Recently I have been losing a little bit of my drive when it comes to game development. While I feel very capable of learning new things and using my newfound knowledge to create any game I can think of, I have recently been feeling a bit unmotivated and uninspired when it comes to making a new game.
It was nice during the golden age of Triple Calavera because we had a strong accountability system between all of our team members and were working towards a common goal. While I might not have enjoyed the actual games that we ended up producing very much, it was easy to ignore the bigger questions that were being suppressed in my head. Questions like “What is the purpose of this game?” or “Does the world need this game?”, or even “Is this the best use of my time? Could I be doing something more meaningful in the world?”
Playing the game Webfishing recently made me ponder on these questions even more. How could such a simple game provide so much satisfaction to so many people around the world. Does the world need more of these types of games? Is there a purpose or a point for me to make another game like Webfishing, when it already exists and is filling that void adequately already?
While money isn’t my main motivator when it comes to game dev, it has been baffling to see the amount that Webfishing generated. In total, the creator made half a million dollars over the course of just a few weeks. It really just goes to show the demand of this type of game right now, especially games that people can play with their friends. This is even more prevalent in these trying times and the state of the world right now.
In the mean time, while I am still figuring things out with where I want to take game development next, I am hoping to focus on three main areas:
- Host Mothership RPG sessions and develop my storytelling and world building abilities (Mothership RPG)
- Expand my research experience and work on some research publications for work (Work Publications).
- Develop my artistic ability in Blender and become a better 3D modeler. (Developing in Blender)
Mothership RPG
This has been a big one for me the past two weeks. I have been really excited to pivot away from the rigid structure of the Nemesis board game as a source of inspiration, and instead, really lean into the creative and collaborative nature of the Mothership roleplaying game. Mothership is an RPG much in the style of the popular Dungeons and Dragons, but it uses elements of science fiction that are a huge passion and interest of mine. My goal is to start hosting mothership sessions with my friends, and maybe even expand out to new groups of people online to further build my network.
As a new game master / dungeon master / warden, I have a lot to learn in the art of multitasking, improvisation, and making players feel engaged. What learning more about mothership made me realize is that I don’t need to be limited to doing this only in video game form, I can do all of this in RPG form and achieve virtually the same thing, with much better effect. I really have Baldur’s Gate 3 to thank for this. It really opened my eyes up to what RPGs are and made me realize how much I love the story telling aspects of these games. I have scheduled my first session with my friends and can only pray that things go well and that they like it so that I can continue to host it with them.
Work Publications
It no news to anyone that game development is not a particularly stable industry. I have a lot of interest and passion in making games, but not so much for making it into a sustainable career for myself. I also don’t want to lose out on the magic and fun that comes with making games as a hobby. The only counter point to this is that making games as a business serves as some kind of extra motivation for doing it, and it encourages you to challenge yourself more. There are tons of points and counterpoints that can be raised in this discussion, but the point is that I would rather find other more stable areas to focus on for actually maintaining a stable career.
I believe that in the immediate future I can do this with my current work assignments. By learning into my work and try to contribute in areas where they are currently lacking, I hope to better build my career on a solid foundation of scholarly publications that can be used to either help me earn my PhD, or provide me with better chances for employability.
Developing in Blender
This is a particularly interesting area for me because I feel like it is very easy to program a game, but it is very hard to make a game that looks good. If I can learn more about modeling simple things in blender and using shader effectively, I can have the power to use more of the right side of my brain and better flex my creativity.
Here are some of my previous works with 3D modeling from back in 2022: