Two years ago…

Two years ago today, I started thinking about scrapping 7 months of work on a zombie game. It just wasn’t fun and I couldn’t make it fun. I kept the core engine code, left everything else to rot in my source repository, and spent a month writing the prototype for Banished. I think that was a good decision, even though I’ve spent way more time building it than I expected, and the game is much larger than I ever envisioned.

Sometimes I look back and wonder where the time went. Have I spent days doing nothing? Since it’s the two year mark for Banished I decided to go looking back to see just where my time has been spent.

Let’s see – currently the game has:

4002 external resources (that’s meshes, sounds, materials, textures, object configurations, ui’s, etc).

3.3M of C++ code in 915 files

1.35M of typed resource data in 1397 files

694 submits to source control

I generally don’t work weekends or holidays, so per work day, that’s an average of about 8 resources, 9.5K of typed text, and 1.3 commits to the source repository. I know I spent at least a month of time backpacking in the mountains, worked a few months doing nothing but contract work, and spent time getting the website going, so those numbers are probably a little low.

I suppose that can be considered productive. It still seems slow. If you decide to make a game on your own and write all your own tech, multiply your time estimate by 3. Really. Seriously.

Here’s a pictorial view of how the game matured…. (dates are approximate, build dates on screenshots aren’t always right)

February 2011 Here I’ve started to get a few of the game engine subsystems running. You can see graphics, pathfinding, collision, and initial UI work.



March 2011 Starting a new project makes things go so quickly. Lighting, shadows, and character animation have been added. I also gave the character a shotgun so he could shoot zombies.



April 2011 Wait, wait wait. In 3 months I made my own game engine with zombies chasing you through a town and you could scavenge food and bullets from homes, board up windows and doors, and find safe places to rest? Why am I not this productive all the time?!?



May 2011 The engine also supports spot lights and other local lights! Why aren’t they used in Banished?!?!?



August 2011 Everyone is doing zombies. Mine aren’t fun. Let’s try rocks and trees and characters that are a single box instead. After the prototype was built I went backpacking for a month and really considered if leaving my job to make games on my own was a good idea…



Decemeber 2011 The prototype was nice so I decided to keep going. I rewrote a lot of code, added nicer terrain and rivers, and added a forester to manage the woodlands. Apparently I am also unable to make prototypes with stub art. Skyrim came out in November. Progess was slow for a while.



January 2012 Added seasons to the game, as well as more buildings. Blacksmiths have to create tools, and you can fish in the river! Also added roads and bridges.



Februrary 2012 Despite being simple, I really like playing this game. At this point I’m really glad I didn’t keep going with the zombies.



April 2012 Farms get a facelift. I added multiple crop types each with their own artwork. I added particle systems and deer in the forest as well.



August 2012 I adding a lot more buildings and townsfolk mechanics. There are now Town Halls doctors, orchards, trading posts, and sixteen occupations for the townsfolk.



February 2013 The UI Gets a facelift and the townsfolk finally get animated. I added maps, schools, and added gathering food and herbs from the forest as an alternative to farming. Feature Creep!



April 2013 Isn’t this game done yet? I’m really enjoying playing Banished. Sometimes I waste a day (or three) playing instead of working on finishing the game.



July 2013 Uhh, who destroyed my town? That was a lot of work. Now I have to start over.

Happy Birthday, Banished!