Phew! What a busy week that was! I got several components fixed/added into the editor to better support XNA’s graphics pipeline. I still need to implement the ‘smart import’ so I can save time (maybe hours) from cutting up images by myself to import individually. I made another blog post on the status of Wildboarders.
I’ve reached a stage in the development of this game where I’m sensing the transition is moving from ‘foundation laying’ (the fun part) to the real effort (not so fun) part of the development. The effort being in adding in all the little things you said you’d go back and add in or fix when you were doing the big parts of the game like the physics, menus, levels, etc. I think it’s important that I’m aware of this change, otherwise I’d spend days trying to find another ‘major’ part to do and not really get much done. I spent a part of saturday and all of sunday working on this game, but the results aren’t very tangible. It’s not like one day you have no physics and the next day you do. It’s more like one day you have your polygons loading and the next day you have them loading faster and not leaking memory. It’s an issue, but not something your end user will actually notice 
. So at the end of the day, it’s really hard to say how much progress you’ve made by just looking at the game running. To-do lists are great for keeping track of these menial tasks, and alteast gives you some indication of progress.
I’ve now got to do all those ‘little things’ for the editor and game while the art assets are being made. On the plus side, the core mechanic is very playable. I found myself spending more time playing the barren levels than I should have been. I take it as a good sign 
. Prototyping is invaluable with this situation. I got the core mechanic implemented very early, and now that I know it works I can go back and make a game around it.
I’ve uploaded some concept art and a small video of the prototype in action. Check out the gallery for the concept art.
And with that, I am out of here.
October 16th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
Hey Alex,
First, cool video.
I’m the person building the Farseer Physics Engine. I didn’t expect anyone to start using it so early on, but I’m glad to see you are able to make use of it.
Sorry about the lack of docs, I’m slowly working on that. I’ll be uploading my first draft of the documentation tonight.
If you have any questions or if you run into a “show-stoppers”, feel free to email me. I may be able to help.
Once again, good work!
October 16th, 2006 at 5:25 pm
Thank you for the comments. While I did spend a little time setting things up (the demos were a great help in the api use), your physics engine has saved me weeks if not months of time alone so it was well worth it. I know writing a robust physics engine is no small understaking. So thank you for this wonderful library and I hope to see it develop further as time goes on
. I’ll certainly take the opportunity to ask questions if I have any trouble. Thanks again!
October 17th, 2006 at 5:05 am
Nice!!! I’m starting in content too, but I’m just learning. Your game is great. I will vote on You I think. If Your progress will be as good as I see
I like 2d graphics. Nice. Beer 4 U
October 17th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
Wow, great video. The physics looks so smooth. keep up the great work. this game looks like a winner.
alex for president k thx