What's Gong On? -An Update

Hello again!

It's been ages since our last post, and we've been through a lot and almost nothing at the same time. The last anyone heard anything from Puddygum was that we had started creating a block game (named "Block Project" at the time) and we held a fundraiser for recording equipment. This got us the equipment we needed, which was a big step. (Thanks to everyone who participated-- you're the BEST).

Once we had the needed equipment, Devon Stern and I got down to business on trying to figure out how we could make this game everything it could be. We threw all kinds of awesome ideas at it. 

We had group discussions about story ideas, I googled reference images and created 3D level prototypes for the different areas of the game. We created music and even got another ambitious composer-- Kade Donovan-- on board to help with that. Devon mashed the keyboard with his programming powers until his brain fell apart. We were working hard, and that felt amazing!

This went on for a few months. We knew we were onto something great.

Then we discovered something that brought everything to a halt. 

Our game sucked.

We ran with the big picture in mind from the very beginning, imagining how it would turn out, and it all seemed to fit perfectly! Until we actually tried to build it.

As to be expected with bigger ideas and with little experience, we ran into many problems. Not just problems that would turn out to be small fixes, but problems that would dramatically change how the original idea of the game worked, how the levels were designed (to some extent), and putting to waste a whole lot of programming labor.

With a lot of discussion on how we could improve the core gameplay mechanics to make the game feel good to play and that didn't demand potentially hours of programming attention for each obstacle, we found ourselves quite burned out and ready for a fresh start, taking into account of what we did wrong and learning where our focus and attention should have been and in what order.

After a number of lengthy discussions on improving the feeling and controls of the game, studying each obstacle, and defining what programming needed to be completed in order to give it the needed feel, we found ourselves burned out and ready for a fresh start. We studied our mistakes, learned where our attention had been lacking, and concluded:

We need to create a minimum viable product.

A minimum viable product is the bare working bones of a system. Nicknamed MVP, it is used as a learning and development tool for teams, and also as a base for a successful game. As Leonardo DaVinci studied cadavers for the accuracy of his work, so we needed to study the very most basic structures of a game in order to achieve excellence.

Devon and I decided that we would give ourselves a week or two to wrap up and polish what we have, and put the project on the shelf for now. We will likely return to it when we possess the needed knowledge and skills.

So here it is! You can download our project here (for Windows and Mac computers):

https://puddygum.itch.io/blocks-prototype

Alright, so now what?

We thought back to what our initial purpose was in setting out to make this cool block project, which was: to practice teamwork and collaboration, practice and learn new skills, and practice making good games aiming to inspire or bring meaning to the player.

Since this felt important, we thought it best to dump the bucket of problems we'd created and steer our focus back on our original reason for creating anything in the first place; and this time, completely focus on creating one minimum viable product each month for a while. 

A simple, one-level game, including only core gameplay mechanics and media content necessary to deliver the idea, as polished as we can get it within that month time-frame, and out the door to the public to play, tear apart, and enjoy.

Eliminating scope creep, completing these projects early, and getting them out there will help us develop good teamwork and efficiency, while still gaining the experience we need to build up to bigger, more complete games in the future.

We will be updating the blog as we develop these tiny titles, and would love feedback on story, gameplay, et cetera. We would love to invite you to be a part of things and to feel like you can be a part of our journey, whatever your skill sets.

See you soon!

- Joseph Burgan and the Puddygum Team