Game Update
Finished up the particle effect connected to the staff attack in combat. Both our Male and Female caster types are using the same effect then they strike with their staff. Of note our Male Wizards do not have an actual staff. Not sure if I want to just add something to the model or not for them. We also added a tinkling sound when the spell effect is triggered which is a nice touch.
One of the issues we ran into was understanding the size of the spell effect that we were creating. I went ahead and dropped one of our prefabs for the wizard in the scene where we warehouse most of our spell effects. It seemed to be a good decision to save time in the future as we will likely be tweaking and full out authoring spell effects in this scene.
I’m happy with what was accomplished but I should get more disciplined to get more done. It’s been lacking a bit and now is the time to start some new habits to get things done. The big time vampire for me has been Arena of Valor but that should be over after this month as I’ve accomplished the things that I wanted to get done. I need to change my outlook on game development and make it into something I want to do instead of seeing it as a chore. So many things in live come down to the narrative that we tell ourselves. After re-reading my response to the aspiring game developer, I think I need to take my own advice and make a calendar and do my best to stick to it.
Personal Update
As stated above I need to get a little bit more discipline and make myself a calendar to get on track. I’ve been spending to much of my off time playing games instead of making them. Maybe they served a purpose at one point in time but I need to refocus a bit. I wonder how many other indie developers go through this.
Good timing to focus this week as I will get some downtime. I’ve also made some headway with working out a couple of household issues out and hope that they will be resolved soon. There is always something else to get done around the house, and it would be nice to make some headway on that. Of course I still need to start the process to get the business licence moved over.
Most of the boys and I were under the weather this week. It was probably something seasonal as it was mostly tied to a sore throat. Luckily my girlfriend knew what to do and she took care of us. She’s really been a great thing for my boys and I. I’m really thankful to have her in my life. It’s amazing what a supportive person can do to improve so many aspects of your life. It’s finally starting to feel like I’m getting back what I lost in 2020.
Answered Questions for an Aspiring Game Developer
8. What are some of the attributes of a good game designer?
Discipline - set regular times to work without distractions and when the time is over hard stop yourself. This will help you focus and keep your interest high. When I say no distractions that means no tv, no phone, no social media, and maybe music that isn't distracting (know yourself). Creativity - when you start out you will clone games, it's how you learn but start asking yourself crazy questions like "what if Mario had one life and couldn't get any more? Could we make Mario into battle royal." I'm using Mario because most kids tend to try to remake what's popular but it will be important to build something all your own. Super Meat Boy is a platformer, Mario is a platformer but they are not the same. That said don't be afraid to "borrow" aspects either. It's a balance. Focus - we alluded to this earlier but it's important to know you can build anything if you spend the time on it and it's within the computers limitations. Just because you can do a ton of things doesn't mean you should. This is called "feature creep". I could build 200 different troops for my game and implement a unique skill for each of them but how long would this take? How long before the characters become to similar that I'm making? Could I maybe make 20 characters and still have just as good a game? Be focused and aggressively cut out things that aren't getting you high value.