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I’m excited to see the completion of the first of those games, and the progression of the other two!

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Thanks Grant! I'm excited too. :- )

The other two projects are actually comics! I think I've got stronger feelings about stories than games.

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> What does your “projects I need to do before I die” list look like? How distracted are you from it?

I want to develop and self-publish a game that has the feeling of atmosphere and rich mechanical-discovery my favorite games made me feel in the past.

I also want to animate a whimsical, fun short film.

I am working on game projects, but I’m distracted in an emotional sense. Positive associations I had in the past are suddenly negative. I’m not getting lost in the moment as I used to. Likely time will move this forward, and may especially existential motivations (this is no way to live, only to die).

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Are you too stuck in old ideas? Is that why you feel like positive has become negative?

I like and relate to the types of projects you wanna do. But I'm getting the feeling that you might be struggling a bit right now.

For me projects tend to become more negative the longer I work on them, especially games. The initial excitement wears off a bit.

Can I see your work anywhere? You got me curious.

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Stuck in old ideas: I do find myself comfort-sketching ideas, but part of me also always pushes for that which is new, difficult, and risky. By leaving the comfort zone, I think I appreciate what is in the comfort zone more. It feels like a yin-and-yang relationship that they build on each other. I enjoyed what you wrote about old ideas, though perhaps they aren’t my current issue:

The positive becoming negative seems related to life circumstances — expanding on emotional distraction, I was betrayed by someone I shared a lot of excitement with, and I can’t feel excitement in the same way without remembering that. So, perhaps that means they *are* old ideas, now! Or perhaps the betrayal is an old idea, to stretch the meaning of idea. Or perhaps I simply need a different lens, and they’re perfectly dated ideas. Still finding that out :)

My projects themselves are not negative, and I think there’s something in my brain that rejuvenates “initial excitement” over and over as if I just started the project. My current game is 7 months into development and I can still wake up the next morning and feel excited about what’s next for it.

For what I do: I’ve practiced digital painting, animating, low-level programming, and I’ve finished a few game-jam submissions. I could post a bunch of links, but with where I’m at in life, I think I’d rather show it directly if that sounds fun;

I actually drafted (but not yet finished) an email in response to your last week post’s call for playtesters, so if it sounds good, I could show a few things during a playtesting call if we make it there!

Otherwise, I completely understand the weight of the added commitment this imposes as opposed to poking a few links ;)

Have a nice day

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It can be tough to get back in the ring after going through something emotional like that. I hope you'll feel better with some time and perspective.

Keeping that early-project-excitement for 7 months sounds super nice! Guess it could depend on a lot of stuff too, like how much you tend to work on it or maybe it's the perfect project/idea for you? Sounds a bit like you're usually like that though hehe

Playtest + seeing your stuff sounds super fun! I'd love to do that, feel free to just shoot me that email and suggest a time. :- )

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