In mid January 2015 I decided I wanted to write a game again. I'd been learning java for android and had some spare time and had a burst of inspiration.
Initially I was going to make an on the rails shooter but chose not to after realising the touch interface on a mobile was going to be difficult to make fun to play with.
Instead I chose to write a strategy game that is more inline with the types of games I enjoy.
Many years ago I used to play a WW2 ground combat game called Combat Mission. It was turn based real time - wego - rather than iguogo. I had also written a similar space combat game in 2008 which I enjoyed making. So I thought I'd combine the ideas.
During January and early February I wrote the initial design, including budget, components required, and so on. Everything was accounted for - database structures, code, graphics, media, assets etc.
I actually went a bit overboard initially and wanted to have pilot chatter (I was very inspired by movies such as the original Star Wars) and a host of other features. Both budget, time and the fact that it was a one man job meant that I had to be more restrained in what I produced.
My budget was under $6,000 AUD for the whole project and it is still under budget. The 3d engine used was jpct-ae - a light weight java open gl library that handles a lot of the opengl stuff under the hood. The rest of the code is mine. The graphics and music all purchased and commissioned.
During late May early June my health declined and I ended up in hospital (I was working full time as well as working on this in my spare time). I am still under watch in a semi hospital environment and am hoping one day to get my life back to some sense of normalcy.
I had hoped to release this game in mid November. We will see how things go. The world seems different than before my illness but I cannot place my finger on what it is yet.
from Matt
Here's a picture of me - the developer in my backyard.
Full game (v0.82)
Lite Version
And a how to play video (no audio yet) - basic gameplay
I've been out of the semi hospital environment since late September. Life is much better. I'm mostly recovered. The game was completed and released in October properly. Installs have been slow but that is to be expected unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see my game has been released though - on schedule. My original release date was meant to be the first couple of weeks of December. I've beaten that deadline by a fair way and have done a good job in my opinion.
Yay.