Hi pal! As most of you might know by this point, I’m currently working 100% on Surmount (try the demo if you haven’t yet). Which is possibly the biggest game I will ever make. Despite the fact that this one isn’t finished yet, I still feel the urge to create more games.
Great essay Jonas. I can totally relate to your struggle to finish things. I think that’s part of having a big ambition and a thirst for life. I think publishing these essays on Indie notebook and finishing Surmount will be two ways of helping yourself see that you are good at finishing things. Not all projects can and should be finished. But I relate to the struggle and I hope you get better at it.
Thanks Grant! I agree, not everything needs to be finished. It seems like a good idea to have a more balanced ratio between abandoned vs finished things though. Or maybe it's more about going all the way with what really matters?
"I don’t want to make a few things, I want to create a large body of work. Kinda like a centipede of aliens. But I gotta learn how to collaborate better with all these different versions of myself that are scattered throughout time."
^ That hit so hard for me. Godspeed on your journey of becoming a centipede of aliens!
Cool post with a fresh perspective. Looking at a project like a team effort with your past and future selves is both kinda funny and true, lol.
Change of subject:
I just gotta say that I played the Surmount demo (in spite of not having Steam, a controller or any real experience with the genre) . Hopefully you've received an "anonymous" feedback message from me.
What I wrote in that message was my immediate impressions - with an added criticism that I kind of had to force out of me, given that I'd read your post on the value of game testing and the feedback provided (I hope you throw it in the trash if it doesn't resonate with you and your vision)
As a little extra feedback, I just wanna say that in the time after playing the demo something about it has stuck with me in the back of my mind. Like a feeling that this game is bigger than the sum of its parts.
I remember the distinctly layered look of Mount Om and something inside of me wants to daydream about what it might be like climbing the different parts of it.
There are other things I could say but I guess the truest and the most complimentary thing is that this game feels like it was made by a couple of dudes that know their Nintendo - both as players and as developers.
I dug through all the feedback and found yours, I like the idea of making the walking more fun. Jasper already smoothed out a bunch of issues with it these last few days. But it might also just be something on the animation side that I could improve... I'm definitely gonna think about it, there's some polish left probably.
I really hope you'll get to play it properly with a controller some day as well hehe.
"Like a feeling that this game is bigger than the sum of its parts."
This felt so good to hear, especially after you've only played the demo. The story/presentation is a little bit more quick and simplistic compared to the actual game so that bodes well I think.
You always know how to make the compliments hit deep!
The music is by Ryan Yoshikami (https://www.ryanyoshikami.com)! He's also one heck of a Nintendo guy, very influenced by Mario Galaxy, Pikmin, etc.
I’m sure I will be playing through it on Switch one day. My laptop is nothing to write home about, I don’t think, but supposedly the Switch Pro Controller can be used on Steam - so at least there’s a possibility for that :)
What I wrote was from the heart.
One thing that stood out to me in the demo is where you climb through a passage with bushes or branches or something like that. The way that it is organically revealed that you are covered in these little sticky things from them was “unnecessarily cool” (in a good way) and completely true to my experience as a kid roaming around nature. Lol.
Have fun on the final stretch of this thing!
P.S. You’ve given me so many good compliments through the years as well
P.P.S. I should get around to writing that email one of these days
Great essay Jonas. I can totally relate to your struggle to finish things. I think that’s part of having a big ambition and a thirst for life. I think publishing these essays on Indie notebook and finishing Surmount will be two ways of helping yourself see that you are good at finishing things. Not all projects can and should be finished. But I relate to the struggle and I hope you get better at it.
Thanks Grant! I agree, not everything needs to be finished. It seems like a good idea to have a more balanced ratio between abandoned vs finished things though. Or maybe it's more about going all the way with what really matters?
"I don’t want to make a few things, I want to create a large body of work. Kinda like a centipede of aliens. But I gotta learn how to collaborate better with all these different versions of myself that are scattered throughout time."
^ That hit so hard for me. Godspeed on your journey of becoming a centipede of aliens!
Thanks Sandra haha, you too whatever kind of mythical beast you wish to become
Cool post with a fresh perspective. Looking at a project like a team effort with your past and future selves is both kinda funny and true, lol.
Change of subject:
I just gotta say that I played the Surmount demo (in spite of not having Steam, a controller or any real experience with the genre) . Hopefully you've received an "anonymous" feedback message from me.
What I wrote in that message was my immediate impressions - with an added criticism that I kind of had to force out of me, given that I'd read your post on the value of game testing and the feedback provided (I hope you throw it in the trash if it doesn't resonate with you and your vision)
As a little extra feedback, I just wanna say that in the time after playing the demo something about it has stuck with me in the back of my mind. Like a feeling that this game is bigger than the sum of its parts.
I remember the distinctly layered look of Mount Om and something inside of me wants to daydream about what it might be like climbing the different parts of it.
There are other things I could say but I guess the truest and the most complimentary thing is that this game feels like it was made by a couple of dudes that know their Nintendo - both as players and as developers.
Who did the music, btw? It's perfect
Thanks Hasse!
I dug through all the feedback and found yours, I like the idea of making the walking more fun. Jasper already smoothed out a bunch of issues with it these last few days. But it might also just be something on the animation side that I could improve... I'm definitely gonna think about it, there's some polish left probably.
I really hope you'll get to play it properly with a controller some day as well hehe.
"Like a feeling that this game is bigger than the sum of its parts."
This felt so good to hear, especially after you've only played the demo. The story/presentation is a little bit more quick and simplistic compared to the actual game so that bodes well I think.
You always know how to make the compliments hit deep!
The music is by Ryan Yoshikami (https://www.ryanyoshikami.com)! He's also one heck of a Nintendo guy, very influenced by Mario Galaxy, Pikmin, etc.
Thanks Hasse!
I’m sure I will be playing through it on Switch one day. My laptop is nothing to write home about, I don’t think, but supposedly the Switch Pro Controller can be used on Steam - so at least there’s a possibility for that :)
What I wrote was from the heart.
One thing that stood out to me in the demo is where you climb through a passage with bushes or branches or something like that. The way that it is organically revealed that you are covered in these little sticky things from them was “unnecessarily cool” (in a good way) and completely true to my experience as a kid roaming around nature. Lol.
Have fun on the final stretch of this thing!
P.S. You’ve given me so many good compliments through the years as well
P.P.S. I should get around to writing that email one of these days
I definitely have some experience getting covered in weird stuff after crawling through bushes haha. Love that you could relate to that!
Thank you Hasse! Looking forward to that email. :- )