Game Update
This week we added a notification to show the player when the leader is dead in a squad. There wasn’t a lot of information to make this clear until now. I feel like this was a big win for us. It’s nice to know that all the information is there in the game, but it just needs to be displayed to the player. More polishing creates a better user experience.
We talked a bit about adding additional information to the squads in the stage so that the player can make good decisions on engagements. As of right now the player has to click on each squad to see the characters that are still left alive and their total hit points. We could total all the hit points and add some other numbers from stats to give the squads a “power level” and then surface that under their name. It’s possible as the information is all there, but it may not be to our advantage to do that as it might take the player out of the experience a bit.
The question is, “when is information to much information?” I can surface a lot of information to the player about what’s happening but every time I do the experience gets less realistic. I guess the obvious response is that, “video games are already unrealistic so why care about it?” I would say that we use numbers to create systems that give the player an engaging experience. If surfacing a bunch of stats and numbers takes the player out of that experience then we should pull it back a bit. A game is more elegant and beautiful with less mechanical logical pieces. Engaging is done on an emotional level not a logical one.
Personal Update
Big plans this week for Valentines Day but it fell through and I had to make a difficult decision. Ultimately it came down to a decision of setting boundaries and what kind of man I want to be. It never feels good to be firm with someone, but it’s very important.
When I was staying with my family a couple of times situations came up in which boundaries were tested as well. Honestly I look forward to having my boundaries tested now. I’ve heard people say things like, “if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything.” Having boundaries ensures that I know when they’re being tested.
Often there is a thought that we need to give in to other people to make them happy and keep our relationships in tact. Nine times out of ten the opposite is true. When a person is taking advantage of someones kindness they will actually feel more resentment and contempt for them if they keep folding under pressure. On the other hand when a boundary is set a person needs to be ready for the other party to walk away. The question is what’s more important? Personal integrity or the friendship?
Answered Questions for an Aspiring Game Developer
3. How difficult is video game design?
3. Computers have limitations, and so do we as human beings. We could build something that realistically makes grass grow, has a social component, and allows you to rob banks but that doesn't help if we're building Fortnite. You have to choose what you want to build and be very specific with the pillars for your game. As an example a pillar for my game "Six Aspects" is fast play time. I don't want the player to spend any more than 15 minutes in a stage. This one pillar guides a lot of future decisions. That said as far as how difficult it is, there's a lot you can start doing quickly. I would suggest taking existing code for a project and fiddling with it first. It's difficult to stare at a blank canvas, it's a lot easier to trace over someone else's art and modify it at least when you're starting out. So I guess it's really as difficult as you want it to be. The first things you're going to want to learn about are how to draw graphics on the screen, checking for collisions between objects and setting an outcome, and the concept of the update function which continually runs as your game runs and allows you to move graphics around or check states actively.