Maths Meister – Documentation
Since I chose to do the project on my own, pretty much every single part of the project was done by me (with the exception of sprites and sound, but I still had to look them up). Although I did take this into account when thinking of what kind of game I am going to be creating, I still ended up biting off more than I could chew. For example, on the surface level the game seems pretty simple, but actually figuring out how to implement planned features takes way more time and consideration than I originally thought. Part of this stemmed from not knowing Construct 2 all too well and having to look up where I went wrong half the time but another part came from having to test and try to re-create the bugs every time I think I’ve fixed it only to find out that my solution only made things worse.
One of the smaller instances of something being harder than I initially thought was when I was implementing the menu screen. I found a good background image on the internet, which came in layers so you can give a sort of parallax effect to make it look more dynamic and interesting compared to just a static image. The process was tedious, and it took over an hour to learn and implement this effect correctly. The solution in the end was extraordinarily simple, but the trial and error it took to get there was time-consuming.
In the original idea I had for the game, I planned to implement a sort of “extra” level for “advanced toddlers” with calculus but needless to say, I scrapped the silly idea. There were several other ideas I didn’t get to implement as well due time constraints and… motivational constraints.
I think it’s important to consider your own motivation as a factor when developing something. The longer you work on the game, the less enthusiasm you will have to continue to develop the game. This especially rings true after you’ve hit all the general plans you’ve made and adding more features just end up being extra effort and time for your part with diminishing returns. Especially with a deadline, development focus shifts from “making a good game” to “finishing the game”. And when the game is eventually done, you see little reason to come back and add more things to the game.
In conclusion this project, although fun, had lots of frustrating moments and times where you just don’t feel like you’re doing any work. Development is all about balancing motivation, progress, and ambition. Although there are times you should take a break from development, it is important to keep making progress towards the ideal result.
