Tapporcry pt. 1: Out of Scope
I've become an old man with a white beard, long creepy nose and bony fingers. Slowly typing along on my rusty keyboard.
A couple of years ago I began work on what would become Tapporcry. The game didn't have a name then, it was just a rough idea for an alternative Whack-A-Mole style game. Prior to this, I had worked on several other ideas which I sadly had to abandon - mainly because of scope issues.
Quick recap for the uninitiated: Scope is basically the size and complexity of a project, in this case a game. Google it for more info.
These ideas all seemed very doable at first, but on closer inspection (and after working hard on them for weeks) I realized they would take me years to complete. They were out of scope.
So, I decided to create a minimal game with simple gameplay and minimalist artwork. A game I was confident I could finish and launch within a reasonable amount of time. No fancy artwork and luxuries like that. Just pure focus on finishing a game.
Fast-forward two years and here we are. Tapporcry has taken waaay longer to create than expected, features have crept in everywhere, I've spent a ton of work on fancy artwork, spent evenings composing music (drinking wine) and creating/mixing/mastering sound effects and on and on.
My kids were a lot smaller (physically) when I first began work on Tapporcry. Now they have grown older and have stopped asking when the game will be out. I've become an old man with a white beard, long creepy nose and bony fingers. Slowly typing along on my rusty keyboard, sipping wine and blathering on about a dream I once had - to create a simple game with very limited scope.
I know, I'm being overly dramatic. Just trying to paint a picture here.
The reason why scope expanded was because I liked working on the game and along the way I realized - and subsequently decided - that I didn't want to create yet another minimalist (and IMO often too bare-bones and scruffy looking) game. I wanted to create a solid and great looking game with a great atmosphere. Cool stuff like that just takes longer, but it's also what kept me motivated and what kept me returning to work on the game.
Thanks for reading. Break scope and be merry :)