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Post mortem of my one game a month

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Re: Post mortem of my one game a month

#62
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had the Oric-1 OSDK ( http://osdk.defence-force.org/ ), which offers the same universe, in my hack/inbox for a while now .. its an amazing thing to return to these old architectures and realize just how much we take things for granted today, and yet - in spite of the limitations - the things are still just as useful and interesting as they ever were. 'tis a delight to witness a 7-year old and a 5-year old pillag…

"and realize just how much we take things for granted today" Well, Z88DK has some... bugs. It is definitely a new experience when the compiler segfaults because a syntax error ;) To be fair, I'm glad it exists, but it got me busy for few hours because of a couple of bugs less evident than a compiler crash. My experience when I was 13 was with the Spectrum, but after getting back in contact with "the old 8-bit world"…

I can say with certainty that there are users of all of those machines out there who would love to get some new software, indeed!

Let me know if you're interested in the Oric scene .. I'd be happy to show you around!

Re: Post mortem of my one game a month

#63
post #23

I participated in One Game a Month (1GAM) in 2013. It was an amazing experience, even though I managed to make "only" 5 games. It's astonishing to read that the author had the very same problems I had. Even when I had a clear vision of what I wanted to make, it was pretty hard to avoid feature creeping. When you hit the 90% completion mark, the TODO list starts to grow so scarily fast that the only way out is to deve…

This seems like such a fun challenge. I just completed my first Ludum Dare Jam with a friend (72 hour gamejam), and we both learned a lot. Right from the start we had to manage a "72-hour TODO" list and a "Maybe we'll enjoy this game enough to take it past the weekend TODO" list. And things kept being moved from one list to the other. I think the most important take-away for me was how important careful planning is r…

Yes, it is a lot of fun. I used two TODO lists just like you did, but my "v2 past the deadline" list had way more items in it.

I like to plan my actions methodically too, but sometimes I had to use 1GAM to develop my improvisation skills. When I was short in time and the month was about to end, I had to quickly come up with something before the deadline. That's when I had to prioritize the "get things done" instead of "plan the whole thing". I've learned a lot from it.

I wish you and your friend all the best regarding you game :)

Re: Post mortem of my one game a month

#64
post #23

I participated in One Game a Month (1GAM) in 2013. It was an amazing experience, even though I managed to make "only" 5 games. It's astonishing to read that the author had the very same problems I had. Even when I had a clear vision of what I wanted to make, it was pretty hard to avoid feature creeping. When you hit the 90% completion mark, the TODO list starts to grow so scarily fast that the only way out is to deve…

I was just thinking of starting "one game a month" on my own, but I didn't know about 1GAM. Thanks for the heads up!

You're welcome! One of the best aspects of 1GAM is the community behind it. You can get feedback, motivation and experience from everybody. When you join the action, there are thousands of developers doing the very same thing: trying to ship games. I've learned a lot from the community and I've met several great folks.

You will not regret joining 1GAM.

Re: Post mortem of my one game a month

#65

I can code, I have way too many projects but I've never written a game. Should I do 1GAM?

I have participated in Pyweek a few times and found the community to be a huge motivator. Just knowing that other people are doing the same thing as me increases my probability of finishing from something like 1% to 90%.

When a part of the community you can also look around at what other people are doing. I made my decision to use Pyglet after seeing it online and seeing someone mention it in the IRC channel. I may have dismissed it if not for knowing that someone else was using it.

So yeah, if making some games is something you want to do, definitely become involved in the community. It helps.

Re: Post mortem of my one game a month

#67
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just thinking of starting "one game a month" on my own, but I didn't know about 1GAM. Thanks for the heads up!

You're welcome! One of the best aspects of 1GAM is the community behind it. You can get feedback, motivation and experience from everybody. When you join the action, there are thousands of developers doing the very same thing: trying to ship games. I've learned a lot from the community and I've met several great folks. You will not regret joining 1GAM.

I believe it! Been meaning to get back in touch with Christer, in fact. I miss Ludum Dare. :)
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