Building a House
A screenshot from the Xcode scene editor, showing the game's map. I've been trying to think of a metaphor for the development process, and a good one just occurred to me the other day; building a game is like building a house. It starts with an architect ( game designer ) who sketches out a plan. These blueprints ( design documents ) get sent along to the various contractors like plumbers, electricians, roofers, etc. ( coders, graphic designers, sound designers, etc. ) who all work under supervision of the project manager ( lead developer ). I'm not an expert on either of these things, so I'm probably getting some roles wrong, but I think the basic premise is sound. I hope the final game is a lot sturdier "house" than the creaky ones that appear inside of it. As a one-man development team, I'm wearing all the hats, and it can be a bit daunting at times (to say the least.) Best thing I've learned to do is break the game down into managea...