I'm Back!

It's been a looooong time since posted anything here or anywhere really.  One of the reasons for that was because I've been working on this game while still having a day job and having life stuff in between. The other reason was due to the fact that I really didn't feel comfortable with the idea of the game. In fact, I didn't feel like I had any idea what I was doing with the game. 

I started the game by exploring different mechanics which seemed interesting in theory but none of them felt like they were doing anything interesting. Even after coming up with new game mechanic ideas with a friend I felt like something was still lacking although I really got excited at first. I didn't know what was wrong with game but something didn't feel right and I got less and less motivated to continue working on the project as the days went by.

The Turning Point

Then came a very productive and teaching weekend with some great friends who made me realize a few things:

• Start Simple - I was focusing too much on the mechanics, thinking how I can combine as many as I can to keep things interesting, getting things more complicated and leading the game pretty much nowhere.  What I should do instead from now on, is keep things simple, start with base mechanics that are fun to interact with on their own and only then start mixing mechanics and build on top of that an advanced behavior to make things more interesting and even challenging. 
• Connect with The Story and The World - At first I was thinking, the story comes later, it doesn't really matter as long as you have solid mechanics. After talking to my friends, they made me realize there's an importance to bringing the game some background before getting started. If I know the world and the different elements of the game, I can then easily find a way to embed the mechanics within the story, making things feel natural and fun :)
• Relying on Trustworthy Friends - The best lesson of them all was realizing that friends can help too! Although you decided to start this game development journey on your own, it doesn't mean you can't bring people in along the way and hear what they have to say and even brainstorm. In fact, it could make things even more interesting if you get to hear some authentic feedback from your friends, even if it means dropping some hard truths. 

What's Next?

Well. after that weekend the wheels in my brain started turning again and I began to sketch some new ideas, wrote the overall story(will be shared soon in the page description) and actually got some ideas for core mechanics of the game. First of all, I decided to change the punching behavior and build around that the rest of the mechanics the player could interact with. The punch now becomes a separate object as soon as it's released and with a push of a button the player can call it back, opening some interesting game mechanic opportunities.  I also came up with a structure that will allow me to stay focused but still keep thinking on how to make the game even more interesting without going too crazy, keeping things manageable.

Progress

For the MVP part of the game , I came up with 4 main mechanics that would work with Punchy's new fist behavior.

Breakables

With the new fist behavior there's a meaning to the direction of the fist. Therefore I made this breakable mechanic which can be set to break from any direction or a specific one.

Pushables

This mechanic reacts to the direction of the punch as well but it's instead moving towards a certain direction instead of breaking.

Passables

This one also responds to direction of fist, however it launches the fist further in the relevant direction.

It also has a variation in which it can be moved as soon as a switch is pressed.

Platforms

This mechanic doesn’t directly interact with the fist but I decided to use it not only as a lift but also as a bridge and/or door.

The great thing about these mechanics is that now I can tie them with the world of the story and replace their sprites with something that makes more sense in Punchy's world.

That's it for this entry. I hope I wasn't too confusing and that you like what you see :)