Apr

Dev Diary 32: The Month Ahead

Yac on April 7th, 2009

To continue to push the game forward and keep things rolling, I’ve decided to submit to IndieCade and PAX 10. The deadline for IndieCade is April 30^th (with PAX following up a week later) so the clock is running. Shouldn’t I wait till I actually submit to announce this? Yeah, maybe. There’s a chance I won’t get it done, or won’t be satisfied with the quality and not submit, but I’m putting this up now so that it’ll be harder to back out of the commitment. A little bit of added motivation.

I’m going to do everything in my power to produce a fine demo for the deadline. I’m currently reviewing what is lacking in terms of gameplay and production values. Things that immediately pop into my head are audio, menus, gameplay structures, visual feedback, more levels, overall level structure, fresh artwork, and lots and lots and lots of fine tuning.

There are many areas to address, and I’m still putting a list together, but it’s obvious there’s a lot of work ahead.

The feedback process last week is going to be on-going for the next few months. I am now committed to producing weekly builds, and exposing the game to a new set of people every week to keep bringing in useful and fresh feedback.

Work Done Last Week

I made major progress on multiple fronts. I poured my energy into producing a new demo. I didn’t finish everything I wanted to put in the demo, but I made significant progress.

I designed a set of scenarios, prototyped them, and then built a test level around them. This was the first major, real-world test of my tools and level building process. It exposed a handful of bugs (all fixed now), and areas in need of improvement.

I improved some collision code, and continued to refine the controls of the avatar.

Finally, on Saturday I sent out a demo build to two close friends (who hadn’t seen the game yet) for some fresh feedback. The feedback is coming in now, and there are many issues to address, but the game feels like it is on the right track.

Work Planned This Week

First, I will review the user feedback. Some important issues have already been raised and need to be addressed. In particular, visual feedback and user experience need to be addressed immediately.

The gameplay structures also need work. You can’t currently “die” or lose, nor finish a level. I’m starting to flesh out the design of the home screen hub.

I’m also looking into help, mini-tutorials and tips for the player. It’s not clear to the user what you have to do or how to do it.