Crocotile 3d was released ten years ago on May 8th 2015. It had very limited functionality at the time, but it provided the ability to construct 3d scenes using 2d tiles from a tileset. I had been working on it for several months prior to the release. My reasons for developing the program stemmed from a desire to make a 3d game, and I wanted to construct the levels in a way that was similar to how 2d levels have been constructed using tiles. I couldn't find any programs that offered what I had in mind, in a way that was intuitive and simple to use. I didn't need anything complicated, and most 3d programs offered way too much. They felt bloated with features I would never use and had no interest in using. The ability to do simple basic things were often buried among complicated interfaces and controls that challenged my senses and overloaded them. It shouldn't have to feel so exhausting to do the simple things I wanted to do. I decided to make an attempt at creating a tool that would work in a way that made sense to me.
But the journey didn't start there- it began much earlier. Why did I want to create a 3d game in the first place? I never really had much interest in 3d. I was stuck on a track, traveling the timeline that is my life, locked into my previous modes of thinking and acting. I was an artist, and I had been creating art all my life, but it was two dimensional. I was producing graphics for game companies and individuals over the course of 10 years prior to developing Crocotile. Often it felt as though my work had no meaning, no deeper purpose. It was as if I had become a tool and was manufacturing the same thing over and over again- it never felt as though I was reaching my full potential. Too many promises others had made to me were broken, and I was left feeling broken myself. Even after I began developing Crocotile, I still felt this way. It took a while for that to change.
Sometimes I think about what influenced me- what causes my mood or interests to shift. How does it shape me as an artist? I've spent many years honing my ability to observe subtle details and how they compare and contrast. The advancement of skill could be due to all the practice, though I wonder if the practice might have been simply a byproduct of some natural predisposition I have towards those faculties. It could be that my biologic design is what drove those tendencies and brought me to the state I was in. I was creating graphics for others, simply because it was what I knew how to do and I thought it must be something I would enjoy doing too. In an attempt to find what it was I wanted to do, I spent time expressing myself through my own creative projects.
I had been developing my own projects prior to Crocotile, as well as other projects after it was released, but Crocotile was the project that received the most attention. There was a noticeable difference in response to my social media posts when they were Crocotile related as opposed to other things. It was clear to me that people had an interest in it, but I didn't quite understand just how deep that interest ran at first. I was still in a sort of survival mode at the time, trying to get by with freelance gigs. Much of it is a blur by now, muddied with depressive thoughts and feelings, but I remember making the decision to quit doing art for anyone. At some point I decided to make an attempt to get Crocotile 3d on the Steam platform before my money would run out. I figured it was my best chance to escape the situation I was in.
It was in the beginning of 2020 sometime around February, if I recall correctly, when I released Crocotile 3d onto Steam. It was around the time Covid was entering the picture- maybe just before all the measures were to be put into place. People were suddenly discovering Crocotile 3d due to the ability for Steam to present it to a large userbase. Many people were beginning to buy it, and I began to get some peculiar feeling about the vastness of the world that I hadn't realized before. I believe the price of the program at this time period was $15 usd. Though prior to the Steam release I had been selling it for $10 usd. Over time as I continued to add more features and increase the value of the program, I was able to raise the price to keep a fair balance. Ultimately, I haven't had to return to doing freelance work, and I never want to. Crocotile gave me a sense of reliability. When life was breaking down around me, Crocotile was the one thing that held me together. I saw this resilience reflected in the square grid of regularity inside the components of the system to which every tile interacted with. I saw these patterns being reflected in my mind and beyond.
But it wasn't just Crocotile that provided stability, it was the people who were interested in it enough to purchase it, and thus to support the work that I had done. They have made the development of Crocotile possible. Their continued interest acted as a fuel that inspired me to push further. This isn't the first time this has happened to me. I know that my desire to create art followed a similar pattern in the past. When I was very young, the encouragement I received from the people around me whenever I created art, made me feel as though what I was doing was important or special- it made me feel acknowledged and appreciated in some small way and this over time amounted to a lot. When I didn't know what to do, I simply did what others expected of me so that my sense of direction and identity would return. Over time a reputation was being built, a belief about myself was becoming solidified.
It makes me wonder- If the support of people around us is so influential to the development of our personalities, why is it so difficult to find support for the things we want to do as individuals? Maybe it just feels that way to me because I was never able to communicate effectively to others exactly what I wanted to do. These type of thoughts and questions always fill my mind, perhaps due to my sensitivity and condition as an artist to observe details, and contemplate the relativity between everything. I believe part of the reason it is difficult to pursue our interests is because we are born into a system that is built around preconceived ideas as to what we ought to be doing. There are set behaviors and customs, ways of living that define our lives. Systems have been put in place to organize vast swathes of people. Education systems mold our minds, massage our interests long enough to generate skills in us that businesses can then monetize. It's all done under the guise that we will become successful one day. But what they fail to tell us is that the actual success is of the system, continuing its control over us each day. That is what it appeared like to me in the past, perhaps because I didn't find the kind of success they had promoted- instead I found myself forced to think differently in a world where I didn't feel like I belonged. As a creative individual, I strived to be original. I wanted, and still want to convey more than ever something new- something that would make some kind of meaningful and lasting difference in the world.
I found myself alone struggling with the weight that had been placed on my mind, wandering between creative projects as I tried to get by. I was looking for some means to express what I held inside. Along the way I began developing Crocotile 3d because I couldn't find a tool that spoke to me- that would offer me a way to pursue my specific interests and ideas at the time. Of the programs I tried, they all felt overbloated with features that I had no interest in using. As an artist, my sensitivity to details was easily overstimulated by the complexity that it became immobilizing to use these programs. In addition to that, they were all geared towards an entire industry, not towards somebody like me. Their systems promoted a certain workflow and way of life that didn't sit well with me. I realized it would just be simpler to program something that did exactly what I needed, and so the process began. I didn't even know what to call it- it was just a nameless program at the time, back in 2014. It was the start of something that eventually became known as Crocotile 3d.
I had spent some time doing some javascript programming in the past, and since my mind was already familiar with it, it made sense to use javascript to code the program. I discovered a 3d library called three.js, which handled most of the difficult 3d stuff for me. In the beginning, the program didn't have much functionality. You could just pick some tiles from a tileset and place them into the scene. At the time, I was just figuring out if the idea was even possible, and if it was something I could make. I didn't know what to expect, but the results were great, and it was fun to use. I was able to take tiles from a tileset that I had made previously and place them into a 3d scene quickly. Suddenly my artwork had a dimension that was new and exciting to me. The 3d geometry the tiles constructed wasn't complicated, and it did not need to be. What was more complicated were the details I had illustrated and expressed two-dimensionally in the texturing.
The more I played with the program, and had fun constructing 3d scenes, the more I felt that others might also have fun with it and be interested in using it too. I decided to make an effort to build it up into something more presentable, something that would be useful and provide some kind of value. After some time I released the initial version on May 8th, 2015. It had all the basics; the ability to import tilesets, to save and load scenes, to export them as .obj models. It had the ability to select and edit faces and vertices as well as shift their UV coordinates. It was all very simple- perhaps clunky due to it not having any user-interface or ability to customize anything, and because of that, I received a lot of feedback from users who were frustrated that they couldn't do specific things. They expressed their suggestions on ways to improve the experience and make it more user-friendly, and I tried my best to respond to them and make improvements where I felt it made sense to. There were also some people who were more critical who mocked my work, and while it was frustrating at times, I still continued doing what I wanted to.
I continued improving the program, releasing new updates. It was a challenge because I hadn't made such a program before- I lacked a lot of experience and skill. The whole process was a learning experience and it became a lot more work than I originally planned for. It eventually took up all my time, and I couldn't work on the 3d game that I originally wanted to make, although at times I tried. Crocotile 3d wasn't just an experimental idea anymore, it was something that others found useful. Crocotile 3d was now a tool that they could rely on to create the things they wanted to make, and it always was fascinating to me to see what they were making. I felt compelled to cheer them on, because I wanted to see them succeed in their creative endeavors, no matter how big or small those endeavors were. I made Crocotile so that I could use it to create environments for a game, and it was now exciting to see others doing what I had originally wanted to do with it plus more.
Everyday more people are discovering Crocotile. I have spent time thinking about what exactly attracts them to the program. I think in the case of people who are interested in developing games- they can find a valuable middle ground when they use Crocotile 3d to create their assets. Through the process of combining their 2d art with simple 3d geometry the added depth enhances the visuals without requiring the complexity of more traditional modeling techniques. This is helpful for independent developers who often work alone or don't have a large team of people to spread the workload between. The low-poly, low-resolution style is more minimalistic and often more manageable, sometimes even easier than creating a purely 2d project. For instance, there can be less time spent on creating an illusion of depth in the 2d art since the 3D geometry naturally provides that sense of dimension. Adding a bit of depth can also be a simple way to create some distinction from all the other games out there. It doesn't require complex tools or advanced skills to get started. Crocotile 3D helps make that kind of creativity more accessible, providing ways for developers to experiment with 3D concepts. By using simple square tiles that snap to a grid, users can quickly prototype ideas, while still having the flexibility to shape those basic forms into more intricate and finalized structures.
3d doesn't have to be complex, and you don't need to specialize in it to make use of its benefits, nor does one need to get a job in the games industry to make games. In a lot of cases, getting a job in the industry can prevent you from making one. Working at a game studio typically means being assigned a narrow role- like modeling a character or environment- which can take months. The contributions a worker makes to the game are usually just a fraction of the whole and it is rare to have much input in the game beyond that. Many enter the industry hoping to create their own games someday, and find themselves unable to attain those goals due to the way that system is set up. Some people may be okay with that and be better equipped to deal with it, but for me, it became a frustration working for a company while knowing that my talents could be better used in ways only I could understand. That's why I believe that if a person has the chance to create something on their own, it's worth pursuing even if it is just a side project or hobby-because in the end, it’s more rewarding knowing they were able to stay true to their vision without having to compromise on that or whatever else they felt was important to them.
That kind of creative freedom- where you’re building something because it matters to you, not because it is socially acceptable or considered normal- is exactly why I find the stylistic choices of retro-inspired games far more engaging. Unlike photorealistic games, which often remind me that what I’m seeing is artificial and daft, indie titles feel as though they are being more honest with their artistic expression- allowing the creator’s emotions and meaningful ideas to shine through in a more authentic and visually captivating way. Their handcrafted details are likely to exude a more unfiltered and personalized touch simply because there isn't a large team of people manufacturing them, performing like a bunch of programmed robots on an assembly line. For creative individuals, carving out their own paths is a challenging one and it takes a lot of courage to go their own way when so much of the world appears to conform.
For a lot of people, they are looking for a way to escape the routine- to find space to stretch their legs and move in new ways. I've learned that the creative process often begins when an individual lacks space in their life. The creative process is an attempt at recycling the space within themselves, in order to find a way out from whatever held onto them before. Having the room to experiment and try new things allows honest reflection and self-discovery to occur, bringing a greater understanding to life. A tool like Crocotile 3D is accessible even to those with little 3D experience. It allows a way to carve out a space where they can explore and express themselves freely. When people are given the freedom to create without outside pressures, they begin to discover what themes resonate with them, what styles they’re naturally drawn to, and what kinds of experiences they genuinely want to craft for others. Instead of chasing someone else’s vision, they start learning how to articulate their own- and in that process, grow not only as artists or developers, but as individuals with something meaningful to say.
I began creating Crocotile 3d, because I wanted to express myself genuinely. The results show that I did more than that- I helped others do so as well. At least, I like to think so. I didn't do it perfectly, I didn't succeed completely, but that's a part of the process and unexpected nature of reality. I look back on the ten years that have passed since releasing Crocotile and after all these years, people are still continuing to discover what it offers. Their journeys remind me of my own, and the shared interests between us all somehow is reassuring. Ten years of Crocotile 3D isn’t just a celebration of software- it’s a celebration of the unique and creative people who’ve used it to bring their ideas to life, one tile at a time. It is a testament to the people's willingness to go against the grain and feel confident with themselves regardless of what path might be considered popular or considered best. For some, it's a quiet rebellion- choosing Crocotile 3D is a step back to simpler, more tactile times, where creativity feels personal and direct. In a world obsessed with high-end tools and relentless progress, Crocotile 3d stands apart by refusing to conform to society’s expectations of what art, success, or even the self must look like. It values soul over spectacle, process over perfection.
Here is to ten more long years and to the continuing journey for self expression and freedom to create. I hope that we all achieve our dreams, whether or not Crocotile 3d helps in that process or not. Perhaps all of you reading this will take some time to reflect on the previous ten years. Did it go by slowly, or did it go by quickly? It's a bit shocking to me that I have been working on Crocotile for ten years already. That's about one fourth of my life. I wrote this article in an attempt to somehow grasp it, and to somehow find a way to give some kind of hurrah to anyone interested enough in that milestone. I don't know what the future holds, but I do feel as though I understand myself nowadays more than I ever have. I hope that I can continue inspiring others with my continued engagement and development of Crocotile 3d, and that we can all continue making amazing things together that are meaningful in ways that are unique to each of us. I'm excited, both for me and for all of you. As we continue our journey together or afar, remember to help one another wherever we are. Our kindness serves like a grid unwavering, providing structure for every tile that we hold dear. With that support, it allows us to build something greater in this world. Happy Crocotiling!