Mentors, Artists and Weekly Plan

So yesterday I spent the bulk of my time planning for this last week of flash education and seeking out and contacting a number of people for whom I may be able to talk to now and then for valuable advice. I've found very long ago, that even when you know exactly where you are going and even how you will get there you still the best detailed map of the way ahead as possible. Only then will you be able to make the best decisions on the road ahead. I find their input incredibly valuable. And I have to dedicate myself to contacting them every month or so to ensure I'm taking good advantage of opportunities, and I'm not missing any problems that could be arising.

Everyone could use a Gandalf or two along the way.

The other major thing I was doing yesterday morning was looking for artists. To be honest there are a lot of sources. And ideally I'd like to find someone local who fits the tile style I'd like to go for, but I haven't seen any yet. I don't mind trying outsourcing but in the meanwhile I'll be looking at free art sources as well such as http://opengameart.org. One other link I found helpful, that others may as well, is a blog called "Lost Garden" by a senior game designer named Danc who worked on one of my favorite space shooters from the 90's, Tyrian. He has a very good article on how to Bootstrap your Indie Needs. I recommend a read.

Screenshot from the old game "Tyrian".

Late yesterday I got down to some coding. Now that my list is a bit more prioritized with Reclaimate, the first game I'm going to be working on, I've had to readjust things once again. I'm not a big fan of this, but I'd rather do this early than later. Plus I want to make sure I'm doing things that having the greatest contribution to my goal. Just like in the first week I learned how much I need the infrastructure (and I still spend a lot of hours building or cleaning stuff up at times.). I know from the last week that clearer focus is important.

So here's the update from last week:

• Save / Load feature - "saved" until later.
  
• Audio + Audio Controls - Done
  
• Prototyping some zooming / scaling - Done
  
• Pickups - 0%
  
• Other Characters running around - 0%
  
• Drag and Drop - Dropped
  
• In Game overlay menus - Done
  
• Back end cleanup and bug fixing - Done
  
• Authenticating facebook users - Pushed once again

That leaves the following list for this week.

• Smooth Game Movement 0%
• Game Controls - Mouse movement, attacking 0%
• Limited Character Animation 0%
• Other Characters running around - 0%
• Pickups - 0%

I think I said this earlier, but I would like to have the game running as a "game" by the end of next week.