2023 Recap

It's that time of year: the year is ending so I'll recap how my year went and what I accomplished. I plan to make a post tomorrow that goes over more of my goals for 2024, while this one focuses on reflecting how it went and if I accomplished the goals I set up at the start of the year.

First, this might be an indicator on how my drawing goals went, but here's my 2023 art summary:

I'll be honest, I didn't draw a whole lot this year. I'll get into that more during this post, but basically I've been doing a lot of thinking and after a lot of thought, I've decided to change my focus, professionally and in my personal life. I spent the last decade or so focusing on character design, digital illustration, and animation. And while I do love those things and am very passionate about them, I discovered that there was something I was more passionate about all along, and it's something that started my entire art journey in the first place. Game design.

I was always in this weird limbo of not wanting to let drawing and 2D art go, but wanting to work on games. This year (and the past few) has been a rollercoaster of learning more about game development and making games. And finally I listened to my inner voice and realized it's what I've actually wanted this entire time.

I'm working on some projects relating to this focus so I'll talk more about it at that time, but I figured this would be a good time to first surface it. I've put a lot of thought into it and it's been in my head for pretty much this whole year, I just never really knew how to bring it up until I fully made up my mind.

This doesn't mean I'm going to stop drawing or working on my personal projects by any means though. It just means that instead of spending hours practicing figure drawing or creating daily goals of drawing, I'll be analyzing games, making games, and everything else that goes into it.

But anyway, before I get too deep into this topic, I do want to go through how this year went and what I did accomplish.

Here were my plans from the start of 2023. I'm going to refer back to these as I go through how the year went. One of my goals for last year was to create 2 Twines, and I accomplished that! Something that really helped with this was that I got a head start and got a lot of this done early in the year.

I started out the year by finishing the lineart for the Stinky Girl Eventure, so I was about halfway done by January.

I also was very inspired to draw early on. I was doing a Colors Live drawing almost every day. I had a goal to draw every day, so this was about the closest I got to it. I also did some drawing events during the first bi-weekly Nay Days that I had with my brother.

So drawing was happening, but amongst that, my health was still in a pretty bad spot. I decided to make a big decision to get surgery on my spine in January. It turned out really well and I'm so happy I did it. While it took a couple of months to recover, I've since then pretty much completely recovered and am no longer in pain every day anymore. Because I decided to prioritize my health, that did mean that I was bedridden during the Global Game Jam. We still made a game and I actually focused mostly on the programming side, with just sketches and concepts that I made for the art. I actually really enjoyed it and this may have been what got me thinking more about my game design focus.

Then I started on my next big game project and the biggest one of 2023. I started to learn GB Studio and create a Game Design Document for my project The Nays Origins. I didn't work on it much because I wanted to still focus on The Nays a bit more before diving deep in, so I was mostly just thinking of ideas, brainstorming, and learning GB Studio when I wasn't working on The Nays.

I started reading Eventures again because I was recovering from surgery and bedridden, so I couldn't really draw. I even ended up rewriting an Eventure because I was inspired at this time. When I was at my computer, I was mostly sketching story moments.

Once I was able to sit up more, in March, I continued to work on my Twine storyboards. So I sketched the rough layouts for The Nays Eventure and finished the base colors for the Stinky Girl Eventure.

I did more rewriting, making music playlists, and overall just getting through a lot of proofreading for The Nays. I also started to get some of the base abilities set up in my GB Studio project and did a lot of sketches on paper in my sketchbook for UI and levels.

By the end of April, I was done with the Stinky Girl Eventure drawings and the Twine itself. So at this point I did a lot more reading and writing for The Nays. I also went on a weeklong trip where I got COVID again, but I had a lot of time on the flights to think and brainstorm, so that's when I came up with most of the story for The Nays Origins.

From there, I really started to dive into The Nays Origins. In May, I mostly stopped drawing and focused all of my energy into game development. This was honestly a really rough month for me though. A lot of stressful things happened at work that led to overtime and just a lot of negative interactions. So most nights at the beginning, I was reading Eventures and didn't have a lot of motivation to do much outside of that. It was keeping me inspired despite all that was going on.

I did make a lot of progress on my game though. I wrote the whole script, finished planning the puzzles, and made the entire game prototype using default and rough art. I connected the whole game from start to finish and even made some music and tested the first iteration of my game on my GBA.

June and July ended up being my most productive months for my game. I made all of the art and finalized the game other than some final aspects. During this time, I even went to Seattle for a week and was playing a lot of new games that came out, so I'm surprised I was able to get all of that done.

In August, I wrapped up my game and did some of the finishing touches. This included the logo and title screen, importing dialogue, and making final art for the menus. I also added collisions, which meant a lot of playtesting. And during this time, I also went on a trip to Canada.

And because I was gone for a week at the end of August, that forced me to take a break from my Game Boy game and I switched gears when I came back. I finished the lineart, color, and Twine for The Nays Eventure, and finished up both of my Twines for the year.

I also started to make game dev vlogs for the game projects I've finished. This is when I really started to pivot and realize my focus for game design. I started a portfolio that's still in the works, but was rebranding my online presence. I also played around with GitHub pages in my free time and was learning how to use Unreal Engine 5 at work.

In October, I was in the mood for earlier Eventures after just finishing those earlier Twines, so I wrote an Eventure and read a few. This was when I was inspired to work on The Nays more again. I also decided to do Inktober where I was drawing The Nays more and coming up with their attacks.

And then every year for the past few years I've participated in the CCAD mentorship program; this year I was paired with a game dev student and have really enjoyed it! So I started this around that time as well.

Then I got back into my GB Studio project after a couple of months hiatus. I mostly worked on the physical aspects like the box art and instruction manual. I did a lot of print tests and playtesting, but finished it all by November.

And once the game was complete, I really dove back into The Nays. I was reading a lot of Eventures and coming up with plans for later parts. The Nays Origins really helped me see how I could end the story and I started to find areas I could connect plot points earlier on with it all as well. I did some spontaneous writing and started to sketch again.

So December started off pretty strong, but then it unfortunately turned out to be a really weird month with some unexpected change of plans pretty early on. Unfortunately I got sick with COVID again, which knocked me out for at least a week. I ended up having to cancel some plans to visit family which was unfortunate, but it was at least while my symptoms were mostly going away (other than a persistent cough) so I was able to at least work on some projects during the isolation. I was mostly reading Eventures and wrapping up the year, but it wasn't terrible to get my mind off of things. I also rewrote the PS Chat Eventure.

So overall, I accomplished a lot and made some big decisions this year. Based on last year's goals, here's where I ended up:

• ❌ Draw every day/post monthly digital sketchbooks
• ✅ Bi-weekly Nay Days
• ✅ 2 Eventure Twines
• ✅ Proofread all of The Nays
• ❌ Record Eventure A Week video
• ✅ Improve my health
• ✅ Create a Game Boy game

I'd say I did pretty good with my goals! I really enjoyed focusing a lot on The Nays and the reading/proofreading aspect of it. Because now all of the Eventures are in a good spot and I'm happy with most of them (or otherwise have noted that I'll rewrite some). This will really set me up to continue to create at least 2 Eventure Twines a year, which is the goal. I calculated it out, and I'm hoping to do more or else I'll be creating those until I'm at least 87-years-old (because that's how long the story is).

The bi-weekly voice chats with my brother were really helpful too. It was fun to connect and talk more, and we also got to do some activities. Though I will say that I wish we had more full days, but our schedules just don't really line up great which is unfortunate and doesn't give us much time to actually have a full day to write or work on a project together.

As I mentioned a lot throughout this, I ended up falling off from drawing a lot but that's because I started to focus on game dev more. The summer was pretty much working on my game non-stop for 3-4 months, so I didn't really have much time to draw outside of the assets for that anyways.

The beginning and end of this year were my times where I was most in the mood for The Nays and writing. While I was working on The Nays Origins, I felt a little out of touch with the story and character aspects because it's about a different group of characters that aren't the main characters in the full story, but I learned a lot about the story and came up with a lot of ideas while working on it, so it really informed me a lot.

I secretly had the idea of making a Game Boy game and I'm really glad I accomplished that goal. It was a tough challenge, but it really reawakened something in me to remember my love for game dev. For example, drawing those level thumbnails in my sketchbook was very nostalgic of when I used to draw levels for my fan spin-off Pokemon games in my notebook as a kid. It's really like I've come full circle with this.

While I've been making a game a year for Game Jams, this was really fun to finally work on something from start to finish for a longer period of time. I realize I've been slowly making an additional game over the years, but this was the most planning and full development that I've had. In 2019 I made a quick JavaScript game, in 2021 it was a Unity game, and last year was a month-long Game Jam in RPG Maker.

So this is something I really want to continue doing. I'll talk more about this in my next post, but I really like the idea of making two games a year: a game with a group for the Global Game Jam, and a solo one on my own throughout the year.

I was also fairly ahead on my projects, which was really helpful. I was done with most of my projects by September, and everything after that was fairly supplemental. Usually I'm scrambling at the end of the year to finish everything on top of all of the traveling for the holidays and everything, so it was nice this year to be done early and have a relaxed finish (other than getting sick). It helped me pick up my motivation earlier than usual. Usually it doesn't happen until after Christmas, but this year it started in October or November.

While I only wrote 6 or so Eventures this year (which is about 10 less than last year), I did do a lot of proofreading and small rewrites in documents along the way. So I'm happy with the progress I made there because it sets me up for more success in the years to come.

I also wanted to talk more about my art with the Eventure a Week series. I recorded ~70 of the 143 that I would've needed, so about half, so I did make some progress. I just didn't finish it. Maybe I'll finish it next year, but it also was just kind of a side project that I'm not sure if I want to continue. I feel like I replaced this in a way with my game dev vlogs, which are a lot more fun to create and kind of fulfill the goal for what I was trying to get at with that one. I did present my Twines at the CUPdates though, so I'm at least talking more about my story. I still need to work on that a bit more though, but won't make it a huge focus.

This year I created 2 games and 2 Twines. Plus all of the progress on The Nays in general. So a really productive year!

I'll talk more about how I'm planning to incorporate all of this into goals in the next post. Thanks for reading this! I know I always have a lot on my mind towards the end of the year, so these are getting lengthier each year. But I really like reflecting on everything and finding ways to improve, as well as thinking about areas that worked really well more me. See you in the next post!

CUPdate 52: Digital Sketchbooks, Nay Events, Game Dev Vlogs, GitHub Pages, & Eventures

Life has been busy so it's been a while since I've posted my CUPdates here! To catch up on some of the things I previously presented and just didn't formally put into a blog post, I'm going to compile those here.

For June, I did a few sketches for my digital sketchbook. Some of these were for Nay Events.

And then for July and August, I didn't really draw very much, so I combined those doodles into one small digital sketchbook page.

I did a Nay Event where I watched a clip from the endings of games and drew one of The Nays in that scene. They were mostly sketchy and just to get back into drawing more. First was Scott in Wild Arms 3 and the second was Gair in Final Fantasy 3.

I was also playing around with some GitHub pages, since that has free hosting. GitHub has always been kind of a foreign concept to me, so I'm trying to slowly immerse myself in it and figure out how it works. So I made a new page on my side account and uploaded an old website I made for a Nay Event a few years back called "Spriter's Homeland". I had a few issues at first, but after reading some of the guides and watching some videos, I was able to figure out how to get it fully hosted! Check out the site here if you want to see it.

Something else I've been working on is creating game dev vlogs for my Global Game Jam projects! It's been fun to reflect on my game projects and the processes I went through. So far I've finished the videos for the GGJ 2017 and 2018 projects. I recorded the audio files for 2019 and 2020 but haven't edited those together yet. That's been a fun side project that I've been doing when I get in the mood for it.

Also during that time, I did Inktober! I posted them on my other social media like Instagram, but would need to scan and compile those all first before posting all of them here.

I've also been doing some writing to get back into The Nays. My brother and I wrote The Night Kids Eventure, and I wrote some parts on my own that were just with the M Nays. Then I wrote my part of The Gek's Favorite Eventure (which is honestly the majority of that Eventure). And then I also wrote a new introduction to the Pubby & Lonny Reunited Eventure, to tie in more with Pearl's backstory.

This also got me in the mood for doing some Eventure-related sketches. I came up with a new color scheme for El Pubbo so he's not quite the same colors as Pubby. I also came up with a design for his Molee character, Herb. And then I drew an idea for how Clarisse might look. I think Clarisse is gonna actually have white hair instead, but that'll be her design still otherwise.

I've been mostly working on parts at the beginning of The Nays, in terms of writing and drawing lately, so I took a break from that and started to read some of the later Eventures. It really inspired me again. I always forget how much reading these helps me get back into it. So I did a few Eventure sketches throughout November as I was reading various parts.

I've also been wanting to get back into my Nay-A-Day project. I started this project back in July 2014 where I was drawing a full-body character drawing every day, and I draw the character whose birthday it is. Obviously, I don't have the time to do that anymore (especially when they take 3 hours now), but I do want to try and do more of these whenever I get the chance to. It's apparently been 2 years since I last did one of these too. I started with Centrino since it was his birthday on the day that I thought about it. Then I drew Woodsaid.

So that's all of the catching up for this time! We honestly only have one more CUPdate left of this year, so that one will likely end up being a recap of the year, or it'll just be other various projects. But the one after that will definitely be the new year's one where I talk about what's coming up for next year! So it's getting to the end of the year already, which is exciting! I always love this time of year when I have more time off and I get really inspired to start fresh and work on my projects again.

CUPdate 44: Small Update

I have a pretty small update for this week. May has been super busy in my personal and work life, so I haven't really had time to draw.

For this month's digital sketchbook, I was just playing around with some color palettes and styles for Sagun to figure out the design. I decided to go with the one that's larger on the left.

It was my friend Laura's birthday, so I drew her characters Banana and Belle!

I also went to a baseball game, so I did some quick gesture drawings.

And that's it! I have a pretty busy summer up ahead, so I'm not really expecting any big updates until the fall.

CUPdate 43: Eventure Sketches & Nay Event

There's not a lot to show here because most of it has been reading Eventures, proofreading, and writing. I have done some drawings though, and have been trying to get back into that daily drawing!

This was another month full of Eventure reading! I've really enjoyed doodling quick moments after reading parts that I've written. I also did some brainstorming on parts relating to the origins/history of The Worlds.

We also finally finished the You-Know-Who's Reign Eventure! That was one we started writing last month, but didn't have a chance to finish until now.

We also continued the Mr Marcus World event so that meant drawing some Nays in anime style. Topaz is in OddTaxi and Pixy is in High Score Girl.

And then other than that, I've just been reading more Eventures and making progress on proofreading. A few other updates too that I'll talk about in the meeting.

CUPdate 42: The Nays Brainstorming, Rewriting, & History

I was out of town for a lot of the time leading up to this CUPdate, so not a lot to show on my blog this time!

While I was on the plane, I ended up thinking a lot about the whole history of The Worlds, which meant brainstorming some stuff relating to the First Generation Nays. Also while I was on the plane, I sketched this drawing of Forlorn on my Switch.

With all of this, it also involved thinking a bit about the original creators of The Worlds (Malik, Sagun, and Jesper). And this led into my idea where all deamons could originate from Jesper (The Man Who Does Not Speak), and could be closely related to The Gek. There are a lot more ideas I was thinking about, but I decided to make a family tree for The Gek's family and also how they're related to the Lynx family (I was also figuring out the actual relative names in relation to The Gek).

And then it was my friend Hillary's birthday, so I drew her character Imogen! I had fun playing around with the crystal effects, since she's cursed with crystal powers.

And then I've also been continuing to read through some Eventures and I finally made it to the Preliminary World Leader Exam, which is the longest Eventure of all of them. So I'm anticipating that one will take me at least a week to read through on its own. While reading some of the parts leading up to it, there was a lot of continuity missing since it was around the time when we were making a lot of changes. So I went in and started to write some connections and leave some notes. There were a few scenes that I actually wrote straight in Google Docs and with no plans, so that was new! I need to go back and look at them later, but it was interesting to try that out for writing out some shorter parts.

So yeah that's it for this blog post. I do have a lot of progress on some other projects, so I'll be able to show those here eventually, too!