Game Journal #114 - Version 1.0 Coming, BlackDevilX

Hey guys. Welcome back.

This week, while being very exciting for me, has also been incredibly sad. Just last week, BlackDevilX, the creator of the flash game series Sonic Final Fantasy X, passed away from a heart attack. He was only 36 years old.

When I talk about who inspired my love of JRPGS, I usually mention Matt Roszak and Epic Battle Fantasy. While that is true, Sonic Final Fantasy X was also a cornerstone of my childhood. I played the 5th and 6th games nonstop. In fact, I'm pretty sure THOSE were the first JRPGs I ever played, even earlier than Pokemon or EBF. I didn't realize how much those games influenced me until I looked back at them. Even today, the reason why I associate MP with bright magenta is because of SFX5:

As soon as I noticed that the color schemes are the exact same, I wanted to cry. It's so strange. I've had people that I know die before, but this is the first time that someone who played such a big impact in my life has. Of course, I didn't know him personally, but without him, I don't even know if I'd be a game dev today. I hope his family is doing well, and that he rests in peace.

BlackDevilX's passing also made me realize that I'd become too complacent with my own project. I always think, "I can do it tomorrow, I can goof off today," but tomorrow isn't even guaranteed. Nobody expects to die at 36 years old. Who's to say that I'll be here tomorrow, or that my eye disease won't suddenly progress again and I'll go blind? When I made my previous longterm projects (like Dance Time 3) I was constantly consumed by that fear. "What if I died tomorrow and I couldn't finish this? I have to work hard today so I can complete it as soon as possible." It's how I made a 2000+ frame animation in 9 months while still attending school and having a job.

This is all to say that I'm going to do my best to work on the game more consistently. I always think that people don't care about it, but I do have a few fans. Even one is enough for me, so I'm very glad to anyone who reads these and is excited for version 1.0.

And if you've never seen them, check out Final Fantasy Sonic X 5 and 6's openings below.

All right, now for some good news. The game's really close to being where I want it to be for version 1.0. There's just a few models, animations, and sound tracks left. I'm 100% sure all the assets will be completed in January, but for the Christmas release a good majority of them are already completed. So that's great!

Life-wise, uh... how do I say this? I think my art has value now. I know it's a weird thing to say, because many of you reading this probably think, "HaxDev, of course your art has value, you're pretty good at drawing," which yeah, I'm okay. But there's always an artist better than you, and I've been extremely unsuccessful every time I try to get people to pay me for my art. I can count the amount of commissions I've ever received on one hand. No matter the price, no matter the option, even "just tell me what you want to pay," I couldn't get any takers. It's why I worked two jobs for such a long time. I'd completely given up on ever monetizing my art, since I hate the idea of going around begging people to pay me. I'd rather work a stable job than draw for pennies on the dollar, basically. Because of this, I never really thought of my art as being anything special.

Well, why am I starting to think differently now? Well, I got this bright idea to make my own body pillow design. And amazingly, a LOT of people liked it! So... I'm thinking about making my own store and selling some merch that I make myself. It'll be fan-made designs of established properties, but there will be some Joe Maverick stuff there too. There's already an option in this website maker to add a store to your page, so yeah. I might do that, or I might make it a separate site. Either way, I think it's a pretty good idea!

I also saw Sonic 3 this week. And yes, it's as good as everyone is saying. So if you're a Sonic fan, WATCH IT!!! It's the best one yet, I really liked 2 and thought 1 was all right.

So yeah. Other than that, I've just been working on game stuff.

One more thing. While the paid version of the game will be released around Christmas, I don't recommend buying it unless you try the demo first. As of now, the demo and the full version are exactly the same, so there isn't really a reason to buy the full version unless you're sure that you want to enjoy the rest of the story. And if you are, great! Just letting you know.

All right, that's about all. Here's the video of me going over everything. I hope you guys have a great Christmas! I should have another journal out before the end of the year, maybe. We'll see!

Also, I think I'll list all my videos starting next year. Right now they're unlisted, but I think the game's at a point where I can have them be public.