“Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you’re willing to practice, you can do.”
― Bob Ross

It’s been a couple of years since the release of Dungeon Rustlers. That project was a bit of an experiment to get from code start to a shipped game as fast as possible. The game idea wasn’t ground-breaking, we purchased (mostly) stock game assets, and used Game Maker Studio 2 for our engine. It wasn’t pretty, but the goal was accomplished.

Fast forward to today. The indie game development scene is buzzing with fantastic titles, many of which are bringing some wonderful gameplay, artwork, and story telling to the table. I truly love creating something, seeing it work (or not!), and being able to play it. To be clear, making video games for a living isn’t a viable option for most, including yours truly, but exploring them as a creative hobby is certainly worth pursuing.

At the end of last year I experimented with spending the first hour of each day doing some type of game development task: coding a feature, designing a level, trying (badly) at creating pixel-art, or simply fixing bugs. That hour each morning, with a fresh cup of caffeinated motivation by my side, primed the pumps for a much more productive work day.

To help dedicate myself to that golden hour of productivity, regular posts will be made here as an accountability tool. Some days might be mundane: “I fixed this weird bug”. Others, perhaps a screenshot or video of progress. For the times when I uncover a new development technique, I’ll write a tutorial like this one for dynamic sprite outlines for Game Make Studio 2.

Come back tomorrow to learn more about what I’m planning to make!