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2021_In_RoguelikeDev
Summed up in two words, development in 2020 was all about managing expectations. The first and most important step last year was getting my mental block out of the way and resuming development at all. While the idea behind the genetics system was sound, the implementation had suffered from being too ambitious and - as a consequence - too convoluted. Add to that a month of inactivity for other reasons and there you have it, a quality roadblock.
Eventually I managed to claw my way back into development, because after all I was still confident in the game concept and also thanks to feeling guilty for not posting in the Sharing Saturday threads for far too long.
First, the genetics system received a substantial overhaul to make converting an object's genetic trait into available actions way less messy.
Second, more basic game functionality was added, e.g.: inventory.
Third, two classes of virus were added including ability to infect cells and propagate their RNA.
Fourth, the game changed its underlying engine from Tcod to bracket-lib.
Fifth, in an effort to vastly improve accessibility, the UI was enriched with complete mouse support.
All of this was interspersed with gratuitous refactoring to keep the codebase as neat and tidy as possible.
As much as improvements were made to engine, codebase and content in 2020, as much playtesting been criminally neglected. This is where 2021 begins: hunting bugs and refining the control flow between all subsystems in the game.
THE two big goals of 2021 are completing alpha development and creating an online presence for the game.
Targeted alpha features:
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enemy class virus, able to infect cells and force them to replicate virions
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enemy class bacteria, attacking and attempting to destroy cells
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an immune system that needs the player's help and/or helps the player
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a story mode or at least intro that explains to the player who they are supposed to be and what the goal of the game is
Stretch goal is localisation to further drive accessibility up the wazoo. I can implement english and german by myself.
The online presence is to try and find people that are interested enough in Innit to give the alpha version a go. This involves creating a blog around the game as well as announcing it on my personal social media. Ideally I would find some biology-oriented reddit communities that might be interested too and could provide support for the scientific background of the game.
The most difficult task in game development (for me personally) is to constantly manage my expectations and balance between getting too cocky and drowning in self-doubt.
innit wiki