Hi,

In this article, I am looking back what I did wrong.

when I started with Nightkeep in 2015 I wasn’t much aware of 2D platformer design. I read some articles and I started to create right away.
I began as I should, I created some movement code and I wanted to create stages right away. Originally Nightkeep wasn’t Metroidvania, it was the stage-based game (stage 1, 2…), however, I wanted a bit more complex game. I like RPG so I wished to turn it into one.

I started adding new code over existing code, and this was the first mistake. Which grew a bit into code mess and it is still there.

So that’s No. 1 mistake - I wasn’t 100% what I am creating at the start, I added code to existing code, changing the genre. All wrong. When you want to create something you need to know what it will be. So yeah, set some rules first and follow them.

I added menus and I were expanding game over and over, so I was still following No. 1 mistake, it made development complicated but I got to phase which you know from the demo using this “Complicated Way”.

Next one. I had some menus prepared, abilities, multiple weapons and their levels ( yeah, throwable like a dagger, bombs have levels and it is all in the game ). With this, I could start to create world step by step. But I didn’t do this. I created a huge part of the world, empty zones. This is mistake No. 2. I have a huge semi-empty world in Nightkeep that is actually there, completed. But why? Especially if it is empty, right? ** small part of the world was cropped for the demo.

This leads to mistake No. 3, I have the world and I want to fill it with enemies and so I do it! I code new enemy every week, I am creating art for it and at the end code too, I filled this world with different enemies.

Now those were 3 major mistakes for me and the development. Good experience, but a flawed one.

1) I wasn’t sure what I am creating, stage-based game, small Metroidvania, huge Metroidvania RPG?
2) I created the world in advance. Why? It is empty, so I need to do something about it. I spent so much time on it so it was not effective.
3) I fill it with enemies, but there is no story part or quest part to it. So placement of these enemies is not effective either.

See? How thinking in advance is worth. I am doing different thing with Armortale now.

All 3 mistakes above leads to a new mistake No. 4!

I am having some part of the game ready and I start to create a story and implementing quests and I throw game at Indiegogo as i can not longer handle its expenses (Music, portraits…). And I will stop here.

Instead of this huge world that I built over 2016 and filled it with enemies in 2017, I had to create small area and fill it with all the stuff first instead. NPCs, story, quests! And this is the direction I had to do in the very first place. I could expand upon completed elements much easier.

I did all the opposite. I prepared world with enemies and then I wanted to build upon it. This is exactly the same mistake like when I wasn’t sure what my platformer will be - if stage based game or Metroidvania, I built genre over genre there and I built world over the world here.

Nightkeep needs a reboot, fresh code, new assets, right direction. However, to do so I need to be able to fund this hobby first. And it is not possible here in the Czech Republic, at least not for me alone. I am moving away from this version of Nightkeep. I am creating Armortale, small game, with my experience what I did wrong before.

Excuse my English, I am not a native speaker! Well, that was a huge wall of text. When I have more of Armortale I will start gamejolt page too, until then it will be only @ https://www.patreon.com/rpg2heaven or @ https://twitter.com/PixelABCD