The decision to develop my own games wasn't an easy one. I had already been on a good project before this, and was doing well on it. Unfortunately, it wasn't satisfying to me. I didn't have the drive I needed to fulfill my obligations, and frankly, it was stressing me out. So I bowed out of my role in development on the project, with the blessing of my superiors of course, in order to strike out on my own. Thus begins a new chapter in my life as a programmer. This chapter begins with an idea I had toyed around with for some time: Disk Drive.

What is Disk Drive? The basic idea is that, unlike many other puzzle games, which are rectangular in nature, this one would break the mold a bit by introducing a circular gameplay system. You rotate rings containing colored orbs until you form lines of matching orbs between the rings. You may also switch the formation of colored orbs in a ring, thus changing the composition of the rings themselves. Destroy the matching lines of colored orbs to earn points, destroying several lines at once, as well as in quick succession, to earn bonus points. You continue doing this until you run out of time, with the orbs respawning at faster rates.

Disk Drive was conceived, like many of my other ideas, in the thick of night. Most puzzle games succeeded because they stuck to a good formula: easy to play, hard to master, visually appealing, with very simple mechanics. Tastes vary widely of course, as is the case with me. I dislike Tetris and its ilk, instead preferring to go the route of matching puzzle games, like Puyo Puyo, Columns, Tetris Attack. I had always wanted to make a good puzzle game, so when determining ideas, I always looked for something that'd follow the footstep of the puzzle games I liked, while being an original concept in and of itself. I don't know if I succeeded with the concept for Disk Drive, but I certainly think the concept has potential as a full game.

My current prototype, built in a day in order to demonstrate the gameplay, is problematic though. The concept works, but the implementation concerns me. I don't know if I'm just really bad at the game or what, but I find it very difficult to employ any sort of real strategy to my moves, instead just trying to match line after line in slow succession repeatedly. Obviously, the gameplay is still basic at this point, being a prototype and all, but one thing I deinitely want to look for is the game being dynamic as far as challenge goes. If the challenge is one-dimensional, people will get bored quickly. On the same note, I don't want to complicate the game system too much, since simplicity is golden in puzzle games. Thus, my journey towards completion begins with trying to fix the fundamentals, and trying to resolve the issues I have with playing my own game. It won't be easy, but with some thinking and the input of others, I'm sure I can succeed.

As for this journal, I'll chronicle the progress of developing the game in my subsequent posts. I can't promise consistent updating, but I'll try to be as up-to-date as possible as this project continues to grow. My goal is certain now, but I have no ideas what kind of challenges I'll face in the future. I just have to hope for the best and trust in my skills as a programmer and project manager. And hey, at least it's not an MMO I'm making, right? Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy reading about the fulfillment of a developer's dream.