So, it is the year we expected it would be after 2010. I've been working on some goals/plans/whatever for the coming year, and it's tricky.
This past year, to postmortem it a bit, has been the year I really neglected the site. I was very busy, moreso than ever before, cranking out games (gotta update the
History page!), but only loosely keeping in touch with the actual goings-on here at the site itself. It was definitely the most important thing for me to do - I had a massive outgo I needed to plug with some income. But I think we are stabilizing in that regard, and the future looks bright. Part of my plans in the new year involve updating the site and getting involved in what's happening here.
The hard part with plans is crafting something that lasts! Whenever I make some kind of schedule, I stick to it for anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks, and then it falls apart. So I don't want to actually build myself a strict schedule to adhere to. It just doesn't work. Unfortunately, I've never found anything that works long-term! Human nature is to regress to the mean, aka slobbitude. So rather than a schedule, I'm coming up with things I want to get done each day, each week, and each month. The problem with that kind of planning is that all the day stuff gets put off to day's end, the week stuff gets put off to Saturday, and the month stuff gets done (or tries to) on the 30th (extra troublesome in February)! Procrastination, another key aspect of human nature. Still, I don't have a better idea, and there's no magic trick that will just make it happen.
One thing I have put down for monthly is that I'd like to put out videos.
Behind The Dumb is too hard to create, but I happened to log into Youtube the other day to check on something else, and noticed I've got a bunch of "fans" on there, who would probably like to see
something come out. And it would make good content for the journal or wherever. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what all I could do. What ideas do you have for things that I could create quickly that would be interesting to you? One obvious and really easy one will be footage from whatever I'm currently developing. A lot of developers are always putting out clips of stuff in development, and that keeps people informed and interested.
Other things I thought I'd like to do include: learning to use Blender (I'm setting up really simple goals each week so I can move ahead in small bits), actually doing website updates like perhaps fixing the chat, reviewing games I play on the journal (maybe books, movies?), and... though it may test my very inner strength, I will struggle to play one hour of a non-WoW game each day! I know, I know! It seems like too much for one man to handle, but I think I can manage to play a game that isn't WoW each day. I just have to
focus.
I also want to add tags and/or categories to the journal so you can find specific types of things like Sneak Peeks, Biz Chat, Game Reviews, Announcements, whatever. But that's in the site updates category.
And yes, make games. As usual, there are a few things in the fire: the poem game is just about done (it was resting while Mad Planet was finished and then I took a winter vacation!), should be in the next week or so. The last of the four "games at the same time", my personal project, is pretty far along, but will continue to be pushed around by deadline-related projects. I really want to finish that up though, as it is personal, it means a lot to me to have it out there! Then there's another game for Boy's Life due in February, and I have one major fun-time game concept I hope to be able to create this year, but it's just an idea in my head, nothing at all concrete. There are also a few other projects that aren't solely my own - ports to other platforms, non-games, and other things. Those will be arriving variously throughout the year as well, and should be pretty cool, especially this upcoming port (hopefully in February?), which is a whole lot more than just a port.
And that's a teensy little snippet of news for you! We'll see how the year actually pans out as it gets moving.
