Week 1/10: The beginning of the project..

Hello, my name is Anders Howard. I am a 24 year old Junior Game Designer at the beginning of my career in the games industry. I am keeping this blog to record the happenings surrounding the production of a small game I am making in collaboration with some of my friends.

The purpose of the game is to propose to my girlfriend of 5 years, Steffany.

A little more than a week ago now I decided that this is what I had to do. I had heard that a friend of mine was planning on proposing to his girlfriend in a spectacularly romantic way and I knew that there was no way that I could outdo him. I was sitting on MUNI wishing there was something that I could do to impress my girlfriend when the idea that I could make a game crept into my head. It wasn't the first time. But this time I decided that I simply had to do it. I am a trained creative professional and if I couldn't make a game for an occasion like this, well...then that would just be lazy.

I wrote the spec in my spare time over the next couple days and recruited a couple friends to join me. My hope is that we can churn out the game in 10 weeks in time to surprise Steff when she flies back home for her birthday at the end of April. Here's our projected schedule:

11 Week Development

1. Kick off + Design Complete:
1. Week 0 (Feb. 10)
2. Basic Game Engine/Mechanics Complete + Food Models Complete
1. Week 2 (Feb. 24)
3. Environment Art Complete, Placeholder UI Dialogs System Complete
1. Week 3 (Mar. 3)
4. Character Models Complete:
1. Week 4 (Mar. 10)
5. Character Rigs + Animation Complete:
1. Week 6 (Mar. 24)
6. Menu & UI Function + Art Complete:
1. Week 8 (Apr. 7)
7. Polish + Game Complete:
1. Week 10 (Apr. 21)

So it'll be tough to pull off, but I'm optimistic. As of the time of writing, I have already completed the Food Models 100% (more on that in later posts) and am moving on to the environment art while my friend and frequent collaborator Jeff Aydelotte is programming the main mechanics.

More to come!
-Anders