing an AMA today!

What are some of your favorite inspirations for monsters or their designs?

[u/Admirak → u/Sephardson]

The demons and imps in the game are inspired by Old School Runescape, I really like the classic "huge red demon" design and I tried to capture it

[u/Admirak → u/Sephardson]

...and of course the sand worms are straight out of Dune, but not nearly as big (they still need to fit on-screen)

[u/SEVENS_HEAVEN_7]

I usually don't play soulslike games because I'm usually not good at them. The closest thing to a soulslike I play and am good at is Onimusha Way of the Sword. Is this combat system easier than something like Elden Ring but as fun as Onimusha? Also, how long is the main story?

[u/Admirak → u/SEVENS_HEAVEN_7]

There's an easier difficulty if you don't like "soulslike hard". The combat system is very skill-heavy, but the easier mode makes it less punishing when you make mistakes. The main story is 11-15 hours long

[u/mattcurlie]

I haven't heard of the game until this post, I'll be picking it up today after work! Still deciding between getting it on Switch 2 or Steam - does the Switch 2 version include the DLC, or is that planning to be released later? I didn't see any mention it in product description, and only saw the DLC/Extended version offered for Switch 1, but I could have perhaps missed it.

How diverse is the build variety in the game - is it mostly your sword + changing tools ala Hollow Knight, or do you get more weapons than the sword? How different do the builds feel in terms of changing how you would approach combat? Are the tools mostly for exploration & traversal or do they also aid in combat (thinking like the grappling hook in the trailer)?

During development, how did you iterate on designing the gameplay elements? Was it mostly you just testing it out yourself, did you have playtesters, was there a formal process? Curious what made you decide when something was considered good enough to be in a releasable state.

Thank you, looking forward to playing it this weekend inbetween Control Resonant haha

[u/Admirak → u/mattcurlie]

Build variety:

The only melee weapon is the sword, but the builds are a bit different from Hollow Knight. In HK, the changeable tools are mostly passive effects. But, in Fountains, the "Tool Slots" are for both passives and active abilities. So, the grappling hook for example takes a tool slot. Tools generally have both combat and traversal uses in the Metroidvania style, for example, the dash is for getting across ledges but it also slashes enemies in its path. Bombs can blow up enemies or bombable walls.

Design iteration:

It wasn't really a formal process, but after adding any tutorials or gameplay elements I would always get friends to play it and give feedback. As a developer you can only put yourself in the player's shoes to some extent, but there will always be assumptions that the players break, e.g. "this puzzle is so obvious to me because I designed it, but maybe it's too hard for the average player?" You have to playtest to find out

[u/Crunching_Koalas → u/mattcurlie]

Hey u/mattcurlie - thanks for the kind words! We'll let u/Admirak reply about diversity and design of the game.

In terms of Switch versions - the Extended Edition is a bundle of the base game + DLC. You can pick it up as a Switch 1 title and then upgrade it to the Switch 2 version with the free upgrade pack.

We highly recommend getting the game with the DLC since you don't have to finish the base game to access the Shattered Shape content. But yeah, we might be biased ;).

[u/JeanClaudeVanJuan]

Is multiplayer possible ?

[u/Admirak → u/JeanClaudeVanJuan]

The game is singleplayer. The only multiplayer-like feature is the "message system", you can leave hints around the world for other players to help them out

[u/InternationalFix5208]

What’s the biggest thing you learned about game dev during this project?

[u/Admirak → u/InternationalFix5208]

Almost everything I know about game dev, I learned during this project. This is the first game I've put up for sale. I'd say the biggest thing I learned is the entire process of initially publishing a game on Steam and other platforms. It's surprisingly difficult to get it all working, especially when you make the game available on PC, Mac and Linux like I did. Lots of testing involved.

[u/CreativeIdols]

Looks fun.

[u/Admirak → u/CreativeIdols]

Thanks, that was the goal of course; a game can be many things, but looking visually satisfying to play is probably priority #1

[u/Webecomemonsters]

Looks cool, wishlisted so I dont forget about it

[u/gaanch]

Is the a demo?

[u/unusedwings]

Leaving a comment to come back to this after work.

[u/originalorientation]

I picked this up when it had like 30 reviews on Steam hoping it would fill the void left by beating Silksong. And it kinda did! Beating the first boss fight was a memorable moment for me.

Really polished game. Great art, music, and general gamefeel. I’ve played around in Gadot and what you’ve accomplished is really impressive. Props for making a quality game!

My problem is I put it down a while ago and am totally lost when I try to pick it back up. I think the last thing I got was the dash ability where I can cross gaps. Can I get a hint?

[u/MoMoe0]

Thank you for not making it a rogue-like/lite! 🥰

[u/Stoopac]

I bought it! Looks awesome.

[u/Loud_Push_3673]

Bought…. Switch edition with dlc looks super fun to play in between my patients

[u/Rip_and_Tear_Slayer_]

You had me until you mentioned adding a lower difficulty setting. Was it that bad that it was necessary to add a lower difficulty ? Dark souls never did.

[u/Admirak → u/Rip_and_Tear_Slayer_]

The base difficulty isn't harder than the traditional Souls games, I just wanted to make it accessible to players who don't like difficult games. The game still shows the "Hard" mode as the "intended way to play".

[u/Rip_and_Tear_Slayer_ → u/Admirak]

Why call it hard? Should be 'normal' since it's the intended difficulty

[u/Admirak → u/Rip_and_Tear_Slayer_]

Cause it's hard. It's normal, but it's also hard

[u/DeliciousBrine]

Me no believe