Hello world (2016 edition)
Hello again
I’m still not dead, which is nice.
The past few months were really intense. And as the year will come to an end, I realise, again, just as the previous years, that I’ve yet to release anything in fact.
Having reduced the scope of my ambitions, I wanted to make only small demos instead of full games (whatever could it mean). It didn’t changed anything, because zero minus 90%, is still zero.
The struggle is real for me, between sexy AF library, and damn deep middlewares. I must break the circle. It goes as follow:
- Have an idea for concept/gameplay
- Enrich AF said idea with lore/justification about said gameplay idea
- Existential crisis about it being too wide/simple/complex/whatever
- Self hyped while thinking about desired aesthetics/gfx/shaders/etc
- Look any libraries/middlewares showcases while thinking about the project
- Fiddle a bit until things get hard.
- Give up but think of it as “frozen project”
- Until one morning, someone, somewhere make something either remotely similar, or just exactly like it
- Now I hate myself for not being able to finish what is my passion, and telling so much people that “making video games is my passion”. Keep dreaming to be the next Notch (as so many indie dev)
- Feel like a fraud because you’re not a writer if you don’t release a book
- Try to have next idea as more humble, simpler, faster to do.
- Rince and repeat. And keeping wishing for a magic wand/tool that will make lot of things so much simpler (keep founding it).
So !
So, regarding the aesthetics of my projects, it’s either retro pixel, but with scenes that are highly dynamics, with lots of stuff moving here and there, a certain density. Or simple and elegants low poly (Super Hot, Mirrors Edge). The thing is it’s hard for me to make lots of assets when I’m not comitted to a style. From this kind of position, nothing can really emerge: I’ll make crappy assets because I’m not 100% in the style, and I’m not 100% in the style because I only make crappy assets. I’m hyped by screenshots from other peaople. But I don’t want to emulate a style, I want my own.
Promises ?
I found that, upon looking showcases for some library/framework/middleware, it somehow motivate me because I think my projects could look like. For hardware related novelty too: I had (and still have) ideas working with kinect, leap motion and whatnot.
Recently I’ve been really hyped by VR. But, pal, I have neither a war machine nor a PS4. And I can’t really spend at least 800€ on this. The lowest setup I could have should be a samsung VR and a second hand galaxy S5. But it’s still really expensive, and for what I’ve seen, games aren’t there (except for “Budget Cut”).
I think the indie scene has a card to play in VR, but rather in low tech VR. And that’s where aframe.io spawn: Proc.Edu.Ria was what kept me on for a long time, but as sweet as WebGL is, I lost myself.
I want to make some small games/demos with it in 2017. Maybe starting with a reboot of Proc.Edu.Ria, in VR. My setup is rather simple: My phone (nexus 5X), a plastic helmet (15€), and maybe a bluetooth controller later.
VR ?
When I think about Proc.Edu.Ria, I see a First Person Adventure, with an universe to explore. Not an open world, expanding for a gazillion KM. Rather a smaller, intimate, close landscape, with a lot of stuff to do. Like the maps from Assassin’s Creed, with all the secondary quests, but in a way that feel immersive and interesting.
And I think that’s what VR games should be. Put me in the shoes of a detective, in Chicago, and I’ll want to roam the streets. You won’t have to make a bullshit story about anything. Just put me there, and you’ll see me staying and staring long hours at the map you made, the details your talented team made during this couple of years.
Anyway, merry things and happy stuff to you
