RubyWeekend #2 Postmortem

Here is my postmortem for Playground Wars for the RubyWeekend #2 contest. I hope it will be useful for future RubyWeekend newbies and veterans alike as well present day RubyWeekend pioneers.

What went right:

1. Getting an art partner is a very smart choice, especially if he/she is good. Qubodup is good and he free up my time so I can program. Division of labors kick butt!

2. Prior to the contest, I spent at least 30 hours on the KRPGE engine for the purpose of writing RPG games. Nonetheless, it was quite adaptable to RTS format. Plus, most of the map stuff has been done for me. I had to modify it so it can support terrain images. This free up my time to work on gameplay features. Code reuse ROCK!

What went wrong:

1. Choosing the wrong ideas can be fatal, even if the idea is a good idea. It need to be implementable in a short period of time. I think the lesson is clear here: DO NOT! I REPEAT! DO NOT attempt RTS games in a 48 hours contest. There is no way you're going to implement all the units, the tech tree, the whole 9 yards of features and test, blanace them all, let alone a stripped down RTS game.

2. Do not jeapodrize your contest entry with a bad sleep schelude. 4 hours of sleep each is not enough. Please make sure you get plenty of sleep before the contest start. It might not hurt(Actually it probably does) but you need every bit of energy and focus you can get. I was very tired so I stop coding several hours before the contest end.

3. Communication is hard. Time and time again, I learned that the communication of ideas is rather faulty. For example, Qubodup told me about a bug and I didn't realize what the bug is about after the contest. Qubodup and I had to explain our ideas to each other repeatly or correct misinformation each other have. For example, I didn't realize that Qubodup was asking about the whole map resolution, not the indiviual resolution of map terrain images.

What I Would Do Differently:

1. Write more engine code. Having more code that you can use to create games is a good thing, as well let you focus on writing games instead of writing an engine.

2. Complete the map editor or any other tools that you will need first. It does you no good to have a very difficult map to edit when you got better things to do.

3. Try to choose a less amibitious game so you can actually complete it and have a better chance of rocking everyone's boat.

General Thought About the Compos:

We need a RubyWeekend site, seriously. And advertising. Lot more advertising. We advertise quite a bit more this time around, but apparently that is not enough. We got the same amount of entries as last time(7 of them).

That is all.

I am out!

Release Log #2

Hi, you can download Qubodup and me's RubyWeekend contest entry from the Kibabase wiki.

It is a very incomplete first version of the Playground Wars real time strategy game. I gave up finishing the game for the contest, but I submitted it nonetheless.

Description: The opposite sexes has decided to go to war over the ownership of the playground!

RubyWeekend 2 Log #7 Disappointment

I gave up.

Apparently, I couldn't achieve what I did last time. This contest is a major disappointment for me.

There is probably a lot of reason why I couldn't finish it. Lack of sleep, lack of willpower, too ambitious, etc.

Whatever the case, qubodup and I are too crazy. Maybe someday, I'll be able to code a whole RTS game within 48 hours.

At this point, I am just an angry programmer. I don't want to code more.

RubyWeekend 2 Log #6 Time to Panic?

Now, I am almost finished with the resupply mechanism. I just got a few bug to iron out. Once that's done, it is also done for the girl resupply units as well. I will be adding the resupply girl unit after this.

Today is the last day and I still haven't finished all the gameplay work, never mind pathfinding, AI, state of being, etc. And I got about 12 hours left to finish this game. I think it is time to PANIC!(Code frantically)

RubyWeekedn 2 Log #5 Progress So Far

I got point and click system almost done. It is just that it needs to notify the player whether if someone is selected or not. I am working on providing that indicator.

I also worked quite a bit on the energy system and the resupply game mechanic that goes with it. The SupplyBoy just needs to know how to retrieve energy source and then deliver it to the intended destination.

Qubodup worked to get all the units done as well upgrade the map. He is currently working on adding the state of units(KO and asleep).

RubyWeekend 2 Log #4: SWEET!

Qubodup finished his terrain map. It got too much water though. I also have to fix rendering and camera issue with my map engine.

Meanwhile, I finished moving around the map with the mouse functionality. It can even invoke a character to respond to the mouse click.

Now, I am working on point and click so I can move these units around.

RubyWeekend 2 Log #3: Do You Seriously Want to Continue This Insanity? You Cannot Save After This.

Qubodup and I have a discussion on whether or not we should ditch the game design. Since we don't have any better ideas, we decided to say yes to the question of whether or not to continue our insanity.

To compenstate for our insanity, we scale down our RTS design. Many of the features are simply cut outright in favor of completing the game in time. We can alway add them back into the game later. However we will suffer gameplay quality loss.

The biggest obstacle we see is probably pathfinding, since I have no experience in writing such system. It will probably be the most time consuming and difficult envendor that I have to do.

I managed to finish the game's terrain system and the game terrain map is currently being designed. But to me, this is not a lot of progress. I felt that we fell behind already. Completely my fault since I have to code all the features.

RubyWeekend 2 Log #2

I am coding support for terrains so it will be replacing the background image. I also have some problem with git but I figured it out. This terrain system will definitely be merged back into the KRPGE codebase.

The progress is painstakingly slow though.

Qubodup has been working on the unit graphics. They are defintely better than what I can do.

I hope to finish the terrain system pretty soon. If not, qubodup and me are in serious trouble.

RubyWeekend 2 Log #1

The theme is Opposites.

The first hour or so, qubodup and I are coming up with game ideas. Then we settle on a game called Playground Wars.

It is about a bunch of kids, divided among gender line going to war with each other for ownership of the playground. Of course the adults all thought it was a cute game and is oblivious to the seriousness of the war.

You can visit the Playground Wars's github repository if you want to see some of the latest changes.

RubyWeekend Contest Goal

Since the RubyWeekend contest will start in one hour(assuming that the contest organizer is not tardy), I decided to write my goal for this contest.

My goal for the RubyWeekend contest:

1. Create a fun game to play.

2. Not rank dead last.

3. Have lot of fun!

And qubodup is my art partner in this contest. I'll also be blogging this contest the whole way like I did last time.

News: Pyweek 5 and More

Pyweek, the python game contest, will take place in the first week of September. All contestants must submit their games as Free softwares. Registration for the contest will open on August 3, 2007.

The contest is named Pyweek 5. It will be the fifth contest to take place in the history of the Pyweek website.

For more information on the contest, please visit the their website. Here are some pointers:

1. About: Explain the rules and what the pyweek contest is about.
2. Timetable: sch elude for the contest including registration, theme voting, winners announcement and more.

I'll be entering this contest myself. I highly encourage others to do so too. This will increase our expertise as well the number of games written in Python as well increase the number of Free games in the world.

You got pretty much about 1(41 days as of this writing) month to prepare so use your time wisely. I hope to use this time to quickly produce a number of games. In that time, I'll be learning pygame.

Meanwhile, I started a developer log for all my projects. Check there if you want the latest update on what I am working on. This will prevent me from writing all sort of projects post on this site and help me focus on writing more articles that will be of use to game developers.