Prototyping & Learning PORTFOLIO-BLOG

It was early February 2021 when I decided to finally give it a shot and learn something new. 

Back then I didn't know much about what was coming. 

Godot Game Engine was my first choice. It seemed relatively small comparing to Unity and Unreal, at therefore easier to tame.

A month later an idea for Diamond Hands Arena was born and I began the development. 

It's huge!

After watching countless promo videos and taking the first official pathway, I knew I was hooked. 

Yes, the software itself probably has pros and cons, but getting to know it seems like a must in modern game dev. 

This is how I came to realisation I want a good guide and decided to enroll a paid course. 

GameDev.TV was my choice. Wanna try it yourself? Go ahead.

Unity3D - here I come! 

https://www.gamedev.tv/courses/1111834?coupon_code=SUMMER

A lot of great stuff happened in October. I had some great experiences related to game dev and programming in general, some job interviews, some conceptual meetings, too.
Then an opportunity came to join a bigger team, where I could learn a lot, but it would also take some preparation.
In order to do that, I had been suggested it's time to really improve my pure programming skillset, and that requires maybe a little less Unity, a little more coding, including command line apps. 

The opportunity looks promising, so I dedided to give it a go. Let's see how it goes.

Thanks to the C sharp academy , I extended my pure C# skills and at the same time did not have to totally abandon game dev - as this first app is in fact a math game!

Not much, but it's honest work.
https://github.com/MPLekter/CSharpAcademy-Math-game
Using Json files, Helper classes, figuring out 3 methods of File writing and saving until I had what I desired. All in all, that was fun!

Thanks to some personal friend of mine, I  am enjoying the opportunity of having a real big time  programming senior as my part time mentor right now!
The language and environment of choice is Ruby on Rails.

Unfortunately due to the nature of our cooperation I cannot disclose any details, but I am happy as usual when working with software.
I have to say, convention over configuration is great!

An interesting FB group post charmed me and I decided to help an artist build his dream game.
After a couple of weeks of hellishly fast cooperation, I finished my prototype :)
https://github.com/MPLekter/Godot-Platformer2D-Project

Unfortunately, the project owner lagged with his part of the work and after numerous tries to keep the pace, I gave up to pursue other opportunities...

Implemented mechanics: State machine, screen shake, polished controller

Becoming a father, I realised I am going to need a steady income again, so I came back to my full-time job in PM.

How else to put it, a mixture of happiness and disappointment. I wasn't able to make it as hobbyist game dev, but I sure had fun.

And hey, life is far from over, let's see what the future brings...

Wow, just wow.

Just hours after starting a full-time job again, I got hired to remake my Froggo 2D into a 3D project.
The Company has some infamy to it, but opportunity cost is not so big to me (I am going to work on my own terms, in Unity, and probably get paid for that  - sounds pretty good)

So this is what I am planning to do. Goal is ambitious - I only have a couple of months to finish that.

I am genuinely happy for the outcome of my work on Froggo 3D.
The game is fun and sweet, gliding your Froggo through endless waters filled with wacky objects on distinctive, animated arenas (Egypt, Vikings, Bicycle and... Toilet).

The only problem I see is the Company who hired me is weeks late with their commitments. I am literally stuck and waiting while they fire people who I cooperated with (including a 2D artist, a 3D artist and a PM).

Going to give them a bit more time to decide and if it's another time trap (by this I mean a cooperation that brings 0 revenue, but consumes time that I could spend elsewhere), we are going to part our ways.