Have you ever seen one of those Kung Fu movies where there’s a fight on the top of wooden poles?
There’s one underdog has no weapon and the other guy has a sword. The guy swings his sword, the underdog leaps up in the air and barely lands on top of the poles?
Well, right now, I feel like the underdog! I’ve been in my 2-3 week “get as much as I can into the game” development sprint. I’ve been trucking along, and then a different project came in, (the sword). I needed to work on that project for almost a week (the leap up). Now, this week I’m jumping back into Burger Ninja (trying to land). Those poles are awfully shaky and I need to land it!
This reason it feels shaky is because this coming week of development is really going to make or break this game. I’m working on all the mechanics. I have a list, but I have a nagging feeling that all this stuff is too much, it feels unfocused, and unbalanced. It feels like it’s NOT DESIGNED. If this stuff doesn’t work, this project won’t come together. I know it! UGH!
By doing a lot of the design upfront, I thought I might actually AVOID being in this situation again. Just the fact that I’m back here again proves that EVERY game has this phase? I guess my last game Mario Jumpcade was the exception, not the rule. That game was WAY easier! I was just cranking so hard to just get in as much as possible, but all the rules were clear. It was easier because it was based on an EXISTING thing. I could pull from DECADES of balanced Mario games.
Burger Ninja is different, it’s new. It needs to be WORKED. This is why it feels like a Duan Qiao fight (or “bridging poles fight”). Being in midair, on top of these poles and trying to land, is just not the place I wanted to be at this time.
Well, I guess the only thing I can do at this point is try to rely on all of my training to land on this pole. All the years of strict teaching by my sensei with come to my rescue—too bad I have NO TRAINING! I’ve never been taught how to do ANY OF THIS! I’m just a solo dev figuring it out as I go! Granted I always get good advice from my friend Mike Mika, but in the end, this is all on me. Well, here’s to hoping that by some miracle I land this…
If you don’t hear from me in 2 weeks, look for my impaled boy at the bottom of the ravine…