Another week, another State of the Game!
So what happened this week?
Well right after last week’s snapshot build I released 2 more, making for 3 builds in 3 days! These new builds included various bug fixes and solved issues that people discovered in the original snapshot.
Which actually brings me to the point of this post, polish.
What is polish?
Polish, is where you take something that has a solid foundation, like a rough diamond or gemstone and you continue to work on it, smoothing out all the rough edges, in finer and finer detail, until it is perfect.
In game development, this is what takes something from being a prototype, that ‘works’ and turns it into a game.
So why am I talking about polish? Because I feel that the core of M.A.V. is at a state that I know it is solid. Because of this, I am at a bit of a fork in the road. I can either continue to add new, but unpolished features, or I can take some time to straighten up and polish everything that is in the game right now.
I feel, it is the right time to polish. Now this doesn’t mean NO new features, as some of the polish things are kind of features into and of themselves, but it does mean no new major features, at least for now.
In the end, I think this will be better for the game and the community, as a polished game experience is easier for people to get into, is easier for people to share, and it is much easier to present. Plus, I think it will show everyone what quality level they can expect from the game. That is kind of hard to judge for people when the game is in a constant state of development.
As an example of this new polish, I have been working on ‘revamping’ the part health icons that are shown in game. You can see what they look like now:
I hope you can agree with this direction, and if not, please let your voice be heard on the forums.
See you next week!