A few days ago I started work on what i thought would be the basics of my next game. I had a basic design document, and had thought about the game a lot. But the moment I started coding it, I started getting flashbacks to an older game idea I had tried ages ago and stopped work on. The more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be cool to do a game like that again.
I started coding it, and within a few hours had something on screen that made me smile. I’ve been working on it ever since, and I’m quite pleased with how it’s coming along. I almost can’t work on it without smiling.
it makes NO commercial sense for me to make it. I have 3 game ideas prepared which build on my current ‘reputation’ for doing complex simulation / management / strategy games with a real-world setting. They are all good ideas and I think they would all sell. One of them would be great for the ‘casual’ crowd. One is a potentially hugely popular and funny game. Another is more serious, maybe even political.
But this one just triggers my inner geek endorphin levels too much. People who think of me as ‘the Kudos’ guy, will wonder if the game is made by the same person. It’s very geeky, very old-school in some ways. It’s still 2D and it’s still strategic (in a way). It makes me feel 7 years old again.
I almost feel duty bound to make it, because I wish there was a game like this. For once, it’s a positech game that will look much better in video than in screenshots. If in a few weeks time I’m still working on it (and thus am more sure I’ll stick with it), I’ll drop some hints about it.
It’s not Democracy 3 or Kudos 3.