Instead of talking about game development, since this will be the last (non-release) post of the year, I wanted to take some time to celebrate the things worth celebrating in 2021. I won't pretend that there wasn't a lot of bad in 2021, but we get enough of the bad on a day to day basis. So let's look back at the good, and maybe look forward to see if we can't find more good.
And for the record, I'm doing this with no filter. No re-reading, no editing, no backtracking to change what I've written. This is as close to the real me as I will ever put onto the internet before the filter goes back on and the customer service facade goes back up. Anyway...
For starters, this whole thing started. I quit my day job at the end of 2020, I made my first few pitches at the start of 2021, and that led to me starting work on The Rising Son. Work on that has unfortunately ground to a halt due to financial concerns and a lack of time on the part of the artist, but both he and I are excited to get The Rising Son off the ground. The renders that are complete look great, and I really like the world we put together. Toyomi is my first attempt at a cyberpunk setting, and The Rising Son is my first attempt at a cyberpunk story in general. Even still, I think we got the vibe down right. It should be familiar to fans of the cyberpunk genre, with just enough that sets it apart to be at least a little memorable.
After writing out more for The Rising Son than I ever have for any other single project I've worked on (including over a decade of writing out personal projects for things like Dungeons & Dragons and Vampire: The Masquerade), I got to learn how much I really love doing this type of work. I ended up writing (likely well over) ten thousand words per week for the first few months, just because I was excited to wake up and start building this world.
When work on The Rising Son slowed down, I saw it as an opportunity to explore the possibility of multiple projects. After looking around at some other projects, I found a few things I was interested in, but ultimately didn't try to adopt anything else because I wanted to be able to return to The Rising Son at a moment's notice. Remembering a Humble Bundle purchase I had made years ago, I went looking through my steam library and found RPG Maker VX Ace.
Then started Maids & Masters. I built out Arrival, the prequel demo, with the intention of spreading it around and seeing what the reaction was. Maybe I'd continue if there was an expressed demand. Then I found myself fiddling with RPGM idly, just trying to figure out how certain things worked. Over time, Maids & Masters started to become it's own thing, seemingly of its own volition. I was putting in 40, 50, 60, even 70 or 80 hours of work every week, just because I was so excited to bring this world to life. There were a few nights I had insomnia bad enough that going back to work was the only thing I wanted to do. Barely over four months later, and I'm already into my fifth major release, and I have yet to hear anything truly bad about the project. Some complaints and gripes, sure, but given that this is something I'm making for free on the internet, I was expecting at least one person to troll me, and it just hasn't happened.
2021 definitely wasn't a great year, but I can still call it a good year. Even if I basically no income and I'm bleeding money paying my bills, I'm happier than I've ever been.
For 2022, there's a new project I might be joining. I won't get too far into it right now, because it all still exists firmly in "maybe" territory, but it's a slightly more established project that (given the opportunity) I feel I could really elevate and help it become a more fully realized version of what it already is. Since it's already established, it would also mean some income, which is something I sorely need if I want to keep doing this past 2022.
That's not to say Maids & Masters will fall to the wayside. I still want MnM to be my primary project since it's my first solo foray into making video games. In a way, it's my first child, and I don't want to put it up for adoption or leave it unattended on a curb somewhere. Not only does that feel wrong, I still really like the world I built, and I really want to tell the rest of the story I've set up.
Speaking of Maids & Masters, the story is quickly nearing the end of the first act. After a supplemental update in the form of v0.5.1, my attention will shift largely to v0.6, which I'm hoping will not only be a large update, but a unique update. There are still a number of mechanics within RPGM that I want to explore, and I've got some ideas for v0.6 that should let me play around with those concepts a little bit. It will also present the first real antagonist. Lothario was already friendly, and Viridius just sort of rolled over because he was in a difficult position and Master made for an easy way out. This new Master - the mother of Bianca and Beverly - is one of "the bad Masters" that I keep trying to establish existing out in the world. Overcoming her will be genuinely arduous, and presents the first missable trophy since the Preserved Flower for Maila's funeral.
I really am looking forward to getting more of Maids & Masters out in the world. I really need to take some time to advertise and share the project with more than one community. The fact remains, though, that there are still a few of you that found your way to my Patreon page and chose to send some financial support my way. Given how little I've put into getting my project out there and asking for support, that tells me I've got something special here.
But more than all that, it tells me that there's at least a little demand for my talent as a writer and game developer, and that means more to me than literally anything has meant to me in a very, very long time. It is not an understatement to say it gets me out of bed in the morning. For all the work I've put into expanding my vocabulary and learning how to express thoughts and ideas through the written word, it is impossible for me to put into words how much that means to me. In the time it's taken me to make as much of MnM as I have, I've written down three new completely separate story seeds that could be games unto themselves, and that's not including a few ideas I already have brewing that could turn into a direct sequel to Maids & Masters. I have so much more to create and share, and knowing that there are people in the world who want me to share it is the best motivation I could ask for.
So thank you. Even if all you've done is download my game and read this article. Sincerely, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Here's hoping 2022 brings even more of the joy this last quarter of 2021 has brought me, and that I can share at least a little of that joy with you.
Happy New Year from The Mithril Hourglass.
No comments:
Post a Comment