Grabbing time for game programming

So, I want to program a game. I choose a modest project (a simple game of memory) that will not require a lot of work. I have an already completed game, so I will take advantage of this by reusing some parts of it to have a working base. My ad-hoc framework for writing my game without worrying about the physical platform (android app or Java Swing program on computer) is stable enough for now.

Now, all I need is taking some times to complete this project.

I will take advantage of the fact that I often wake up early in the morning, usually one hour before my baby : that's 20 minutes up to one hour of work before dealing with diapers and milk bottles =) . It will not be every day though, as I become exhausted through the week and wake up later and later. And I have other matters to take care of in the morning. Anyway, I can work on my project at least one-two hours a week.

I don't always need a computer : brainstorming and some research can be done with a pencil and a notebook, while commuting and from time to time at work. Occasionnaly, i can write a few lines and send a mail to myself.

In the end, in order to be able to complete the project, I should plan my work (roadmap). I believe that to succeed, I should plan weeks by weeks, defining sets of tasks small enough to be completed in a week. According to my plan, I should finish near the end of October, if all goes well. It is quite tight though, so I will have to avoid slacking too much !

To keep motivation, I printed my schedule, and play with some stamps as soon as I completed a task. I have a stamp for finishing a task in time, one for finishing late (after the planned week for the task), and one for finishing early (before the planned week).

If I could work full time on this, I estimate that it would have taken between 5 and 10 days of work.

Anyway, last week I could complete all the planned tasks :

1. Initializing the maven project (parent project, game code, android app, swing app). I could duplicate the previous game, edit the pom files, and check in Eclipse. The java packages are created, but there is no code yet : that will start on week 2-3.
   
2. Drafting the cards graphics assets and application icons. I use svg, convert and assemble to png sprite sheets for different screen sizes using shell scripts and a makefile to generate my assets.