October 12th, 2012 Goals (Redone!)

I'm redoing my goals for the day today to make them much more realistic! I can still get a lot done, and I still have gotten a good amount done this week really (especially with taking half a day off). I may not have actually knocked out the things I said I would, but I gave some horribly unrealistic goals toward the beginning especially. I forgot all about, you know, having to code everything off the bat!

I began this week with the save file select screen done; since then I've completed the setup screen (including figuring out how to print the certificate and customize it), created the preIntroLevel, the introLevel and coded most of the major functions of the game. I set up the popups (with the exception of the images for the critters I haven't gotten made yet) and coded them as well. Not too shabby for 3.5 days of work ;)

Goals:

11:30   Blog

12:30   Create the graphics for the ABC and set it up. Make sure that unhelped critters show up as invisible (1 hr)

1:30     Once the art is done, set up a tutorial to show off what can be done in the ABC and describe it. (1 hr)

2:30     Allow the player to click on or bump up to the saved critters and view their info. (1 hr)

3:30     Allow the player to go "out the door" by clicking it or bumping up to it. This should bring up the popup that displays the level select screen, which also needs to be created (frowny with a red background pre-saved, smiley with a green background once saved) (1 hr)

5:30     (LEVEL ONE) The genius chess player in the classroom. Also make sure that once the player goes to use the level select popup again, that critter is shown as helped (2 hrs)

7:30     (LEVEL THREE) The learning-disabled critter at the whiteboard - the first timed level, but uses the same background graphics (2 hrs)

Goals: October 11th, 2012

Day four, there are a total of 25.25 hours of work on this list... If I can do 12 today and 12 tomorrow then I actually have it all done!!! Or if I can get 10 today and 10 tomorrow I'll be within my goal of 5 hours shy of getting the week done (which would leave only the post-game comic that I probably won't do, the post-game credits and the hand-me-down clothing critter level!)

Goals:

11:15     Blog Post

====== BEHIND THREE DAYS!!!!! ======

12:45       Create the post-intro-level screen (special for the intro screen, since it leads to the ABC for the first time and has multiple helped critters). (1.5 hr)

====== BEHIND TWO DAYS!!!!! ======

2:45     Create the graphics for the ABC and set it up (2 hrs)

3:45     Once the art is done, set up a tutorial to show off what can be done in the ABC and describe it. (1 hr)

4:00     Each critter should be set there, but the ones who aren't helped yet should be set to invisible. (.25 hr)

5:00     Allow the player to click on or bump up to the saved critters and view their info. (1 hr)

6:00     Allow the player to go "out the door" by clicking it or bumping up to it. This should bring up the popup that displays the level select screen, which also needs to be created (1 hr)

8:00     The genius chess player in the classroom (2 hrs)

====== BEHIND ONE DAY!!!!! ======

11:00   The wheelchair-ridden girl in the mall (3 hrs)

1:00am     The purple critter in the lunchroom (2 hrs)

3:00     The Critter Crushing champion in the Critter Crushing fields. (2 hrs)

====== TODAY!!!!! ======

5:00   The learning-disabled critter at the whiteboard (whatever classrooms use now) (2 hrs)

6:00     The gay critters in the mall (1 hr)

7:00     The cheerleaders in the Critter Crushing fields (1 hr)

9:30     The hand-me-down clothing critter in the bus (2.5 hrs)

11:00     Create the post-game comic (Rubberkid and the other ABC members help rescue the whole school and convert the bullies!) (1.5 hr)

12:30pm     Create the post-game credits. Have it show the player's Dedication at the end with another chance to print. (1.5 hr)

October 9th, 2012 To Dos

Day two of the week and already about 2 hours behind... But I can get it back! WHOOOOOO!!! Although that has me working until almost 9... And I forgot to include any kind of lunch time all week... But I'll get there by the end of the week at the worst :)

Goals:

10:30     Blog Post

=========== BEHIND!!!!! ===========

11:00     Give the player an empty classroom (create the normal classroom but with no desks) to play around in and learn the controls. The SPACE key or a click on the door will let them begin the real game. (1 hr - includes coding in the controls)

12:00     Create the intro level. (1 hr)

1:30       Create the post-intro-level screen (special for the intro screen, since it leads to the ABC for the first time and has multiple helped critters). (1.5 hr)

=========== TODAY!!!!! ===========

3:30     Create the graphics for the ABC and set it up (2 hrs)

4:30     Once the art is done, set up a tutorial to show off what can be done in the ABC and describe it. (1 hr)

4:45     Each critter should be set there, but the ones who aren't helped yet should be set to invisible. (.25 hr)

5:45     Allow the player to click on or bump up to the saved critters and view their info. (1 hr)

6:45     Allow the player to go "out the door" by clicking it or bumping up to it. This should bring up the popup that displays the level select screen, which also needs to be created (1 hr)

8:45     The genius chess player in the classroom (2 hrs)

October 8th Results

So, how did day 1 of publicly announcing goals and going for them go? Well... Good and bad...

On the UP side I managed to get a few things done, including the mouse/keyboard choice for the player that I'd forgotten to make before. I also did a good job (I think) on the Pre Level screen, and it's almost done! About 20 mins or so tomorrow will hammer that out :)

The DOWN side is that I didn't get the intro level done, I didn't get the post-intro level screen done and I didn't get the Anti-Bullying Club started either... However, with the classroom image that I made today, those things will be quite a bit easier to do!

I bought myself a reward for the end of the week if I think I do well enough, we'll see if I can still earn it after today ;)

Here's the majority of the work I did today, visually!

This screen was already almost done, but I did add the ability to choose mouse or keyboard controls (although for now it will only be keyboard for the game until it's all done; I'll add the mouse controls in later)

This screen I put together entirely today, and the classroom is a large part of the game. It is used for the pre-intro level, the intro level, the Anti-Bullying Club and two of the main levels as well.

Adventures of Rubberkid (GOALS) Oct 8-12 2012

I remembered yesterday how well I do when I'm challenged to do something - dares, fellow game developers all pushing to make a game in the same time (Ludum Dare and the like), any kind of competition really - and I realized that there really aren't any long-term challenges for small game developers. I have friends who make games, but most of them make HUGE games; that'd be like comparing my half-mile walk to a marathon runner...

Every day that I work, I use Evernote to track my goals for the day, and use it like a little journal... Which is fine, but it's not public. I figured that maybe if I make my goals much more public, I'll get behind them a bit more and really give every day my all! So here goes my first week of publicly declaring my goals! I'll give the whole week all in one blog post, and then post each night to show how it went.

Just a note: my goal is to start work each day by 11 and finish around 7. You'll notice that I go very late on Monday...

Monday, October 8th

With any luck, I'll get the menus completely done (aside from the credits), the intro comic and the intro level itself.

12:00     Set up the goals for the week and post the blog

1:00       Create the setup screen. Allow the player to choose whether they want to use the mouse or keyboard to play and print their dedication once it's done if they want. (http://blog.gbala.com/2009/04/print-movie-clip-in-flash.html) (1 hr)

3:00       Create the comic strip that shows Rubberkid, sick of being insulted, and convinces them to become Rubberkid. (2 hrs)

4:00       Give the player an empty classroom (create the normal classroom but with no desks) to play around in and learn the controls. The SPACE key or a click will let them begin the real game. (1 hr - includes coding in the controls)

5:00       Create the intro level. (1 hr)

6:30       Create the post-intro-level screen (special for the intro screen, since it leads to the ABC for the first time and has multiple helped critters). (1.5 hr)

8:30       Create the graphics and set it up (2 hrs)

Tuesday, October 9th

The Anti-Bullying Club will be set up, AND the first REAL level should be done too (the Chess Player)

1:00     Create the graphics for the ABC and set it up (2 hrs)

2:00     Once the art is done, set up a tutorial to show off what can be done in the ABC and describe it. (1 hr)

2:15     Each critter should be set there, but the ones who aren't helped yet should be set to invisible. (.25 hr)

3:15     Allow the player to click on or bump up to the saved critters and view their info. (1 hr)

4:15     Allow the player to go "out the door" by clicking it or bumping up to it. This should bring up the popup that displays the level select screen, which also needs to be created (1 hr)

6:15     The genius chess player in the classroom (2 hrs)

Wednesday, October 10th

Knocking out four more levels, bringing the grand total to 5 out of 8!

2:00     The wheelchair-ridden girl in the mall (3 hrs)

4:00     The purple critter in the lunchroom (2 hrs)

6:00     The Critter Crushing champion in the Critter Crushing fields. (2 hrs)

7:00     The learning-disabled critter at the whiteboard (whatever classrooms use now) (2 hrs) - START (only do an hour!)

Thursday, October 11th

Finishing the rest of the levels, the post-game comic and the post-game credits (not including the music/SFX credits of course) and therefore everything in the game except for replacing the art for the mall, bus and critter crushing fields and the audio! :)

12:00   The learning-disabled critter at the whiteboard (whatever classrooms use now) (2 hrs) - FINISH (Should be abour an hour)

1:00     The gay critters in the mall (1 hr)

2:00     The cheerleaders in the Critter Crushing fields (1 hr)

4:30     The hand-me-down clothing critter in the bus (2.5 hrs)

6:00     Create the post-game comic (Rubberkid and the other ABC members help rescue the whole school and convert the bullies!) (1.5 hr)

7:30     Create the post-game credits. Have it show the player's Dedication at the end with another chance to print. (1.5 hr)

Friday, October 12th

It's all about music today! Have to find music and SFX for the game; no specific deadlines since I know music and SFX hunting can't really be rushed...

Well, there it is... Wish me luck!