When there’s a deadline, nothing will work in your favor

Arashi relaxing in a secret glen
Arashi relaxing in a secret glen

Well, the deadling for entering the IGF is tomorrow at 11:59pm Pacific Time.  I am pretty much unable to enter since the first full playable level, the Kasumi Forest, isn’t fully playable, and entry rules state that the game should have one complete level.  Granted I could slap together some shoddy level design and a super kittri for a boss and call it done, but I don’t want to do Shadowdawn Genesis that kind of disservice.

Don’t worry though, I won’t let that slow me down.  I may not be able to go for the IGF prize and any free media attention that goes with it, but there are other things that could work out in the long run, so as long as I put every effort into making this game the best RPG I can.  And with the momentum I’ve gained trying to make this deadline, well let’s just say I can’t help but be excited.  Playing the game so far on the Xbox 360 is itself undescribably amazing, especially since my development PC is no match for it.

I can safely say I’m done drawing trees, but the world needs more details like smaller leafy plants and sticks, that sort of things.  I’ll be spending the rest of my morning working on that while working on the first level. Originally this game was going to be nowhere as deep as it turned out… Arashi was just a solo fighter going through a series of 8 straightforward levels and no real exploration for those who want to expand the story.

Getting through the first level is going to be the hardest, and the first city will be pretty close to that.  But after the first two levels are done, the rest will go by much faster, since I won’t have to generate nearly as many graphics.

About Astrael

A long-time independent game developer that was lucky(?) enough to have grown up with the gaming industry. I am a programmer, a game designer, a concept and pixel artist, a music composer, and a novelist. This has been my dream for as long as I can remember, and I am determined to take advantage of every talent I hope I have to make it happen!

3 thoughts on “When there’s a deadline, nothing will work in your favor

  1. I think you made the right decision, it’s better to wait until you’re 100% happy presenting, than to risk a pretty good but un-finished game. Unless of course you did enter, in which case, good luck! 🙂

    Definately looking good though,and on a completely unrelated topic, as soon as the weather finishes getting cooler, we totally need to set uup an SSIV date online!

    1. No, I graciously let the deadline pass last night and kept working as if nothing happened lol. I’ve been painting more map objects like small plants and beginning to work on signs of civilization, because I noticed I haven’t really drawn any buildings yet. Was doing my 2D research with Suikoden II and Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past to get an idea how buildings should generally look, architecture and perspective-wise. Slowly but surely getting a real game going here! I’m just trying to think of ways to make the first forest level more interesting without losing too much grounding in reality.

      Just let me know when to log on for SSF4 ;p I saw hints that Yun and Yang are getting added with DLC, because the arcade version actually does have them, if that happens I may have to finally give up Ibuki as my main lol. Now that the weather is cooler we should hit up little Tokyo sometime 🙂

  2. Which reminds me, I need to get one of those new tap cards so I can get a day pass, stupid metro changed the whole system! As for SSiV, I’m usually up for wednesdays, still waiting for things to cool down over here (insulation sucks in this house) before I start playing at night again. As for the DLC, they’re really teasing on that, though supposedly the new characters are already in arcades.

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