So "Aam Aadmi" has been released on Steam for everyone, and right away if you load up the Steam page, you will notice that it says "Buy Project Vayu" instead of "Buy Aam Aadmi". Puzzling, you'd think. Maybe it is a scam, or maybe it is something fishy.

Actually, the reason behind this mistake is really stupid, but it is a long story. For those among you who actually know me, you might remember that "Aam Aadmi" is not the only game I am working on. For the past one year, I've been working on an air-combat game. It is a semi-realistic air combat game with somewhat realistic physics and what-not. You know, the usual: somewhat realistic-ish missile system and radar and stealth and etc and etc - at least as far as I can make in a video game. Because the game was set in India and would involve Indian Aircraft, I named it "Project Vayu".

The thing is, the development time was rather long. It has been one year, and the game is still far from what I would call 'playable'. It is coming along fine, no doubt about that, but it is taking a long time, and the thing with projects this long is that you tend to lose motivation and hope rather quickly, which saps your and energy and will to continue making games. I prefer having fun making the game rather than slogging on and hating every bit of it. I had never published a game on Steam, and waking up every day with the anxiety of whether I will succeed or not is.....annoying, to say the least.

So, I decided to put aside "Project Vayu" for a while and make a smaller but simpler game to gain confidence and rebuild the passion I have for making video games. I started a new project based on an idea I had noted down long ago, and it all culminated into "Aam Aadmi". I will admit, I spent a lot of time goofing around in the editor playing the game instead of working on it, and I enjoyed every bit of it, even if it increased the development time significantly.

Unfortunately, I had already paid the $100 Steam direct fees and half-filled out the Store page, and since I was short on cash, I had no option but to use the same application I had for "Project Vayu". Even though I changed everything, it seemed the package name doesn't change. This wasn't something I noticed until the game has been released, and by then it was too late. Apparently, there is also no option to change the name as well, so I guess we're stuck with that.

Project Vayu isn't dead by any means. I still keep working on it when I find the time, and I post video on Youtube when I do. However, recording gameplay for posting on social media is tedious, and as such I rarely do it. The game is a lot different from what you see here in the video: there are now guided air-to-air munitions and autonomouse air-to-ground munitions with combat-air-teaming capability in the game now, and I haven't posted that now. Plus, there is a work-in-progress detailed SAM system that is also not posted anywhere. If you are interested in seeing how the game turns out, you can go subscribe the youtube channel for updates, and join the discord server as well.

Cheers,
Mauryan Interactive