Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · 1d

Now these morons are suggesting that @nomorerobots.io *forced* me to put represention in the game. Bitch I came up with the characters myself! And Noor is a treasure!

A section of a Steam review that reads: "A Game Marred by External Decisions

This adventure is also, and most importantly, spoiled by the publisher, No More Robots. Their forced DEI, seemingly to collect more money, comes at the expense of narrative coherence and the original developer's vision. The inexplicable presence of a character wearing an Islamic headscarf in a universe where it doesn't fit is a glaring example that shatters immersion."

The developer response to the review that reads: Hello! It's me, the dev! Like the actual person that wrote the code, almost all 97,000 lines of it, as well as all the characters, dialog, cutscenes, and storyline. The publisher did in fact make a singular character suggestion to me. You know which character it was?

The dog.

The rest? All me! You are making up completely unfounded conspiracy theories.

Oh, and that "surveillance"? It's called a log file. Unity makes them by default. Scary stuff, I know.

Take a hike man.

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · 2d

Noooo! I'm so sorry.

But also, not sorry.

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · 2d

Why you gotta play me like that man. 😭

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · 2d

Man I really gotta add a planning mode.

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · 4d

This can't be emphasized enough. We launched the first playtest back in February this year, and have spent most of the time since addressing issues. There was so much critical feedback that we worked into the game, and we did over 4 full rounds of this kind of testing and improvement.

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 4d

4. Tons of playtesting = highly rated

We have a 93% rating on Steam, which I'm hoping we can get to Overwhelming Positive in the coming months

We got there through months and months of extensive playtesting, building tons of QoL features for the game

Just so, so important for this launch

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Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 4d

Somehow we had a successful game launch in 2025: A thread 🧵

We launched Little Rocket Lab this week, and it's been mega for us. Which is amazing, because well, the industry is bad right now!

So I wanna go through the things we did, in the hope that something here can be helpful to someone here

➡️➡️

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Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 4d

Omg, someone made Toasty from Little Rocket Lab with Lego

First time someone has Legoed one of our games haha

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Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Brandon Sheffield @brandon.insertcredit.com · 5d

One cool feature of Steam is they provide a Harassment Zone for each game you announce. It's a place for people who hate progress to come and crap all over games they haven't even played. No, they won't help you moderate it, but hey, at least you can't delete it!

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 5d

Classic Steam forums

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Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Wren @wrenpeixes.bsky.social · 5d

bought the game because of this lol

A Steam discussion post by myself that reads:

Title:
Heard the game reeks of DEI, so I just bought it

Body:
I've always bounced off Factorio-style games, but I've wanted to give the genre a solid go for a while. The story aspect of this might be just what I need!

Thankful to all the loud, oversensitive snowflakes that are afraid of women and POC and aren't afraid to openly cry in public about it. Their whining is a solid indicator of good games.

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · 5d

One of my goals with this game was to promote girls and women in STEM. If the majority of the key characters in the game being women bothers some players, it means it's even more important for this game to exist.

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 5d

Classic Steam forums

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · 7d

Donovan's music so so beautiful in this game. I have been constantly floored how Donovan can take vague description of a mood and turn it into such an incredible score. You don't want to sleep on this, it's a stellar soundtrack from start to finish and deserves a listen.

Donovan [Megahammer Studios] @megahammerstudios.bsky.social · 7d

Also launching today.... the Little Rocket Lab OST!

Out Now on Bandcamp!

Sequenced as a continuous album, following Morgan's journey from the moment the train arrives in St. Ambroise.

With bonus tracks, high res art, and liner notes!

megahammerstudios.bandcamp.com/album/little...

Little Rocket Lab - Original Soundtrack, Collector's Edition (Full Album plus Starry Nights, Rainy Days), by Donovan Jonk [Megahammer Studios]

47 track album

megahammerstudios.bandcamp.com

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · 7d

@underpalewater.bsky.social has done all the character design, key art, dialog portraits (over 200 of them!!!) and most of the illustrations in the game. There aren't enough words to describe how much her artwork has elevated the game and how much I owe to her for where the game is today.

Underpalewater @underpalewater.bsky.social · 7d

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · 12d

And to think that it actually was started back at the end of 2020! Kind of surreal that it's launching next week!

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 12d

I signed Little Rocket Lab back in November 2022!

Finally coming in 5 days, unbelievably excited to get it out there.

Such a long time coming, and it's *genuinely* one of the best games I've ever played

store.steampowered.com/app/2451100/...

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Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Wholesome Games @wholesomegames.com · 22d

Little Rocket Lab now has a release date: October 7th! Featured in Wholesome Snack last year, transform your childhood home as you build brilliant factories and forge lifelong friendships. "Roll up your sleeves, it turns out that saving this town really IS rocket science!"

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · Aug 25

Everyone really needs to experience the soundtrack for Little Rocket Lab. Donovan has done some fantastic work on it!

Donovan [Megahammer Studios] @megahammerstudios.bsky.social · Aug 25

🎶🎵🎶Working on the final round of mastering and sequencing for the #LittleRocketLab OST with the one and only @kyleschmitz.bsky.social! 🎶🎵🎶

This is turning into something very special. Can't wait to share it with you!

Morgan of "Little Rocket Lab" lying in the the grass, listening to some dope tunes

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Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Donovan [Megahammer Studios] @megahammerstudios.bsky.social · Jul 8

Today is #PortfolioDay? Well here is my portfolio!
youtu.be/vafxLTNckzw?...

My name is Donovan/Megahammer Studios, and I'm a game composer and sound designer 🎶🔊🎮

To get in touch or check out more of my work, please visit my website www.megahammerstudios.com

Megahammer Studios | Game Audio Show Reel

YouTube video by Megahammer Studios

youtu.be

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Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Flexy: your Local VTuber @flexyfive.bsky.social · Jun 17

I have done a terrible thing to myself.. I found a demo that is essentially Stawdew Valley meets Factorio...

Little Rocket Lab is going to destroy my free time

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · May 6

Even something as simple as adding a shadow helps a ton with this.

Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · Apr 25

Hi Bluesky, could really use your help 🙏🙏

We just launched our latest game Starless Abyss - the exact week that Oblivion was shadow-dropped. Which has been *not fantastic* for our launch

If anyone can spare a RT, that would be so, so helpful ❤️❤️

Find it here: store.steampowered.com/app/3167970/...

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Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Sophie Smart @loxeni.bsky.social · Apr 8

That feeling when you send out 40,000 emails to let people know that your new cozy factory building sim has a playtest which anyone can now join, giving you full access to chapter 1. 👀🚀

store.steampowered.com/app/2451100/...

Key art for a game called Little Rocket Lab, it shows morgan the main character is a field with her dog Leo and a rocket in the distance. The image says 'Little Rocket Lab, Open Playtest Live'

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · Feb 12

I'm not talking about difficulty levels or accessibility, I'm talking straight up features of the game. Do playtesting, make a decision, and put forward your vision of the game. Otherwise you're just passing the buck to your player to figure it out.

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · Feb 12

I can't stand when gamedevs are unsure of a feature, and the solution is "make it a setting". Please don't do this! Have strong opinions about your game design and how it should be played!

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Reposted by Kyle Schmitz

Johanna | They Make Games @theymakegames.bsky.social · Jan 19

✨ GAME FOCUS | Little Rocket Lab ✨

The cutest automation game! Build automated factories, research new machines, make lifelong friendships, and finish your family's dream 🤖

#indiegame #gamedev #indiedev

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · Dec 21

😅

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Kyle Schmitz @kyleschmitz.bsky.social · Dec 19

Donovan's music and sound work on the game is absolutely fantastic. 10/10 would work on an entire game for another 3 years so Donovan can write the score for it again.

Donovan [Megahammer Studios] @megahammerstudios.bsky.social · Dec 18

Finally, fiiiinally! So excited to share Little Rocket Lab by @kyleschmitz.bsky.social with the world!

Been doing sfx and music on this lovely game for almost 3 years now.

Topnotch factory-building fun in a wonderfully cozy setting.

Check it out!

store.steampowered.com/app/2451100/...

Little Rocket Lab on Steam

Transform your childhood home as you build brilliant factories and forge lifelong friendships, then reach for the skies and finally finish your family's dream - your mother's precious rocket ship. Rol...

store.steampowered.com

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