I just wanted to jump on real quick and let you guys know about something that's occurred. I've basically spent the last 6 years of my life sitting at the computer all day working on games. I worked on a couple of games before starting my own, which I won't mention by title since I was just the artist on other projects that have since been cancelled.
I went from working on a couple small projects to working on WTHI to starting my own games, and I've loved every minute of it, well, somewhat. Over the last year or so, I've been feeling a little trapped. Since my daily schedule has been to wake up at 10 a.m., go to bed at 11 p.m., and spend my entire day on the computer, I feel like I'm ready for a change.
Please note, though, that this does not mean I'm walking away; I'm not done just yet. I want to spend less time doing this and a little more time having a life, seeing friends, and seeing the world. I know you might be thinking, Why would working on any game stop me from doing those things? and the answer is simply my own mindset. I put the game and working first, and I always have.
That being said, I was at the doctor on Monday as I've been having some pains in my chest, and after having an ECG and getting some blood tests done, it seems I have something going on with my heart and some sort of blood infection. It's nothing to worry about, but it was a little scary and made me step back a little and think about what I want from life.
I'm currently 32, and I have no life—no wife, girlfriend, or kids, and the few friends I have left I barely see anymore. I know people don't like hearing about other people's issues, but that's just the way things are.
I've had a word with Wiz and we've agreed to part ways, maybe we'll join forces again in the future, who knows. For now, I'm going to slowly move forward solo and see what comes of it. I've been working on Adverse Effects solo and loving it.
So what does this mean for the games? Well, I'm going to be taking a month off to just chill and hang out with friends. I tend to get bored a lot, so I'll probably do some writing too, but let me give you a quick breakdown for each project I'm working on:
Where The Heart Is - I'll still be working on the game as I am now, just working fewer hours. My plan was to step back from it a little, but since it's so close to the end, I figure I can ride it out. ( If you haven't heard about this game, I'd suggest searching for it on Steam and adding it to your wishlist; it's a really good game and one of the OGs.).
The Cabin - I'll be taking at least a month off from working on the cabin; however, I will be doing some writing for it since I get bored very easily and I like to write. When working on the cabin, I've always worked episode by episode, whereas now, I want to at least plot the entire game out before I continue on episode 5, so I know where it's going. I think to plot the whole game out, it'll probably take me about 2 weeks. I also plan to make it a lot sexier and scarier sooner.
Nordstrums Treasure - The plot for the game is 100% written out, and around 1,000 lines of script have been made, along with around 90 renders. For now, though, this game is on hold for the foreseeable future.
Adverse Effects - This one is a tricky one for me to talk about. I've got the plot 100% written out, and around 2,800 lines of script have been made, along with around 250 renders. This was going to be my first finished solo project, and I've really enjoyed making it. I'm very tempted to continue working on it at weekends since I don't want to see it fall and have me forget about it. I have another two stories written out that I really liked, but they never made it to the script phase, which still bums me out, and then I went and got a new SSD and lost the stories for those two ¬.¬
I really hope resting, getting out, and seeing the world will help me recharge my batteries. But something I can say for sure is that every game above will one day be finished! We've all seen far too many games get abandoned, and I won't go down that route; my pride won't allow it.
I'll make another announcement sometime in August about what's been going on and if things are going well.