Hi everyone, just wanted to let you all know that the demo for our game is finally here! See the link below to try it out for yourself on Macs or Windows PCs. This is just the beginning of a long term project, but we're thrilled to reach this milestone!
In other news, I've begun the preliminary work of research on a new writing project. As mentioned in my last post, there's no way this novel will be released in 2021, but I did want to let you all know that something is in the works. It'll be a very different story than those from previous books, but I'm really excited to get started (once I have the time)!
Finally, I wanted to share a personal experience related to the memorial campagin that I enjoyed a couple of weeks ago. A woman and her husband were contacted via letter and invitation and called our Kingdom Hall number in response. The message the wife left was a little odd, as she expressed what sounded like concern for our having her personal information (name and address).
Upon returning her call, I explained that Witnesses around the world had turned to letter writing and phone calls due to the pandemic. She then seemed quite relieved, and explained that she and her husband had been wondering why they hadn't seen the Witnesses around for so long. I then inquired about whether she'd received the invitation, and she said that she had, and that it looked interesting. After explaining how the memorial would be held virtually (thankfully, she's familiar with Zoom!), I also invited her to our weekly meetings, the next of which was being held the following day. To my surprise, she said that she would be there, and sure enough she attended that very next meeting!
Following this first meeting, she wrote an email expressing how impressed she was with the children's Bible knowledge and the friendliness of those in the congregation. She also asked some questions regarding the content of the meeting, which I answered briefly along with relevant JW.org links. The next week I wrote again, explaining how JW Library and WOL can be used to prestudy for meetings. I stressed that prestudying is important due to the quick pace of the program. She agreed, and they were once again in attendance at the following weekday meeting, this time prepared with their own Bibles and additional laptops open to our website so they could follow along.
Experiences like this just go to show that there are still some in our territory who are searching for a "pearl of high value" and who, for one reason or another, are only now finding it.
Have a great rest of your week, everyone, and if you do play our game, be sure to leave us your feedback!
Hello everyone!
It's been a bit of a whirlwind here as Jason and I have been working on finishing the demo release of our computer game, Project Paradise. Going into this project back in 2019, I had only a vague idea of how much work would be involved. I knew I'd need to learn how to draw and animate pixel art and I'd have to brush up on my music-making skills, but I didn't then grasp the extent of the work required. Now that I'm in the thick of game development, I can honestly say that this has easily surpassed the effort and time involved in writing all eight of my novels combined. It is unlike any creative effort I've undertaken in my life, and because I'm not doing it full time (nor getting paid for any of it yet), balance and sacrifice are required.
 |
| Drawing character profiles in Aseprite pixel by pixel! |
 |
| Composing one of the tracks for Project Paradise's soundtrack |
That said, I wanted to take some time here today to talk about why, specifically, I'm making this game, and why for me it is a logical forward step from the books.
From a very young age, I loved entertaining people. I don't mean that I'm a singer or a performer, and in fact I get very anxious being in the spotlight. However, I love creating unique opportunities for others to have fun.
I believe this first manifested itself in high school. At the time, the TV show Survivor was peaking in popularity, and I wanted to make my own version. Fortuitously, I'd just begun learning to use graphic design software (CorelDraw), and my rudimentary skills were put to work designing a parody "Campus Survivor" logo. I then designed and launched a simple website for the competition. Next, I hosted tryouts for competitors among my classmates and held weekly competitions during lunch to determine the winner, who won $50 as the grand prize.
This would be the last time I would host such an event for worldly people. A few years later in 2006, I designed a city-wide scavenger hunt and invited brothers and sisters to serve as team captains and choose their own teammates. The day that resulted is still one of my most cherished memories, a time when many previously shy friends really opened up, and everyone had a chance to bond. Two more scavenger hunts would follow, each one more elaborate than the first. Through the years, the opportunity to create something special for my brothers and sisters and seeing the smiles on their faces keeps me motivated.
Not long after the second scavenger hunt, I returned to my old hobby of writing. I'd loved crafting stories as a child but hadn't written anything substantial in years. I wanted to try again, but this time it would be different. I wanted to put smiles on my friends' faces as I had before. What better way to do that than with a story about paradise? Of course, the story eventually grew into a novel that made its way onto the internet and reached a much larger audience that what I'd originally intended, and since there was a demand for more, so I kept writing.
I've never tired of writing books, even after nearly a decade of doing it. Still, I've been itching for years now to explore a new method of storytelling, a new means to provide upbuilding entertainment our friends. The concept of making my own video game seemed far fetched until I actually sat down for coffee with a friend of mine and pitched the idea. We were nowhere near prepared for the project at the time, but we immediately began the process of learning the needed skills. That first conversation happened in November of 2017, over three years ago, with the development of Project Paradise starting a year and a half later.
Of course, there are always risks involved when making forays into uncharted territories. Just as with The Bloom of Youth, I realize that this shift will mean that not all previous readers of my work will stick with me for this new project. On the other hand, as someone who enjoys playing video games, I recognize how difficult it is to find games without objectionable content, and if I can provide such a game to our friends and bring smiles to new faces, I'm all for it!
