My First iPhone Project Day 2

Well I setup the game using the fps starter kit that comes included with the TGE and first thing I did was strip the HUD clean, leaving the chat box along the top in tact for the moment. Not because I want it, but because I've searched and searched and haven't been able to find where in the code it's being placed on the HUD so that I can get rid of it.

I have also adjusted the players movement to better suit an iPhone app, slowing the player down, considering how the player will be controlled, a fast paced styled game isn't best suited for the device. I also nixed the players weapon, and decided it would be easiest for my first project to build a first person puzzle game similar to Myst without enemies to fight. Simplifies the development of the project as I will not need to worry about AI and creating nice weapons which require a certain level of visual effects to appeal to the end user.

I also am pondering how I want to build the game, using a single map and one large puzzle that takes place over the entire map, or use small puzzles that can played over many levels. Multiple smaller levels/puzzles are nice for on the go gaming and also make things easier on my end without having to do checking to see what quests/clues the player has completed/discovered. Only down side is that a single level would create a very small game, and if I go the route of smaller quick levels, I'll need quiet a few if I plan to charge for the game. Nothing worse than paying for a game and finding out it only comes with 5 levels to play ._.

Finally I replaced the starter main gui with a custom placeholder interface which I will refine later on during development.

The next step for me is to decided on the single/multiple level design, and then begin work on the puzzle system which should be pretty straight forward if I choose the multiple level design. Single level design will require a more complex puzzle system.

All in all I was very pleased with the amount of progress I achieved in just 3~4 hours of work yesterday on the project. TGE and it's tools might be out dated, but they are still very solid, and I believe I made the right choice in Torque over Unity.

Until next time...