Happy New Year! …better late than never right?
I am resuscitating this blog after more than a year of innactivity! A blog about the awesome art of GAME MAKING. Yes, if you dig in this blog you’ll maybe find one or two posts about game development hidden in a load of cocktail recipes. This is actually the reason why I stopped using this site.
Frankly, I’ve put this site on the side because I was too chicken to post anything concrete about my game projects. I intend to change this. It’s part of my 2016 Gamedev objectives. Allow me to share them with you, maybe they’ll give you ideas on how to tackle your owns.
1.Set clear goals. In my day job as a game designer it is part of my daily routine to set goals, organize and be organized, something that I do naturally. As a lead it’s my responsibility to set objectives and push my team towards our common aim of making the best games we can. Nevertheless, in my personal life, indie game projects and hobbies I rarely set goals or deadlines. This is catastrophic! Not having a solid plan always lead to trouble and/or procrastination. In my case I usually end up refining and polishing forever and eventually I get bored of a game project and move on to something fresh and exciting.
This is why I’ll commit to clear goals this year and do my best to respect them. I’m thinking of clearly defined monthly and weekly objectives which I can strive for. This links to my next objective:
2.Complete games in 12 weeks. If you do games in your free time or as a career, you probably know that finding game ideas is the easy part. Completing and shipping games is a mammoth of a task. There is something magical about a new project that makes it easy to work on it passionately. But for some reason, any reason, at some point we hit a wall. Persevering and FINISHING something is where the real hard work is.
Last year was a real eye opener for me. I completed and shipped my first indie game. This year I aim to complete 4 games in about 12 weeks each. Taking into account I work about an hour a day on these projects and that I’m rarely satisfied, I’ll probably crash and burn at first. But that’s the point! I’ll fail, learn and try again. If I end the year with one game completed I’ll still be super happy!
3.Gain 5 pounds. I want to push my limits in weightlifting this year, pushing iron and crushing PRs. My aim is to gain at least 5 pounds … of muscle mind you.
What the hell does it have to do with game making you’re asking? Well, exercise is an important part of game development for me. Starting the day with a workout prepares my mind to be focused. It makes me ready to face anything. It’s a magic buff! To be at my best creatively, I need a clean, healthy and strong body and mind.
4.Take it easy. Man, this one will be difficult! Everyone with anxiety can understand. Sometimes I’m quick on the panic button for no reason and this sort of useless stress is highly disruptive to my creativity and concentration. I was taught some great techniques last fall to deal with this mind state and will put them in practice this year.
One thing that I was taught is to accept these emotional states as what they are rather than try to forget about them. Accepting that they are here to stay but in fact not dangerous at all is the key to gain control over them.
5.Share more. As I stated in the introduction of this post, I want to be brave and share regularly about the projects on which I work and the tools I use. Last year I used twitter and tumblr quite a lot and found it to be a great motivator. I also love seeing the shared work of other developers and artists, it’s so inspiring! Seriously, if you are making something, anything, please share with the world.
On top of the usual twitter and tumblr posts, I’d like to do a series of youtube videos and at least one twitch. Both media interests me a lot and take me way out of my comfort zone to say the least. I also want to keep this blog alive, it’s a great way to keep a not-so-personal log of my activities. Hopefully I’ll get better at writing these, or go straight to video logs and be done with writing. 😉
Here are links to the platforms I’m currently using:
That’s it. 5 big objectives that I’m thrilled to tackle. What are your Gamedev objectives?
The Bosstopus 