I put it out there a few weeks ago that I was targeting the IGF submission deadline. The date is just around the corner now, and it is becoming clear that I won’t have a decent demo ready by then. There isn’t a game there yet, and it’s better to accept that now than to submit something that is sub par.
Getting accepted into IGF would have been a huge achievement, and a great way to make a splash with the title, but I want the first demo I make to public to be something great, not something average. There is some personal disappointment for not reaching this goal, but I won’t let it slow things down. I have made good progress in the last 11 weeks, and I will continue to work on this project with the same fervor.
For now, I will keep pressing towards that deadline (while keeping the same internal goals). After that, I will take some time to carefully assess the current state of the project, my progress, how I fared in relation to the goals I set, and how I can address any issues that have cropped up. Then I will keep moving forward until I have a fun game.
Work Done Last Week
The past week was a slow week, and I am disappointed in my progress. Lack of focus and personal distractions have hampered me. I work best when I’m single-mindedly focused on a task.
I implemented basic saving and loading of the physics environment, but it is missing a few touches such as storing the camera settings, and being able to choose the target file. I then did some major behind the scene work to prepare for a new feature, but this was unplanned work, which further threw me of my schedule. I also did a bit of administrative research, and spent a bit of time this week-end updating my business plan. All in all, a disappointing week, and I will use it as motivation to bounce back strongly this week.
Work Planned This Week
Again, I will continue building on the sandbox environment and experimenting on game play ideas. Any administrative tasks will go on the back-burner and be relegated to after-hours.
Friday, I will be attending an iPhone Tech Talk session in Munich with a friend and fellow developer. I’m quite looking forward to this, as I have a strong interest in the iPhone platform (especially its open publisher-free distribution system). It’ll make a nice change of pace.
October 21st, 2008 - 11:57 am
Understand and can sympathise with the personal disappointment, but just keep hacking away at it – an above par product will be the result. Speaking of Friday, might be the final push to me buying a mac… almost a convert…
October 21st, 2008 - 3:09 pm
Thanks Rozza. Yeah tell me about it, I am starting to regret having bought a windows laptop over the summer.