1) a globe of energy surrounding the player, blocking all incoming attacks
2) a directional shield while holding down the mouse button; on release, it fires a projectile and dissipates
3) a directional shield while holding down the button; on release, it explodes and damages everything around the player
4) a directional shield while holding down the button that explodes only if the “energy” runs out
5) a directional shield while holding down the button that explodes when energy runs out, that can also be used to push and damage enemies
That’s where it’s at right now, and I think I’m done fooling around with it. Give it a shot and let me know what you think; I’m still open to suggestions.
I had to implement an energy bar for this, which forced me to finally get around to the health bar. You still can’t die, but the health bar empties as you are attacked by enemies.
Next up is the psychic whip, which is the last of the special weapons. Everything after that can essentially be copied and pasted from other weapon templates I’ve created, which should be a pretty simple process.
I found myself particularly bored at work the other day, and I started thinking about the process involved with going from where I am now to a finished, selling product:
1) Finish all the templates for weapons, enemies, and special routines
2) Finish the overall storyline for the game; develop a working prototype
3) Contact an artist and begin negotiations for graphics. I already have a guy in mind, but I’ll certainly find a couple backups in the meantime
4) Put together a working demo of one of the levels, with finished graphics (probably the nightmare level, since it showcases enough of the weapon, abilities, and atmostphere to be generally representative)
5) Create a Kickstarter for the project to help pay for the artist and musician
6) Once the visuals are mostly complete, contact a musician to commission for a soundtrack (I want to make sure they’ll have a good idea what sort of atmosphere to go for)
7) Once a fully completed, playable demo level is finished, contact various Indie Game blogs and groups and start whoring myself out
8) Look into getting a booth for the Indie Showcase in PAX East (or any similar conventions I can find)
9) Create some basic merchandise, both for sale at PAX and as rewards for the Kickstarter (hats, coffee cups, phone cases, etc. I mean, wouldn’t an Yggdrasil Facility coffee cup kick ass?)
10) Look everything over for final bugs, put my project up on Steam Greenlight, hoping enough interest will have been generated by the blogs, PAX, and Kickstarter to get “greenlit.”
11) If Steam fails, find some nondescript software-selling service to put my game up on.
12) Hope I make enough money to at least break even.
I’m hoping the process doesn’t take more than the next two years or so. The longest ones will be 1, 2, and 3. The programming will be intensive, and there will have to be a lot of back-and-forthing with the artist to make sure it ends up looking the way I want it to.
Also, at some point, I’m going to have to stop posting playable EXEs and specific details on this site. Can’t give away too much now, can I? I’ll probably have a sandbox level where I can post new items and enemies to get some playtesting from people, but that’ll have to be the extent of it.
I’m really looking forward to everything; Indie Game: The Movie was a super-boost of motivation to get this going. I found it really easy to relate to Phil Fish and Edmund Mcmillan, and I want to hope that I’m just as capable of finishing a project of this magnitude as they are.
