Tonight I’m taking the first steps towards prototyping Gunmetal Arcadia by setting up a new Subversion repository for the game and its editor. These are copied from the current version of Super Win and its editor, as I will be using that game as my starting point, in the same way that You Have to Win the Game served as the starting point for Super Win.

I give all my projects code names. This is something I picked up from my time at Gearbox Software. The thinking goes, if you choose a title in advance (as I’ve done with “Gunmetal Arcadia”), and you start using that name throughout your code, you run the risk of changing that title prior to shipping. If that happens, you’ll either have to rename all your classes and files or end up with a mish-mash of different names. Choosing an unrelated codename that can persist throughout development avoids these problems.

I don’t have a standard convention for my codenames. Typically they’re just words that I think sound cool. Sometimes they’re related to my perception of how a game should feel. Arc Aether Anomalies was “Sublime.” You Have to Win the Game was “Volver.” Super Win the Game was “Valkyrie.” Gunmetal Arcadia is “Xanadu.”