This post is included for posterity. It was originally posted in my now-defunct Discord server. I have learned that as much as physics-driven / single mechanic-driven games sound fun and elegant to make, the game mechanic alone is not interesting for me to grind out a game. In the case of the Portal series, for example, the compelling narrative carried me through. In the spirit of making a game I want to play, I am taking the time to reflect on principles that make a game fun for me. Time is valuable 2 steps forward, 1 step back; Short term gains can be lost, long term progress / impact should be everlasting in some form. Short term loss can make the gains more meaningful by ensuring that they were not gained by chance. Doing something right consistently is rewarding instead of just relieving to get through the first time. For this reason, checkpoints should not be too often or insuring. Your strengths influence what you can do, but what you do should also influence your strengths. Cha...

This post is included for posterity. It was originally posted in my now-defunct Discord server. I'm finally trying to go about things sensibly and not expect so much from myself that I drain all fun from everything I do. Been prototyping a game concept I have in Unreal Engine. Made some good progress learning from existing C++ classes from the demo content yesterday and managed to get the camera to behave how I wanted. The concept was to be running away from the dawn (microplanets). A perma-death survival game, of sorts. The sun, and the hubbub that is brought with it, is scary. The character prefers (can only live in) the serene solitude of night. Perhaps the goal could be to have some "near misses" that help character to come to eventually terms with daylight. How arty and original. My idea turned out to be **** on a fundamental level really. Locking the camera to one direction gave nothing for the mouse to do apart from click. The game loop itself was basically an auto...