Potential Games

I haven’t written a single line of code for a month (for the first time in a many years). For what do I put myself through this withdrawal? For the potential player, and for the love of the game! My development philosophy for this project is:

• 40% for the love of the code
• 40% for the love of the game
• 20% for the necessities of life

It’s that last bullet that becomes increasingly important over time. The cold hard reality is that I’m developing MMORPG on a 5-year-old computer with a 17-inch CRT monitor — ouch! (…not to mention secondary concerns like food and heat…)

Actually, this past month of game design focus has been extremely valuable. Lesson learned: I should have finalized the game design months ago. I got wrapped up in that first bullet, but developing the Potential Engine was certainly time well spent. The scant gameplay available in Alpha(2) provided for essential testing of the Potential Engine and fundamental game logic. Many thanks to the hour(s) put in by the Alpha tester(s).

In February I will finalize the MMORPG game design on paper and begin implementation/integration with the engine. Soon there will be more to do than click on spiders.