Three days before I published my last update, Death Stranding 2 released on Playstation 5. The sequel to a game I didn’t interact with until six months after its release, roughly three into pandemic induced lockdown, a game among multiple during that time that harmonized with what was happening to the world outside of it. My experience with the first game guaranteed that I’d be a day one purchase for the sequel despite doubting whether lightning could strike twice, and I’m happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my 65 hours of playtime. All this being said, that’s 65 hours I did not touch my own game development project, and it would be another four months until I would again.

Since 2023 I have maintained a series of documents that list all of the different media I consume in a year. Each month I list the piece by medium (book, movie, game, etc.) and for any piece that might take multiple sessions or months to complete I highlight different colors. It started simple: yellow for books or games in progress, green for finished, and red for unfinished. As I continued this habit, I expanded to a few more categories: light blue for mealtime tv that is more for distraction than something I’m consuming with actual intention (Great British Baking Show is a good example); purple for multiplayer or live service games that don’t really have a completion state; forest green for rewatches/replays. I like keeping this record because it’s fun to look back at the year and see what grabbed me for months on end, give recommendations for the things that really engaged me, or see where I gave up on something that didn’t resonate. I try my best not to use it like a checklist or an obligation, it’s just something to look back on and reflect. This last year I expanded my categories to include things I wanted to work towards rather than just consume: monthly donations to charity, game development, and general hobby time.

Adding fields about creation rather than consumption has helped shine a light on where I put my time. Two posts ago I’ve talked about my new hobby of miniature building and painting, and that’s only picked up steam in the intervening months. It’s satisfied my creative drive to a point where I put this site and my game project on the back burner, rather than balancing the two impulses. I’ve gotten to the point where the honeymoon phase is dimming slightly, and I want to put my creative energies back towards my game development projects. The way my brain works, I need to make sure that this site and my projects don’t become obligations, just ways I choose to spend my time. My lists help me to that end, giving me some visual feedback and a gentle nudge if it shows that I’m not putting my time where I actually want it to be.

With a month and a half left in the year, I have the following goals:

• Establish a consistent routine for game development, one that allows for all of the fun distractions while not becoming stagnant for months at a time
• Complete some Godot tutorials unrelated to my existing brewing game, try to build my skills up without getting bogged down on one project
• Write up the post that’s been bouncing around my brain about run-based, high RNG gameplay and how that affects my brain