I just realized it’s been months since I talked about what I’ve been up to in my life. I’m sure the burning question on all of your minds is, “What the fuck?” Here today, I shall tell you what the fuck.
The biggest thing the fuck in my professional life these days, assuming you don’t count my day job, which, GAH, yeah, don’t, is game development. It’s plodding along, more slowly than surely, but hey. The game that I’m working on is called Fortress, and it’s the iPhone/iPad version of a card game that I came up with several years back and started refining about a year ago with the help of my wife and a handful of geek friends. It’s designed to be a deep strategy game that can be played with just a single deck of cards. Suits confer attack and defense bonuses and loyalty. Two Kings face off. One dies after a half hour or so. So far, everyone finds it clever and addicting and like Magic except not so danged cumbersome.
I just revealed it publicly for the first time on my company’s new website that I spent like four hours putting together last night.
“But hey,” you say, “That’s cool and all, but where’s the good graphics?“ THEY ARE COMING. I’ve lined up an artist for the game. He’s a good dude. Done other stuff recently. He’ll do just fine.
And hey, related, I mentioned looking into coworking many moony months ago, and indeed, I joined IndyHall as a basic member at the end of April. It’s been brilliant. Just as I expected, being around other self-driven creatives on a regular basis has been great for my motivation, and I’ve met a lot of great people (like the artist for Fortress) who are both cool and useful. I shall make them my army and we’ll do epic shit together.
Such epic the fuck shit as a game developer conference yeah! Scott was not kidding about getting a GameLoop event running in Philly, which is good, because I and a handful of IndyHallers had already started discussing the idea like halfway through the Boston one in August. We’re having meetings and spamming the damn it out of our Google Group trying to figure out the deetales. This thing is going to fucking happen. Look for it in Aaaaaprriiillll? Maaaayyyybeeeeee?
Let’s see, what else… I started and stopped writing for Just Another iPhone Blog this summer. I actually just gave my notice there yesterday, citing potential conflicts of interest down the line, plus my need for the time elsewhere. It was fun, and you can read everything I wrote here. Hint: It’s mostly game reviews. I’ve got another one or two posts in the pipeline before I sign off for good. I’m gonna miss it. The free games were great, and I’ve been slammin’ happy with my writing lately. I’m gonna miss it.
I’ll be using the extra time to blog about the happyhaps Re: Fortress on Hindrances (which, at last count, has now been repurposed for the fourth time). I want players to be able to connect personally, even if only at a passive level, with the people in my company, of which there are me right now but you know maybe others eventually. Gonna try to see how high a level of transparency I can muster without seeming narcissistic.
My wife has been on fire. I mean, apart from being hot (and smart, honey!). She’s pretty much taken over Bathtub Brewery, which she’s welcome to. It’s yet another thing that I’d love to contribute more to, but must preempt for the sake of other priorities. And anyway, that’s the least of what she’s accomplished. I mean first, Bathtub is really starting to build a name for itself because of her, she’s got this way with people. But her quality has also led to a new writing gig at Ladies of Craft Beer a few months ago. She do good work. I has proud.
Oh hey and we’re probably going to move to Denver in 2012 or 2013. :D
I’m glad I decided to write this post this morning, because I have been fucking depressed this year. My day job is as taxing as ever, moreso than merely ever, actually. I have a plan for scaling back on it, but the plan is not working out. The idea was to sell our condo, which is expensive, and then move into a cheap apartment near a PATCO station, giving Mel a shorter commute, me an opportunity to get rid of my awful terrible car, and (also) me an (also) oppor(also)tunity to go part time at said detested day job (Said Detested Day Job is the name of my Weezer cover band).
Imagine being able to drop to just three day job days a week to head across the Gap the other days and crank at IndyHall until my eyes bleed salty maple syrup? Fortress could get done by year’s end! But alas, the condo is not selling, and we miss our cats that we dumped with my grandparents under the assumption it would be easier to sell the place without them around but the place isn’t selling and we haven’t seen them in three months and it suxs.
But I’m plugging along, trying to wait patiently for a buyer, trying very hard to stay productive, because that’s the only thing that keeps the depression from getting too bad. I feel pretty good now that I’ve taken an inventory of all that’s going right so far. Ten paragraphs of booyah vs. only two paragraphs of godsfuckingdammit. I’ve grown as a person!
I’m literally taller!
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