Update

Ok I've decided to put development of "Specimen" on hold for two reasons. First I wasn't really enjoying developing it, which is the whole point of making games in my spare time. Secondly I found a game on xbox live which had very similar game play, which may even be better than my original idea. That game is called "Skwug" I haven't had a chance to play it myself yet but I'm going too.

What Next?

In light of my last game being a bit of a disaster I've decided to take my time with this new one and do my best to make it a fun game. Which means lots of design, starting with the whole gameplay and goal of the game being set out from the start. I'm going to keep info about the game to myself for now since it is only in a early form but further down the development line I'll probably be taking more screenies and vids of it than I did with the last game.

Decision Made

I've decided not to enter my game into the dream build play competition anymore for a number of reasons.
- I don't think it is up to the quality that I would like.
- I just haven't had time to finish it since I work full time as a programmer anyway.


On the good side it means I can take my time with it and make sure it's what I want. In an attempt not to script a billion levels I've decided to write a random level generator fingers crossed. This will not only mean I don't have to script the levels but might mean I enjoy them more since I diddn't have to create them.

Time for Sacrifice

Having taken two days off work in order to get some work done on my game and not getting nearly as much work done as I would have liked, I've realised that I don't have time to get all I wanted done before the August deadline. Therefore a sacrifice must be made in the form of the level editor, which is almost in a working state but not quite detailed enough to be included in the final release. So the plan now is to use it for making that base levels script the rest and strip it from the game.

Time Running Out

So time is running out for me to get my Dream Play Build entry done. The level editor has taken far too long to do and is still not finished. The levels need built which relies on the level editor, the sound needs polished and the graphics need completed but some lessons have been learned.

A Few Lessons Learned

First is keep the game small, don't go for a game which will take a long time to make. Since I do this as a hobby my motivation is dependent on how much fun I have and working on the same game for 6 months is not fun.

Go for procedural generation whenever possible, as it will reduce the need for content creation which can be very time consuming and add quite a lot to storage needs of the game.

Avoid adding things that aren't really part of the game i.e. level editors. In my case writing a level editor is very similar to what I do for my job and so it is not at all appealing to do this in my spare time.

A good design from the start is needed. By good I really mean complete, basically have everything that is going to be in the game set from the start. This means you know exactly what the next step is, which would have saved me so much time.

Coding Block

That's right I have the illness. I have every intent on doing some work on the game but 3 hours later I still sitting there having written 10 lines, thinking to myself I just can't be bothered to do this. It does not help that I've decided on making a level editor, which feels like work rather than fun.

Deadline Getting Ever Closer

The deadline approaches ever closer when I've still got so much left to do :(.
The deadline is 7th of August I think but the game needs finished and tested before then which leaves me about 2 weeks to get it done ahhhhh! not enough time.

Ironically I can't be bothered to type this post anymore

The Art of Games

I've hit a wall with my game (called "Specimen" now) and that wall is the art. By art I mean the graphics and music, as my lack of artistic skill has come into play. On top of this I have ideas brewing about a new game I want to make, but I must get "Specimen" finished first.

Things left to Do:

• - Finish Sounds
• - Finish Art
• - Build Levels (Possible Level Editor)
• - Possible new name

Level Editor?

Now I already have a tool for making levels for "Specimen" but it's not 360 compatible and so I am considering writing a new one, which I can bundle with the game. The big issue is time here, since "Specimen" was built for the dream play build competition meaning I have a deadline getting ever closer.

Ok so here are a couple more screens of "Specimen" to brighten this post up a little.

VIRUS!

My laptop was hit by a virus :( first one I've had in ages. This has unfortunately prevented me from doing any work on my game or even browsing the net. Everything is up and running again now so work has begun once more.

Funny Ad for Meat Boy

This made me smile, of course I can see veggies getting angry over it, but Ed McMillen is known for his controversy

General Update

Time Trial Video Up

So I finally got round to recording some footage of my Time Trial game, edited it and uploaded it to Vimeo here.

Time Trial from Carl Rutter on Vimeo.

XNA progress

I got my engine working on the 360, all I need now is the ability to save and load files from the game area instead of the title location.

Screens

Thought I'd include a couple of screenies from my current project, which is still a work in progress. Also the screens were taken in debug mode so some graphics i.e. the text and translucent boxes wont be visible in the final version.

XNA Dream Build Play

Dream Build Play

For all you XNA game devs out there you may want to check out this little offer
Dream Build Play 2009, if nothing else you'll get a free 12 months creators club trial, which will allow you to deploy your xna games to your xbox and play them. I gave this ago got my 12 month trial created a Xbox 360 copy of my game, downloaded the creators club thing on my xbox, established a connection to my laptop, built and deployed it on my 360 and wham my game is running on my 360 even if it had failed to load any files and so the console was painted with ERROR all over. This is a minor issue that I will work on given the time.


Vimeo account

I created myself an account on vimeo and if I ever get roudn to making some vids I'll put uplaod them.