It's been a while since my last post.
A lot has happened in the last few weeks. First and foremost, I decided to pause the development of the game "Rule & Expand."
I've released a prototype card game on itch.io and have finally started making a new game.
Stop the machine
When you start developing a game, your head is full of ideas and feelings you want to transmit with your game. Then you start implementing features and the game takes shape. Until the moment comes when you have to test your work and you come face to face with reality. IT SUCKS.
this happened to me with "Rule & Expand." The rules were vague, the gameplay awkward, and it didn't communicate anything. I didn't like it, as I've mentioned in previous posts. I was on my third time having to change the rules, and at that point, I said enough.
It was time to give up and admit I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted. I was playing over the pieces that made up the game, none of them fitting together. I was wasting my time.
Procrastinating by making a game
Procrastinating while making a game. Yes, you read that right.
I've realized that you can also procrastinate while making a game, when you know deep down that what you're doing isn't going anywhere and won't be worth it; it'll just be another piece of crap flooding the Steam store.
But it's very tempting to keep "working" because "you're working," because "you're making the game of your dreams," because "discipline."
Bullshit.
If you want to make a living making games, you can't waste your time on things that aren't useful.
I've learned a lot about the tools I use to make games and have created a number of systems that I can use in future games, so I haven't wasted all my time, but spending more weeks or months just to publish for the sake of publishing doesn't seem worth it.
Moving on
The first few days I felt lost. I didn't know what to do, or what new project to start.
I went through the dozens of notes I have in Google Keep. I write down everything that came to mind about systems, rules, or game ideas.
I founded a video about Resident Evil 4's inventory system, and I was interesting. There were also dozens of videos of players organizing their inventories in detail with a lot of views.
But to have an inventory system, you need something to store. So I needed an item collection system.
I came up with a couple of ideas about explore, and in the end I decided to use a color-matching system like the game "Knightfall," which I recreated a some time ago and was eager to use.
So, two systems that feed off each other: an exploration system for obtaining items and an inventory system for organizing them.
The final step was the purpose of these items: why we collect them. So I thought of a third system, an autobattle, where you use items (weapons, ammo, healing, etc.) to overcome waves of enemies.
I added a few touches to that, and I had a brand new game to start with.