Sometimes a mistake can be a blessing, or in my case, an absolute disaster that ended up making Spirits of Metropolis 200% better.

It was August, and I was ramping up to the September release of Spirits of Metropolis. The engine had been completed a year previous, which allowed me to focus on menus and level creation. It was great knowing that the engine wouldn’t need tweaking or polishing, because it was already there, finished.

Then, as I was creating the last nine levels of the game, I tested an Endurance level. This was a different level than the others, because it had three separate pathways and the starting gem was located on the far left (previous levels had the gem in the middle, so there was less to “travel”). And then when i tested it, disaster struck. The engine fell apart. It broke completely. Take a look at the footage, and notice when the chain starts, the gems aren’t perfectly in sync…causing three gems to explode when they clearly shouldn’t have.

Deep down, I knew the engine was hanging by a thread…but it worked, ya know? So if it worked, why fix it? Well, this level showed that the engine very clearly did not work, and my September plans were completely blown. I had to start from square one.

So, I redid the engine and created a more foolproof one. This new engine didn’t rely on GM’s timing (which led to the game being off at times) but rather focused on what GM could do well (creating objects in sync). I was also able to create unique sound effects depending on the number of explosions on the board at one time, something that was impossible to do with the old engine. I could speed up the preview guide without worrying the engine would break. I realized how much this old crappy engine I had before was holding the game back.

Now take a look at the same level, powered by the new engine. Listen to the different sounds of explosions, how much faster the preview guide is, etc.






I’m so incredibly thankful that the old engine broke down. While at the time I was panicked and depressed, looking back now, there was no way I should have not improved the game to the point it is today. Yeah, I’m a few months over my deadline, but the game has dramatically improved. Sometimes the worst mistakes can save you when you don’t even realize it.