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[Chris Pavia]

I'm glad your liking the book, The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell is another good one.

I don't know if this fits in with your vision of the game or not, but I think something like this is easier for the player to wrap their head around visually:

[Theophilus]

I see what you are saying...

Hm.

[Theophilus]

Day 47

Today, I:
-Made the arena a circle instead of a square. This is actually quite better, it gives things more of a combat-feel.


I don't know whether I can continue this game or not. I don't know what I can do to make it more fun. I'm bad at designing games. 

[Chris Pavia]

I'm sure you've learned a thing or two since you started the game, so in that sense it's been a success. I'd say put the game down for a week or two and work on something else, when you come back you'll be able to look at it with fresh eyes and maybe some new ideas will percolate to the surface.

A saying I always try to keep in mind: "An expert is someone who has made every mistake in their field."

[Theophilus]

I'm sure you've learned a thing or two since you started the game, so in that sense it's been a success. I'd say put the game down for a week or two and work on something else, when you come back you'll be able to look at it with fresh eyes and maybe some new ideas will percolate to the surface.

A saying I always try to keep in mind: "An expert is someone who has made every mistake in their field."

That sounds like exactly what I need.

For feedback's sake, here's another build:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9942053/Neon%20Strikers.zip

Things I know need to be fixed:
-The circle is a wee small, things get cramped
-Chunky pixels can go outside the circle

[Theophilus]

I think it's time I come back to this. It's funny how we talk about games we are making as though they are girlfriends. Heh. Some people say you should be ready to marry your game, as that is the sort of commitment you need. I feel i ought to reflect that more.

I face a dilemma, though; to start from scratch or trudge through the mess of code. What's it been, 3 months? Ive changed a lot of style coding wise since november. I have different ways to do things and they're much faster. Also the game is not exactly in a fun, playable position just yet. On the other hand, it's no small thing I've done here. It could take three weeks to re-format, not including redesign, and by that time, i may lose interest.

Thoughts?

[BlueSweatshirt]

Don't ever feel 'obligated' to finish a game just because you started it.
Make a game that you enjoy and believe others will enjoy.
If you don't see anything in your game, just like a girlfriend, it's time to drop it.
One of the great things I learned from Ira Glass, a radio show host, is that you have to recognize when you're working with crap. When you are, you have to get rid of it and try something new.
If this game captivates you, if it pulls you and draws you, if your concept screams 'make me!', then do just that. If it doesn't? Well, you get the idea.

[eigenbom]

I wouldn't recode the whole thing, I'd move on. By the sound of it you're not tooo excited to get back to this one so why don't you start from scratch on a variant of this game. Call it Neon Bikers, and base it on Road Rash, that game was vicious.

[Blodyavenger]

You need to think really careful about rewriting everything.

- Will you achieve something more with the new code?
- What are the benefits?
- Do you have time?

I had to rewrite everything because I changed my framework which will help me in the long run with my game. Everything is more modular, sprites are handled in a different (better) way and more, so I simply had to choose weather I keep working on a game with the old framework or the new one.

I'm in the phase of moving previous game code to the new framework and there is 50% less code, everything is much more understandable and this will help me when I bring the game to the final stages and for the future patches / addons for the game.

[Theophilus]

I guess I forgot to say why I want to go back to this:

I was digging through my old files, looking for some code. I decided to play this again, because I wasn't really doing anything important. I was honestly floored. I was surprised I made this. It feels nice. It just needs some more work. I definitely see the potential, and I was really excited to start again. I wrote pages and pages of re-designs last night.

I wouldn't recode the whole thing, I'd move on. By the sound of it you're not tooo excited to get back to this one so why don't you start from scratch on a variant of this game. Call it Neon Bikers, and base it on Road Rash, that game was vicious.

That's not a bad idea, I'll have to write that one down.

You need to think really careful about rewriting everything.

- Will you achieve something more with the new code?
- What are the benefits?
- Do you have time?

-Since I first started, I have changed my programming standards a few times. Digging through old code would make it harder for me. I was also very careless programming this, so I will make optimization a priority from the start. I am implementing delta time. I am also implementing a sound system, which will reduce loading time at the start, and instead have a dedicated loading time.

-I sort of combined this second one with the last one.

-I have all of the time in the world. A better question would be, "Do I have the patience?".



I'm excited to re-start this.

[Blodyavenger]

I'm excited to re-start this.

There you have it! Sometimes it's good to wait with a project for some time, look back at it and if you're still excited about it, project is legit. That's all you need for the start, go for it 

I suggest you make yourself a plan for each day or each week and keep working on your deadlines. This way you won't loose yourself on the path thinking "hmm...what should I do now".

[Chris Pavia]

Good luck dood!

[Manuel Magalhães]

Go for it!
As for the interest issue that you referred: It's like a hole, there are moments where you lose all hope in a project because of a bug or something else. But in these moments you just have to rethink and then everything goes ok. You just need to want to work on the game, and since you want it you will have no problems.
Show the game who is the boss. 

[eigenbom]

What gv said. Defer optimisation until you've done performance tests, but cleanly separate your systems so you can optimise them later if necessary.

[wademcgillis]

Noob Mistake.

[Chris Pavia]

I would say it depends on if he means performance optimization or "make it easier to add new stuff" optimizations.

[eigenbom]

Lol Wade, n1. And yeh, if he means making the general design more flexible then yes, this is important in the early stages!

[Theophilus]

Of course that's what I mean.

Thanks for the insight everyone.

Day 1

Today, I:

• Created a to-do list for the entire week, involving re-programming of the core
• Found some sources of inspiration and pinned them to my bulletin board
• Brainstormed

Tomorrow, I want to:

• Get as much of this list done as I possibly can

Unfortunately I have plans tonight (on a monday of all days), so I'll have to start chipping away tomorrow.

[BlueSweatshirt]

Advice to you:

Create a workspace where you can totally engulf yourself in thoughts of your game. Make a special spot if you can, away from your usual "screw around on teh interwebz" spot. Put tons of inspirational stuff up on the wall(like you've already been doing), make a special music selection just for this project, music that inspires you and makes you think about the game. Have it neat and tidy, ready to sit at any time and get going on it. Always leave a pen on top of a blank sheet of paper, ready to scribble something down at a moment's notice. Even try making a special user on your computer, giving it a desktop background for your game and making everything in front of you entirely consist of material relating to your game. All you see in the taskbar are icons for flash develop, graphicsgale, etc, and all of your distractions are gone. Create a sanctuary for development, a place where you bring to yourself the ultimate productive vibe. Make it welcoming and approachable, and make it scream "let's make some games, bitch." 

[Theophilus]

(click to view full size)

Day 2

Today, I:
-Made a playlist for my game, featuring cave story soundtrack, crayon physics soundtrack, anamanaguchi, and VVVVVV's soundtrack PPPPPP.
-Added delta time (still buggy)
-Added movement
-Added shooting
-Re-organized directory structure
-Fixed a major design flaw.
-Implemented hue shifting.

Tomorrow, I want to:
-Continue the re-write by adding enemies


Quite a bit of progress today.

Just so you know, this is why I'm rewriting it:

Code:

xp[5] = xp[4];
xp[4] = xp[3];
xp[3] = xp[2];
xp[2] = xp[1];
xp[1] = xp[0];
xp[0] = x;

yp[5] = yp[4];
yp[4] = yp[3];
yp[3] = yp[2];
yp[2] = yp[1];
yp[1] = yp[0];
yp[0] = y;

sp[5] = sp[4];
sp[4] = sp[3];
sp[3] = sp[2];
sp[2] = sp[1];
sp[1] = sp[0];
sp[0] = sprite_index;

ip[5] = ip[4];
ip[4] = ip[3];
ip[3] = ip[2];
ip[2] = ip[1];
ip[1] = ip[0];
ip[0] = image_index;

xsp[5] = xsp[4];
xsp[4] = xsp[3];
xsp[3] = xsp[2];
xsp[2] = xsp[1];
xsp[1] = xsp[0];
xsp[0] = image_xscale;

ysp[5] = ysp[4];
ysp[4] = ysp[3];
ysp[3] = ysp[2];
ysp[2] = ysp[1];
ysp[1] = ysp[0];
ysp[0] = image_yscale;

iap[5] = iap[4];
iap[4] = iap[3];
iap[3] = iap[2];
iap[2] = iap[1];
iap[1] = iap[0];
iap[0] = image_angle;

ibp[5] = ibp[4];
ibp[4] = ibp[3];
ibp[3] = ibp[2];
ibp[2] = ibp[1];
ibp[1] = ibp[0];
ibp[0] = image_blend;

ialp[5] = ialp[4] - 0.15;
ialp[4] = ialp[3] - 0.15;
ialp[3] = ialp[2] - 0.15;
ialp[2] = ialp[1] - 0.15;
ialp[1] = ialp[0] - 0.15;
ialp[0] = image_alpha;

This was in the old file. Seriously? I must have been really really not thinking that day.


As for the design flaw I mentioned...

In the old version, you could change to ANY hue. This made it quite annoying when you're just a few outside of the range, and you can't get 2x damage. I made the hues snap to a range, and it's much easier to detect hues.