Progress on my game is pretty slow at the moment and that’s a good thing. Let me tell you why. Both Star Fusion and Rocket Santa had development cycles of a few months – they’ve had some success but ultimately they weren’t that well received. I could rush through this game and release it within a few months but that’s not my intention this time around. I’m focusing on making this game an example of my best work and as such I wan’t to make the core game mechanic, exploration, fun and compelling. {continue reading}
The one with the videos
May 8, 2010 – 10:37 am
On OS4
April 9, 2010 – 11:49 am
Interesting week as always. On the game progress front, not too much has changed, I’m working on the level manager and will then move on to the core level editor. From there i’ll begin creating some of the early official levels, tightening the experience, and adding features (such as the customisation). General consensus is that the game is now looking good and the gameplay is making more sense. {continue reading}
Risk vs Reward
April 5, 2010 – 8:18 pm
This week I’ve really worked on refining the core exploration mechanic – there’s still more to do but the experience is beginning to take shape.
I suppose one of the key differences from last week is the fog. The purpose of the fog was to drive exploration – the idea being that if you can’t see something, you’re more likely to want to go and investigate. The problem was that the fog just wasn’t working the way I had hoped. I struggled thinking of a way to cover the level without fog. Then it dawned on me, I could just zoom closer to your immediate surroundings. This effectively means that you cannot see the rest of the level thus creating a virtual fog and enhancing the element of exploration. The other advantage is that the explorer becomes more prominent which means the layers of customisation I plan on adding will be more relevant. {continue reading}
BrainWave – Idea Management for Game Developers
March 28, 2010 – 7:49 pm
Project Management – It’s perhaps the least sexy part of independent game design and development. If you’re anything like me, you’ll have struggled endlessly with existing products trying to cram your “unique” workflow into their stubborn interfaces, only to not even bother opening it again after a handful of attempts.
I’ve often resigned myself to the fact that project management tools just don’t suit my style of game development. It is true afterall that developing games for the iPhone involves a much shorter time frame – rapid development and multiple iterations are key (at least for me). Still, without these tools I find myself floundering. Where do i write my new ideas? How do I track my progress? What are my next steps? {continue reading}
Explorer
March 27, 2010 – 10:19 am
This week has mainly been about the game’s theme and artwork style. The blocks you saw in last weeks post were only intended to be placeholders and it had gotten to the point in the project where they were becoming difficult to overlook. I struggled with the theme for some time, even contemplating not really having one – creating something terribly abstract. Eventually I drew inspiration from the key gameplay element, exploration. With this also came the working title for the game: “Explorer”.
With a theme selected, the artwork was, and still is, a challenge. I want the game to have a strong visual identity so i’m aiming for anything but realism. What I currently have will alter considerably before the game launches – this is just a first pass.
I also introduced a new element to enhance the exploration theme, fog. I hope this will serve its purpose to enhance the feeling of exploration and indeed to drive it. It’s still very much in a prototype form (hence the visual artefacts).
Next steps are work on the customisation and level editor. I’ll then build off all of these elements as I flesh out the game.
In other news, i’m finally fed up with the current project management tools on offer. Its not that they’re not very good – they are. They just don’t seem to fit with my style of working. I find myself forcing my workflow into the tools and inevitably they end up just getting in the way.
To that end i’ve decided to take a weekend out of game programming to write my own project management tool for game design and development. I intend for it to very simple and driven by the way I work. Perhaps calling it a project management tool is a bit of a stretch – its more of an idea management tool… but thats how I design and develop my iPhone games. I’ll write a blog post detailing the tool once its complete at the end of this weekend.
Until next time…
Early Screenshot
March 20, 2010 – 2:31 pm
Time for another weekly update. Also, I have a screenshot for you this week. So grab yourself a coffee and read on. {continue reading}
Negative Critical Reception
March 13, 2010 – 2:51 pm
This week i’ve been stripping my next game back to its core mechanics. I’m really evolving the core gameplay into something that I hope is easy to pick up and instantly enjoyable. Currently the core mechanic revolves around exploration and an element of risk vs reward.
As part of the evolved gameplay, the visuals are also changing on a daily basis. I’m still not happy with the basic style and thats something i’m working on. {continue reading}
Apple Trees
March 7, 2010 – 11:52 am
This week has been an interesting one, i’ve been playing with 2D physics engines. More specifically i’ve been testing integration of the Chipmunk physics engine into my new game. I have to say, it didn’t take too long to get to grips with Chipmunk and the templates included in cocos2d give you a good starting point. Rather than moving objects to a specific point, you move them by applying forces to their body within the game space (which itself has a number of attributes such as gravity). {continue reading}
Another week gone
February 26, 2010 – 9:54 pm
Another week over, so time for my weekly update.
Unfortunately I’ve been ill for most of this week so I haven’t been able to spend any time working on my game. I think this highlights the difficulties of working as an independent games developer – it doesn’t take much to disrupt your work and it can have a severe impact on your development schedule. I’m lucky in that I also have a full time job so I don’t have the financial pressures associated with developing independently. I wonder how other devs cope with this. {continue reading}
Writer's Block
February 21, 2010 – 8:19 pm
I’m currently suffering from a mild form of writers block.
Writers Block – “The inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing; normally temporary.”
This has of course manifested itself in the lack of posts on this blog for the past few weeks. In an attempt to alleviate this i’m going to start writing regular weekly posts recapping progress on my new game. This will of course be in addition to other, more in depth, posts that I write (once my writers block subsides).
So here’s the first update: I’m currently working on my next iPhone game which is progressing steadily. I don’t want to share too much at the moment but I will tell you a few interesting things about it…
1) The game will have a built-in level editor to enable you to create your own levels directly on the iPhone.
2) All of the official levels in the game will be created on the iPhone using the same level editor you’ll have access to.
3) I plan on launching the game with a large number of levels. In fact i’m hoping to get as many people as possible to contribute a level for the initial launch.
I have a very basic game engine working and i’m now working on a very early version of the editor. After that i’ll move on to saving and loading levels. Then its back to the creative stage to design some of the more interesting game elements.
In other news, i’ve re-designed the website which you can read about here. I’m also going to be moving web host in the coming weeks, having finally had enough of the terrible performance of my current host.
The iPad launches in a matter of months and for my first iPad exclusive game I plan on returning to my canceled Interactive Fiction game but completely redesigned and redeveloped. I’m also still toying with the idea of Star Fusion 2 either as an iPad or iPhone game.
So lots on at the moment and some exciting things ahead. Stay tuned.
(Image courtesy of petesimon)