PTOLEMYGAMES
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Plans
🕑 Added 2018-02-28 20:41:03 +0000 UTC HiThis is a long one, so I hope you bear with me.
First of all, on the end of Dana. There were a few major bugs, but I've fixed them that same day. Haven't heard a bug report since. So unless I hear about some other major bug, today or tomorrow, it will hold till the final version.
I'm not sure when the final version will be. Like I said I want to redo a lot of renders, delete old code, etc.....so it will be a while. It's on the back burner. Some day, but not soon. But there will be no new content, just fixed stuff.
Some of you have been asking me for a walkthrough. I've started work on it. It's actually a lot more difficult than I thought, lol. But it will be done, and I'll post it on Saturday.
Now, on to the new stuff.
After replaying Dana for the first time in a long time, I'm starting to get a new perspective on it. I always knew it was a flawed game, but I think I know the root causes of many of it's flaws, and I'm determined not to do the same thing with "Alexandra". This is the new title of the Mafia game. Sorry, I can't think of a better one, but if you can I'm not married to it.
First: It was to ambitious for the skill set that I had when I started. By the time I acquired the skills I needed, many of the flaws were embedded, and couldn't be rooted out without a complete rework.
I think my plans for Alex are well within the skills I have now. Even though it's more ambitious than Dana, I have a year's experience behind me. And in this year, I've learned much.
Second: I had a great fear of getting lazy. To combat that, I set myself artificial deadlines that were set in stone. I would put out a patch even though, looking back, sometimes quality suffered. That's I think, my biggest regret.
I will still set those deadlines. It's the only way I know to really motivate yourself to get your ass in gear. Without a deadline, well, it can always wait can't it. And you end up not finishing a game, after 2 years or more.
But I will no longer make any compromises on quality. And if a patch gets delayed, or if I have to cut out the parts I'm having problems with and add them at a later time because of it, so be it. I hope I've earned your trust a little, and you believe me that I'm not just lazying around
Third: Lack of planing. I started Dana with an idea, and a gtx 980 :P
Had very little clue what I was doing and flew by the seat of my pants. This lead to ideas that I started implementing, and then lead nowhere. I hope I've solved this already. Older patrons will remember that I've started planning for this for a few months now.
Fourth: Lack of clear direction for the player. I've never bothered with a tutorial, or to explain things in detail. Thought people would figure it out. But when people complain that there is no new content in the patch, and they've tried all their saves on the Andrea route, while the patch dealt with Jessica, you begin to realize that you're on different wave lengths.
So, where am I now?
I've started work in earnest on the Alex game. Still very much the beginning stages of it. For those who have missed it, here's the prologue/proof of concept https://drive.google.com/open?id=1NctYgnkbov1P8QXJGCAtNVk41n7gFFhD
This is the part of a game's development, when you set the coding foundation. It's relatively little in therms of renders, mostly code.
Also working on the UI. It will not have all the graphical bells and whistles at first. I want to focus on functionality, make sure that's right. And add the graphical stuff later on.
Right now making the tutorial. Trying to not break immersion, but it's impossible. So, I'm trying to embed it into gameplay as much as I can, and break immersion as little as possible.
Not sure when the patch will be finished. Still working a lot of the code from scratch. I'll be able to tell you on Sunday, after I've had a full weekend of coding.
But it will contain the basics of the time and stats management in the game. The tutorial, and I hope the first full side mission.
Once the coding foundation is finished, I'll be able to release a lot more story content, and things will get a lot easier. But I have to get the code right. Old patrons will remember that in the first 3 months of Dana I wasn't able to get the saves to work. It will not happen this time.
I'll be able to tell you more, and possibly give you and approximate release date on Sunday.
As always, I'm very grateful for your support
Ptolemy
