I’m coming out of the booth!
this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2025
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Programming
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Why is it called toll booth simulator (primary title) when most of it is not toll booth handling/gameplay?
Seems fun :)
Beware that the check passport screen and the one before it may make it look like a papers please clone (which it definitely seems not to be after looking/reading further) - maybe move them further down in presentation order?
Would love to quit my job to make games. Curious about your journey. Regrets? Are you feeling it will be sustainable?
"Quitting your job to make games" is just like quitting your job to write your novel, or quitting your job to produce your electronic music, or quitting your job to sell crocheted goods for Etsy.
Either you're living at home with your parents not paying rent, you're financially dependent on a spouse who has a very highly paid real job, or just in good health with no kids and enough wealth (probably from inheritance or landlording) invested that you can live comfortably off just the interest. It's saying, "I can choose to retire right now and focus on my hobbies." Is this the situation you find yourself in? Because I'm certain it is for the OP.
Must be nice...
You're leaving out plenty of other possibilities including simply having enough saved to be able to go without a regular job for a while in pursuit of other goals. I've worked with and know several people who will cycle in and out of work to pursue other things in life. Not all lifestyles require constant employment.
"Quitting your job to make games" is just like quitting your job to write your novel
I think it's actually worse since you can't directly make money from the game while making it. You can stream for example, but it requires a completely different skillset.
Compare that to, for example, writers releasing chapters on royal road, getting some funding through patreon while writing (in return for advanced chapters), and quitting their jobs when the book sales pick up. Like yeah it's still really hard to make good money, but the possibility of slowly progressing into full time writing is why people can try to do it.
Good Luck.
i wouldnt have quit but i respect the grind. will check it out some time soon
Don't make it Windows-only, it's annoying.
Is it a problem anymore with proton?
Or rather -- is testing the game on Linux via proton sufficient, or do you actually look for native Linux builds?
I'm honestly interested as a dev who recently released my game I worked on free time, and I decide to go the route of single Windows build + proton, since it makes the build and release process a little bit easier, since I have a custom CI/CD pipeline and adding a Linux support into it would take some time.
And as someone who has a Linux as a daily driver and game only on Linux, having the game run on it was important to me, but I honestly didn't see a reason why go with a native build and the additional trouble it would cause with testing - because now I can just test one windows build on my Linux desktop through proton, and be fairly sure that it runs OK on both.
Idk, if it works well enough with Proton, it's probably fine targeting Windows. I've heard it said, "Windows is Linux's best gaming API"
If it is made in godot or unity (unsure about unreal an others), it would be quite impressive to make it unable to compile on linux. It should be as easy as just chosing another release target.
Unrealndoes include linux export options, in fact you can even dev on unreal on linux
Makes sense, I just never used it so couldn't say
I will do linux
Based
Take this as a commitment, I will buy it.
What do yo use?
Ubuntu.
All is fine for linux users if you don't break proton, which is rare. Unless you're doing something like kernel-level AC, windows-only APIs, etc. which you (very likely) won't do.
Linux support added to steam.
Goated dev
the plot seems so random that it probably fucks. In a good way
while I had my doubts when seeing the thumbnail, i think this has potential to be quite fun.
the textures look kind if poor, but I guess that rolls with the concept of the game.
the dessert looks like straight from breaking bad, so I guess you can fetch some storyline quirks from there.
but really. put some work into the cover image. based from the image I thought this would be another generic low effort mobile game ad.
This is good advice. I made videogames for ten years in the 2000 and we tried our best to make them good, but the splash screen? Always Fabulous.
Is there something here beyond the promotional image? I feel like I'm missing something.
There is also a link to Steam so you can sign up to be notified about when you can give OP money.
This looks extremely similar to Schedule 1, both the interface, the aesthetics and the growing fruit /mixing cocktails mechanics.
Yeah it's... almost suspiciously similar in fact. It looks like basically the same game but with fruit growing instead of drugs.
How did that come about?
Yeah inspired
I'll give it a try. I gotta say tho, the mechanics in this game are all over the place. You should pick a few and really polish them. It says its a toll booth simulation game, but you can farm, and fight people, drive cars, etc. Its like GTA, with lower poly graphics. I honestly dont know what to think about it.
It doesn't feel like this game knows what it is. It looks promising but it needs some focus.
Reminds me of Papers Please.
Only the first 10 seconds of the video. After that it looks much more like "Schedule 1"
Yeah inspired. Please wishlist it to support me. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3896300/Toll_Booth_Simulator_Schedule_of_Chaos/
So, did you provide a link or am I supposed to search for it like a caveman?
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3896300/Toll_Booth_Simulator_Schedule_of_Chaos/ here is teh steam link
Leaving a comment as a reminder, currently on a limited data plan and Steam likes to autoplay videos.
Will check back in later today to share some thoughts
Please wishlist it to support me. https://store.steampowered.com/app/3896300/Toll_Booth_Simulator_Schedule_of_Chaos/
Okay so I'm going to echo the rest here and say it's kinda wild. I imagine this is the idea with the chaos subtitle and all, but it might be a little too much of half-polished features in order to be enticing.
People will see this and call it a Schedule I rip, especially with the planting in a pot mechanics, so I'd try and make it a bit less obvious and change up some parts.
If you're going for unrealistic chaos, you should really double down instead, so it's really clear that it shouldn't be taken seriously as it doesn't take itself seriously.
It's not just a Schedule I rip, it's also a Papers Please rip.
It doesn't seem to be copying the mechanics of Papers, Please as much as the mechanics of Schedule 1. It does use the idea of Papers, Please, but it's executed differently.
A lot of games are similar or riffing on each other, which is fine. But aside from using your finger to make a hole in the soil, the planting pot mechanics felt too similar.
I was being facetious. But yeah, the trailer looks like a PG-13 version of Schedule 1.
Did you work at a toll booth before?
Haha :D
i hope at least one character is named willie.
also, don't take your game too seriously, make it fun and light hearted, give free copy to lets game it out and sips, let them play, watch sales roll in.
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