Game Journal #109 - Next Fest Build, General Updates

Hey all! Welcome back to my game journal series. I've got a lot to talk about this time, so it'll be a bit longer than usual! Yay...? Well, I hope you'll enjoy reading about what I have to say.

First, life update! I finally left my second job last week. Don't get me wrong, I liked working there a lot, but with Next Fest coming up and my game nearing version 1.0, I felt that it was a good time to start devoting more time towards working on it. So, I turned in my two weeks. I will say though, I ended with the best relational terms I ever had on a job. They even expect me to come back sometime next year... well, I don't know if that'll happen for sure, but we'll see. I wouldn't be against it, but I really want to work on game stuff.

Of course, I still have my regular job at FedEx, so I still have a regular income coming in. In fact, the reason I gave for leaving my second job was to work more at FedEx instead (as it's peak season now, which means more packages = more work hours for me.) I just didn't really know how to explain that I was quitting to work more on a video game... I feel like I would've never heard the end of it. Lol. But yeah. So I'm definitely not strapped for money or anything, but I've changed my diet to instant ramen and homemade fried rice. What, it's cheap! But it's also times like these I can realize how blessed I am. I can pay my mortgage + utilities with just one part time job, and have a little money left over. Plus, my job gives me retirement and healthcare. I feel like I'm in the perfect stage of my life to create what I want.

Second, I've been gaining notoriety online. If you don't know, I have a Twitter account that I use for promoting my game. Occasionally, I post fanart there when the mood strikes me (because I'm too lazy to make another account, plus it's good publicity for my game as well.) Well, somehow, SOMEHOW, I managed to go viral TWICE in one week by posting fanart of Sol Badguy from Guilty Gear. I have no idea why. But the result of that has been massive. I met a lot of new people, AND I got a review for my game! I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the fanart per se, but it feels really surreal. Being somewhat famous feels so strange and alien to me. I'm used to being by myself all the time, so getting feedback is always really nice. My head is kinda spinning from it all... you could even say... that I'm SWEATING BULLETS!!

...That was a bad Megadeth pun, I'm sorry. I just really wanted to use this gif of Dave Mustaine. Lol.

Anyways, what about GAME STUFF?! Well, it's mainly just been visual improvements that's been added. I'm really trying to get all the Story Mode art done for the first chapter so that it feels better to play, along with the 3D stuff. Once those are done, it's onto the next part, which includes the first boss battle and the ability to go to the Blacksmith and Tailor. Plus, you get a new party member! Isn't that just exciting. Also going back to that game review I got- I was asked for Joe and Dan to cameo in another JRPG. I agreed, so I'll let you guys know when that happens! I'm rather excited about it; man, this is really surreal for me... sometimes it feels like I'm dreaming.

So yeah. Sorry about the delay in writing this one, things have been hectic here for HaxDev. The next few weeks should be really progressive in terms of content, though! As a reminder, my game's been updated for Next Fest, which is happening right now. So go check it out! The next version should come soonish, and will have all the story mode art. It probably won't have all the 3D (yet) buuuuuuut it'll have more than it does now. So get hype!

All right, with all that said, here's the video of me explaining everything as usual. I'll see you guys next time!