What a whirlwind year! I feel like I lost a dozen months in all of that chaos! [grin]
I'm extremely happy about my accomplishments this year, and I absolutely can't wait to tackle all of the challenges, obstacles, and great experiences that are waiting for me just around the corner. And of course I wish you all a great New Years with your friends and family. [smile]
I have a tendency to measure my year's worth by my accomplishments, which I think is pretty reasonable. Or maybe that's just because I did pretty good this time around. ;)
Acomplishments of 2006
- Skirmish Online - Spent 5 months developing Skirmish Online to the brink of open alpha testing. Also began a rewrite in C++ which reached closed alpha testing. The game went very far in development, got a dedicated handful of testers, and plenty of fans that saw the game's potential. Not to mention the most successful attempt on the biggest project me and Dean (Draffurd) have ever attempted.
- Star of Shadows RPG - I began this in the end of September 2005, but I also got a lot of it done in early 2006, before I decided to drop the project. Despite not working out in the end, it was still a valuable learning experience that I do not regret.
- Accepted to the University of Waterloo - Also accepted into the Uni of Windsor and Toronto, although I consider Waterloo -- being the most reputable for Computer Science -- as the most notable.
- TA'd a Grade 11 CS class - This was an excellent experience. Between me, my highschool CS teacher and myself, we managed to allow me to assist in teaching a grade 11 CS class for a semester. I learned a lot and I hope I helped the others learn a lot. I'm sure that I instilled the awesometude of game development into the minds of more than one person. [grin]
- Admiral Overalls - I wrote Admiral Overalls with Dean in June for a game development contest over at GeeksWithBlogs.com. We're still trying to not be bitter about an arguably unfair judging. :P
- Survived my first term of university - Phew! This first term was nuts. I've learned way more than my comparatively bland highschool years, met a bunch of great people, and have plenty more to go!
- UW GameDev Club - This term I helped get the club on its feet again, and ran/presented the Beginners' section of the club. It was a great experience in both helping my organization skills, and my public speaking. Not to mention showing others the wonderful world of game development!
- Membrane Massacre - Well, the first release. What first began as a small competition between developer pals ended up being my most-downloaded game to date -- in just a month's time!
Developer Awards 2006
A lot of folks around here (and those I know from elsewhere) have been working very hard during 2006, and are definitely deserving of recognition. And if I don't mention you, then it's because of poor memory, not lack of respect. :)
- Eliwood - A friend, a fellow developer, and an invaluable source of motivation. This guy has been bustin' away for most of this year. Certainly prodigy material. He's been working on a great game builder called Stencyl. Check it out!
- EasilyConfused - Who has been doing an excellent job at getting into game development. This year saw the completion of 'Orc', a fun and solid sidescroller, and the beginning of a promising project, 'Udo'. His dedication throughout this year has been nothing short of motivating.
- Sir Sapo & Prinz Eugn - The development of Angels 22 has been nothing short of impressive. This game went from a vague terrain demo to a complex and visually attractive game that draws nearer to completion even now. Sapo and Mark's dedication and hard work throughout the year have been a huge inspiration. You guys rock!
- Ravuya - One word: Glow. You began a project with the dream of killing zombies, and you reached out and met that dream. And how! Your steady unwavering progress throughout the months has been excellent. I can't wait until Novarunner reaches fruitation, too!
- SteelGolem - For a guy who spent most of this year not posting much development, you really jumped on the ball the last month. You've managed to get a more-or-less playable game in a month's time. Great stuff, man. :)
- ShoeStringGames - What a trooper. You've had real-life throw you some lemons throughout this year, but you've managed to *somehow* manage to keep your gamedev spirits alive. I know you'll end up reaching those goals -- just hold onto them!
- Scet - Holy smokes. I still eagerly look forward to day when I'll be able to create a full 3D game. Heck, I still couldn't even touch something like your early map viewer. You've done great stuff this year, and I can't wait to see where this adventure will lead to in the end.
- Stompy - What can I say? You were writing games solidly and consistantly in 2005, and you did it again in 2006. Keep pumping them out for this year, too! :)
Awesome work, all of you. And to everyone else I didn't mention. I think everyone here did something generally productive this year. :)
Resolutions for 2007
Erk, 'resolution' is a rough word. I prefer 'goal' much more. Makes it sound a little more acceptable in case I don't accomplish it. [grin]
- Learn 3D graphics programming - I've been stuck in the world of 2D and 'faking 3D' for far too long. I really want to get into this, and this year is the time to do it. Especially with this year's Linear Algebra class to help out!
- Learn basic 3D modeling - Yep, time to escape those evil sprites as well! I don't plan on mastering modeling by any means, but I want to be able to create some game-viable stuff for my 3D adventures.
- Learn PHP/MySQL -This implicitly implies some HTML/CSS review, but the main goal is to be able to create dynamic websites and get comfortable with relational databases like MySQL. Knowledge of database programming is as good as gold in the programming (and game!) industry.
- Finish Membrane Massacre -It only took me one look at the response I got from the first release to know that I had to finish sprucing up this game and turn it into all it can be. It's gonna be good. :)
- Create that big online game -I'm not sure if this will be the rebirth of Skirmish Online or an online RPG, but I really want to make "that big online game" this year. Well, perhaps 'start' is the better word. :P
- Make a few more games - Always a safe one. I've got to get some more nice titles under my belt before the next year is out!
That's all I can conjure on-the-spot, but more will likely follow as the year progresses.
With all of that said, I wish you all again a happy new year, and may all of your goals for this year reach fulfillment!
Happy new year.