Thanks! Because of my inexperience I found it really hard to estimate how much I can accomplish in the time given. Breaking it into tiers seemed like the best way to guarantee something playable by the end. Also I find myself really enjoying the outlining process and crafting the theory behind the gameplay, so there was no way I was going to stop at what I could reasonably do :)
oh totally! you really just have to put all those ideas out on paper when they seize you in the moment because you'll keep thinking of all those things otherwise. eventually in production also you'll end up letting some of them go but it's always nice when you actually hit your goals and have a better idea of what reach goals are feasible!