I am currently working on getting the alpha version in a demoable state. It's been roughly half a year since I started working on Gum Drop on my spare time, and it has really gotten to a point that I am very proud of what I have achieved. But really that half past year is going to be cake walk compared to the next 2-6 months I will have to spend polishing and making the game the best it could be. All the major system components are in place and now I can concentrate more on the presentation and gameplay aspect of the game. So I guess this is my half-way point for the project, a good time to reflect on what worked and what did not work.
What worked:
- Having a central repository for documents which is easily accesible everywhere. Google Docs provdied the perfect solution, so I can bring up the documents anywhere I have interenet acess on. It also facilitates easy collaborartion with other people who may need to read the documentation. Google Docs also provided versioning on the documents so I could easily revert back the changes.
- Using pre-existing libraries. I created Gum Drop on XNA using C# which enabled me to work in a more rapid fashion. Not having to write my own matrix classes was a God Send. Also I used the Farseer Physics library which helped me get a proof of concept up and running in a short amount of time.
- Learning how to adjust plans and expectations. Since this is my first game written in XNA there was a learning curve in implementing various systems that I did a different way when I was working with C++. Creating a game is a long process, and ideas change so having a open mind to help move the project along was indeed needed.
- Switching to more of a random/procedural way of generating the levels helped me steer away from creating a content creation tool, which would have added complexity to the project.
- Having early feedback about the gameplay from different kinds of gamers and non-gamers alike. Since I want this game to be appreciated by a wide range of people, having their different opionions early on mattered
What did not work so well:
- It was alot harder to find people to buy-in to the project, actually I do not have anyone actively working on the project. I had a few people help here and there but it was a 1 man shop most of the way. I had to do asset creation, programming, testing, producing, story, etc... You name it, I did it.
- I did not plan the engineering aspect detailed enough. I knew what systems I would need to make but I did not make clear how I would use them, and how they would interact. This is also partly because I was not that familiar with XNA and the physics library during the start of the project.
- I have limited time on my hands, at most I work 20-30 hours on this project per week on top of my day job and other acitivities. Having more time to work on it would have been better
All in all, I enjoy working on this project, and I primarily work on it because I love making interactive worlds that I only dreamed of when I was little. Having it translated to games that I can share to other people is top priority. Saying that making extra money on the side would not be bad at all of course :)
So in retrospective, I'm glad I did what I did, and I will continue on the project and polish it till it becomes shiny like the sun