I started on a Backgammon game. The user interface is close to being done, and I think I know how I'm gonna do the AI. Dice make a game easier in ways, and harder in others. Backgammon's also a pain because the players have different goals. In chess, the goal is the same for both players (nab the opposing king). In Backgammon, folks are racing for opposite goals, which makes the movement code a bit tricky.
I got a postcard this week from the CGDA. They're taking submissions to speak at the next CGDC. Speaking would certainly be easier than indentured servitude, so I was musing as to what I could speak about. I was thinking I could do an hour about how to work full-time for an ultra-small company (the IRS defines a "small company" as fewer than 75 employees, so I'm ultra-small). I just wonder if I could fill an hour with fascinating tidbits and advice for folks wanting to make the next great Quake-clone in their garage.
Speaking of Quake-clones, am I the only one who's fascinated by the choice to do Duke Nukem N using the Unreal engine rather than one for Quake II? The way they're talking, you'd think that switching out the core graphics engine of the game will be a trivial task. Frankly, it makes me wonder how much code is written.
On that note, I think I'll make my games work under the BeOS, Linux, Rhapsody, and the PalmPilot. I should be done next week :)
