Almost Time.

What I have been up to in 2019...

     Hey everyone! I wasn't really expecting to come back to this dev blog in 2019 and make another blog post again. I have been away from blogging for so long. I decided to just quit doing it because it felt like a waste of time and I wanted to focus all my energy on just making the games instead of talking about them. But you know what? I was wrong. Blogging isn't a waste of time. I built this thing up over the years and it's a great way to keep everyone updated in detail on what I have been up to. I don't do youtube vlogs or really keep track of my "evolution" as a game dev really well. And posting tweets on Twitter about progress and whatnot can't really fill that role. Also, I have a lot of history on here and this blog kind of fills as my personal archive and journey as a game developer. I still can't believe I started this way back in 2011. I have learned so much and changed a lot as a game developer and 3d artist over the years. It's crazy to look back at my older posts, artwork, and games.

     Anyway, let me just get right into it and give you guys an update on what I have been up to all this time. First, I would like to say that I am not dead. I'm still very alive and very obsessed with game development. More obsessed with it now than when I first started.

     I know that 2019 has been a pretty dry year for me so far. At the beginning of the year, I launched my official website and ported my most recent game "Giraffe Town" to Xbox. That's it. Other than that, I kinda disappeared. By the way, Giraffe Town originally came out October last year. It's pretty old now for being called "my most recent game". That was the last game I made. So, it's been almost a full year now and I haven't even hinted at a new game. Nothing new on my Youtube channel and I haven't been very active on Twitter lately. (But then again, I have a special rule for myself when it comes to Twitter. And that is to remain secretive and not post screenshots, footage, teasers, early wips, dev images or anything from my new game project(s) until they are finished. I don't like to share any of that stuff until after a project is finished or released. I'm just weird like that.)

     So what gives? Why haven't I done anything this year? Did I just get bored with game development and decide to quit? Did I run out of ideas? Did I get a new career as a hot male model instead? No to all of those things. I know 2019 has been a pretty slow, unexciting and dry year for "Snowconesolid Productions" aka the "greatest independent game dev of all space and time" so far but, that doesn't mean it has been an unproductive one. As a matter of fact, I feel like this has been one of my most productive years ever so far. But a different kind of productive. Not the kind of productivity I can show publicly in an end product like a new game release. It's more like, "behind the scenes" or I guess "under the hood" kind of stuff.

     No, I haven't been spending all this time just working on one new game or my next "big idea". Instead, I have been working on all areas of myself as a game developer and an independent studio. I feel that I have made it pretty far as a small-time game developer from when I first started years ago. This is something that's actually my career now and I would like it to remain so for as long as possible because I sincerely love creating games and have so much respect for the art form that is video games. I'm really fortunate and grateful to be where I am today and have the opportunities to do what I love doing. So, if I want to continue to pursue this thing, I wanna do it right. While I'm proud of my previous game, "Giraffe Town" and it was a major step up from my first game on Steam, it still showed a lot of my weaknesses as a game developer and designer. Giraffe Town showed a lot of flaws and many areas that I could still improve in. I've really started to take my career as a game developer more seriously after that game. Giraffe Town was a big milestone and a major turning point for me.

     Instead of reusing assets or mechanics I have made for that game and just quickly cranking out another new slippery controlled game in a shorter time to ride off of that momentum, I decided to take a step back and rethink how I approach making games and completely just rebuild myself as a game developer. I've said before many times that quality and polish are super important to me. I don't want to be seen as another hobbyist developer that just threw a game together and put it on Steam but, instead, more of a professional who knows what they are doing. I really want to deliver cool experiences and games that are enjoyed. I'm trying to step things up and I think rebuilding myself (I am a machine) is a good first step.

     So, what have I been doing this year so far? I have been planning and becoming more organized. I have been learning and re-learning, researching and experimenting with new approaches to game design, game techniques, optimization, improving my skills, trying to create my own unique 3d art style (I think I have found it). I have been building a pipeline for my own style of production instead of just being all over the place so that I actually have a good format to work off of so that I'm not always confused and lost about what I was doing. I have notepads full of ideas I want to create and I have started several new game projects. I created a ton of brand new 3d art such as new characters, environments, and props that I have never shared and so much more. So, pretty much, I have just been setting myself up for the future and getting ready to really operate like a game developer. I haven't been thinking about my next game (that will come in time), but instead, I've been thinking about where I want to be and what I want to accomplish as a game developer. Just really putting in a lot of thought into everything, how I can accomplish creating an idea a certain way and so on. I have so much cool stuff planned and things that I'm working on. I really feel like I have come a long way and really improved a lot since creating Giraffe Town and hopefully, that will really show in my next projects. I've really invested a lot of time into rebuilding myself and I think it's all worth it if it means my creative output will result in better quality games.

     So, although I might have been a little quiet this year with nothing new to show so far, I promise you will hear a lot from me down the road. I haven't abandoned game development and I'm really excited to eventually start putting out new content. If you read this far, thanks so much for sticking around and listening to a crazy person ramble on. This has been a super long post and I normally don't like spending time typing up big blogs that are just all talk like this but, I feel like I had to post an update. From this point on, I probably won't ever make another blog post like this again though. And, I still probably won't post updates here very frequently. Just going to keep hammering away on the actual projects from now.

Before I go.
I shared these screens on Twitter a while back, but here they are again in case you didn't see them. A couple examples of some of my newer 3d work and what you can expect my next game projects to look like. I'm very proud of this 3d style. If I had to describe it, I would say that it's a weird mix of cartoony/stylized and early uncanny "realistic" computer graphics. Think early 2000's (maybe a little earlier) 3d game promotional art. The renders of promotional art you would find for Super Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie or Donkey Kong for example. I loved that kind of look and that's really what I'm kind of trying to go for.

Alright, that's all for now. Thanks, everyone who still visits and reads the blog!

I'm coming back...

And I'm bringing my new creations with me!

What? You thought I was dead and quit making awesome games?

Not dead!

     Hello everyone. I just wanted to post a real quick blog update just to show that I am still here and active and very much in the indie game making scene. I know I haven't posted in a long time. Actually, I haven't been active on here, or YouTube or even my Twitter. Admittedly, I don't even really do YouTube or use my channel but, I am typically a very active Twitter user. 

     Anyway, for those of you wondering where I have been, what I have been up to, why I haven't posted a blog update or tweeted anything stupid as I usually do. No, I didn't give up on making games or move onto other things outside of my favorite art form. As a matter of fact, I have been extremely busy with game development related things. More specifically, my new indie game project. I have been crunching on my new game project, working on it full time all day and all night. 

     I realized that I waste so many hours in a day watching YouTube and being on Twitter. I decided to go on a little diet from those for a while so that I can focus all my time and energy on my new game. And I gotta say, it has really been working out for me. I'm able to get so much more done now and make much more progress on my project. It was a hard transition to make at first. To just stop wasting so much time on sites you visit every minuet and just focus on your own work. But once I got into it, I have just been cruising smoothly. I feel less stressed out because of the good progress I can make in a day. whenever I didn't make a satisfying amount of progress on my project or no progress at all, for some reason I would just feel super bummed out and disappointed. I love creating games and I want to make games but at the same time, when I can't focus or stay focused it feels impossible to make games. It would make me not want to make games. I'm glad that I was able to finally just get myself in the zone and change my ways. It feels great to get things done and pursue your dreams.

     I have been pretty quiet about this new project that I have been working on. I never really shared anything like screenshots or talked about it here on the blog or Twitter like pretty much everything else that I worked on. The only thing that I have shown from the new game is that giraffe character from the image above. That's about it though. I realized that there really is no point in constantly posting new screenshots or talking about it all the time. That would just contribute to getting distracted away from the actual project. The thing that actually matters. So I decided that from now on, i'm just going to work on my games and release them. None of that "here's some prototype images" or "here is a trailer showing off early footage" bs. Just make the games. Put them out. When they are done, then they are done and out and that's when things like screenshots and such are important. The only thing that matters is the final product. Not the ideas, not the betas, not the early screens and so on. Plus, this leaves the game to be more of a surprise in the end. 

     All I will say for now is that my new project is unlike anything I have ever made before. It's not a quick short "made in 3 days" type of game, it's not a joke game like Potato Thriller was. This project is actually a serious attempt and effort from me trying to make a good game for once. I have been working on it for many months now. It's a really large project but I am full of motivation. As usual, this project is all 100% me. I'm making it completely alone. All the models, designs, levels, story, mechanics, ui, etc. I make all my own art assets and what not. I never asset flip. So of course I will spend more time than other developers who just have art available for them. Not that theres anything wrong with that, but for me, I prefer that all the art is always my own unique designs. So, I have been working hard and I am going full steam ahead with this one! 

     Anyway, that's pretty much it. I just wanted to show a sign of life real quick. I am still here. I am still making games. I have a new one in the works. I have a ton of other ones also in the works. I am super excited about them, especially about this giraffe project and I can't wait to share more when the time is right. 

Not good at having an online presence

     As usual, here is another late overdue blog update. The last few posts I made have been art and game design/development related which is really the whole point of this blog I guess. I mean that's why I started this whole thing to begin with. To talk about game design and share my works of "art". This post is kind of different though. I've been doing this indie game developer thing for a while now. Years actually. And I don't know what it is, but I feel like I haven't been doing it right. The main thing especially is communicating. Sure, I have this blog that I post updates on every once in a while to share what i'm working on, or talk about video game design or just have some kind of presence online. But, it just doesn't seem to be really doing it. After releasing "Potato Thriller" (which was my first commercial game) I felt like I had to really go back and pursue this indie developer journey more seriously. Learn more, improve myself, build up my skills to produce better quality and more polished games and so on. And I have been doing that. It feels like I have been working on improving my game developing skills forever now.

     I haven't released anything at all since Potato Thriller as of this post because I have been spending so much time reinventing my skill set. But it isn't enough. Going back to the communication thing, I feel like I have been terrible at communicating. I have a YouTube channel, but I barely ever use it and when I do, I just post some random shitty weird animation I pieced together. 90% of the content on my YouTube channel makes absolutely no sense at all. I have two twitter accounts, my main one which I occasionally use and my "productions" account which I made to exclusively just self promote my work, my games, art and brand or whatever. You know, like those company/studio accounts that the big boys have to self promote their brand. I thought, "i'm a game developer, I make stuff, I should make an account to promote my own brand!" - I barely ever even look at that account.

     I don't know. I'm just not good at having an online presence. Not good at doing PR stuff or whatever. You know what I mean. And I see so many other people who are just so naturally good at having an online presence. It's like woah! These people are so much cooler than me. I don't know how people do it but, it's impressive for sure. I applaud those who can pull it off. It's hard to have an online presence and communicate with people. Like, it takes some real talent and skill to manage. Social media is hard! I'm not an old man or anything. Age 25 as of this post. But I am just so naturally bad at social media. But then again, maybe that's because I spend all of my time dedicated to working on my game projects. But sometimes it just makes you so out of touch man! Game developing. It's a lonely and cold thing.

      I'm not really sure where i'm going with this blog post. It's kind of all over the place. Just a rant about myself. But I do want to reinvent myself. Or at least try to be better at the whole online presence thing. I really need to reinvent how I communicate, use twitter, YouTube this blog. YouTube especially, that's a big one. It definitely is the best and most efficient way to share, get info out and communicate with your audience. I mean, I don't even have a freaking comments section on my blog. I get daily page views and visits but I don't know what people are saying. I can't interact with anyone on here. I mean I can. I can just add comments, but it's just different from a comments section on YouTube. So I really want to get into YouTube and start using that as my main platform of communicating, sharing updates and rants and whatever. And I know, I think I have said "I want to get into YouTube" like a hundred times on this blog throughout the years and never really follow through. I guess blogging is just easier and quicker than filming a video, editing and uploading. But I want to do it! I might go back and clean up my current YouTube channel or just start a new one entirely to have a fresh start. I would still post updates here on the blog as well of course.

     Anyway, sorry for the lengthy post that kept jumping around. Kind of confusing rant I suppose. It's different from what I normally talk about here on the blog. I'm not sure if this was even really worth posting. But I already typed it, so why not.

     As for new projects, as mentioned many times already in previous posts, I am working on multiple new game projects and I still believe that 2018 is going to be a great year. I have so much new content I want to get out there and my new games are a major step up from anything else I have ever developed. I'm excited to continue creating games and sharing them. My next game will probably be announced and have an official Steam store game page within the coming weeks. I'll definitely keep you guys posted!

Ready for 2018!

     Happy New Year everyone! I wanted to do a quick blog update to talk about some plans I have for the year as well as show that I am still very much active as an independent game developer. And putting out the first blog post of 2018 is the best way to do that! Before I get into the actual update, I just want to say that doing this blog over the years and seeing how much I have evolved as a developer is something that I am personally very proud of. When I said first blog post of 2018, it dawned on me that I started this whole adventure into game design, 3d modeling, animation, keeping a dev blog, etc back years ago. About late 2010-ish. It's crazy to think about how time just flew by. I certainly didn't know if I would still even be doing this after all these years. But i'm still here. I'm still doing what I love doing and still following my dream. It's an amazing feeling and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I would also like to thank all of you who have joined me on this journey and followed my work, visited this blog or checked out some of my games. You all keep me motivated to keep going and I appreciate it so much. From encouraging comments to harsh critiques or just reaching out and saying hello. It all means the world to me. So thank you everyone. You are all awesome.

     I have a lot planned for this year and a lot that I want to get done. I didn't release any new games in 2017 but that is because I have been working hard on multiple new game projects. I said this in my last blog post - Not one new game, but many new games. 

     Putting out lots of new games. That is exactly the plan. I am very excited for 2018, this will be a big one for me personally and I really do have several new games in the works for this year as well as a ton of other ideas that I would like to develop. If you are interested in getting a small glimpse of whats to come, check out my last blog post for more information as well as a ton of screenshots from many of my new and upcoming games. 

     Other then that, I really don't have much to say at this time. Just a quick recap of what I said in the previous post. Mostly, I just wanted to show a sign of life on the blog because I know sometimes there is a long time gap between blog updates and it could sometimes seem like I have abandoned game development. However, that's not the case at all. I'm still here and i'm just getting started. 

I look forward to sharing updates and many new game releases down the road. There is a lot more to come. I wish you all an awesome 2018! 

Just getting started. Quality & Polish...

     This is something that I have talked about a few times here on the blog and I apologize if it sounds like I am constantly repeating myself throughout time. I have been making games for a while now. It has been nearly a decade since I embarked on this independent developer journey. I am constantly learning, improving and maturing as a game developer. This is something that I am honestly passionate about. It is something that I love for sure without a doubt.

     Although I have been doing this for years now, I feel like I am at that point where I am just now getting started in game development. I'm taking it more seriously. I understand the struggles of being an indie game developer. Making good games can be a real challenge. Lot's of hours of hard work goes into it. It takes a long time to see any results. Days go by. Sometimes you lose motivation. Then you get that motivation back and start hammering away. Then months go by and you lose motivation again and so on. However, I personally always find myself coming back because of my love for creation. It's like a hunger.

     Sorry for getting all poetic there for a second. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I really do care about the quality of my games. I mentioned this on my Twitter, but I constantly feel like I need to redeem myself for Potato Thriller. Don't get me wrong, I am very proud of all the work I did. I am proud I created Potato Thriller and put it out there. Releasing Potato Thriller on Steam is one of the biggest milestones I have ever reached as an indie game developer and I would never undo it if I could. Potato Thriller is definitely on my top 10 list of life accomplishments.  

     With that said, I am aware of all the issues Potato Thriller had as a game. I know the game seems very amateurish and I understand why someone wouldn't bother to play it just by looking at it's trailer or at screenshots of it. Although I am proud of my creation, I feel like it has stuck me with this image or a label that portrays me as an amateurish dev, who produces low quality games and that's all i'll ever make. 

   I don't want to be known as the guy who produces low quality games. I care about quality. I really do. I want to deliver unique and enjoyable game experiences. Memorable experiences. So, I am working hard to ensure that my next game and all my future games are the best that I can make them and super polished. This is a reason why I haven't released anything in a long time.

     With all that said, i'm going to be away for a while. Away from this blog, social media, just my online presence in general so that I can truly focus all my energy into my upcoming game. To everyone who has followed my work, played my games, checked out this blog and supported me as a developer, I thank you. You are all awesome. Next time I post an update here on the blog, it will be the announcement and official Steam page for my next game. Bye bye for now!

Honest post. I don't know what i'm doing... learning, progress...

     Happy 4th of July everyone! I'm a day late I know. Anyway, I always try to at least get 2-3 blog posts out a month (sometimes I only get one) so the blog doesn't have that abandoned feeling to it. There is nothing new with me. As usual, I am still working on my next game. Just grinding day by day. Some days I make really good progress and other days I make no progress at all or get stuck on something for a couple of days.

I mentioned this before but, "Potato Thriller" was the last game I published and then I started working on my next title (which is my current project). So it has been over a full year since I put anything new out there. Part of me is disappointed with myself because I am taking so long to make something new and at the same time I feel like this is better because I am making an overall better quality game with more polish. I have been doing a lot of research and learning over the year and improving myself as a game developer to deliver the best content I could because I really don't want to rush a project and put out something just for the sake of putting something out.

I have had ups and downs with the current project I am working on and throughout this year. It has been kind of a confusing journey so far because one second I would say I am working on a certain project and then the next second I would lose motivation and say I am working on a smaller project or something completely different then switch back to the other project and so on and just cause a bunch of confusion for myself and on the blog. It can be hard to stay motivated and attempt to be creative or create something everyday as a game developer and I am sure many other developers, artist, content creators, etc can relate. But, I always find myself eventually coming back and putting in the hours because of my passion for creation.

As I have been doing a lot of learning and improving over the year I have also been working on this very abstract game project originally named "Samer Hills" at the same time. This is the project that I was referring to that has been giving me ups and downs and causing me headaches. I feel like I have been saying something different about this project whenever I talk about it on the blog. I constantly change its name and say it's going to be this or that. So just to be completely honest, I sometimes have no idea what I am doing or what I want to do. Often I can't make up my mind about something and I lose motivation (I know I already said that) but it's such a common thing and I think we all have those days sometimes. Personally, something that I want to stop doing is coming up with release dates or setting deadlines for my own projects. I feel like this is something that contributes to making me lose motivation to finish something and it would just add in stress because I feel like I would need to keep my promise and meet that deadline. I know many people actually use this method of setting deadlines for themselves and it actually keeps them on track, but for me it just doesn't work. I hate when I say something like "I'm working on a new game and I will release it in a month from now" or "My new game comes out July 17th" and then I end up missing my deadline so I come back on here and say that I will have it out by [insert new promised date here]. It just doesn't work out for me. I've learned my lesson. And i'm not just specifically talking about my game projects but everything. YouTube for example, I make a "developer video update" after months of no activity and say that I will do daily video updates each week or each month and then I just kind of disappear from my YouTube channel for a long period of time. From now on I won't set dates or promise to have something out at a certain time. Whenever I finish something i'll simply just put it out. Or if i'm super close to finishing something and am really confident that I will have it out by a certain time then I will definitely set a deadline for myself because I know for sure that I would be able to reach it in time. Other than that, I just don't want to specify certain dates or make promises.

Anyway, sorry to get off topic. I know I am rambling on now but I just wanted to make an honest blog post and talk about some things I have had on my mind. As for the actual game project (formerly known as Samer Hills) I am still working on it. Slowly making progress. Constantly making changes and trying to decide how the game will play out in the end. I still have a lot to do but pretty much this next game will be my biggest game. I want to put in all my ideas into it and just make something really unique to put out there in the indie gaming scene. This next project will be my ultimate masterpiece! ...that is if I ever finish it of course.

I don't really have anything to show at the moment but for the past couple weeks I have mainly been working on building mechanics for the game such as Enemy ai's and weapons. I can confirm 2 things that will be in my next game. First, Nosey Nose enemies (from Potato Thriller) will be back and second, the toilet plunger will also be back as a usable weapon. Not only that, it will be the strongest weapon in the game and deals the most damage.

Here are a bunch of screenshots from prototype levels and development.

I'm going to end the blog post here for now. Thanks for reading. Bye!

Potato Thriller 1 Year Anniversary!

This post is like an hour and a half late, but it is still technically the 22nd in some areas so I will post this anyway! (Even though the posting date says the 22nd, I am actually posting this on the 23rd from my end because I was always too lazy to set up the proper date in my time zone. Actually, all of the dates on my blog posts are off by one day. This isn't making me look very professional. ANYWAY! LETS GET INTO THE ACTUAL POST NOW)

Today marks the one year anniversary of Potato Thriller! On this exact day (almost exact day) last year (June 22, 2016) I released a special version of the game originally called "Potato Thriller Steamed Potato Edition" on the Steam store. As an independent game developer, this marked a major milestone for me personally. I know that this game isn't perfect and it definitely is not for everyone but, it is a project that is very special to me and it is something that I am very proud of. This game marked many first for me. For example, this is my first game on Steam, this is the first game that actually got me feedback and criticism from players, this was the first lengthy game I ever made and so on. The list goes on and on.

With that said, I think the biggest one for me was that this was the first game I made that was actually being seen by people and played. which means everything to me as a developer and it is the most awesome thing. And I want to clarify that I am not trying to make it sound like I am saying "oh a lot of people bought this game and I made a ton of money, look at me i'm a successful game developer har har har" - This isn't what I am trying to say at all. Honestly, I barely made anything off the game. But I don't want to get into that stuff. This post isn't about money or success or bragging rights or anything like that.

What I mean is that, as silly and stupid this game was, people actually gave it a chance. I created a game, I put it out there and it was given a chance to just be a thing in the world of video games. Or I guess I should say the indie game scene and for that I am so grateful. The game got a lot of love from many fans while at the same time received a ton of hate from just as many people. And I am grateful for that. I think it is every artist's dream not to have their work loved by everyone, but to have people notice their work, critique their work and so on. Potato Thriller was that project that did that for me.

Anyway, this is starting to become a messy blog post and just me rambling, but from the bottom of my heart I want to thank all of you out there who have supported me as a game developer, took interest in my work, sent me some feedback, gave me criticism and so on. I want to thank all the people who gave Potato Thriller a chance, all the players of Potato Thriller, all you YouTubers and Streamers who covered the game on your channels, game journalist who wrote reviews and articles, people who did fan art, the people who reached out to me with messages telling me how much they enjoyed the game and so on. I am truly grateful. You are all awesome and are the reason I stay motivated to continue creating games and other stuff. I appreciate each and every one of you.

To celebrate, Potato Thriller is currently 70% off on Steam as of this post. This sale is part of the Steam Summer sale which runs from June 22nd to July 5th. You can check out the Steam Page here if interested: http://store.steampowered.com/app/486650/Potato_Thriller/

Happy Birthday Potato Man!

I can't believe that it has been a full year since I released this game. Time really does fly by. It's funny because looking back at Potato Thriller a year later, I am starting to see the many flaws the game has and why many people hated it. I see some bits of the game and face palm at my own work and say to myself "I can't believe I did that" or "why did I think it would be a good idea to put this in the game?" Again, it wasn't the perfect game. I understand how it came across as amateurish and low quality to some people. I'm not disagreeing with anyone. However, it is still something I am proud of. It shows me as a developer from a certain point in time. I really did put in a lot of work and effort into the game and made it the best I could possibly with the skill set level I had.

With that said, I am truly passionate about creating games. It is something that I love doing and want to keep doing. I really do care about delivering unique memorable gaming experiences and I am constantly working hard to improve. Over the year I feel like I have really matured a lot as a game developer and really am starting to take creating games more seriously. That doesn't mean I won't make my games silly and stupid anymore, they can still be silly and stupid, but at the same time need to have a certain level of quality to them.

Looking to the future!
It has been a full year since Potato Thriller has been out on Steam and it has also been a full year of silence. I haven't published anything new at all after Potato Thriller. However, this doesn't mean I haven't been working on anything. I have been developing a couple of different projects actually and I look forward to sharing them sometime in the future. Thanks for reading and more updates soon!

Samer Hills Progress?

     Huh? What have we here? A cowboy uniform and another uniform that looks very very familiar...

Also, a farm setting?

Sorry. Not a very informative or content filled post. This is more of just a nod to confirm that I am still working on a game project. But yeah, overall I would say that I am making good progress on the project. I will have more updates and posts with more information soon. Okay bye!