look what im plannin' (shutter - devlog 2)
PLAN
so ok i have sort of not made another post for a few weeks now, and thats fine but also i wish i had made some progress to report but honestly not a lot. i have started work on my task management system which i feel will be integral to this project.
one of the biggest issues i face with projects is the abandonment. i very quickly can forget where i was or what i needed to do next which creates even more of a mental wall when trying to push myself to continue work. in an effort to try and soften the jagged edges of re immersing myself into my work, i needed to figure out what would work best for me. here is my amazing process into this...
what do i want
i wanted to make sure that whatever i settled on was suitable and had multiple key features:
- task archival
- sub tasks
- milestones
i needed the ability to see what tasks i had completed previously to get to the solutions i came up with, because i can quite often forget what i did. there needs to be some form of, like, documentation with my solutions so i can apply them to new tasks/projects. i want everything to be a learning opportunity without having to worry about remembering my solutions.
i also want to be able to divide up my tasks into smaller, more manageable sub tasks that are easily viewable and readable. big, broad tasks would be too much for me to handle and break down in my mind so prerequisites for each task should be obvious and have as many as i need to break it down into small enough doable chunks.
and then i wanted milestone/goal based tasks, e.g. the ability to view what i needed to get done for the prototype and what is just polish and the ability to reorganise and rearrange what goal they are for. i can very easily get lost in the fun of adding polish which is good and all, but it can feel defeating when it doesnt serve the goal i have in mind. so it would be nice to have the ability to keep track of what will serve toward the main milestone i am currently working toward.
PLAIN TEXT!!!
my immediate idea was just to go for a text file and store tasks in there. some sort of setup like:
- player movement
- receive inputs
- apply movement
- etc etc
it would make managing it as simple as just editing a text file and that can be done directly within my code editor removing any friction between me and another software. that is the key to my progress here, removing friction.
however. plain text also removes any sort of automation that dedicated software would have, creating perhaps more friction in the end?? i decided it wouldn't be for me. i needed some of the processes to be automatic so i didnt have to spend all my time messing around with organising the tasks instead of actually working.
trello
the ol' reliable. what i think most devs end up using in some form. kanban-based boards system hosted on the web by atlassian (gitlab). honestly what ive used for most of my projects so would make sense to go back to this since i am familiar with it and it also has a LOT of the features i want. BUT i am also curious about other options. trello is proprietary, and server hosted with a freemium model. i want to have something that can expand well if i need it to. i dont want to have to fork out money in the future for extra services. ideally, i would want a mixture of the raw power and simplicity of plain text and the automation and aesthetic visualisation of trello. introducing my personal favourite...
OBSIDIAN
obsidian, my one true markdown love, in all its glory. i am such a fucking nerd when i rant about my love for this program but in all honesty it is so brilliant im going to do it anyway.
highly extensible, and entirely customisable and just plain brilliant. all files are plain text .md files that can have markdown styling applied to them in whichever way you see fit. it allows me to get a kanban plugin and organise my tasks directly within a plain text file. if i ever decide to switch, its as easy as importing that text file. and if i need to expand the capabilities of the program, theres a huuuuge community surrounding it with hundreds of plugins already available. its wikilink style organisation allows me to easily add notes to tasks and create documentation on my solution if needs be, plus i can link my game design document straight into whenever i reference it. so neat.
so that is what i settled on. i have begun organising my tasks here and hopefully will allow me to keep on top of things. fingers crossed!
other business
i have been working on some more sketches of ideas, mechanics and trying to come up with the best way for the game to be as fun as possible. i wont state these publicly just yet because nothing is concrete but i cannot wait to share more soon. in addition, i have music being made by one of my brilliant and frankly genius friends josef swindell who already has amazing demos already on the way. i cannot wait to share those either.
hopefully the devlogs will pick up as time goes on. dftba, and also love yrself xoxo ace james crazee peace owt