Game Development: From beginner to journeyman

Most of my personal projects are started because I ask myself way to many questions. When creating TetriQuest, I wanted to know:

1. Is HexEngine ready to create a simple game?
2. Is it easy or hard to create an AI for Tetris?
3. Could RPG-like element be implemented in the gameplay of Tetris?

And I couldn’t be happier because, with TQ 1.0, I was able to answer all those questions. Here’s a small post-mortem of what went well and what didn’t

The Good

Development was Rewarding

There is not a feature in this game that was not rewarding to develop. Having a working Tetris clone in a short period of time with my homebrew engine was great. And when I saw my AI being able to do 10000+ lines on average, I was ecstatic!

A New Found Passion

I was already intrigued by AIs and creating my own was so much fun that I started reading AI for Game Developer. I’m looking forward working on more complex AIs!

The Bad

A well defined milestone only mid-project

Version 1.0 is not all that I had in mind for TetriQuest and not having a well defined milestone led to some “oh shinny!” moments. I rectified the situation mid-project to bring it back on track.

Moving On

With 1.0 completed, I can put TQ aside for some time and get working on HexEngine and on the-secret-but-not-so-secret project codenamed Secret Prophecy.