6/9/14: More unity tutorials, and a general timeline!

Alright, it's time to get my ass in gear and start making some genuine, solid, regimented progress!

The combination of internship, class, and game dev has been burning me out hardcore, so I've set up a sort of schedule for myself to try to get some goals completed in the coming months.

First and foremost!  I'm not going to force myself to make any sort of significant progress from Tues-Thurs.  Due to interning 8 hours, and then studying in class for 3, I don't usually get home until around 9:30.  Then I eat dinner and it's already likely 10:30 by that point.  No way in HELL am I going to try to force myself to work on my game on those days anymore (unless I'm really feeling up to it).

Secondly!  I have an official timeline that I'm going to try to stick to with certain deliverables I want done by the end of each month.  Here's what it's looking like so far:



End of June:  Have all mechanics finalized.  Anything I want the player to be able to do in the game, or how I want different monsters to behave, should be implemented by then.  This includes (but is sure as shit not limited to):

• Player movement and behavior
• Various monster behavior
• Lighting controls and behaviors
• Scripted scare events
• Journal/Audio diary implementation
• Checkpoints
• Audio Implementation (placeholder sounds are fine)
• Any other random mechanics I think I have time for (but probably won't)

End of July:  Art, levels, and story should be completed by this point.  All furniture models will be created (as well as a few other surprises, perhaps), corridors and rooms will be made.  Journals and storyline mechanics will be implemented and iterated.  Sound effects will be finalized.  It's going to be a LOT of shit, but I'm hoping once I have the mechanics down pat, I should be able to make steady progress without too many hiccups.

Mid August:  Have the game finished, with as many bugs fixed and bells and whistles implemented.  This includes making a menu for the game, as well as credits.

I'm going to try to be as strict about this deadline as possible, but I have a feeling things are going to bleed into one another.  Still, it's nice to have a plan.

Currently I'm working through a huge-ass Unity tutorial to try to learn the ropes.  Within the coming days, I hope to make some serious headway on my game (because I only have 3 or so weeks to make it to my first checkpoint...yikes!)

Right now, for personal reasons, I plan to release by August 18th.  We'll see how that goes...