A Big Yay

Posted by oddbob on May 20, 2006 · Lovingly Filed Under Development Log 
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VI New Shot

For some odd reason a trip out to the dullards of Birmingham this week has got me reinvigorated on working on VI - I doubt it’ll last too long, but I pulled an all nighter on it last night and whacked together 15 more levels.

A lot of people have commented on how they much prefered the vector look, so taking all the bug fixes and stuff that come with the last build and shoehorning the graphics from the older version to see what they looked like was first order of the day.

I must admit that part of the reason I got a little bit down on the old Vector look was because when I started writing the thing (nearly 12 months ago now) there wasn’t actually that many vector styled arena shooters out there… then along came Geometry Wars 2 and well, I think we all know the story from there on in. Its took a long time to bash out the feelings that I couldn’t compete with how gorgeous some other people had made their games look, which quite possibly comes down to a lack of confidence in what I actually produce.

I know for certain that when I actually look at what I’ve put together for VI, it impresses me and part the reason it takes me so long to get anything done on it is that I can’t stop playing it. Of course, the latter is the upshot of writing the game that you do want to play! I have an intense detest of cockiness though, and I guess that manifests itself in the obligatory “there’s no bigger critic than yourself” ethos… it wouldn’t matter if 500 people told me I’d made the best game in the known universe (if ever that were to happen) I’d still be able to nitpick and find flaws in it.

The quest for “perfection” has certainly been one of the main drags with VI and distancing yourself from your own code is perhaps the only way to overcome this. I’m trying really hard this time to just cruise along and not fall into the tweaking trap so that I can finish the darn thing and get it out of the door once and for all, close this chapter and move along to some of the other idea’s I have… and hopefully getting Devil Rides In out aroundabout the same time as VI is finished.

I digress…

The vector graphics are now back in, along with some new backdrops and the touched up effects from the new build and I’m quite impressed with how it looks now. I don’t doubt there’ll be some more taming to be done on it, but the level building is cruising along slowly but nicely for the past 24 hours or so. 15 more levels is more than I’ve managed in a long long time, so I’m hopeful and for the first time in a while can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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