It's time to start production on Fat Jumper. If this were a console game I'd be spending quite a bit more time on the prototype, but this game is going to be released as a real product in about three months. No promises, but that's the goal.
This is no ordinary production process, because this blog is still going to document every day, rain or shine. There's going to be pressure to keep the game playable and, most importantly, to make it fun. There's still a ton of things to do. The order doesn't matter quite as much as getting it all done.
I'll be sharing not just the game and the development process but also some of the tools. I'll be soliciting help from you, the readers. You'll be able to contribute by designing levels with a very powerful custom level editor. You'll also have a hand in deciding what goes into the first product. And of course you'll be able to play the game as it continues to evolve. But, sadly, the test game releases won't be happening every day anymore, more likely once a week.
Here's an overview of the components for this project:
level editor
This is the heart of the game. We'll be able to lay out the terrain, movable platforms, enemies, and special items. The editor will be released in this blog just as the game versions. Don't know yet if it'll be in-game or a standalone program.
graphics
I'll continue to make the graphics myself, but may solicit help from outside artists at some point. I'll need to spend some additional time learning Blender and Unity.
audio
Need to decide on some audio tools. Don't know yet if I want background music. Probably yes.
world design, story, theme
We'll want to have a rudimentary storyline, some worlds, and a theme for each world.
High score system
It's fun to have high scores and to put them into a global high score table. A real problem with these is that people cheat by hacking the games. This is difficult to prevent. But a bigger problem is that it can be depressing to see so many people with better scores. I'll be doing a "league" system to address this. Players can join leagues and will have a league-wide high score table. Leagues can put limits on how many people may join, how experienced the players may be, or geographical restrictions. The leagues have to be self-policed so that cheaters can get tossed out by the other league players. The full-blown system won't come on-line until we have enough players.
More tomorrow,
-- fxl
This is no ordinary production process, because this blog is still going to document every day, rain or shine. There's going to be pressure to keep the game playable and, most importantly, to make it fun. There's still a ton of things to do. The order doesn't matter quite as much as getting it all done.
I'll be sharing not just the game and the development process but also some of the tools. I'll be soliciting help from you, the readers. You'll be able to contribute by designing levels with a very powerful custom level editor. You'll also have a hand in deciding what goes into the first product. And of course you'll be able to play the game as it continues to evolve. But, sadly, the test game releases won't be happening every day anymore, more likely once a week.
Here's an overview of the components for this project:
level editor
This is the heart of the game. We'll be able to lay out the terrain, movable platforms, enemies, and special items. The editor will be released in this blog just as the game versions. Don't know yet if it'll be in-game or a standalone program.
graphics
I'll continue to make the graphics myself, but may solicit help from outside artists at some point. I'll need to spend some additional time learning Blender and Unity.
audio
Need to decide on some audio tools. Don't know yet if I want background music. Probably yes.
world design, story, theme
We'll want to have a rudimentary storyline, some worlds, and a theme for each world.
High score system
It's fun to have high scores and to put them into a global high score table. A real problem with these is that people cheat by hacking the games. This is difficult to prevent. But a bigger problem is that it can be depressing to see so many people with better scores. I'll be doing a "league" system to address this. Players can join leagues and will have a league-wide high score table. Leagues can put limits on how many people may join, how experienced the players may be, or geographical restrictions. The leagues have to be self-policed so that cheaters can get tossed out by the other league players. The full-blown system won't come on-line until we have enough players.
More tomorrow,
-- fxl
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