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It's over, I've finally completed my from scratch game project!

The final stretch has been far from glorious.

Rather than making features, it has been nonstop bug fixing.

To reach feature complete, I started just writing down non critical bugs rather than fixing them.

But after feature complete, I started burning down that list.

And now that bug list is done!

The game has been added as a free game on itch.io.

https://enigma-tutorials.itch.io/space-battle-arcade

There's probably a few more bugs that I've yet to discover.

I'll fix them as I find them.

I originally thought that this project would only take about 6 months of time.

That was an exceptionally bad estimate.

Two years later I finally finished the game.

The game would have taken much longer to complete.

But at the 1 year mark, I started cutting corners to complete the game.

I needed to bring this project to a close.

But there was still a surprising amount of work left to be done with the game.

Much of that work not actually being related to the game.

Such as making devblogs, screenshots, social media posts.

The game isn't the most impressive work of art I could imagine.

But it did provide many learning experiences.

I'm a much better c++ programmer now.

I've learned first hand why some code patterns are problematic.

I've built a framework on which I had to use to build the game, which exposed many lessons on good API design.

I'm not sure if I would recommend a project where you make the engine from scratch.

For me it was worth it.

But if your goal isn't to learn about making engines, it is probably better to just use an existing engine.

There's just so much work involved in doing everything from scratch.

So I guess I would recommend knowing what your goals are before embarking on this journey.

Because, despite what it might seem like, I doubt it will be a quick project.

Thanks for watching updates!

Cheers!

5 likes 3 comments

Comments

churropalma@hotmail.com

Respect, my dude. The game looks neat and crisp. Probably still needs some roughing around the edges, but just to see a game finished in c++ fills me with inspiration.

May 09, 2022 03:51 AM
alexpanter

Congratulations! I think there's a good lesson here to be learned for most of us: Imagine being an architect designing a building. Instead of going for a glorious skyscraper it's much better to aim for a mediocre 2-story house; because at least, there will be a finished building.
Perhaps, even, might I apply there word “agile” here, though overly abused..

If you learned something that's good. But even failures are a good source of wisdom - perhaps even the best! But in my opinion, the most important factor is that you enjoyed the process. Life is short and full of uncertainty, so the best we can do is enjoy the moment.

Sorry if that got a bit philosophical! ? I'm thoroughly impressed with your work! Keep on it!

May 10, 2022 04:55 PM
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