Programming Vlog 0x04 - Reinventing the wheel

I'm making a game for the ZX Spectrum Next using C. This is my ongoing devlog on the process.

In this episode I waffle on about the general aim of what I'm trying to do and some of the code I have written so far.

Chapters
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Intro 00:00
My game engine design 05:09
What I'm trying to do 06:15
The state machine 09:42
High score table code 10:33
Text printing 11:04
Next to do 12:31

[paulklasmann]

Looking forward to see your developments.

[retrotechnerd]

Seem to remember you making a “I want to make a video game but don’t know how to design one” video about 6 months ago. I suggest you team up with a game designer who can decide on the features that will make a fun game so you can focus on the code which seems to be your strength and interest. Making YouTube videos will definitely take time and attention away from the actual game development so you may want to think about what your motivation is for making the videos. Generally I think people like to watch videos that teach them how to do something. If your primary goal is to make a game then maybe forget the videos. The game outline, feature list, game flow flowchart, module list and pseudo-code should come before writing a single line of code or designing the graphics and other assets. Those are my suggestions for how to actually get your game finished although I think your question was actually asking what you should put in your videos. An alternative to teaming up with a designer is to find an existing game you think would be fun to develop and re-design it with new and different features so it’s not just a straight remake. If you really want to design the game yourself and insist on starting with the code and graphics with no clear game outline brief then I would suggest just making your game as modular as possible keeping detailed records of the variables being used and adding features as you go along. If it’s a driving game, design the car, the track, movement mechanics, collision detection, player input, main menu, high score table etc all as individual separate modules one by one and add features as you think them up. Not an ideal workflow but it’s an option.

[arronshutt]

Could you not convince your partner to come on and terrorise the audience? ;)