Would you believe it if I said my New Year's resolution for 2025 was to finally finish my world map?
What if I told you I'd been working on it extensively over the past month, and that it's already finished? Would you believe it?
Well, it's true. I mean, I could still decide to make modifications in the future, but the important thing is that it's functional, it's complete, and it looks great!
Unfortunately, you'll have to take my word for it, because I don't want to spoil the sense of discovery you'll get from exploring it when you finally get to play my game.
So, what's next? Now that the mapping for my game is officially complete, the next step will be to start a fresh project (which I haven't done in five years) to clean things up - with the hope that this will be the last time.
I still have a lot of tinkering to do with the combat mechanics and mathematics, which will require a lot of testing. But I want to put out a combat-free version of my game, so that if I drop dead and never make it to the finish line, there will at least be a version of my game out there that people can play - to explore the extensive work I've put into mapping this game over the last too many years. So all that work won't have been for naught.
I'm looking forward to getting the combat functioning properly, but it's a big job, and even without it, I've created this exciting world that you can just get lost in. And I want to be able to feature that, regardless of what happens from here on out.
Update: It's only been two days, but now that I actually have a world map, I spent some time implementing a map function in my game. I added a compass and beacons that flash to show where you're at, and where all the important landmarks are - which I designed after the way the map functions in Final Fantasy 1 (Tceles B Hsup).
Except that my map is an item you can pick up and select from the inventory menu. The unique part is that it's modular. I split it up so that you can pick up pieces of the map to gradually fill in the whole picture. That way, the player still has the advantage of having a guide on where to go, without spoiling the entire adventure right from the start. It's working great, and I'm really excited about it!
