Procrastination
Okay friends. I have a confession to make: I’ve been procrastinating diving into Martian Alchemist (the code part) because I’ve been dreading learning Godot. I know, I know, I said I already learned it. Well, by “learning Godot” what I actually meant was that I downloaded it and watched a few little YouTube videos about it lol… I hadn’t actually built anything in it yet. Why don’t I just make MA in Unity? Well, there’s a lot of reasons why I don’t want to use Unity for this project but the major reason is that there’s literally no reason why I should use Unity. I don’t need the 3D features. I don’t need the massive multiplayer capabilities. I’m not publishing to consoles. And most importantly, I’m still green. I don’t have 10+ years working in Unity so there’s really nothing for me to lose. The only reason why I chose Unity in the first place was because it seemed like a good choice at the time when I thought that I was going to go work for a studio.
Anyway, I digress.
I’ve been dreading opening up Godot simply because I felt lazy and I didn’t want to spend time learning the new structure. But the problem was that because I didn’t know how Godot worked, I was having a hard time visualizing how I would actually build MA. I’m not sure if this makes any sense at all but I was having a hard time understanding how to build the individual levels and then connect them to each other in the game etc. etc. I can visualize how to do that in Unity but I can’t in Godot. Because I don’t know Godot. And because I don’t know it, I can’t think about how to structure the project. And because I don’t have any structure, I am scared to start and then mess up and make mistakes and then end up taking way longer than I had originally hoped. I know that the mistakes and delays are inevitable, but I just really want to get this right. Ultimately, I know that the only solution to my problems is to just code.
So to help me with my paralysis, I decided to just build a VERY simple game in Godot in less than a day. It’s not polished; it’s not refined. But I did finish a game! (I mean I followed a tutorial but hey, progress 😏)
Here’s my version of Snake! Originally I was going to do a more aesthetically pleasing snake but I decided that this wasn’t really the purpose of this exercise. I just needed to build something simple and complete. I ended up using GDScript (Godot’s native language) instead of C# and it was relatively easy to pick up. I still prefer the way C# looks and reads though. Here’s my main game logic from my Snake game so you can see what GDScript looks like.
Anyway, I’m really glad I forced myself to build and finish something because it really energized me to start working on and building MA. I have the design doc almost fully written out and I’ve been brainstorming on the art direction. Most importantly, though, I can now start to visualize how I’m actually going to structure it and build it.
As I write this, I’m listening to a soundtrack I found on YouTube that is providing inspiration for the vibe of MA. Guys. I’m so excited for this game. If I can successfully execute on what I have envisioned and imagined, I’m going to be so happy and so proud of my work. Next week, I’ll have a lot more time to actually work on MA so I hope to show you some MA code!!!
Since I do want to leave you with something that I’ve actually worked on in MA, here’s a list of all the people you can meet in the game so far:
Bartender
Space Witch
Local Martian Farmer
Space Explorer
Astrologer
Space Cowboy
Cosmic Thief
Void Mage
Space Fisherman
Planetary Guard
Traveler
Martian Citizen
Wealthy Earthian
Combat Specialist
Pirate Mechanic
Botanist
Miner
Space Trader
Arthropodologist
Anyway, until next time space cowboys 🖖
