Hello everyone!
The nearer we get to the end of the year, the more I want to say that this website has grown a great deal over the past few years and that I have learnt a lot. I'm looking forward to revealing more information about our next game, but at the moment Blockrunner is a mess and the code isn't very good—admitting that is something I have to do. I began the project four years ago with the intention of finishing it in a few months, but that turned into a year and then beyond—indeed, it became a huge gap that lasted a lot longer than I had ever planned. The whole game went through an identity crisis and I really wasn't sure about where I was heading with it.
For as long as I can remember I've wanted to make games and create worlds, and this venture has been quite a journey. Yet I must admit that life has not been very good of late, with everything changing so quickly as I try to work out what I really want to do with this hobby and where to take it from here. The business aspect seems like a completely different kind of puzzle, particularly as I'm opening a new online store. I don't actually know how to promote any of this—traditional advertisements seem devoid of spirit, and most current marketing techniques simply don't fit my way of thinking. I'd much prefer to just build some interesting things and let them speak for themselves, but here we are. Adding to the demands of development and getting everything started, the extra trouble of working out the outreach side has been a real pain.
When you look back at all the progress that has been made, it's astonishing to realise how much my workflow and skills have developed since the very beginning. I really wish that I could completely restart Blockrunner with all the knowledge I have now, since examining the underlying code shows many poor design decisions that were made at the start when I was still getting to know the ins and outs of things. The process of going through that messy code and reworking the systems I created years ago has taught me more than any textbook, even though it did involve having to deal with the consequences of those early shortcuts. Actually managing to untangle the old mechanics while at the same time keeping the core game unchanged has really been half the struggle, but the satisfaction of seeing it all come together more than makes up for the exhaustion.
It wasn't always an easy process, and there were many weeks when looking at empty editor screens seemed completely pointless. However, it was only by overcoming those obstacles that the vision was finally realised. I'm currently finishing up the work to make everything stable, refined, and ready for launch. Furthermore, I'm excited to announce that a playable demo of the new game will be released in the coming weeks so that you can finally try it out. Keep an eye on this thing because the final release is just around the corner, and I can't wait to finally share the complete experience with all of you.
View Original blog post here: https://blog.mrstubby.dev/state-of-the-game-and-everything-else/