Lessons Moving Forward

So in the last few posts I've been laying out what has been happening with me and some realizations I've made of my past projects. The fun part is learning from the past to plan the future.

So what are my new goals?

1. Faster Prototyping. While I have had fun creating my own tech I need to work on getting a faster prototyping loop going. I still haven't fully decided what that loop looks like but I'm working on figuring it out. I'm playing around with Silverlight right now to see how that is as a toolset. Ideally I'd use flash but since Silverlight has a free beta out right now I'm using that. Why Adobe doesn't put out an "Express" edition of their development tools is beyond me. I have no desire to invest time in a 30 day demo because I just can't be sure I'll have time in the next 30 days to really play around with it.

I'm also open to using something like the garage games tech or even my own existing engine if I determine that is what will work best for me. I'm not looking for something new for the sake of new. I'm looking for something to speed up development.

2. Broader Reach. I really want to be able to target the browser as well as the desktop. Using silverlight or flash would let me do this. At the very least I want to use a tech that allows me to target the Mac platform somehow.

3. More Innovation. The whole goal of faster prototyping is to be able to try out new game ideas. I'm not going to be successful making yet another match 3 game.

4. Have fun. This should really be goal number 1. I want to make sure I enjoy making games. I have for most of my life and I want to keep it that way.