Barbora

Challenge #8 : Talk about your creative process.

This applies to all creative stuff: programming projects, game development, writing, art.

1. Challenge. Sometimes I come up with project ideas myself, but usually I need an external push :( that's why I'm a sucker for courses with homework assignments, challenge communities, workbooks and such. 

2. Concept. Just thinking about it, checking various options in my head. Sometimes Tarot help too.

3. Research. Check the source materials, facts I want to include, frameworks I want to use if applicable, art that inspires me, etc.

4. Drafts. Playing around in a quick&dirty way, disregarding all the rules. I can't do outlines / detailed planning and specifications and such... Most of the details are too vague at this stage, and everything is too much in flux anyway and may drastically change from my original vision. Some things are not feasible, some entirely new things come up in the process.

5. Patchwork. Fixing / completing stuff in random order, jumping between different parts, whatever calls for attention.

6. TODO list. When the project is close to completion, a TODO list emerges naturally, and now it's satisfying to cross out completed entries one by one (but still in random order).

7. Debugging.  Especially with writing, I go through the piece from start to end in an endless loop, fixing something small every time. For images, fixing pixels here and there. For games, fixing bugs / improving item placements, colours, messages, updating puzzle chains, etc. Sometimes adding new stuff and whole new scenes. Starting to get exhausted...

8. Packaging. Preparing for release, when applicable. Screenshots, descriptions, the prompt headers formatting, etc. Totally annoying and I hate this stage. 

9. Complete/release - by this time I thoroughly hate the project, so it's always a relief ;)

 

Challenge #6: Top 10 challenge. The top 10 of anything you like.

These are the top 10 games I’ve played recently (well, within the past year).

1. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, the 20th Anniversary Edition by Phoenix Online Studios, originally by Sierra On-Line.
A timeless classic point-and-click adventure. Join a murder investigation and delve into Voodoo mysteries in New Orleans. I had played this game before (and the original one too), but felt compelled to replay it recently, after discovering the iPad version. It’s still the best!

2. OneShot by Future Cat.
A puzzle-adventure game made in RPG Maker. You’re on a mission to save a dying world by recovering its sun. The game is not only cute and touching but also a technical marvel. It’s heavily meta, breaks traditional game mechanics, and does things with your computer that I never thought were possible from within a game!

3. Creaks by Amanita Design.
A 2D puzzle-platformer set in a surreal world with gorgeous hand-drawn graphics. Find your way through a maze-like mansion inhabited by birds, ghosts and robots. The puzzles are very clever, evolve in complexity, and require thinking outside the box. It's very fulfilling to find new ways to use existing objects.

4. Nine Noir Lives by Silvernode Studios.
A classic-style point-and-click adventure reminiscent of Monkey Island in both atmosphere and puzzles (but easier). As PI Cuddles, investigate a murder in Meow Meow Furrington, a city of anthropomorphic cats. It's also emotionally stirring, touching on themes like grief and loss and drugs.

5. White Shadows by Monokel.
A 2.5D puzzle-platformer set in a dark, dystopian city of birds, pigs, and other animals. It’s reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm. The puzzles are easy, but the game plays like a movie. The graphics are greyscale, which fits the atmosphere perfectly, and the lighting and sound effects are amazing.

6. The Past Within by Rusty Lake.
A puzzle game in the usual Rusty Lake style, dealing with dark and creepy mysteries. Unlike the other games, this one is co-op: one player is in the past and the other in the future, and you have to find ways to communicate between them. For the lack of gamer friends, I cheated and played both parts alone on two computers. It works fine ;)

7. Randal’s Monday by Nexus Game Studios.
Another classic-style point-and-click adventure, with a lot of pop-culture references and cynical humour. Randal is stuck in a time loop, trying to fix his mess-ups but only making things worse. (Note: Randal is a jerk. He’s rude and obnoxious, but the game was still absolutely fun to play!)

8. A Pet Shop After Dark by npckc.
A puzzle game made in Ren’Py. It looks deceptively simple and the graphics are minimalistic, but the gameplay is heavily meta. Much of it involves messing around with your actual filesystem ;) and some of the puzzles are truly devious. I love this stuff!

9. Three Minutes to Eight by Chaosmonger Studio.
A pixel-art point-and-click adventure. You’re stuck in a time loop (one of my favourite tropes ;) and have limited time to figure out what’s going on and how to carry your progress over to the next loop. There are multiple endings, and they’re wildly different!

10. The Room by Fireproof Games.
A puzzle game that feels very physical, with a crazy amount of knobs, buttons, levers, and even some tilt and motion-control puzzles (I played on iPad). It’s not the kind of game I usually play, because the story is minimal. But the atmosphere is fantastic, and fiddling with all those mechanisms and unlocking new areas is incredibly fun and rewarding.

Rec any website that you like, be it fanfiction, art, social media, or something a bit more eccentric!

My favourite fandom-related sites are TVTropes and Reddit, not that they need any recs... Whenever I finish reading/watching anything popular enough to warrant a TVTropes page, I head there for the detailed analysis of the work, to relive all the most important moments, and to catch up on all the details I had missed or misunderstood. But this is a one-time event, as the content is static and rarely changes. Reddit provides an unending stream of new content on every subject, ranging from academic-like theories to silly and goofy memes, so there's something for every mood. And reasonably organized, too.

As for favourite sites in general... I still can't get enough of Coursera, ever since buying the Plus subscription which was my best investment last year. Besides the technical courses, it has a lot of courses targeted at creative individuals, such as art, music composition, music production and game development. I've tried quite a few MOOCs, and Coursera is still the best. For a learning addict, it's a never-ending party!