Whatever you do, make sure you have your game planned out before coding! One of the biggest time killers I had in the past was making a game and adding new events in each of the 20+ levels because I wanted a new feature. What a mess! In short:
1. Plan Game (Engine) on paper
2. Basic Graphics/Animations needed for engine
3. Engine!
chuga chuga chugga gewdd luck!
That's no problem now with event cheets, but you still gotta plan your game out.