Little Bits of Finesse

Sometimes it's the subtle elements that can really make your work stand out. But those finesse elements are often the 2% of a project that require 50% of your time. It seems counter-intuitive (especially when a deadline is looming), but it's those scenarios where you're often best rewarded for putting a little extra into making reusable code. You invest a little up front for long term payoffs.

For example, plenty of games have a scoreboard. It's relatively easy to just populate a text field with the user's score, but if you spend a little extra time to make a more elegant, reusable solution, your game will feel just a bit richer. People that play it may not necessarily notice that your game has a "special" scoreboard. But they'll know something's just better about your game. And if you've encapsulated the functionality well, you may not need to build another scoreboard for a long time.

Here's an example. This isn't all that complex, and the effect is relatively subtle, but it's a bit more interesting than simple text field updates. I also built it for flexibility. A fast-moving game may have a lower tween duration and higher blur distance. A slow-moving game would have just the opposite. Need a 10-digit score? No problem. And altering the font is as simple as changing a library symbol.

My recommendation, if you haven't already: start developing your own class library, and keep it as a formal repository of all the bits and pieces you use all the time. If you find yourself creating something for the bazillionth time, give yourself some extra time to create a solid implementation of that piece. Don't build everything into it, just the essentials. That will give you a core version, a starting place for future implementations. You'll save yourself a ton of time and, if you go a little out of your way, you'll easily add a bit of finesse to future projects.