Against all odds I've finally managed to find the strength to embark myself in the scary, labyrinthine journey of creating my own videogame. As the adventurer I've just become, I've decided to keep a journal along the difficult trip and maybe get to help other adventurers on their own path with my humble experience.
At the moment of writing this post, it's been already 3 months of game development, after about two years of brewing the idea, iterating and making lots of research so this is not a random impulse, but a project that has head and heart and it's getting real for real. At this point I feel like I can finally start sharing my adventure with the world, which will help me learn a lot, grow a lot and hopefully end with a finalized game :).
Before moving onto the substance, I'd like to make a few remarks about the videogame I am committed to finish that may serve also as a few random thoughts about today's videogame industry.
- This is the first videogame that I have committed to do, but it's not the first game I have designed, neither the first gaming experience I have worked on, meaning that I consider myself with a little bit of knowledge on the game design field (still with lots of new things to learn and discover!).
- I am working on my own, all by myself. I am designing, developing and doing the art, and it's not a tiny game. I know it sounds ambitious, but I know I'll do it. Lots of people will probably tell me that I won't be able to deliver and that I'll give up before even getting to finish half of it but I'm committed to prove them wrong. I know that I am ambitious and that's fine. I just need to keep reminding myself to be realistic and trim down stuff that goes beyond my scope.
- I'd like to make a videogame with lots of love.
And what does "lots of love" mean in the videogame context? Well, as in cooking it just translates in time. The important deal is though, to figure out which aspects need that investment. Instead of focusing on stunning, hyper realistic graphics (the huge videogame companies' style) - which by the way would be unrealistic for a single developer to focus on -, I'm going towards innovative gameplay, good character development and a great story. That doesn't mean that I'm leading towards crappy ugly graphics. They will be great as well, but I'd rather invest in a good deal of a story, cool-funny-well-thought characters and great (I hope innovative as well) game mechanics.
- Being a single developer (+ designer + artist) comes along with a whole bunch of limitations. That's why graphics-wise, I'm definitely going towards a single player 2D game. AND no multiplayer option.
That said, one of my main motivations is to achieve those old school gameplay experiences, where games lasted for hours and hours and EVERY.SINGLE.SECOND. spent was gold. I'm talking about those precious games that never ceased to surprise. No matter how deep you were into the story, the game kept giving you amazing gifts, the story twisting and engaging you even more. I'm aiming towards a lonely-quiet-immersive-long-lasting-experience - Dungeon Keeper or Monkey Island style - where the experience is so good that you just can't stop playing without noticing that you skipped both lunch and dinner. That is a really high level, isn't it? I'll do my best and we'll see how close I can get. :)
- My videogame platform will be PC. As a single developer I can't aim multiple platforms, and PC is the console that perfectly suits the gaming experience I am seeking.
From now on, I'll try to keep this journal updated with my latest advances in the game. Right now I'm still not ready to show the game, but I'd love to share all my recently acquired knowledge about the 2D frameworks (specially lots of stuff on how to use the one I chose, programming tips...), game art stuff, the process I'm following, game design tips, etc.
P.D. I'm not an English native, so don't be harsh on me if there are mistakes. I've chosen English to be able to get to more people, and I know that my native fellows understand English as well. I will be happy to read any constructive messages that can help me improve my style, grammar or English expression. :)
