Of all the things I learned while creating the Mayan Mystery (and the list is very long!), probably the most important thing is to not shoot for the stars on your very first attempt. I wanted to go all out with the Mayan Mystery, and while being ambitious is fine, setting goals really high when you're just starting out can be murder! What I'm planning on doing in the next game, is to tone it back a little bit. There are many reasons for this, but the biggest is that I really want to keep making games, and starting a project that is too much above one's skills will generally end in disaster.
So, what's next?
If you've followed the blog, you'll see that in the beginning, the focus was on an illustrated story more than a video game. The story was intended to be a series that follows Mitch and Otis as they try and track down Horatio Hawk before he can steal any more priceless or magical items. I'm not going back to the storybook, but I am going to follow the same overall concept. That means that there will be a continuation to the Mayan Mystery...and am currently working on a little game that takes place during the Mayan Mystery.
If you recall, Mitch and Otis were called into Dr.A's study with urgent news, but Otis hit his head and was forced to recover, while Mitch went off on the Mayan Mystery. Otis' recovery didn't take too terribly long (mostly due to the fact that his brain is tiny, and head trauma doesn't affect him like it does the rest of us), and was soon sent on a mission of his own!
For this particular game, I've decided to change things up and use hand drawn graphics instead of the retro-pixelated graphics in the Mayan Mystery. I love drawing, and if I can incorporate more of it into my games, that's what I'll do:) Anyhow, here is a recent screenshot of the upcoming game...
I'm thinking of redoing the HUD to something a little easier to understand, as it is rather cryptic right now...
