IT'S HAPPENING

It's been a long time coming but finally braved this bold announcement. I knew this day would come but then you're NEVER really really ready right? We live in strange times.

WHO?

Gabearts305: As a 20 year AAA game dev veteran surviving all kinds of crazy, I felt it was time to try something new. Artist turned programmer, I set out to find the secret of fun. After 2.5 years of toiling with different protypes, I felt this was the one to share with y'all.

EXPLAIN THIS

For the next couple of weeks, we're going to need a life. But since that's not going to happen, instead we'll be embarking on decisions for this game's title, font, colors, and some kind of scheme to flesh out this thing and your vote's going to help make it happen. It'll be OUR game, not just mine. And as development goes along, a great deal of key decisions about its direction will derive from our communal response.

I made a treasure hunt game! One day in my backyard I found some rusty nails, coins, shells, and a shovel. It was fun and interesting to uncover these strange items in my garden. A part of me wished we could've used a metal detector to find more stuff. Then I thought "what if somewhere in all that junk we found a gold bullion"!? Right!!?!?  Only in video games does it ever happen, it was time to turn dream to destiny.

In any case, one of the things I've learned about the secret of fun (which at some point I'll write an article about, inspired by Miyamoto), is that if it's something you wish you could do but couldn't in real life, then maybe you should make it a game! Finding pennies in a pond? Mechanical claw clenching a stuffed animal in outer space? Underwater golf?? Only in a 3D first person environment with a controller can one have such freedom. So I embarked to doing just what my heart told me. I looked for other games and couldn't find any to scratch that itch so here we are.

DEADLINE?

Eh, hehehe...heh. In truth, we'll be working on this for the next 12 weeks and gauging response. Honestly, with the progress  made so far (55% complete) it's been pretty fun and at times it gets tempting to play it more than make it. Even if by the end of this first 12 week run we don't get much love or traction, it's truly worth playing and sharing. But with Star Kingdom, our other project on hold for this experiment,  a decision will need to be made. With our deadline looming for a playable game, the fate of our production is at stake. While a year or more sounds nice, our time and budget is limited and decisions need to be made. Realistically speaking it has to be done by March of next year.

We could technically release something now but it's buggy and still needs a few items left on the list. Rolling out as soon as possible bug free will be our challenge. But no risk, no reward, right? For details, check out our task tracker: Click here to see our full game dev list on Task Tracker Pro

WORK FROM HOME

I'm not going anywhere for a while, thanks to the Pandemic and the strangeness of life afterward, there's an opportunity to make something happen. It would be nice to have a large studio, that's the dream someday, but no schmancy fancy facilities for us. Nope, it's hot coffee, warm socks, and Ikea desk goodness on a Mac. I love PC but eh, it's all preference, right? 

I'd love for the game to come out for Nintendo Switch. It's got that vibe and gameplay style. For now it'll be on Web using Unity then later we'll export for MacOS and PC. At some point we'll release on Steam but I'm scared of going there too early, so for now we'll keep a trial run on itch. If all goes well by March and y'all vote this up as the way to go, then probably we'll expand to Steam, but for now it's easier to focus on the game and leave all that for later. 

WHY??

Because it's fun. I've always wanted to try something like this. More than that it would be interesting to create something with an audience, meaning you'll get a chance to have a big say in how this project goes. It's truly an indie dev experiment. There aren't any other games like this and truth be told, it's the one I wish someone would make. I'm sure there are others similar but this one just happens to have EXACTLY what I'd want as a gamer and as the weeks fly by I hope you agree. 

The other selling points to this project is the feeling of being able to chill at a park with no hurries. Imagine after a stressful day at work, you fire up this game and just relax. The birds chirping in the background make it really feel like you're out in nature. Also, if you're broke, cash strapped, or at times want to feel prosperous, it's nice to be able to go somewhere, look for something, and once in a while actually strike gold. If not in real life, then at least in a game we can live a little bit of our dreams. 

But we are going to have a moment of truth come March. Will this project have the legs to keep going? Or will we end up relegating this beauty into the closet pile of prototypes, the little hell we keep all of our beloved ideas, only to be abandoned, neglected, and unloved, until the day comes once again to bring it back shiny and new. What will be the fate of this project in the next 12 weeks, only time will tell!! 

There's A LOT to talk about but I'll be releasing updates every week around Friday to Saturday until then. Stay tuned!

Muahahaaaaaaa!!!!!!

(to be continued...)