Production Resolution: Ship Planitia and at least one other project. I shipped exactly zero personal products in 2007; while I learned a heck of a lot, I can only consider that a failure. Planitia will ship this year with single-player AI skirmish and story modes as well as a two- to four-player network mode. I can’t guarantee that the gameplay will set the world on fire but the game will be available to play by the end of 2008.
For my second project, I will probably do something much smaller and lighter (and probably time limit-based like Inaria was) to cleanse my palate. It will probably be a one-page game.
I will then go on to start on 3D RPG That Really Needs a Name, incorporating everything I’ve learned so far. I do not expect to ship 3DRPGTRNAN in 2008 but I do expect to ship it in 2009.
Learning Resolution: My learning focus for this year will be on two topics: overall game engine design and networking.
To succeed at this goal my plan is to first read and take copious notes on the following books:
Game Coding Complete, Second Edition by Mike McShaffry
Code Complete, by Steve McConnell
Introduction to Algorithms, by Thomas Cormen, Charles Leiserson, Ronald Rivest and Clifford Stein
Now, I’ve read the first two but I have a learning technique that I use when I really want to absorb something, and that is to read a book while taking notes on it on the computer as I read and then marking pages read with a highlighter to track my progress through the book. I’ve used this technique before with The C++ Standard Library by Josuttis and Effective C++, More Effective C++ and Effective STL by Meyers, and that knowledge stuck very well and has served me very well.
Once these books are all complete the next step will be to implement a game engine using the currently accepted design, which separates hardware-dependent code from non-dependent code for easy porting and separates code from data as rigorously as possible for ease of engine re-use. This game engine will be network-enabled. Planitia will use this engine; again, I will work out the kinks with the engine on Planitia so that it will be ready to go for 3DRPGTRNAN.
Weight Resolution: It’s the return of Put That Freakin’ Sandwich Down! My goal is to lose 65 pounds this year, getting my weight down to 295. That will still be well above a healthy weight for me, but it will be a good start and allow me to finish next year. I will do this by eliminating sodas and mayonnaise from my diet and exercising at least twenty minutes and least three times a week.
I will be posting updates on both my current weight and how well I followed my diet and exercise goals every week.
Hmmm…it’s going to be a busy year!