Tag: Development

EasyStorage is Easy

Today was devoted to:

  1. Installing Nick Gravelyn’s fantastic EasyStorage code base into Escape Goat, and replacing my existing storage class. (What I had was very similar to EasyStorage, with fewer features, but I figured it was better safe than sorry since ES is very thoroughly tested for edge cases.)
  2. Improving perfomance with ANTS – literally under an hour’s work to reduce time spent in my collision checking routine by about 50%.  Very hard to get the game to slow down now.
  3. Fixing a couple typo’s in the story text for the game.
I also met up with Keith to discuss my impressions of his latest creation-in-progress, 7 Grand Steps, which is shaping up very nicely, and was totally a pleasure to spend time with.

Final Push To Glory

After some relentless work and lost sleep in the last 48, Escape Goat is basically done!

The music is sent off for mixing and mastering.  The art is complete.  The level design is complete.   Still no known bugs…

I’m taking the weekend off the project, so when I get back I’ll be able to make some minor adjustments to the story, complete the box artwork, and stuff like that.  It’s been an incredibly challenging journey to get this far, and no matter how successful the game is, I’m really proud of what I’ve created.  When it comes out next month, I hope you enjoy it!

In other news, I found an interview with Cursed Loot developer Eyehook Games, where he gives a shoutout to Soulcaster.  Awww, thanks amigo!  That means a lot, seeing as the game-formerly-known-as-Epic-Dungeon remains one of the most addictive and polished games on XBLIG.

99% Done

The music has been sent off for mixing and mastering.

Graphics and sound are final.

Level design is 98% done.

There are no known bugs.

It’s close…

Holding the Line with Scope Creep

Dave Voyles recently posted 0 to Indie in 5 Easy Steps on ArmlessOctopus, a distillation of a panel at PAX 2011.  My favorite advice bit from the five was “manage your scope.”  This is such an important step to take, though for me, not an easy one.

In the last few weeks, Escape Goat has really come together, and everyone who’s played it so far has liked it.  I’m very proud of that.  Yet a lot of play testers also have a few features they’d like to see… and really, how long would they take to add?  I’ll explain the specifics after the game’s out and I do my multi-part postmortem on the process, but for now, even the smallest extra features have got to wait until the sequel.  I’m holding the line.

I’m in a situation I reach frequently when composing music.  I’ve got a pretty good sounding song, but I think that with some more time it’ll get better.  Sometimes it does, and sometimes it gets worse.  Refining can easily become tinkering.  Then, there’s nothing to show for your lost time.  That’s kind of where I’m at with this project: I don’t want to tinker much more, because something might be spoiled.

What if I miss some great opportunity?  There’s always the sequel.