I have that feeling right now. Like I am about to cross a narrow bridge with an oncoming truck. The deadline is getting closer, and it seems like more needs keep piling up. However, the check list is getting smaller right now. So, here is a small list of things, and I think I will start with the negatives and end on a positive note.
Just as I feared, I am going to be going into this competition with cheap art, and possibly an incomplete title screen. There are also a few skills I was wanting in the game that are not implemented yet. Most skills were easy, since they directly effected the existing systems. The hard skills are the skills that add to the existing system. Regardless of whether or not they are in the demo for the competition, they will be there for the final release. I may be loosing points for making this confession, but oh well.
One addition I really want is the ability to hide and sneak around in combat. Just to be clear, I don't have plans for making sneaking around and hiding beyond combat, it just doesn't fit this game well. Also, I wanted a locks and traps system, but my art skills just haven't been able to capture my vision, and the behaviors I wrote for it are a little more than buggy. Now, time to build toward the positive.
Dialog works! I don't have level one completed, but it is getting closer now that dialog is present. I mainly just need to get switches and doors working before the level will be complete. I decided to use level one as my check list, because a lot of what will happen sets the pace for the rest of the game.
Persistent data works now! Treasure chests and other static item containers now work. They offer treasure, and their state persists throughout the game. Static enemy encounter persistence has been improved, and seems to be a solid fix. Revisiting an old area will now render different, possibly even zero combat situations. Also, if an item will not fit into inventory, you can come back for it later.
Save games now save everything! I finally worked past my odd inventory handling code and got it to save to file properly. This was probably my biggest concern, so I can breath easy for about a day now. I can say with a lot of certainty that my inventory management is going to end up in my post mortem. :-)
Combat is a bit more fun. I am constantly tweaking combat. It is one of the more prominent elements of the game, and I want it to be challenging and fun. I have recently tweaked the way combat handles movement range finding that surprisingly seemed to bring more out of combat. At least, I was surprised. It opens up a bit more of an option, while at the same time making AI a bit more challenging. This also helps with the ranged weapon balance.
So what is left. A lot, but not too much. Since I am accepting my shortage of artwork and plowing through, I hope to have a lot of fun elements available for testing. I still need to finish my manipulation system. I have the attacks available, but as far and management in the inventory it is non-existent. I also need to put experience points in action. I have left this alone for testing purposes, but I think this week I will implement the restrictions and get class and skill increments working within the bounds of experience and actual level ups.
Finally, the website is up! The community pages work, though there are a few style issues. So feel free to register and volunteer for alpha testing, coming up in March. It should prove interesting. :-)
