Hey, it's been a productive year even tho it doesn't really feel like I've done much (or rather I wished I would've done more). Let's talk about it. :D
Lights Out Development
So I actually managed to make a game and publish it for this years Pixel Day. It was fun creating ideas for a concept that I haven't seen before, objects and mechanics revolving around the light and so on. I was very much inspired by Mario vs DK, DK94, Portal 1 and 2, and I liked how in the Portal series you would learn 1 thing, learn another new thing, and the next puzzle revolved around using both new things at once. That's how I designed the progression in Lights Out where certain days were dedicated to learning one mechanic and the next one or so would make you use both. The Final Day of course making you use everything up to that point.
Not long after, I began developing the next week with whole new mechanics and enemies. Sadly I did not get to finish that week (yet) and I apologize for staying silent about it as I didn't want to promise anything like release dates and then not keeping up my promise. I can't even promise if I will continue developing Lights Out, that depends on the interest if people want more of that or something else new. So if you want to see it continue let me know.
GameDev Plans
Yep, I plan to make more games, easier said than done though. I'll have to put more focus on this than art. The #1 gamedev advice that I've always heard is to create a lot of small games. That's exactly what I intend to do. With Pixel Day coming up, I got a fun idea in store so loom forward to that. I honestly don't like game jams as they're technically just Industry Crunch Simulator events, but I'll see what events there are to join if any pop up.
Art Growth
I think as time passes I improve on my art, whether it be colors shading and other deep fundamentals I'm still learning, and am confident that I am in fact improving, but there was a great lack of pixel art this year compared to last year. Mostly because I'm kinda tired of drawing what seems like the same face over and over while being limited to resolution size, poses, and perspective. So I decided to try and actually draw stuff with my tablet and I feel a lot more comfortable now. I still love pixel art to death and will love it forever, but I'll have to learn/study actual art fundamentals if I want to improve the way I want to improve.
Sophvember (Unfinished)
Speaking of art, I did my own event Sophvember where I'd draw my character Sophia everyday of November. It was going good until the near end where I hit a massive burnout. My sleep schedule was off and I didn't feel like doing much. Even after the month I tried to draw a little more and I still couldn't finish it off. Sadly this will remain unfinished and I'd rather wait until I'm likely used to drawing everyday. Next year maybe?
Music and Online Activity
So other than Gamedev and Art, I also made 2 new songs this year! While developing and drawing, I like to listen to lots of different genres of music, Drum&Bass is a favorite of mine so I decided to try making one with a bit of chiptune.
And then a few months pass and I joined Dry's Autumn Collab. This time I was inspired by lo-fi, this genre having the average of half the tempo of DnB music made this fun to come up with. More proud of this one than the last one honestly, I put more emotion to it. Though the production vibe would've been fitting had it not been over 90 degrees, in October.
While I was able to join more events, I wish I socialized/networked more. However, I also need to remind myself that drawing art is NOT the career path I want to take. Just a side thing that I really like doing. I love looking at art and seeing how talented/skilled people are, it brings major inspiration for me, but I keep having the lingering thought that it would be cool if more artists followed me. It's cool that there are artists that like what I do, in fact it gives me hope that my work is good, but that isn't and shouldn't be the main reason to just keep drawing, I need to draw for myself first. (Unless Commission/Freelance work is involved, drawing for myself is out the window, which I'm fine with) (if it is something I love working on then that's a bonus)
Real Life stuff
Last year I mentioned a goal where I'd get a drivers license, fellas I have officially achieved half of that goal. I passed the written test part of it, that shit was hard as hell, but I heard the driving part was easy so I'll get to that soon hopefully. Not much else happened that was special despite there being more inconveniences than usual.
Being a NEET is boring.
Goals for 2024
I think it's best to talk less about them and just do them, otherwise this upcoming year will be a complete mystery to me and will certainly be an important one by the end of it.
Happy New Year!
Here's to a good 2024!