Developing my new game publicly. Thread

I'm new here. I usually visit the Clickteam related sites, and stumbled onto this through The Daily Click.

I am currently developing a 2D space shooter, hopefully for the iPhone/iPod. After my last game, The Dead Miles, I was disappointed to learn that I had missed the mark when it comes to fun for most gamers. This time around, although the design is conceptually done, I am releasing demos every two weeks to show what the game is like as it is developed, from the ground up. I'm posting this here for two reasons:

• I want to know if you think this public development concept at this very early stage is a good idea. Is it too early? I had hoped that other starting game designer hobbyists might find it interesting.
• I would also like feedback on the game itself.

The game is called It Never Ends. The core concept is that the alien invaders evolve after 10 waves based on their success against the player. The player can then alter the design of their ship to respond to the alien threat.

If you are interested, you can read up on it more at my site:

Misterdonovan.com
All feedback here, or at my site, will be appreciated.

Thanks.

I think that having a lot of transparency is good for the development cycle. Especially with relatively unknown developers just starting out. The more people that can see a project the better it will be in the end when you release. Even having people involved is good because it lets them feel included in the process and turns them from just from fans to people who will support you.

I've recently found an article on r/gamedev about a developer creating a game in 7 days. During this time he is going to document his entire process. This may be helpful for you or at least insightful: Reddit.com

Thanks, it's good to know that I'm not insane. I checked out that article. I had considered doing something similar, but since I'm trying for a commercial product, total transparency wasn't an option.

His core concepts are pretty solid, but the 7 day time frame is a little questionable; especially because he wants the game to be fun. It does represent a practical deadline, but I just don't think that is absolutely essential to what he's trying to accomplish. Although I believe that discipline is important with any endeavor, a good program is done when it is done, don't you think?

In some cases, maybe. Code can almost always be faster and more efficient. I knew a programmer in grad school who would take his assignments and write them 6 or 7 times until they would run through their processes faster than anyone else in his class. He now works at Zynga with a 90k salary.

In regards to the article, Jon Ho has a ton of experience under his belt so he is able to do a lot of things that you are I may not be capable of within a one week time frame. Obviously there are going to be some problems polishing the game but as a prototype it is probably the most perfect way to do it. We used to do two-week prototypes to see which ones would be the best to pursue as a larger project. We would still have to go in and clean up the code, make things more efficient, get rid of bad ideas, and iterate constantly.

I wasn't clear. I meant to say that a project is done when it is at its best. I take it as a good sign when a software publisher doesn't even hint when a game will be completed until they're nearly done. I have seen far too many developers rush to meet a deadline only to make consumers beta testers, or to just take the money and run.

I understand what you mean about creating a prototype though, and from a professional's point of view, I suppose it is valid to establish a deadline.

Thanks again for the link. I will try to keep an eye on it.