the great indian peafowl
w001 - a week of planning and research
Songs For The Earth: Teaser Trailer
So short update. I took some time off to relax in the countryside. Catch up with old friends before heading out to India this week. Anyway here’s a teaser trailer 4 u.
How will I manage this project?
Currently using Todoist, but eventually will have to migrate to something more sophisticated. I don’t want to incur any additional monthly cost for just a simple project managment tool so for the time being Google Sheets should suffice.
The initial target is spread across 6 months and divided into 12 sprint cycles each named after a bird from East Asia and India.
Currently we are on sprint cycle 001, the Indian Peafowl 🦚
Build in public
I’ve been posting my devlog on GitHub on this repository:
https://github.com/amphibian-studios/devlog
Feel free to star it and fork if you are interested.
Board game resources
Bought a card cutter to make a card game prototype and spoke to a few friends who have made board games before.
Notes
Study board games and note take on what works,
Education through gaming is a great idea.
Find one core mechanic and build an entire game around that.
You need to develop a game so people can play it without learning the rules
Isolate core mechanics and then work in chunks
Here are some resources Ibis shared
Tabletop Simulator
https://store.steampowered.com/app/286160/Tabletop_Simulator/
Relaxing games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorfromantik
Board game stores in Japan
https://yellowsubmarine.co.jp/
Kickstarter Alternative
https://gamefound.com/en
Online board game communities
Video Game Resources: Waiting for Godot
Initially Godot seemed like the best option because
It’s open source
There is less engine bloatware
Good opportunity to contribute
But after watching a video about the drawbacks of Godot’s physics system I’m having second thoughts. Maybe Unreal is better because if I were to work with other artists and developers, they already know Unreal and the community is steadily growing.
It’s just that the cost of hiring a C++ developer is very high so I’d have to make sure the gameplay mechanics are simple enough that either:
a. any developer can jump in and develop in a matter of two weeks.
b. the core game design mechanics are abstracted to blueprints
Still not sure which one is better in the long term, but for now since it’s just me and it’s an Indie game prototype I’m gonna stick to Godot.
Permacomputing
Was inspired by Tim Roedenbroker’s blog on permacomputing.
By offering a sustainable approach to network technology, Permacomputing provides an alternative to digital practices that promote consumption and a throwaway mentality.
I like the idea of recycling ideas, using fully recycled paper to make a board game with instructions on how to dispose of the game itself when you are done, or historical artefacts and prints as game assets. Much to chew on but more on that later.
Now I’m even more keen on having the target platform be on recycled devices.
Reading diet
Sensitive: Jenn Granneman, Andre Sólo
Visual MBA a quick guide to everything you’ll learn in business school: Jason Barron
Creativity Inc by Ed Catmul
MIT Technology Review 125th Anniversary Issue
Learning diet
And that’s all for this week. See you next week! Take care, relax and remember to take deep breaths :)