When I finished my long list of technical upgrades for the game, it was a great relief, and the completion of a major milestone for myself and Vantage! Of course I will always be upgrading and working on the framework, code and game mechanics constantly, however I am now into the next development phase of the game, which I am calling "Exhaustive Play Testing".
What Does That Even Mean?!?
Well to make a long story short, it means I am now focusing on game play, player experience, and of course and most importantly, the "fun" factor! I will be testing the game by playing it as players would be playing it, and continue to develop the game and improve upon it starting from the player's perspective.
Instead of jumping deep into code first, I am now at a point where I play the game myself, and continue my development process from the "top down".
The "exhaustive play testing" phrase explains how I am going about this. Which is: Play the game! And test game mechanics over, and over, and over, and over........ and over again! As I do this, I get a new sense of what the player experiences, and I continue to improve the game from this perspective. For example, I will be crafting sharpened stones over and over again. And this means hundreds of times! I will get a sense of what game play mechanics need to be developed based off of this.
What Does This Mean For the Future of the Game?
I don't want people to get too excited about what I am about to say, but this is technically the last major development phase before I consider doing a full release of the game. But keep in mind, this is VERY SLOW and LONG process. I said I will be making hundreds of sharpened stones, then I must do something similar for EVERY craft in the game, and with every skill and item!
I will also be focusing on adding more content to the game as well. More crafts, skills, and items. The great thing about this phase of development is that game play and content is now the main focus again! But again, code framework and stability is of course a massive focus, and always will be.
Also, the plan is to get the final, more professional artwork into the game to replace all my "programmer art"!
Just wanted to keep you updated!
See you in the world!