I’ve been sitting on this final piece in my Looking to the Future series for quick a long period of time. In fact, I feel I’ve been doing so as I’ve not wanted to live up to the fact that well, I’m basically unsuited for indie life in any serious matter.
I originally started this series after being asked about my indie experiences for a piece which went up some time ago. In the interim, I found myself asking myself quite a bit about what’s next - especially with regard as to what I’d do after completing the contract I’d just started. All of that ultimately led to the format of the earlier posts in the series, as I tried to really understand where I was standing, and where I needed to be going as a developer. Especially in light of wanting to feel a little less pressured this year…
But, truth be told - looking back on the earlier pieces, it’s funny how my perspective back in March has changed. This is down to the axing of certain funding programs (which granted, wouldn’t be of direct benefit to me), and looking back and realising that I’ve not enjoyed working on a high-stress project, as sadly was the case with the one I’m wrapping up now.
Whilst I’d like to work on games projects in the future, it’s now a hobby concern than anything else, primarily down to the fact that the types of games I want to make, aren’t simply viable to get income from (as I found with Pocket Dogfights), or ones that I lack the resources & time to be able to do a solid job with. In refocusing in this way, the biggest benefit for me is simply being freed up from having to support ALL the platforms under the sun - which really means that desktop Mac & Windows releases would be at the forefront. Whilst mobile is not entirely ruled out, if I were to do a mobile release, it would be iOS only, as supporting Android has done nothing but give me endless frustrations (and yes, I’m still bitter about the immense piracy that happened with Pocket Dogfights on its release there).
Plus, it might give me an opportunity to start diving into 6502/10 assembly again to write something on the C64 - as it’s something I’ve always wanted to do (and the RGCD compo is quite a convenient goal to aim for… some time).
As a hobby concern, there probably won’t be much experimentation or jam stuff - I find myself not being the biggest fans of the time pressure jams generate, and I’ve always been a fan of small incremental improvements in process - as I’ve found it the best way to improve over time.
Consequentially - I’ll be trying to get myself back into native iOS development again. I’ve certainly been yearning for it over the last few months (based on frustrations within Unity & its tooling), and to be honest - that feels somewhat more stable over games development these days. Obviously, it’ll mean returning to full-time employment, and to be honest - with the desire for my own independent work somewhat reduced, I think it’s something I’m more than prepared for.
In short what does this mean all up? Firstly, where I previously thought Pivotus could be completed, I’m not so sure now. Secondly, if I do get back to doing more games projects - expect smaller titles rather than complex ones, and expect them either on Mac/PC or iOS. Thirdly, there probably won’t be much to talk about for a while - other than random iOS developer fanboyism as I’m absorbing the load of sessions from WWDC.
It certainly will be some interesting times ahead, and sometimes it’s nice to work out well, where you do sit on things, and where they align with your goals. Or more importantly, are your goals even viable anymore. Have to admit it’s a disappointment to realise it’s the case - and I think in some regard, it’s why it’s taken so long for this final piece in the series to come together.