• Register

Settle your people on fertile land, gather resources and construct your village, as the commander of a Bronze Age civilization in the Near East. Inspired by the rise and fall of historical civilizations, you must manage the delicate balance between food production and the maintenance of your army, for a decrease in food sources can push even the mightiest of civilizations to collapse. You'll take part in epic battles over fertile land and resources, use food surplus as a currency to train armies and acquire new technologies, and mine metal to equip your army with copper and bronze equipment.

Post feature Report RSS Dev Diary 1: Activities to help me finish my game

I've thought about developing an RTS game for 16 years, and I've made numerous attempts since then. This time I've implemented a good foundation. How will I finish it?

Posted by on

I've thought about developing an RTS game for 16 years.

And I've made numerous attempts, in both 2D and 3D.

Every time I endure on a new attempt I rediscover how much work it is.

However, this time I've gotten pretty far. I've implemented resource gathering, construction of buildings, selection of units, pathfinding, researching technologies, training units, warfare, ranged units, and farms.

There's still a lot to do, but I feel the foundation is pretty sweet!

To help me finish this game I'm currently focusing on three activities:

1. Scoping
2. IndieDB
3. Playable builds

1. Scoping

In the progress image below, at the top of the image, you can see the initial super-complicated UI that I designed.

Screen showing early progress

I'm always in the process of simplifying all aspects of the game concept. You know, stripping away all the 'junk' until I get to that beautiful core.

This process helps to make the game more focused and fun, but it also narrows down the scope. Implementing fewer 'not-so-fun' features means I reduce the production time.

Here is a screen of the current build:

Screenshot of current build 9

The number of resources and stats to keep up with has drastically reduced.

2. IndieDB

So far I've been mostly relying on internal forces to push for development. However disciplined and passionate I am about this project, and especially since I have kids and day-jobs to manage, my internal motivation sometimes need a little push.

Therefore, I decided to add this IndieDB page. Hopefully this will lead to some external forces helping me with continuing development.

3. Playable builds

Last year I made a playable build and e-mailed it to friends. My friends were expecting the build, so I didn't want to let them down. It also gave me valuable feedback. I want to continue to share playable builds.

I will let you know when I have a new playable build in sight.

If you got this far, have a nice day and thanks for reading!

Post a comment

Your comment will be anonymous unless you join the community. Or sign in with your social account: