I spend (literally) over the last day trying to get my Alpha Engine ready for a public reveal; I ran into some major, unfortunate issues right before I built the Pre-Alpha Test #006. This led me to start looking into a lot of my older code (I say it like it was forever ago...) and in doing so I realized that a lot of the code wasn't even formatted in a way that was easily readable. I've spent the last few hours now just going through all the game scripts (all of which I wrote myself) and cutting out the fluff, or optimizing where I can. Remembering I had built entire weapons off of a 'velocity' damage system, that when I converted to 'tag' damage I simply "made it work" rather than take the time to do it right. It became apparent that I had a lot more work cut out for me than I had even dreamed of.
Taking a few scripts that I had written in Javascript, simply because I found the Java references and didn't feel like looking for the C# alternatives; or heaven forbid I port the code over to C# myself. Then again, I amazed myself temporarily earlier when I needed a door model and so I booted up Blender and made it with only looking at the screen to add the texture. Not on purpose, I was eating a salad and couldn't be bothered with what I instinctively though of as trivial-baby-shit. It's not that anything I've accomplished is outstanding, or technical in any shape or form, but a week ago I couldn't even navigate Blender. At all. It was like going to a foreign country and not knowing how to speak the language and being there alone. The truth is, I didn't know how to accomplish almost any of what I wanted; I knew what I wanted though, and I had the determination to go for it. It's been 20 degrees below zero in my town the last week, there was nothing I would rather do than accomplish a goal.
As I began working I did what many before me have done, I watched online tutorials. I followed along, but I didn't simply follow the bouncing ball. Every time I heard something like "now we are going to..." I would immediately pause the video and see if I could figure it out myself. Self discovery is a large part of my personal learning process, watching and recycling information isn't a strong suit of mine. Eventually I got to where I wouldn't return to the video for 6-7 hours. I had enough information to start putting the game together, even if it used placeholder art, and the scripts were wonky; I hit play and 5 out of 10 times it would simply work the way it was supposed to. I felt accomplished, and motivated, and I took that motivation and I mixed it with copious amounts of caffeine.
The next day I was still working, and I didn't want to stop. All I could think of was that this was a feeling I had been trying to find for the last couple years; like I'm doing something substantial. Now don't get me wrong, obviously I don't believe my game is breathtaking; but once all is said and done I will have a product, which from what I've heard from others, is pretty fun; a product that I can hand to my daughter, and watch her get a little bit of joy out of it. A product that when friends come over, we can play it together; and my dream is for them to ask what game it is and where I got it. Well, considering all my friends already know about it, it's a far fetching sentiment; but I think you get the idea. I'm trying to do something that more companies should do, make something that I think is fun, because I'm my target audience. Although I hope people want it, that would be a literal dream come true.
99% of my posts aren't going to be like this, but I feel like a first-post should always be personal; after all, you might be coming back often!
The next day I was still working, and I didn't want to stop. All I could think of was that this was a feeling I had been trying to find for the last couple years; like I'm doing something substantial. Now don't get me wrong, obviously I don't believe my game is breathtaking; but once all is said and done I will have a product, which from what I've heard from others, is pretty fun; a product that I can hand to my daughter, and watch her get a little bit of joy out of it. A product that when friends come over, we can play it together; and my dream is for them to ask what game it is and where I got it. Well, considering all my friends already know about it, it's a far fetching sentiment; but I think you get the idea. I'm trying to do something that more companies should do, make something that I think is fun, because I'm my target audience. Although I hope people want it, that would be a literal dream come true.
99% of my posts aren't going to be like this, but I feel like a first-post should always be personal; after all, you might be coming back often!
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