Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 11m

I see you’re playing Silksong! Can I suggest Citizen Pain? It’s also quite challenging. store.steampowered.com/app/3990220/...

Citizen Pain Demo on Steam

Citizen Pain is a first-person dark fantasy action game. Play as Catherina, warrior princess of the Moges Empire, who gains the supernatural force known as Pain and leads the fight against the Undead ...

store.steampowered.com

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 1d

It’s not a fighting game, but it’s heavily inspired by beat ’em ups, Citizen Pain: store.steampowered.com/app/3990220/...

Citizen Pain Demo on Steam

Citizen Pain is a first-person dark fantasy action game. Play as Catherina, warrior princess of the Moges Empire, who gains the supernatural force known as Pain and leads the fight against the Undead ...

store.steampowered.com

1

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 4d

2/2
Even though the demo isn’t among the most popular ones out there, I’m genuinely happy with the progress, creating a game like this in my free time is already a challenge, and just having it out there means a lot to me.

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 4d

1/2
This past week I focused on several fixes. One is a new blue flash overlay to indicate when an enemy is vulnerable to a front stab. I’ve also added a new VFX that triggers when an enemy is defeated.

#CitizenPain #indiegame #indiedev #IndieGameDev #SteamNextFest #unrealengine

1 2 7

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 9d

2/2
Keep in mind, this is a hardcore action experience with semi-permadeath runs: when you die, you restart the level.
So get ready for a real challenge!

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 9d

1/2
Citizen Pain will join the Steam Next Fest!
The demo is already out, and you can play it right now!

Free demo on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3990220/...

#CitizenPain #indiegame #indiedev #IndieGameDev #actiongame #SteamNextFest #unrealengine

1 1 9

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 17d

Link to demo on Steam:
store.steampowered.com/app/3990220/...

Citizen Pain Demo on Steam

Citizen Pain is a first-person dark fantasy action game. Play as Catherina, warrior princess of the Moges Empire, who gains the supernatural force known as Pain and leads the fight against the Undead ...

store.steampowered.com

1

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 17d

Excited to announce that #CitizenPain demo is available now on Steam! Created by me in my spare time on almost no budget. If you enjoy it, feel free to repost and wishlist. Thanks for your support!

#indiegame #indiedev #IndieGameDev #actiongame #SteamNextFest #unrealengine

1 2 10

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 21d

I’m truly grateful for the opportunity to have worked on Saros as part of the Game Design team at Nixxes. It has been a great pleasure collaborating closely with the talented team at Housemarque.

PlayStation @playstation.com · 22d

Revealed in State of Play: Saros launches March 20, 2026 on PS5.

Housemarque details its upcoming sci-fi shooter and an extended first look at gameplay: play.st/4mEue97

3

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 26d

2/2
Also improved potion feedback with new hand animation + VFX, and added polish like new menus, tutorial windows, and intro/outro sequences that expand the story. Lots of small touches I hope you’ll enjoy in the Steam Next Fest demo.

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · 26d

1/2
This clip is a bit longer than usual, but I’ve managed to get a lot done these past two weeks. Added an area hit after takedown for risk-reward combat + new impact VFX to make it more satisfying.

#CitizenPain #gamedevelopment #gamedev #indiedev #unrealengine #UE5 #indiegame

1 1 8

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Sep 6

2/2
I’m a bit worried since the major bugs left take time to fix, and there are still some small ones here and there that make the game feel a bit rough. Still, I believe the core gameplay is solid, and I hope that shines through despite these issues.

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Sep 6

1/2
I’m still grinding through bug fixes for the demo build for Steam Next Fest.

I finally replaced the Main Menu with a new UI and in-game sequence, which is also useful for tweaking the graphics settings.

#CitizenPain #gamedev #indiedev #unrealengine #UE5 #indiegame

1 4 12

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 31

2/2
I’ve also introduced a hit stop effect when performing a parry, not only to emphasize the impact, but also to give clear feedback and allow the player a brief moment to plan their next move.

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 31

1/2
I'm still working on bug fixing for the demo, but I’ve also added a couple of new features. One of them is a hit counter, since the number of hits contributes to the stage rank.

#CitizenPain #gamedevelopment #gamedev #indiedev #unrealengine #UE5 #indiegame #indiegamedev

1 3 7

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 25

Thanks a lot! Glad you like it!

1

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 24

2/2
On top of that, I added a combo counter (not in this video yet), which I’m excited to show soon!

In this video you’ll still notice some meshes flying around, I’m aware of it and plan to fix that soon.

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 24

1/2
This week has been all about polishing for the demo. I added a new objective marker UI, fixed the issue where music wasn’t playing, and implemented more options in the settings menu.

#CitizenPain #gamedevelopment #gamedev #indiedev #unrealengine #UE5 #indiegame #indiegamedev

2 4 7

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 17

2/2
Unfortunately, I’ll have to leave out some gameplay ideas I wanted to add (like a couple of special moves) so I can focus on making the game feel as polished as possible.

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 17

1/2
These days I’ve been focusing on bug fixing to get the demo ready for the Steam Next Fest this October. My main priority is polishing and fixing the bugs in the demo.

#CitizenPain #action #gamedevelopment #gamedev #indiedev #unrealengine #UE5 #indiegame #indiegamedev

1 4 16

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 17

Thanks! Optimization is pretty solid so far, it runs on my laptop with an RTX 3060, DLSS on Quality, all graphics settings maxed, at 60fps in 1080p.

1 1

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 11

2/2
I still need to tweak the enemy lighting in this stage, but they’re already fairly visible.

1

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 11

1/2
I’ve been doing a lot of bug fixing, things like adding the ability to skip cutscenes, fixing broken UI, and dealing with enemies getting stuck, so not much new content to show.

#CitizenPain #gamedevelopment #gamedev #indiedev #unrealengine #indiegame #indiegamedev

2 5 14

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 4

Absolutely yes, you need to point with the mouse manually in the direction of the attack to block it.

Alessandro Capriolo @alessandrocapriolo.bsky.social · Aug 3

Thanks! Sorry I'm not sure I fully understood the question, but to trigger a parry you need to block just before the enemy hits you. 🙂

1 1