Writer's Welcome.

This past month saw a number of major goals met in my game. I finished the sprite sheet for the character, learned how to paint the tile sets I made into a “scene” in Unity, and successfully got the character to walk around on it. The coding ended up being the easiest part of the entire process, as I have spent a lot of time practicing coding but not as much time learning Unity.

As of right now, the character is unanimated. She faces you the whole time while the character moves. I ran into an issue with Unity where it kept saying my animation (which didn’t yet exist) was ‘read-only’ and there was no button like the tutorials showed. I eventually figured out how to create animation sequences for each direction. Next weeks goal will be to come up with a code that tells the game which animation sequence to use depending on which direction you’re going.

After that, I’m at a bit of a cross-roads. The general recommendation is you work on each area until it’s 90% done and then move on to the next area. I agree with this, but I’m not sure if I should finish doing the whole area with the really really rough approach and then refine, or if I should refine the sprite and background before moving on.

There’s such a lot to be done, not really sure what is best.

I was planning to just update once a month, but I hit a bit of a milestone and wanted to share. I got a rudimentary tile set done, including grass, dirt, and a house. I just need them to be able to test whether I can make an animated sprite move around a background, and not walk across the roof of the house or anything.

The house was a bit scary for me, so I kept putting it off. I finally told myself it didn’t need to look good and just needed to be done, polish can come later. This is what I got done:

I thought it was funny because my art skills visibly improved while working on the house, and you can pretty much guess in which order I completed each section. I will definitely have to rework this piece so it looks a little less wonky, but right now I love it’s charming, crooked little self.

I am currently nearly done creating a sprite sheet for the character, and then the next huge step will be seeing if all the coding practice and Udemy practice I’ve been doing are enough to make my character wander about. We’ll see!

It has been about a month since I last updated here. The majority of my free time this past month has been spent on coding, with the last two weeks focused on learning Unity. Unity is a game engine that works well for 2D pixel games.

I’ve finished 4 branches of the “Unity Essentials” pathways to get oriented in Unity, and am currently working on the C# coding pathway. This has been the most interesting one because while it has been fun making my own quiz games and calculators, it’s hard to see how these coding challenges are going to help me make a player walk around a screen.

In Python, I knew how to blit a character onto a screen from a sprite sheet and walk it around, but have not yet attempted this with C#. I’m hoping to do this soon instead of relying on prefab stuff in the tutorials.

Character Development

Another huge area of growth has been character development, an area I’ve just about wrapped up. One of my chief complaints about my favorite games is that there are so few characters, it doesn’t feel like a small town. It feels like a single neighborhood of a small town. Because of this, I have 6 or so villages scattered around the island, so there are more people to meet.

This unfortunately means lots more character outlines to do, but I’ve just about wrapped this up with only about half of two different villages left. These are just rough outlines of the characters, with dialogue, quests, etc. still to be done, but it still feels good to have this much done on it.

Pixel art and Beyond

I’ve also worked on pixel art a small amount, mainly just working on a sprite sample and some possible magical crops. These aren’t terribly great yet and lack detail, so I won’t be posting any samples at this time. Nothing to see here, just a plant with eyeballs.

I did watch a summery of how ConcernedApe built Stardew Valley, and was even more inspired by it then before. We apparently have a lot in common, and the fact that he did his entire game solo, including the music and sound effects, made me want to try that as well.

Unlike Eric however, I have no musical experience whatsoever, so added a musical development course to my Udemy education and have been learning about gaming music ever since. It’s not promising. I can turn the music development software on and vaguely navigate it, but have yet to make a note of my own music. Pray for me.

Writing

Have I mentioned that it’s not writing itself that I enjoy, but having written? I do feel satisfied seeing my published works out there in the world, but getting a new piece out is always dreadful. I hate how dull and boring it is. The plot is boring. Nothing happens. No one will ever want to read this.

It’s only after I have finished the monstrosity that I begin to like it again. It has to rest in my edit pile for at least a few months, and a shiny new piece started. Only then, when that piece becomes dreadful, can I go back and look at my old work and love it again.

I’m about half way done with my monstrosity, but I can’t wait for it to be over so I can get to the fun part of shining it back up again.

Last week, I mentioned starting a new project working on my first fantasy game. I’m calling it a cozy game, like Stardew but fantasy, but I believe it is heading towards a more RPG theme. Who knows what it will shape up to be.

I have spent about 6 hours on character development for the game, 4 hours learning to code, and 4 hours on pixel art. (I plan to track hours, especially in game development, to help me figure out how long it takes for future games.)

Game Development

I’ve gotten all of the characters for the initial village roughed out, and about half the characters for a second village. I plan to use a book that I love, “How to Write the Breakout Novel Workbook” to flesh out the characters in more detail and give them more depth.

Since I don’t know how to code well enough to write anything yet, fleshing out characters, quests and so on is the best I can do.

Coding

I learned some python in university for my IT degree, but ended up switching to C# because python might not have fast enough performance. The logic is very similar, but I could barely code a textbased game in Python so starting over with C# feels like a setback.

I’ve successfully made a calculator and a few other simple programs, so hopefully a few more hours of practice will prepare me for more advanced stuff.

Pixel Art

Pixel art practice is where I am proudest of my work. I went from flat, plain pieces to items I would be fine with if I were to put them in my game. Here’s an example, bottom apple was my first piece, and top row is after 4 hours of practice.

These pieces make me confident that I will be able to make most of the assets myself, especially since this is after only a few hours.

New Writing Work

Last but not least, I started writing paranormal romance again. I’ve just got a few thousand words on a new vampire romance, but it’s already shaping up to be a fun new piece. I will update again when the rough draft is complete.

Last year, I started on a journey to gain a degree in Information Technologies. Taking classes in various things from coding to security has made me realize that a fun new avenue for my stories might be to tell them in game format.

Over the past few months I’ve outlined a potential game idea. This past month I felt confident enough in the project to create a Work Breakdown Structure (essentially, a step-by-step list of things I need to do to complete the game) and began working on it.

It has been really satisfying to work on. I thought it would be fun to use this blog to track my progress, so I can look back at it over time and see how much progress I’ve made. Current goals for completion include:

• Improving Coding Skills
  I can code, but I’m not good at it. I’m in some additional classes to help.
• Improving Pixel Art Skills
  Again, I can draw, but it’s not where I want to be. If I can’t improve my skills enough to be happy with it I don’t mind buying assets, but this is part of my adventure so I don’t want to.
• Creating Detailed Character Profiles
  I need this first so I can better plan quests, dialog, and even things like furniture or outfits that match their personalities.

Up this week is also playing through all my old games and noting everything I did and did not like about them. I’d like to make this game something I am truly proud of, no matter how long it takes.

I hope to bring an update on progress towards these goals next week!

Today, scheduled on my to-do list, was to write an article for one of my blogs. Normally, this is a task I get through just fine and have no problems with. This time I found myself bopping between each blog, browsing for ideas, and coming up with nothing.

I’ve already written on so many topics for my hobby blogs, that it takes a bit of creativity to think up  a new topic. I’m in the ‘dry’ phase for blogs however, and nothing came up no matter how much I thought about it.

That’s when I realized that writer’s block is a great topic to discuss here on my writing blog.

For the cause of writer’s block, I’m going to pass on a really great link from writers.com about writer’s block in general. The first section talks about a Yale study on writer’s block and what it’s composition is. I don’t think I can do better, so read it here.

On how to fix it, here’s my best tips.

Free Write

I am actually currently doing one of the best ways to end writer’s block right now. You set a timer, and for that amount  of time you write something, anything, even if it’s just “I don’t know what to write” over and over again.

There’s something about the physical act of writing that can break down that mental block and free you up for the serious writing. It’s working right now, is it not? Here’s half an article right here.

Free Yourself from Editing

Admit it. There’s an author you read who you know no matter how hard you strive, you’ll never touch their feet in skill level. Jim Butcher is that author for me. When I read his Harry Dresden series, magic felt so real that I had to give his signature fire spell a try to see if it would happen. (No, it didn’t. Sigh.)

When we’ve seen the beauty of another person’s polished draft and then look at our own draft—well it kinda looks like a dumpster fire. It can stagnate our writing because we want the finished draft to flow from our finger tips right now.

Lock that editor up in a closet, and just write. Earnest Hemmingway famously said,  “The first draft of anything is shit.” He’s not wrong. Let it be  a dumpster fire. Let it be messy. Leave those plot holes. Don’t question why your character walked into a dark alley by herself. Embrace it.

Plenty of time for editing later. For now, just write!

Prompts

Finally, using a writing prompt can often spark something if nothing else works. I used to have a wonderful book shaped like a block, that was called…The Writer’s Block! (I actually dug around on Amazon until I found it again. It’s here. Yes, it’s an affiliate link. No, you don’t have to buy it.)

The book was packed with incredible prompts, and you could choose one and write on that to help jump start things.

What are your favorite ways to get over writer’s block?

Just this past month, I have started writing fiction again. The past few years, non-fiction has taken over all of my writing time. I haven’t so much as looked at my half-edited ideas for fiction in years. At one point, I even thought perhaps my fiction writing days were over.

All that changed recently when I loaned a copy of my only traditionally published book, “Diary of a Non-Conformist Vampire Victim” to a new coworker. Just the act of watching a reader take an interest in my work again sparked that bit of creativity and got me working on a new idea for another vampire romance.

That first idea uncorked many more, and I found myself pausing repeatedly in my progress to jot  down new ideas. It made me realize that no matter how far apart my creative writings, I have a distinct cycle for these. I thought it might be interesting to share.

Phase 1: The Idea Phase

In this phase, I have approximately one million new ideas. What if a vampire was a paranormal pet groomer?  What if a prophecy was openly defied by the person the prophecy was about? I have a flood of ideas, and not enough time to write any of them.

As a teen, I would flit between these ideas, start everything, finish nothing. Now, I’ve learned to create a folder on my computer to house all of these, write everything about each idea that comes quickly and easily, and ignore all but one until after this phase has ended.

Phase 2: The Drought

As quickly and easily as these ideas came, that’s how fast they leave. Suddenly, I can’t come up with a new idea to save my soul. This was a great frustration to me in the days where I was competing short stories, but now I rely on my idea folder for these moments.

Drought times are when I work on old ideas, polish rough drafts, and generally live off the ideas I produced in phase 1.

Do you have a similar creativity cycle? What do you do to manage it?1

The past few years I have spent sharpening my craft, with a particular focus on my dog blog. In order to take steps towards improving it I joined the Dog Writer’s Association of America, and began competing my best articles in their yearly contest.

This year, I am proud to say that All Things Chihuahua received first place in the Blog of the Year category, and has received the Maxwell Medallion.

I have received many awards for my work in the past, but  I must say this is probably the biggest award, and the one that means the most to me.  I hope to continue onward and up, writing new and exciting articles to catch the reader’s eye.