Dev Log: The January Engine's Existential Crisis

When I began working on the January Engine, I had only a vague notion of what I wanted: some kind of RPG using cards as a battle system.  I was really doing it to keep up on my coding skills.

After seeing that it was possible in a rudimentary way, I set the January Engine aside for some time, moving on to other projects that I was more excited about and had more detailed designs for.

Like this.  Or The Vortex.  Or HeroQuest.  Or...

When I picked it back up, I switched gears and tried designing a unique card-based battle system that didn't just take RPG staples and cardify them.  I considered a board game or RTS hybrid, and begin working on coding that, giving the January Engine a second life.

But even then, that kind of dropped quickly, partly due to other work, partly because I was having some trouble designing the system.  I came up with some interesting mechanics on paper, but I never solidified them beyond the primary stages of concept.

This, of course, meant that programming could go very few steps ahead without hitting a wall of I-don't-know-what-to-do-next.

And then things get weird.

As I've discussed previously, the art in my head can't come out in my hands.  The problem that arises from this is that whenever I start a project with high artistic ambitions, it's a guaranteed failure, especially if the art is a necessary component of the game.

As I began working on my second iteration of the January Engine (with a hex-based RTS slant), I imagined something much different; something impossible as a solo project, so that iteration could not possibly work.

I'm taking a step back (or three) and reevaluating truly what I want from the January Engine.  Sure, it began as coding practice, but I am not satisfied with that.  If that was all I wanted, I could open any programming tutorial and follow it, making silly things like cash register programs to keep my programming skills sharp.

So with a new perspective on things, I'm going to give the January Engine another shot.  This time I'm designing a project that is somewhat code-heavy, but easy on the art.  I must force myself to keep the art needs as simple as possible, and any time I think about making anything more complex than EGA graphics (classic King's Quest), I need to stop and slap myself in the face.

Having the adage of "graphics so simple even I can make them" should reign in any wacky ideas of mine requiring beautiful art, and force the design to stand on its own.

Of course, even if you have the most amazing graphics in the world, game designers should pretend art doesn't exist, so they don't become over-reliant on it.  I have seen too many professional games with amazing graphics but lackluster gameplay, ending in a disappointing game.  Heck, that lesson should have been learned during the early 90's FMV detour.  Somehow every game designer has to relearn that concept (myself included).

But anyway, before I rant on about the industry, I'll go back to the January Engine:

I'll being hitting the reset button on it, and concentrate on coding something both challenging and interesting.  I've got some new ideas and I'm testing the waters in C++.  Right now things are frustrating, but that's more of the cold shock after jumping in, and once I get warmed up things ought to be smoother.