In keeping with the purpose of this blog, as both a way to publicise my games and a diary to record my development activities, I thought it was about time I wrote a short post covering the progress on my next game.
As I covered last time, I’ve settled on a puzzle RPG as my next game. Its an attempt at a meatier, although still manageable, game.
I’ve been playing around with some prototypes for the past few months. These have been both paper-based and cocos2d game prototypes. During that time the core mechanics have changed considerably. Even at this stage I’ve been thinking about interface and control elements since they’ll be crucial for an enjoyable game.
The core mechanic is just about there so I’m moving on to adding some light RPG elements to test how they work. I’d say its currently interesting but not yet fun.
All of this is still prototype work that will be scrapped when I move into production. Its a fun time of messy repeated code, massive chunks of commented out code, one-off variables all over the place, and a general disregard for performance :)
Early next year I’m going to put some time aside for playing with engines and 3D modelling. I’m still trying to settle on technology. I’ve played with some early 3D and some 2D sketches and I have a general “look” in mind.
Once thats out of the way, i’ll begin building both the core engine and the tools I need to author the game. Custom authoring tools will be crucial for this game – I’m thinking level editing and perhaps even basic story weaving and/or quest modelling.
There’s still a very long road ahead. This is easily a 12 month project. Its a daunting prospect but, with all self-imposed financial pressures removed, its a journey I’m really looking forward to. The length of this project is what has seriously made me consider technology. I want maximum players but in an ecosystem where quality is valued.
As soon as I’m past the prototype phase, I’ll start to share more on this blog. Once in production, I’ll be writing weekly updates to keep me motivated – I’d postulate that production will begin sometime in February.
I guess I need some kind of mysterious working title. Lets go with Project PRPG (Puzzle RPG). In fact how about a step further and just PPRPG.
See you next time.