A year later.

 So here I am, over a year later from my last post. I'm not going to say something foolish, like I'll try to post more. I would like to.

Time will tell.

Game design is still a passion for me, but I struggle with motivation. I keep house. I raise 3 kids. One has recently been diagnosed with ADHD, the other was born with a fairly significant genetic condition. The economy seems to be circling the drain as the cost of living rises. I sleep little. I hurt more. 

I waste my little leisure time with endless youtube tutorials, devlogs, philosophy,  psychology, and yes, much mindless drivel. It is hard to justify spending hours of my life for what may never produce an income. On games no one may ever see, stories that touch no mind. Something worthwhile will take so much time, something quick and easy will not be worthwhile. Quick is relative, even then there is hours of learning required, and there are standards I hold myself to that drive me to unattainable perfection.

And yet, every night, I think of games I wish to make. Of what I can produce that I am actually capable of. Dreams, maybe, but ever persistent. 

What I have done is mess around with matrices to simulate zombie hordes for a post apocalyptic base building strategy game. The math is flawed, but the proof of concept is there. To the back shelf that one goes, it would take significant time to produce and I do not feel ready to do it justice. Good practice, though.

Then I play with procedural generation, with simplex noise and shaders. Fun, but leads nowhere.

I did make a complete, though very small and simple game. It took 8 days, about 40 hours total. It's a puzzle game featuring a train and you can find it here.

It's not much, but I was proud of myself for producing something. 

Since then, I've made solitaire. It works, but is ugly. Polishing it would take a lot of time, but maybe I will finish it, and launch it on google play, monetized with a single ad banner. It would be lost in a sea of more refined versions, but it would be reaffirming to even earn a single cent on something I've made.

Lately I've been thinking of a vertical scrolling shooter with procedurally generated waves of enemies, in somewhat of a roguelite fashion. I used to love the arcade game Raiden and it's sequel, so it would be nice to pay homage and hopefully give me something I enjoy to play.

Time will tell.

Enough rambling into the void.