Returning to Regular Updates, Social Media

It's been almost 6 years since I put my second game project Go Plague Monkey! Go! on hold to work on new projects and generally rethink my approach to solo independent game development. Not long after that I stopped posting on this blog or social media regularly partially because I didn't have an upcoming product to promote and partially because frankly social media in general had become less useful and less of a positive presence in my life.

Thankfully, social media has become a much happier, friendlier, safer place since then. Just kidding. But, I did always plan on returning to posting regular updates and sharing on social media when I was closer to releasing something, and that seems like now.

Buffalo (2020)

I certainly didn't plan for such a long absence. Over the past many years I've been working on a number of projects, mostly games and game development tools. Many of these projects I consider failed experiments or false starts, and I doubt they will see the light of day except perhaps in parts borrowed for other work. Others I'm still enthusiastic about and feel committed to finishing. In particular, there is a game I'd like to announce soon and release within the next year, and there is a development tool I'm considering releasing as an open source project within a similar timeframe.

Besides my core game development interests, I've also spent time learning new skills and improving old ones especially related to art and music creation. For example, over the past 2-3 years I've dabbled with water color painting (images related), partially for fun and partially to learn more about traditional art and how painters render the world. I think this type of knowledge is extremely valuable for game development. I'd like to share more of these aspects of myself online, although I'm not sure exactly in what capacity.

Buffalo, Buffalo (2020)

I'd also like to mention--I still plan on releasing Go Plague Monkey! Go! I don't think it will be the next game I release, but I'm still attached to the game. I am a little concerned about how releasing a plague themed game would be perceived today, but I hope it will be clear from the game's tone and content that it doesn't celebrate the recent real world suffering. Certainly this was never my intention since I started working on the game well before this pandemic.

I believe sharing can be a good motivator, and although I usually prefer sharing in progress work with people close to me in real life, it's nice to have online sources of support as well. Besides wanting to share my upcoming work, there are also some other aspects of social media I genuinely miss. I've met some genuine, nice people on social media, some of whom I've gone on to talk to in podcasts or even meet in real life at conferences and conventions. I miss those folks!

So, hello, again! If you see me on reddit or Twitter don't feel as though you've seen a ghost or zombie account. Say "hi" back!