The start of my journey through building a full game.

Introduction

I love games, but more specifically I love the worlds, mechanics, and stories that make games. Have you ever played a game that you lost yourself in? Whether that was the music, the environment, maybe the challenging gameplay, something about it that pulled you in an 3 or 4 hours felt like 1 of pure bliss. For me that first game was Zelda Skyward Sword, and it was the first game I lost myself in and captivated me all the way through. And although at the time of my first play through I was 11 and my cousin had to help me get through some puzzles, I have sense played through that game countless times. And each time it is just as magical as it was the last time. I am envious of the brilliant devs, artists, and producers that can construct experiences like that, and that’s why I want to attempt to do the same! Except probably terribly and at nowhere near the level of something like Zelda. But hey we all go to start somewhere.

Ground Rules

I’ve built or helped build games in the past for various school/side projects, however this time I want to really engage in the full process and deliver a complete (small) game. To do this I have decided on a couple of ground rules to keep things manageable. First, the game is going to be simple, I do not want to get lost in the weeds of trying to build a leveling system, developing multiple maps, inventory systems, or anything of that complexity. Just start with creating a good feeling set of game mechanics and something you can sit down and play for 10 or 20 minutes on a bus ride to your destination. Second, somewhat hinted to in the previous rule I would like to target a mobile platform. This reduces the amount of inputs available to really only touch, and can also be an opportunity to experiment with that and find ways to optimize input. Not to mention having the ability to load my game on my phone and play test it wherever would be convenient for me personally. And third, possibly the most important rule, art comes last. I am very excited to try my hand at creating assets for this game, however that can become a deep rabbit hole if one is not careful. I will try to do some rough art sketches along the way to hone that skill, however in terms of early gameplay, it will feature a wonderful mix of different mono colored cubes. With these ground rules the project should stay on track and not grow in scope terribly, or at least that is the hope….

The Idea

For a small mobile game an infinite scroller seems like a good place to start. There are a lot of different ways you can approach them, but the one that interests me is trying to climb as high as possible. Games such as doodle jump, or an ancient one like ninjump, are in the vein of what I’m hoping to go for. I would like the core mechanic to be centered around trying to climb using a set of grappling hooks batman style, and getting as high as possible. For the Environment, a set of floating pillars will act as points to grapple to on your journey up and contain different enemies and challenges on the way up. I don’t necessarily have a defined art style or theme in mind, but something futuristic would be pretty cool! In the spirit of trying to organize and coordinate my idea, I created a GDD (Game Design Document) detailing all the specifics and timeline I am hoping to stick to. At some point in the future I will try to link that doc to this blog somehow.

The Goal

Finally, what is my goal with all this? Well as I said before I want to engage in the full process of binging a world to life. For this first project my vision is small and achievable, just get an idea of what it takes and make some mistakes along the way. Get familiar with the tools, the workload, the challenges, and with any luck make something I’m proud of at the end of the day. And who knows, maybe this is the first of many small steps to crack into that world I’m envious of. But to sum it up in some nice clear bullet points:

• Create a Game from start to finish.
• Learn the tools and practices.
• Have fun with it!