Start at the Beginning
So, a bit of history about myself. By profession I am sadist, I work with Java (Java 7… damn I want lambdas). It earns the money sure, and Stockholm syndrome really does help cope with it; I rather like reflection and since I started I feel I’ve learnt how to weild the flacid stick of celeraly that is Java. However, by education, I am C++ games programmer! It’s a far cry form the stagnant server side (stop alliterating) stuff I work with to pay the bills, and I most certainly want to get back into games.
Sure I could have kept at it, but what can I say, laziness sets in. Then you start to realise it’s not quite as second nature as you like to pretend it still is. So, it’s back to basics for me!
Keep It Simple Stupid
Back to basics I say. What makes a bit of software, a ‘game’… no, I’m not going to get all fussy and debate this; as far as I’m concerned, for my purposes, a game is something interactive, that you can win or loose. If you just play with it, yeah OK, it might be a game, but it’s more a ‘toy’ really. Frankly, not too bothered about these technicalities, what I’m trying to do is define a really simple specification for a game.
I am going to make a basic game, it’s going to terrible, both as a game and from an implementation point of view. But it will with out a doubt be, at least technically, a game. And that’s how you name stuff by the way!
Technically A Game
So, basic game right? Not too hard! I suppose games a meant to have an elevator pitch, here’s mine; “It’s Technically A Game” (shrug shoulders). It will do the following…
- Keyboard interaction - Doom rocked without a mouse
- No sound - Just put your own background music on
- No saving or loading - not that there will be progress worth saving
- No fancy graphics - like flat coloured cubes
- Simple to win - get ten points
- Simple to get points - move to cube
- Simple to lose - run out of time
Oh, and yeah, it’s only going to target me. If others happen to be able to take the code and compile for them selves to also run, good for them, but I don’t care if they can’t
Go Go Go!
So, a sort of clear plan… Nothing stopping me really. Let’s not dwell too much on the fact that I’ve spent the last hour or so writing this instead of writing this ‘basic’ game.