#16 | GDD & Plans

Hello!

After two-ish weeks of writing the new Game Design Document (GDD) between work and personal affairs, I've finished it. Today was my last day at work, so I'll be on vacation until January 5th. I'll have plenty more time to work on this project.

Currently, the document contains 60 tabs/subtabs with all the necessary information on what features I want to include in this game. I've made the decision to keep this document private, as it'll contain sensitive information regarding commission payments to artists and asset creators. I will leave the previous GDD up, for now.

With that information out of the way, it's time to discuss my development plan. Firstly, I'll explain the terminology I will use.

Systems are groups of mechanics that make up a feature. For example, player movement and shooting are mechanics that make up the Player Controller System. A feature can be either a system, graphics/animations, or audio/music.

So far, I want the first public release version (v1.0) to have these features:

• Player Controller System
• Enemy Controller System
• Weapon System
• Spawning System
• Score System
• Shop System
• ATK/DMG System
• GUI System
• Basic graphics

This seems like a lot of stuff, but I've already built all of it before. This time, I will be optimizing and properly structuring my codebase. I will also retain an internal documentation document, so I don't get lost if I need to take a break.

As for post-release versions, here's the feature plan:

• Quest System
• Animation System
• Save/Load System
• Scoreboard System
• Settings System
• Improved Graphics
• Animations
• Audio/Music
• New Maps

After taking a break for over 10 months, my inspiration for coming back was seeing a former teacher of mine's progress on his game. He's been working on his game for almost 4 years now, going through constant iteration and never giving up. That's very admirable, and I strive to do similar.

I have a lot of faith in this project, but I also have to be realistic. I know that I will be swamped with regular life duties (work, friends, family), so as long as I follow my plan to document all my progress, I will be able to finish this. I've learned plenty from the first run, and have spent a few weeks researching more efficient ways to write my code. This project is ambitious, but, I can make it easier by compartmentalizing everything into steps.

Another thing that I learned about was how to use Github for proper version control. I will no longer need to have 1GB+ zips of my project files, and I'll easily be able to revert changes if something breaks, alongside having even more visual documentation.

As of now, I don't intend to create my own assets. I'll happily commission others to make art, animations, and audio, until I learn the skills to do it myself. I want to learn how to do everything eventually, so I can gain more skills and cut down my financial costs. That also applies to many other aspects of my personal life, but that's a different story. Check out my Finance Planner (WIP) to get a glimpse into how you can accurately budget and save money.

That concludes my ramblings for today. If you've read until the end, cheers.

Thanks for reading!