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- February 23, 2015
1401.003: Review of Game-Making Week Milestone 1
February 23, 2015Read more
Happy Monday! Since I last posted, I’ve been working on my video game project, Project 1401. Although I’ve worked on a few commercial games, my goal with 1401 is to make my own video game. It’s one of many creative challenges that I’ve never fulfilled. I gave myself 10 years to get them done.
Anyway, spending a week on 1401 also gave me a chance to test my willpower against the demons Guaranteed Uncertainty and Guaranteed Tedium, two of the resistances that sap my enthusiasm before I even start working. A few insights bubbled to the top of my awareness in the course of battle:
- Even thinking about how long something will take is a huge distraction, because it takes one’s focus away from immediate problem solving to the unproductive realm of an unreachable, unknowable, fictional future. It’s even worse if the current task itself is uncertain in some aspect. While there is a place for time management, worrying about it when you are trying to learn how to do something is really counterproductive. I have to remind myself that 1401 is a learning project in many respects, as much as I want it to be DONE NOW so I can reap the feeling of having finished it. Such thinking is the downside of being a dreamer I suppose; dreaming of rosy futures is just where my mind goes. Sticking in the moment and not letting distractions or negative feelings derail me is a huge challenge. I’m trying to cultivate a zen-like Not thinking of time and effort mentality, which seems to be helping.
- Thinking about how much there is to do is another demotivation, creating significant threshold to starting every task.
- A lot of the systems I’m making for 1401 are conceptually simple (isn’t everything?) but complex in the details. Because there are so many programming tasks involved, it can be quite daunting because there are a lot of details to take care of before the “good stuff” happens. This is demoralizing. To bypass this, I’ve bene using the trick of fixing something really small after just looking at the system as it exists; once I have the code up and in my face, my curiosity starts to take over and I start working as my focus is productively applied to problem solving, not assessing time, effort, and difficulty. There’s nowhere to go but THROUGH, you know?
The remainder of this post delves into more detail about the time expended over the past week. This is both a review of technical process (but not too technical) and the personal challenges I faced. Read on, if you dare!
- February 14, 2015
1401.002 Review and Set Goals for Game Engine
February 14, 2015Read moreOk, it’s game-making week! I am not sure where to start, so I’m starting by writing stream-of-consciousness in Scrivener in my “Blog Posts 2015” folder.
Starting has always been hard for me, particularly when I’m not sure where to start. Making a game is a pretty daunting task, too, because there are so many parts to it. To make it more doable, I’m setting some limits now, knowing that I can lift them later once I have a better feel for how the process is working. The posts in this series (which you can find under tag 1401) are going to be fairly technical, but I’ll try to make them as general audience as I can.
- February 13, 2015
How Much Video Game Can I Make in a Week?
February 13, 2015Read moreThe major interactive project I’ve been working on is undergoing milestone trials for the next couple of weeks, which means that I have some time to work on my own stuff! The coming week will be all about Project 1401, the personal game-making goal that is part of my ten year blogging plan. Details follow for the coming week! (more…)
- February 2, 2015
Groundhog Day Resolutions 2015: Kick Off
February 2, 2015Read more
[Updated for clarity Feb 5]
Groundhog Day Resolutions (GHDR) are my annual “New Year’s Resolutions” deferred from January 1st to February 2nd. Why wait? I don’t know about you, but after weeks of Holiday Madness I’m in no condition to set any kind of goal. After setting them, I also I designate easy-to-remember “review days” on March 3rd, April 4th, and so forth up to December 12 so I engage in meaningful periodic review.
This year, my overall goals are:
- Breaking Dependency on Time because I believe this will lead to greater creativity and productivity due to an improved attitude. I have a weird obsession with time.
- Minimization of Energy Sapping Possessions and Responsibilities because I believe that my cluttered home/work environment is not bringing me joy.
- Full-time Stationery Business by End of Year because the timing is right to make the transition. An established business will hopefullly enable me to spend extended time with family members on the other side of the world.
- Finding the Will to Create and Share because this past year has been tough on my drive to share and create, and I want to get it back. It is essential, I think, to a meaningful life.
- Health and Strength because I’m getting old (47!) and have been neglecting all aspects of personal maintenance.
You’ll notice that there are no personal projects listed, nor have I added any exciting stretch goals. I’m feeling tired and low on energy, and it’s been difficult to write or look at computer screens. Maybe I just need new glasses, but I am trying to be prudent by keeping this year’s goals within grasp of my sloth-like reach.
I’ve written up the gruesome details behind each of the above goals in detail; click the MORE link to read the rationale behind each one!
- January 1, 2015
Happy 2015!
January 1, 2015Read moreIt’s a whole new year! I’m not sure how I really feel about that, but I do like the years that are evenly-divisible by 5.
To discover how I’m feeling, I’ve decided to keep a gratitude journal where I list one thing I’m grateful for every day and see what patterns develop before Groundhog Day Resolutions rolls around on February 2nd. Until then, I am not going to make any long-term plans for the year.
Some recent happenings:
- My new standing desk is almost here; I had to send back the top because it had been damaged in shipping, and it might be another 4 weeks before I get a replacement. We will see.
- Although my living room cafe plans had stalled, I had a pork chop party on the weekend after Christmas, and for the first time I could see how the space could work with actual people. This was very encouraging, so I am excited about getting the project moving again.
- I picked up a copy of Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing on a whim, and found it unexpectedly delightful. I have been telling people that it reminds me of the movie Amelie in some ways, with Kondo as the protagonist, because of the personal narrative interwoven between each principle in the book. Kondo would probably be regarded as an odd kid, obsessive and principled, and that is the kind of thing that turns me on. Plus, I think the general principle of “keeping only those things that bring you joy” is a good one when combined with her uncompromising approach to achieving that state of material being. I’m looking forward to trying it.
- The full-size Emergent Task Planner notebook project is still chugging away. I heard from the printer yesterday that the sample covers have finally come in, so I will probably have the mockups ready to evaluate this week or next. I’ll be sure to post pictures.
That’s about it! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Let’s have a great 2015!
