Hey, my name is Jakub Hakiel, and I'm the Creator of the ADA: Tainted Soil. I wanted to tell you why I decided to create my own game.
How did I become a gamer?
The first computer at my home appeared around 30 years ago.
I barely remember the first games, but among them was definitely Raptor: Call of the Shadows, first games I remember getting completely absorbed in were the Jedi Knight series, or more "recent" titles like Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, played through more than 10 times each.
And there's the unhealthy amount of hours and sleepless nights spent on various MMOs: Tibia, WoW, Lineage 2. Among the "latest" games are mainly various types of action RPGs like Dark Souls and its derivatives, but also newer classic RPGs like Dragon Age.
(first steps)
Why did I decide to create my own game?
While I was working at the university, where I was employed as a researcher and teacher, I was programming various types of software for numerical computations.
One day, a colleague pointed out to me that creating games isn't vastly different from what I do professionally and that it's worth trying to create something of my own.
It turned out that the beginning was indeed simple, but the depth of the project is much greater than it seems at first, and over time, it becomes increasingly complex.
I must admit that from the very beginning, the plan was that if I enjoyed creating the game, I would continue, step by step, learning and developing the title I'm working on.
The biggest challenge when creating a game?
Creating your own game, especially without significant experience in the industry, involves many unexpected problems and blind alleys you can find yourself in.
You find a solution to a problem, a graphic style, or a design concept, and you're unaware of the issues associated with them. This only comes with experience.
When working alone, the most challenging aspect, in my opinion, is maintaining consistent quality across multiple aspects of game development.
You might be an excellent programmer, but if you can't create art, there's a good chance the game's appearance will suffer (although there are exceptions).
Similarly, if you create an incredible visual aspect of the game but it's plagued with bugs or you can't implement the features you've envisioned, it's equally problematic.
(My beginnings)
What gives me the greatest satisfaction?
Definitely creating an interesting, intriguing world that also looks good.
The feeling when you create a world that your character explores and you yourself are amazed by things you forgot were in the game is incredible.
The fact that when you come up with something interesting, you can just create it.
What surprised me?
I find satisfaction in my ability to draw ;)
All the visible elements in the game at this stage have been drawn/created by me.
When I started working on the game, it looked almost like stick figures, but through step-by-step progress, tree by tree, animation by animation, it began to resemble what it does today.
Thank you for being with me and following my progress as I create "ADA: Tainted Soil".
Each day brings me closer to finishing the game, and I'm thrilled to have the support of so many people. I'll be showing you much more soon.