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We are nearing the end of the year, finally. This year has passed faster than any other. I wonder if it’s because I was busy or just because I’m getting older? I’m not really a fan of Winter or the ‘holiday’ season, but it’s important to me to do things to stay grounded in time. The holidays are hard for me, but I do appreciate seeing all of the beautiful lights in my neighborhood.

I appreciate the period of reflection leading up to New Year’s. I am in the camp of people who like to make changes throughout the year, but I dislike it when people are condescending about it. It’s good to reflect on what you want and how you’ll achieve it. I want a job, as I’ve talked about in previous entries, but I’ve been thinking about what I want beyond that.

I also want to make sure I’m continuing the development of my game. Reflecting on the past year, I have made great progress on it. I completed a demo, and I learned a lot. I think my next step is refining the details of the story and writing the script. I imagine that those two aspects of development will have to be done concurrently for the best results. My goal is to finish the game within the next two years, but I should be thinking about where I want my game to be in development by next December. Maybe I should plan to finish the first draft of the script by then. Scary to think about!! That’s the hardest part. If I’m feeling brave, maybe I’ll join a game jam to practice my skills.

I also want to play more games next year to stay inspired. I read advice from, if I remember correctly, Christina Norman, the lead designer for Mass Effect 1 & 2. It was something along the lines of ‘play lots of games now because when you’re working in the industry, you won’t have enough time to play and learn. So play as much as you can and learn from your experiences.’ Unfortunately, I couldn’t find this quote online and I no longer have the book I read it in, so excuse my paraphrasing! (The book was Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton, if you’re curious).

On that note, I made a backlog inspired by this video. I simplified Daryl’s spreadsheet, but the spirit of it is still there. There are more games I want to play, of course, but I looked in my games library for titles that I’ve always wanted to try (or finish) but never got around to. I will probably add more as I go. I also added games that I’ve been excited about but don’t have yet. We love Steam seasonal sales!

I think it’s achievable to finish all of these games in the next year, but I’m not going to worry too much about the timeline. The important part to me is to make sure I’m living my life mindfully and doing what I love, instead of letting time pass by.

I have other personal hopes for the New Year, but I’ll leave this here. I would love to hear about your holiday plans and New Year's resolutions.