Game Update
We continue to move forward working on adding more functionality to the combat script as it looks like we only have the ability to do single target healing right now. It looks like we should be able to add AOE healing to the game. We’re at a stage where anything we add to the game can’t be anything that won’t give us a lot of bang for the buck. Cutting down on feature creep is a big deal here.
I spent some time trying to close out my old business licence in Texas this week. I had some issues getting it done and so I might need to make a phone call this week. I also am looking into setting up a business licence here in Florida so I’m thinking about what the new name for my company will be. It might be a good idea to try out some different designs for the logo.
Personal Update
The biggest thing that I completed this week was a new planed schedule for how to spend my time during the week. I needed to build two different schedules as my day job can fluctuate from days to nights and vice versa. I also built in some time to work out which I think will be a a major boon to my productivity. As I run out of other one off chores that need to get done around the house I gain more time that can be poured into game development.
I’m thinking about setting a bunch of alarms during the day to remind me about major scheduled parts of the day. It gets a lot easier to focus when I don’t have to continually look at the clock. I might come up with some work rituals as well to do. It took a while but doing this blog entry every week has become a ritual that keeps me focused. For the first few years of working on my game development skill set I hardly touched it unless I was going to a convention or putting out a major update.
Still looking forward to getting some time away from my kids to focus this summer. Who knows maybe things will be productive enough that I can finally get the game to early access. That’s kind of a big deal as I focused so hard to make it happen last year. I’m glad that it fell through last year. I was in no mental place to be able to handle release. I have the support that I need to make it happen this year. Something I was sorely lacking last year.
Game Development Insight
Momentum and drive to keep working on the game are a big deal. I spent a lot of time running a Twitch and YouTube channel while having many other pans in the fire. Often I would meet new content creators that would say, “I’m going to make one or two videos a day.” It’s not like that isn’t possible, but I would always tell them to make a lower commitment and if they want to do more then they can make that decision if they felt up to it. At the time I set the bar at one 1-hour live stream to talk about news and build a deck for the game Hex the Shards of Fate. I felt it was important to have a commitment, but also to make sure that it was something that was attainable.
I while back I watched a game development conference talk that mentioned setting specific time to work and creating hard stops even when you have momentum. In this way you will want to get back to what you were doing and intensify your interest. I suppose is similar to the concept of buyer and seller/supply and demand. If you give yourself limited time to work then you should make better use of it by being focused during that time. We want what we can’t have, and so denying yourself something can intensify your desire to do it. That said you still have to keep the fire going by allowing it from time to time. It’s a balance. I was hoping to utilize this concept with my schedule in a focused way.