So I commented on Carl's most recent blog entry with the assertion that "shit is about to get real".
As excited as I am about shit getting real, I can't say that I'm not a little bit nervous about it also. I have spent the last several years working on this project, off and on, watching my kids grow up, having near death experiences, engaging in relationships that come and go, getting and leaving jobs, releasing Opac's Journey.... working on this game has been one of the few constants.
Small Cave Games does have plans for projects that we are going to work on after this one is released. (I'm not sure if Carl would appreciate me giving anything away, but I think it's safe to say that once Maya reaches the end of The Legend of Kilflame, that won't be the last we've seen of the raging battles of The Ophidian Wars on Avagar and the adventures of her eclectic and intriguing inhabitants). But even though we have plans on future projects, I can't help but feel a looming sense of loss approaching. I am honestly going to miss working on this game. But I am SO stoked to see others play it that I can't even express it.
Before I started working on this game, I had worked on a few Simulation projects. They gave me some groundwork and sparked much interest in working 3D games. My first sim job was a crash-course in 3D mathematics and computational geometry. And as I worked longer on these types of things, I learned how shaders worked, then I learned how to make them really cook. I learned how to use Linq, and how it can really help deal with vast quantities of aggregate data easily. I improved my usage of comments and documentation in code. I learned the importance of having a rigid coding standard - even if you're working on code by yourself. I knew all these things before, but I didn't really know, you know?
In short, working on this game has made me a better programmer.
And every time I learned something new, I became so passionate with this new knowledge that I would go back over all the game source that I had generated and applied this new knowledge. Making the project better, faster and more robust.
One of the most recent - and most important - things I have learned is that YOU CAN'T DO THAT! Well... I suppose you can, but you shouldn't. It makes a project take way longer than it should (And I'd wager that's why Duke Nukem Forever took many hundreds of years to develop, and why Half-Life 2 Episode 3 is not being played by hordes of screaming fans, right now). Learning new things is great, but you need to check that compulsion to hit the UNDO button every time you find a better way. I have learned to be satisfied with my old code that doesn't quite measure up to my current standards. I have learned to laugh at, and accept, a little naivete in my older code - unless, of course, it doesn't work.
If I had learned this last lesson first, I'd be blogging about a different game by now.
With that said, the next few weeks should be very exciting to people who have been following the progress of this game. The combat system is pretty much in place. I have a few crinkles in the workflow that need to be ironed out, but last night, I killed a couple bad guys. That was very exciting. We have implemented an upgraded locomotion system which is much more realistic and dynamic. Carl uploaded a video of the old style not that long ago. Now, visually it looks a little better. But actually playing it, it feels a lot better. It mostly affects the bad-guys, in particular the one's who patrol around, looking to start trouble. I'm probably going to tweak the camera to give it a springier, more realistic behavior... And we have a big visual reveal coming soon, that I can't wait for! Within the next week or two I'll be done with the combat, which is the last major hurdle, then we're going to start adding game-gravy. All the special effects, sound effects, quests, levels, music, treasures, enemies, secrets, Easter-eggs :), puzzles, and all the stuff that makes writing, designing - and most importantly playing - games, fun.
Well... I'll leave the marketing to Carl.
I just wanted to say that on the technical end, we're coming out of the forge, and we're red-hot.
I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it.
As excited as I am about shit getting real, I can't say that I'm not a little bit nervous about it also. I have spent the last several years working on this project, off and on, watching my kids grow up, having near death experiences, engaging in relationships that come and go, getting and leaving jobs, releasing Opac's Journey.... working on this game has been one of the few constants.
Small Cave Games does have plans for projects that we are going to work on after this one is released. (I'm not sure if Carl would appreciate me giving anything away, but I think it's safe to say that once Maya reaches the end of The Legend of Kilflame, that won't be the last we've seen of the raging battles of The Ophidian Wars on Avagar and the adventures of her eclectic and intriguing inhabitants). But even though we have plans on future projects, I can't help but feel a looming sense of loss approaching. I am honestly going to miss working on this game. But I am SO stoked to see others play it that I can't even express it.
Before I started working on this game, I had worked on a few Simulation projects. They gave me some groundwork and sparked much interest in working 3D games. My first sim job was a crash-course in 3D mathematics and computational geometry. And as I worked longer on these types of things, I learned how shaders worked, then I learned how to make them really cook. I learned how to use Linq, and how it can really help deal with vast quantities of aggregate data easily. I improved my usage of comments and documentation in code. I learned the importance of having a rigid coding standard - even if you're working on code by yourself. I knew all these things before, but I didn't really know, you know?
In short, working on this game has made me a better programmer.
And every time I learned something new, I became so passionate with this new knowledge that I would go back over all the game source that I had generated and applied this new knowledge. Making the project better, faster and more robust.
One of the most recent - and most important - things I have learned is that YOU CAN'T DO THAT! Well... I suppose you can, but you shouldn't. It makes a project take way longer than it should (And I'd wager that's why Duke Nukem Forever took many hundreds of years to develop, and why Half-Life 2 Episode 3 is not being played by hordes of screaming fans, right now). Learning new things is great, but you need to check that compulsion to hit the UNDO button every time you find a better way. I have learned to be satisfied with my old code that doesn't quite measure up to my current standards. I have learned to laugh at, and accept, a little naivete in my older code - unless, of course, it doesn't work.
If I had learned this last lesson first, I'd be blogging about a different game by now.
With that said, the next few weeks should be very exciting to people who have been following the progress of this game. The combat system is pretty much in place. I have a few crinkles in the workflow that need to be ironed out, but last night, I killed a couple bad guys. That was very exciting. We have implemented an upgraded locomotion system which is much more realistic and dynamic. Carl uploaded a video of the old style not that long ago. Now, visually it looks a little better. But actually playing it, it feels a lot better. It mostly affects the bad-guys, in particular the one's who patrol around, looking to start trouble. I'm probably going to tweak the camera to give it a springier, more realistic behavior... And we have a big visual reveal coming soon, that I can't wait for! Within the next week or two I'll be done with the combat, which is the last major hurdle, then we're going to start adding game-gravy. All the special effects, sound effects, quests, levels, music, treasures, enemies, secrets, Easter-eggs :), puzzles, and all the stuff that makes writing, designing - and most importantly playing - games, fun.
Well... I'll leave the marketing to Carl.
I just wanted to say that on the technical end, we're coming out of the forge, and we're red-hot.
I can't wait to hear what you have to say about it.
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