When you're working with other people it's amazing to find out that up to 50% of the time you spend on the hobby is just communicating via email. Sometimes this makes me wish to be back working solo no matter how
As one of the first people taking up this hobby more than 5 years ago, I also don't plan to quit anytime soon. I still have some stories to tell, though probably no more than 4 projects until I can't shake away the family obligations. It's surprising that the issue, compared to when I first started, is not that whether you have the "skill" or not, but simply just whether you have the time. Now whenever I see something nice and shiny, the only things that go in my head would be:
"Hmmm, is that an 8-hour graphic or a 19-hour graphic?"
"I don't think they maximized usage of that asset."
I don't know why it's harder for me to be impressed. Maybe it's because people entering game development today have access to the best digital artists around who probably learned Photoshop even before they learned how to walk. And even with minimal artistic skill, just a few editing skills and it's relatively straightforward to produce a not-so-amateur look. You see, back in my day, we were using Microsoft Paint. So all the neat digital art that first appeared on the internet was wondrous to behold. It only took a few years later and learning some of the gradients techniques that the mystery cover was blown, so now by examining art I can tell who is keeping up and who is a few years behind (Mind you, I also have a soft spot for "old school").
People may be wondering why I'm hiring almost or pro-level people, when the final audience may be too small to be worth the investment. I could probably do the equivalent work I'm paying people for. I just don't want it to take me 5 years. Well here's a little secret, even if no game results, the investment would still be worth it for me. Because what I commissioned aren't just "oh a sprite here. Oh, a background there." I essentially commissioned from artists I admire and whose techniques and designs I can utilize to their fullest extent. It's amazing that I have an arsenal of concept sheets which I can literally make any number of games from. As shown by the youtube vids how the end result from the Unity build versus the Ren'Py build differs from each other while starting from the same core concept and characters. If I had an inkling to make an iOS FPS I could very well do so since the game world has already been built.
Well, ok, but how about the damn games? Based on my track record of requiring assets first before putting them together with something that resembles a story (which I did even during my solo career), I'm right on track. In fact, looking back, it's been the ideas which I initially wrote 10,000+ words for which fizzled out and died as projects. Good art tells the stories themselves just by having you look at them, so that is one major weapon against writer's block. So a picture isn't just worth a thousand words... it's having your game want to build itself for you. It's similar to how by listening to a worthy piece of soundtrack, you can already imagine the entire movie. In a way, I'm actually glad that I haven't written a single line of actual in-game dialogue since I am getting more and more sources of inspiration each day, some better than others. Once my sources of inspiration reach an overflowing state, then that would be the time I can sit down and crank out the story in a couple of days. If I had written any actual in-game text, no doubt I would have revised it countless times by now and still won't be satisfied with it.
Putting together a game is like being a maestro leading an orchestra. The art assets, music tracks, python blocks, are currently the equivalent of samples of individual instruments. It is important that they look and perform close to the final quality, so the maestro can have a better idea how to arrange them on the stage, and determine which assets have the limelight, if only for a short duration.
Ok, schedule. To put more pressure on myself I decided to finally crawl this blog out of hiding (I was blogging merely to cement my existence on the internet). And instead of philosophical entries regarding the general game industry, I'll try to actually write more regarding working behind-the-scenes. I'm currently doing GUI work for ADRIFT, and after that then it will be full blast on Elspeth's Garden -- although it will still be a "long-burn" project. I'll be free to take on some shorter projects... likely adult-oriented or some such, with a project partner. I also look forward to working on TW's Loyal Kinsman sequel some time in the future. Man, when is Aurora Fall coming out? I think I may have evolved some technique since then but it's still a treasured project which I learned a lot from.
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