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arynisIt's the end of the year. People have been doing posts on Twitter such as "Top 3 personal accomplishments" and listing their goals for the next year. They inspired me to write a reflection post. I figured it would help me close the book on the unpleasant parts of 2018 and feel more optimistic and excited for 2019.
Looking Back on 2018
To be frank, it's hard to talk about how my year started. It's hard to talk about the first third of the year, really. Thankfully, I am doing much better these days. My self-esteem is less of a mess and I have more faith in my skillset and abilities.
But there were good things too. I'd rather focus on those for now.
I got to meet and work with several wonderful and incredible people. I'm so grateful for my experiences with them, whether it was working on a task together or learning something new.
I gained a new perspective on video games. Working on a game is way different from playing a game, and now I have a better grasp of what's behind the scenes. Even smaller moments in a game may have quite a tale behind them! (While I'm thinking of amusing cases here, it's worth noting such tales can be negative, unfortunately.)
When I started my job last year, my closest skill relevant to game development was probably having a knack for finding glitches in games. By the time I quit my job, I was capable of so much more. I was able to script story scenes without a hitch, find and document bugs (and fix them if they were scripting issues), manage and organize material like a boss, and memorize a game's lore to the point I could answer you any lore question within minutes. I used to think of these abilities as worthless or not good enough for a long time. I was only able to look back and appreciate my skills as of recently. "Hey, I think I did well, actually."
Despite what happened to me, I don't want to turn my back on game development. I want to pick up more skills and try my hand at solo development for entertainment and self-expression. I want to explore what I'm capable of and what I can do with the medium. Whether I want to pursue a future job in gamedev or not is a question I'm leaving open for now.
The other big milestone in my life was finishing my BA thesis. I got the best grade for it, and so my thesis defense is the last thing up ahead. I know I got this and it's going to be great!
In the remaining parts of the year I kept up with my studies and university duties, as well rested and focused on relaxing.
I decided to pursue 3D modeling with Blender. You can see my progress in my previous posts. I had to put it aside when my thesis took priority, but I'm looking forward to working in Blender again.
I played lots of great games this year. The House in Fata Morgana and its sidestory spin-off is one of the best VNs I've played in my life. It's a wonderfully crafted story with an incredible attention to detail and consistency. I gave No Man's Sky a try when the NEXT patch was introduced, and I had a lot of fun exploring the various planets with their mesmerizing environments. A friend of mine got me into Five Nights at Freddy's which I actually didn't know much about despite its fame. I got a mystery horror story that evolved into an overarching tale about a serial killer and his children, with a bunch of (mostly) possessed animatronics tagging along. It was interesting. Another friend got me to try out the Shadowrun games, which since became my favorite flavor of cyberpunk. Finally, I played Danganronpa V3 and the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, which of course I've written about on my blog.
Looking Forward to 2019
With 2018 behind me, it's time to look ahead of me.
My biggest goal for 2019 is to get my BA degree and get accepted into MA.
I would like to continue working on my 3D modeling skill. I've seen so many inspiring posts on Twitter, I hope I get to make something really cool next year.
I need to get more into programming. Python and R are must-haves for my field, while Unity requires C#. The former two are my priority.
Depending on how I progress with my things, I'm going to check out the Unity course I bought and start toying around with a project. If I get far enough, I'd like to check out shaders in more depth as well.
I want to write at least one story in Twine. There's an idea I've been wanting to make in Twine, but something always got in my way. Not this time, I'll finish that story, dammit!
Lastly, I want to try drawing more often. I had fun with my Chatnoir picture, I want to experiment with colors especially.
I think that's about it. My studies are the most important from the list, the rest would be nice to reach.
Happy New Year everyone! I hope y'all have a year full of wonderful experiences that make you happy and help you grow. <3
Looking Back on 2018
To be frank, it's hard to talk about how my year started. It's hard to talk about the first third of the year, really. Thankfully, I am doing much better these days. My self-esteem is less of a mess and I have more faith in my skillset and abilities.
But there were good things too. I'd rather focus on those for now.
I got to meet and work with several wonderful and incredible people. I'm so grateful for my experiences with them, whether it was working on a task together or learning something new.
I gained a new perspective on video games. Working on a game is way different from playing a game, and now I have a better grasp of what's behind the scenes. Even smaller moments in a game may have quite a tale behind them! (While I'm thinking of amusing cases here, it's worth noting such tales can be negative, unfortunately.)
When I started my job last year, my closest skill relevant to game development was probably having a knack for finding glitches in games. By the time I quit my job, I was capable of so much more. I was able to script story scenes without a hitch, find and document bugs (and fix them if they were scripting issues), manage and organize material like a boss, and memorize a game's lore to the point I could answer you any lore question within minutes. I used to think of these abilities as worthless or not good enough for a long time. I was only able to look back and appreciate my skills as of recently. "Hey, I think I did well, actually."
Despite what happened to me, I don't want to turn my back on game development. I want to pick up more skills and try my hand at solo development for entertainment and self-expression. I want to explore what I'm capable of and what I can do with the medium. Whether I want to pursue a future job in gamedev or not is a question I'm leaving open for now.
The other big milestone in my life was finishing my BA thesis. I got the best grade for it, and so my thesis defense is the last thing up ahead. I know I got this and it's going to be great!
In the remaining parts of the year I kept up with my studies and university duties, as well rested and focused on relaxing.
I decided to pursue 3D modeling with Blender. You can see my progress in my previous posts. I had to put it aside when my thesis took priority, but I'm looking forward to working in Blender again.
I played lots of great games this year. The House in Fata Morgana and its sidestory spin-off is one of the best VNs I've played in my life. It's a wonderfully crafted story with an incredible attention to detail and consistency. I gave No Man's Sky a try when the NEXT patch was introduced, and I had a lot of fun exploring the various planets with their mesmerizing environments. A friend of mine got me into Five Nights at Freddy's which I actually didn't know much about despite its fame. I got a mystery horror story that evolved into an overarching tale about a serial killer and his children, with a bunch of (mostly) possessed animatronics tagging along. It was interesting. Another friend got me to try out the Shadowrun games, which since became my favorite flavor of cyberpunk. Finally, I played Danganronpa V3 and the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy, which of course I've written about on my blog.
Looking Forward to 2019
With 2018 behind me, it's time to look ahead of me.
My biggest goal for 2019 is to get my BA degree and get accepted into MA.
I would like to continue working on my 3D modeling skill. I've seen so many inspiring posts on Twitter, I hope I get to make something really cool next year.
I need to get more into programming. Python and R are must-haves for my field, while Unity requires C#. The former two are my priority.
Depending on how I progress with my things, I'm going to check out the Unity course I bought and start toying around with a project. If I get far enough, I'd like to check out shaders in more depth as well.
I want to write at least one story in Twine. There's an idea I've been wanting to make in Twine, but something always got in my way. Not this time, I'll finish that story, dammit!
Lastly, I want to try drawing more often. I had fun with my Chatnoir picture, I want to experiment with colors especially.
I think that's about it. My studies are the most important from the list, the rest would be nice to reach.
Happy New Year everyone! I hope y'all have a year full of wonderful experiences that make you happy and help you grow. <3
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