Dream Build Play 2009 Strategy
In my previous post I described some problems I was having with my Sketchable project, and how I could overcome them. But that I’d rather redirect my efforts towards a Dream Build Play entry. Why is a Dream Build Play so compelling?
Strategy Rethink
When I started Sketchable, my strategy was to make a series of (ideally finished) games, one each fortnight. After I had done maybe 6 to 10, I would take the best one or two and convert them to full-blown shareware games for the PC and Xbox.
The dismal failure of Game 2, and the impending mediocrity of Game 3, gives me pause to re-think this strategy.
Game 3: Design
After pausing work on Game 3 last week, I’m getting back to work. Today is effectively day 5 of 14. The first four days haven’t been very productive, but I do have a design…
Easy Physics Based Animation
The easiest, quickest and perhaps ugliest way to animate an object from place-to-place is with linear interpolation. As I discovered in Game 1, this can actually look worse than no animation at all.
With a little high-school maths and physics we can create something much more natural and convincing that can still get our objects precisely from A to B.
Game 1: Now .NET 2.0
In the Game 1 Postmortem, one of the problems I mentioned was the requirement of .NET 3.5. I have now changed Game 1 to use .NET 2.0. This will make Game 1 much easier to install and entirely removes the one-time reboot requirement on Windows Vista (which comes with .NET 2.0 already installed).
Click here to [...]
Game 3: Pause
I’m temporarily pausing work on Game 3 for a bit of housekeeping…
Game 2: Postmortem
My games are like my children. I love them all. Except Game 2 – which is adopted and I hate it…
Game 3: Initial Strategy
Based on my experience with the Farseer Physics Engine in Game 2, I have decided to make Game 3 a 2D game that is “driven” by the physics simulation…
Game 2: Escapeas
Click here to install and play Sketchable Game 2. When asked, click “Run” and “Install”.
Game 2: So Close!
It’s about ten minutes to midnight on the (supposedly) final day of Sketchable Game 2 development. I’m not finished, but the advantage of doing this for myself is that I don’t have to pull an all-nighter if I don’t want to. And I don’t want to…