about me

Hey so I was reading Terry’s annual review post, and found myself feeling a certain amount of goodwill towards the world after doing so, and was moved to think about my own year.

At the start of last year I was, okay, I think. Things were fine. I had a job, which was, more or less, humane. I was in the company of people I got along with, and I was making games in my own time. There was a certain harmony there.

Nonetheless, I was looking for other ways that I might be able to exist and make games. I settled on a large project I wanted to work on, and applied for a couple of arts grants. Foddy was of enormous help here, in both encouragement, and writing guidelines. There were other people I approached for advice as well on this topic, who were helpful. However, nothing came of it. I didn’t apply for too many – I could have put more effort in perhaps, but ultimately I’m okay with how things went.

So, plod plod plod plod plod plod bang crash come octobercrash what’s that we’re all being made redundant ah well. So it wasn’t all that sudden. I really admired what Dock, Terry, and others had gotten started in Cambridge. I had gotten in touch with them just before the company collapsed about moving down to be in their company, and they both were totally welcoming of the idea – Dock + bento smile in particular offered me the use of their spare room should I decide to move down while I looked for a place. Terry mentioned that his lease would be up soon, and he’d be looking for a place. It was a really tempting opportunity, but something of a leap, and not necessarily something sustainable.

I wasn’t able to bring myself to commit to anything though yet – I had so much crap, and not much cash, and it might have been possible to get another okay piece of paying work.

When things finally collapsed, I decided to go with option A. Even if it went terribly, it would still be at least six months of doing something that is about the most worthwhile thing I can think of doing. I called up dock, told him I’d be down there in two weeks, and set about trying to move out of my place in Dundee. And so I would be going flat hunting with Terry. Sophie enters the scene at some point as a third party, who is a totally excellent individual.

At this time – I also looked at my bank balance and decided it would be expedient to ask for donations on my website. What came of that? Four-thousand pounds over the course of a week or so. Now, I knew it wasn’t going to be a reliable source of income – after a fortnight donations had more or less stopped. But that’s still six months of living expenses. Which, as gifts go, is a pretty good gift, and it means a lot to me. Thanks :)

I ended up staying with Dock & Bento for a month while we found somewhere and waited to move in. Which is quite some time. So: thanks!

And then we were settled in our wonderful flat.

What do I do now?

One of the opportunities that has been afforded to me now is that of working on a larger project – I have the time now. I tried starting two large projects while in full-time employment and I just couldn’t put in the time to bring them anywhere and they both died. So that’s weighing on my mind a little. I’m taking steps to see what I might do, but I am not committed to any particular project yet.

Jordan Magnuson‘s going to release a game soon about the kindness of others. Well, I’ve had a whole lot of people be really fucking nice to me this year. I try to help out other people where I can. I hate screwing up, but it happens sometimes. I just hope I haven’t fucked over too many people.

There’re been lots of other people in my life this year as well, people in real life, people on the internet, people whose games I’ve played (I wouldn’t start a list, for fear of not being able to finish…I’ve played so many beautiful games this year – ), and people who’ve suffered through playing some of my nonsense.