Continuing the Work

 I have been thinking a lot lately.

This is a hard thing. There's only so little time... I'm just one person. I'm one person, who has problems concentrating and being disciplined, who's not that good at coding, and certainly not an artist or any sort of genius. And I'm trying to compete with people who are better in different kinds of ways.

The thing is though. That doesn't mean I'm fucked.

I suppose I just believe that just because these supposed disadvantages are true, doesn't mean I have no advantages. I am resourceful and creative. I am passionate, and I think most importantly, I am dedicated to the long game. I'm not on any timeline - other than the span of my life. There is no rush. There is only taking the next step, doing the next thing. 

So I must remember to be patient. It is quite tempting, when I get excited, to want to complete as much as possible, to get it out there and finish this and that, to make something amazing. But, I have to remember, these feelings are just feelings. I'm just excited. Motivation is great, because it helps heighten my ability to achieve, but, it is not what's going to make this thing happen. What's going to make this happen is steady, small, boring discipline. Daily work. Never quitting.

I will be motivated, like I am now. And at times, I will be discouraged. But I will not allow these feelings to dictate who I am or how I look at what I do. I do this because this is my dream. I am not going to let go because I don't feel good about things. I'm going to stand up and fight.

There are many angles at which to attack this. The most important thing out of any quality - something I can actually manifest - is persistence. I am no genius, I am not especially talented or creative, but I certainly can be persistent. And I can be disciplined. And I can do my very best.

Anyway. I threw the whole immersive menu thing away a while ago and I've been working hard on the little things. I started doing just one hour in the morning and trying to put one hour in the evenings. Really my goal was 3 hours a day, but it's proving difficult. Anyway, since I'm working in such small time chunks, I have to break down tasks and also plan ahead what I'm gonna be working on or else I'll show up for my one hour before work and have to think about it then - I don't have time for that, I need to produce. So the plan is to do the thinking and break things down on Sundays. During the week I do not consider doubts or changes in direction. I just do the fucking work.

Been helpful so far.

 

I nearly killed this project because I reached too high.

 In fact, I nearly killed my passion for game dev entirely. I just wanted to be better than I am. This game is really neat. I am proud of it. It's nothing like what other people can make, but still, I made it. It's neat damnit!

I just wanted to be successful already. I wanted to be like a really high performer. And I can be. I have plenty of time to get there. It's just like, I'm so inexperienced, and I should just make what I can make now and not fucking worry about how much money I make or how many wishlists I got. I need to perfect the craft first and fuckin have fun with it or what's the point? 

I'll still try to market, I'll still try to make this quality, but man.... I just put way too much pressure on myself.

Anyway. I'm back after a long, long break. I'm wrapping this project up this month and making something new. I learned so much and I'm ready to act on those learned lessons.

Man I can't wait to make something new tbh.

But this has been fun and I look forward to putting it out there.

Still working on immersive UI

Haiku time

I don't want to write

I'm missing my deadline, shit

Welp, just keep goin.

Fine I'll add a Map

Alright. I've decided to add a strategy layer map. 

That's right.

But I'm still gonna get it done this month.

Continuing work on Immersive UI

 So I have been playing with the immersive UI and it's in quite an ugly state at the moment, but I'm starting to get a grasp for what's going to work. I had the idea to use context menus a while back to help make combat less wonky to control - the player would just click on the pawn they wanna attack, and the options to attack them with (abilities) would just pop up. So, I'm trying that out with the immersive menu. I think I favor this over drag-and-drop, because drag-and-drop comes with some complications, as fun as the feature is. However, it's going to remain immersive because the pawns are going to move around when you do stuff. I'm going to make sure this shit feels good to use. I'm going to add a lot of visual and audio feedback. It'll be good.

Anyway I only have 33 days left to get this ready for Next Fest. Well, actually, 33 days still Next Fest starts. 

I'll get there. I'm not stepping back this time.

Oh shit next fest is coming up

Working on the UI still. It's going to take some time. I am probably getting a little too close to the deadline. Well, I just looked at the deadline, and it seems like it's rapidly approaching - I think the 5th of next month is when Next Fest actually starts. Here we are again damnit!

Well, I can't afford to keep pushing this deadline. I just have to buckle the fuck down and make shit happen.

I need to wrap up this UI rework ASAP so I can deliver something playable for next fest. And I need to fucking market this thing. 

 

UI Rework

 I've decided to do a more immersive and creative UI for the game's strategy layer since the strat layer is so simple. I don't feel like writing alot today. I feel discouraged to be honest, I think it's because I took like a week off. I just keep thinking "What I'm I even doing?" you know? It feels like I just don't have what it takes. 

But that's a load of bullshit.

I know what I'm doing. I'm working. Life isn't easy. I have made plenty of mistakes and all. But who the fuck doesn't?

I have no delusions. I am not the big shit or the next indie star. I just wanna make something people like and play. It's just hard to get to that point. Because you have to deal with the rest of your life and your energy levels and your ability to focus and your discipline and your fucking attitude.

I tend to feel kind of negative when I haven't put as much time into the game recently. So that's why I'm all whiny. I'll feel better once I continue to put in the work.

Can't upload a screenshot for some reason. Whatever.