January 18, 2017

Goals

Tags: Goals

“Over and over and over and over and over

Like a monkey with a miniature cymbal

The joy of repetition really is in you”


Hot Chip - Over and Over

This years goals are the same as last year.

Wait, no, they are not! Last year one of my goals was to complete Concealed Intent and release it. Done

  • it is out (since August) on Steam and Humble. There has even been a 1.1 update. Finishing Concealed Intent has been a constant target going back over four years. Now the goals will need to be ever so slightly different…

  • Create and release a game. This new wording on the game development objective is something that can be endlessly repeated. One of the main learnings from Concealed Intent is the realistic scope of any game I can make by myself. I intend to use this knowledge to make smaller games - ones that can be started and finished within a year. Or even less if possible!

  • Blog on my websites at least 4 times a month Last year this goal stated the posts should be on my personal website - a target missed with just 18 entries there in 2016. However, during the year I started a new blog, A Gamedev Plays… (and associated YouTube channel). Combined those two websites met the target easily - so I consider that a success. This year I will not not be restricted to any website (so this goal now also includes the Jarrah Technology website).
  • Exercise. With regular weights and running, I am just below the peak strength achieved in mid-2015, and can now run faster than ever before for 30 minutes without joint pain. Not bad. Especially on the running side - I hope the old injuries are definitely in the past. The more specific goals for the year are to again start lifting personal bests and run without pain for an hour at my current 30min pace.

So far, so similar, but now time for something new.

  • Learn Spanish Around mid-year I started spending 10 minutes/day online attempting to learn Spanish as there was I chance I would end up living in a Spanish speaking country. That is now very unlikely to occur, but I have kept up the lessons. According to the websites I use, my vocabulary is around 1000 words (and my pronunciation is awful). Now I’m beginning to learn grammar (the first time in any language!). It seems a shame to stop now, so this goal is just to maintain regular lessons and see how it goes.

And that is it. Although there is one more thing to be said. In the middle of this year I will be moving country. At the moment it is still not certain where I will end up (although London or Australia are by far the most likely). Previous experience of trans-continental moves show they can be incredible destructive to productivity. Thus, there is a good chance my plans will collapse under this event. It is also likely I will need to find a normal desk job in the second half of the year. Given this, I will be easy on myself if at the end of the year, I fall a little short on the goals above.