Well here is the production blog, be it a couple days late. A combination of being really busy with work, getting sick and just being busy with the game is a pretty good way to lose track of time, and keep me from here unfortunately, but things are going great!
Right now its just a matter of getting all of the menu systems to work for the game, to really bring the game together. For the most part enemy programming is pretty simple, since I'm trying to keep it a little "retro" feeling, though some specific enemies will have a bit more sophisticated AI, rather than just aimlessly wandering about the different screens as I'm sure some of you are familiar with.
Aside from a few programming issues that I had when I first started getting the menus together, things are going very well now, which is very exciting! It's funny how much simple User Interface additions really impact the way the game feels in testing. I no longer have to exit the preview for the game when Sidd dies, and I can interact with the game as it should be played in the Beta which is absolutely great for me in testing as it makes things that much easier.
I think when I design my next game I will probably design all the UI and menus first, in order to get everything together before I start adding in the artwork and getting the levels fleshed out to make the testing portions easier.
Some of the animations for Sidd are being redone or tweaked slightly to just add a bit more polish to the game. For the most part I'm happy with them but I definitely want to try and make them a bit more fine tuned. I have to admit, the stuff that bothers me probably wouldn't bother anyone else, so I might be just getting a bit nit picky at this point.
I've toyed with the idea of achievements, or if not achievements for the game a possible readout of important details when you finish the games. Details like Deaths, percentage of the game that has been actually completed etc, but I'm still really on the fence about it. It seems like a very "trendy" think to do, so if I do it for the game, I definitely want it to have some sort of actual impact on the game. Whether that means giving a reward to the player for achieving a specific achievement or what, I want them to have a real purpose rather than just being something in the game that really in no way affects anything else. So we'll have to wait and see.
These blog posts may become less long as the Beta draws closer. For right now though, I have menus to get done
Right now its just a matter of getting all of the menu systems to work for the game, to really bring the game together. For the most part enemy programming is pretty simple, since I'm trying to keep it a little "retro" feeling, though some specific enemies will have a bit more sophisticated AI, rather than just aimlessly wandering about the different screens as I'm sure some of you are familiar with.
Aside from a few programming issues that I had when I first started getting the menus together, things are going very well now, which is very exciting! It's funny how much simple User Interface additions really impact the way the game feels in testing. I no longer have to exit the preview for the game when Sidd dies, and I can interact with the game as it should be played in the Beta which is absolutely great for me in testing as it makes things that much easier.
I think when I design my next game I will probably design all the UI and menus first, in order to get everything together before I start adding in the artwork and getting the levels fleshed out to make the testing portions easier.
Some of the animations for Sidd are being redone or tweaked slightly to just add a bit more polish to the game. For the most part I'm happy with them but I definitely want to try and make them a bit more fine tuned. I have to admit, the stuff that bothers me probably wouldn't bother anyone else, so I might be just getting a bit nit picky at this point.
I've toyed with the idea of achievements, or if not achievements for the game a possible readout of important details when you finish the games. Details like Deaths, percentage of the game that has been actually completed etc, but I'm still really on the fence about it. It seems like a very "trendy" think to do, so if I do it for the game, I definitely want it to have some sort of actual impact on the game. Whether that means giving a reward to the player for achieving a specific achievement or what, I want them to have a real purpose rather than just being something in the game that really in no way affects anything else. So we'll have to wait and see.
These blog posts may become less long as the Beta draws closer. For right now though, I have menus to get done
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