...Especially if you're feeling down on yourself as a creator, just remember, J.R.R. Tolkien didn't publish The Lord of the Rings until he was 62 years old. That's old enough that many folks would be retired! Can you imagine the seminal work of your life hitting store shelves when you're a grandfather? I can't.
The internet goes fast, and you may feel like you have to succeed as a creator while you're young, but in reality, you've got a whole life to spend making the things you want to make. So long as you keep on going, your best work is in front of you, not behind you. So don't get discouraged! Just keep choosing to do what makes you happy. Don't worry about what others are doing so much. And if you don't believe me, listen to this random old dude. He knows what's up.
My favorite part is when he decided to work through a programming course using a blackboard. I laughed at that, but after thinking about it more, I realized that some of my best code started out on pencil and paper or a whiteboard.
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In other news, I'm slowly but surely planning out the plot and sidequests of my game, The Journey of the Return. I've been writing a second draft of it over at my WorldAnvil page (spoilers) and workshopping it with my wife and some of her writer friends. Progress is slow, but steady. I can't say when the drafting and revision stage will be finished, but to give an idea, the game is divided up into 7 chapters including the prologue, and I'm currently a good ways into the meatiest section, part 4.
It was encouraging to see my boss battle design from the prologue get front-paged! I really didn't expect that, lol. That gives me some hope that the game will get some traction when it's finally ready.
I'm currently also revisiting the art style of JotR. Originally, it was planned to be 100% pixel art. But I've recently re-discovered my love for Flash, so I'm exploring mixing the two mediums together. I'm hoping that I can get some meaningful visual symbolism going from that decision. I've included a quick clip with a basic test using mostly just the flash stuff (let me know what you think!), but you'll have to wait and see what I've really got in mind later. :)
For now, enjoy some spritework redone in flash:
Love you Newgrounds. <3
-J
TravelSizedLions
Fun addendum to this! I just got into a conversation with a random dude at church today who's been working on a roleplaying world he's been building since the 1970s. Go check it out, it's pretty cool: asterland.com