Finality's End

Until very recently, four years had passed since I had written code outside of work.  My last project--a game engine code-named Finality--did not pan out as I had hoped, and coming to terms with that was a very long and difficult process.  In terms of personal achievement, it had been a glittering success, but it lacked the power and flexibility it was intended to have.  Further, the most impressive trait of its flagship game--Mythic Falls--was that it existed and, for the most part, it worked.

This blog is meant to chronicle the progress of Finality's successor; however, before speaking too much about the new project, I feel it's necessary to review its long-dead predecessor.

The most significant problems plaguing Finality and Mythic Falls:

• The project was rushed and lacked any significant planning.
• Unique content was both low quality and low density.
• Game content did not follow any identifiable plot.
• Staffing decisions were based on emotion rather than ability to contribute.
• Game mechanics suffered the worst of both worlds:
• They were bland and systematic.
• They were unpredictable and impossible to manage.
• The code was a technical nightmare:
• Written in an ancient and inefficient language.
• Written to work in ways it was not meant to work.
• Written by a developer who did not understand the above.
• Community complaints, requests, and suggestions were almost completely ignored.

Its most notable strengths:

• Point-and-click content development UI made it easy to create new content.
• Most objects did not contain hard-coded data, making it easy to create new races, etc.

May these hard-learned lessons serve as a long-overdue eulogy to project Finality / Mythic Falls.
Rest easy, old friend.