Game Galactic Trader Postmortem

Okay, I decided to end my game creation to what state it was in currently. Despite having a few more features I wanted to add like hiring of other ships, a quest line, a main story line, and others. I ended up simplifying the game to what it is now. Anyways, here's what went right and wrong during the development process.

What went right:

- The creation of game logic for the main parts of the game. This was the most critical part so I wasted no effort on this part. The parts like travelling from planet to planet amd buying and selling items were focused on heavily and I tried to balance it as much as I can.

- The creation of Images to be used IN GAME. I mainly used inline code for most of the graphics like the planets, the sun, the windows, and buttons. The only parts I spent time to create without inline codes are the sprite images for ships. Though I spent 2 hours all in all for creating that, it was a creation I can be proud with.

What went wrong:

- I used too much energy on the early stages that I ran out of gas, since everything was made from SCRATCH. This may be the most dangerous enemy of a solo developer like me. Even though the ideas I want to implement is there, I can't even imagine how to add them anymore. After some time, I may be able to code them in, but right now, I gave up. Pacing yourself is a good way of managing your time.

- Images was simplified with inline codes but due to that, they became bland and redundant. Creating an image for each planet can be done, but then I won't make it in time for the time limit.

- Music and Sound effects. As I admittedly don't have talent in making music and SE, i just selected two files for those from a jumble of free files. One for the space theme, the sound of wind (not sure if it fit perfectly), and one for the mouse click.

- Battle. In battle, I wished to add 3 types of bullets. One is normal bullets that flew straight (implemented), two is a torpedo bullet that flies in a curved path (dropped), and a special missile that attacks your ship from behind after flying to a corner of the screen behind your ship (dropped).

- Codes, codes, codes. I was fed up, honestly. In just 2 weeks short, I made a total of 2500+ lines of code, ignoring the 72 char per line rule for python codes. If I was to follow that 72 char per line, my code would expand to double the size, making it hard to see anymore. It was my mistake to stubbornly stay in a one-file-one-game rule but that hit me back like a boomerang. I promise to my future self to seperate classes on different files to make it easier to use and to debug/edit.

That's about it. Though there are a lot that went wrong, I still made to create this game. Other indies who want to create a game from scratch, remember to lighten the pressure on yourself. If possible, work with your family and/or friends. This will give you mental leeway to think of ways to improve your game.

Now, I am going to apply what I learned to a new game I'll be creating next month. Best of luck~!

~Seraph Wedd~