Day 9017

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I  want to be an animator am an animator.

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2020 feels right around the corner. Since graduating university my working life has not gone to plan. Moving from one non-industry job to another has felt like moving sideways away from my creative goals. Working on my own projects has proven to be incredibly enjoyable when I do them, but actually doing them seems not to happen, leading to anxiety, apathy and overall inefficiency.

My current role is a more diagonal step towards the creative industry. The structure, pay, lack of stress and challenges I can complete, coupled with the amazing people, facilities and freedom to listen to what I'd like to, leave it, all in all, to be a job I am enjoying - just not feeling fulfilled in. Long term? No. Midterm? Yes very much so. As I write this I am currently riding the post-event high of EGX coupled with a cold that allows me to appreciate the amazingness of actually being able to breathe. I met absolutely wonderful people there and entrapped them in a random game of roll the d20 because why not. Something I've realised at this event is whilst my limit is really two days and after that, it's not quite as fun and I am socially drained and don't remember people quite as well, I REALLY love meeting new people. Getting to know them, seeing what they are passionate about is super interesting. That the games industry has such wonderful people in, it really does give me hope for the future and has solidified that that is the industry I'd like to work on. I also found I still love VR and it is a very powerful experience although some of the flatter games were just as engaging. And ultimately I think it comes down to telling stories.

I think my main passion isn't just making people feel things, it's not even about making people happy or distracting from reality per se, but more about telling a story. It sounds so obvious, it's what I like about games, films, books, meeting people, it's about finding these amazing stories and experiencing them then moving onto the next one, the novelty factor that builds up onto itself. Not how pretty something looks, or how mechanically sound it is, or about growing as an artist for better self-development absolutely none of that holds any real weight for me experiencing a great story hell yes. Does the consumption translate to creation? It does, but I think that is more related to positive/constructive feedback... Or money.

Koala park studio is going to be an amazing side hustle, I am going to be an amazing animator, I am going to work with an amazing team and we shall make, you guessed it AMAZING games!

Definition of amazing? Causing great surprise or wonder.

Day 9009

Random thoughts:

Returning from far away

It'd odd that the last time I posted on here (or didn't post as it was left as a draft) was just before an EGX event.  And what dear reader is happening next week? You guessed it EGX!

My life has somewhat changed recently with a new job and a new awareness of my mental health. I think now having the time to think has left me with time to realise the unhappiness I've been smothering and now am facing. The main feeling comes from a lack of creating.

Not that procrastination is a new thing. My lack of discipline and lack of work ethic aren't really new, just things I've put down to being lazy and accepting instead of trying to address. Although I am currently writing this instead of getting on with things... It's a journey, let's go with progress not perfection on this.

I've been researching more into motivation and have come to three solid conclusions.

1. Healthy lifestyle to allow your brain to have dopamine receptors 
2. Changing too quickly will send your lizard brain into overdrive
3. Having fun is just as important as working hard 

Also, all being key components: Drinking water, getting plenty of rest, planning your day into 30-minute chunks, keeping the end goal in mind and celebrating the small steps. 

I'd still like to create a " Get Sh*t Done" digital planner (with a koala mascot), however, for now, I'm using a pen and paper planner, Jiffy, and an Excel sheet that has "sims" stats out of 100. (Currently on 60) Essentially testing it out before making one.

I've started tracking my moods and also how my week has gone all in all. Recently I've been having days of complete apathy which aren't currently affecting my life outside of those days but if they continue I think I shall try and talk to a doctor about them and see what's up.

If only researching and making lists directly led to me following through with them. I'm brilliant at sticking to my plans at the start, but once the novelty has run out so does the motivation to continue. I've yet to find a more consistent way however I find something often becomes novel again after a couple months so can reuse them over time. Currently, I cycle between these things.

List of the day: 

My top 9 novelty motivations 

1. Waking up early
   5am wake up time with 30 minutes of it being used to actually wake up. I find I will work for at least an hour on a project and feel the same amount of tiredness at the end of the day as if I'd woken up at 7am. Actually waking up at this time however is another step in and of itself. This can also work with staying up super late/ doing an all-nighter, though I have found the quality of this work is often not that good so not worth it. 
2. Listening to a show/book
   This one is somewhat dependant on finding a good show and can turn into a negative if I become too engrossed in the show to the point that's all I want to do.  
3. Money
   I do not have a problem with short term commissions or going to work, long term ones, however, I flounder at or working for free I'm also not so great at.  
4. Entering a competition/Going to an event
   Not one I've used in a while, but having the deadline that is out of my control with a great potential reward is always enticing. 
5. Only 5 minutes
   This one is when I'm really bad but still, in control, I'll set a timer for 5 minutes and do "the thing" if the timer goes off and I want to stop then that's fine. If I want to keep going that's also fine. Normally once I've started it's all good. 
6. Take a chance 1-10
   This one is quite fun and I do in a variety of ways, I'll make a list of for example 10 things, with number 10/0 always being something fun. I roll the dice, whatever number it lands on I do for 1 hour. Unlike the 5 minutes one however once that hour is up I stop, save and re-roll. 
7. 1v1
   Again not one I've used in a while, but when I'm racing/competing with someone else. Trying to match another person either intellectually or skillfully for a short time can be a real motivator. Looking at other peoples work can also be an inspiration and help keep my eye in.  
8. Change of scenery
   This can be moving my desk from one room to another or sometimes working portably outside of the home in a new place.
9. Starting a new project
   This doesn't have to be something entirely new. I've found if I break things down but not too much, that starting on a new area of a project can also fall into this, but this is the height of novelty and often only lasts a few days. 

Summary of today: 

Neither enjoyment nor building for the future ●

Score on life: 60
Celebrate: Getting food for breakfasts and all of the bed washing done
Motivated: Watch shows and draw
Thankful: Having such an understanding partner and seeing my grandparents, also, seeing how much they've improved since I last saw them.

Day 8460

EGX rezzed 2018 talk notes.


PR for indie games panel talk.

- Keys to PR is to get people to find your game, play your game and buy your game.
- The sooner you start the better, think of PR like sound or graphics
- Ideally you want to get your game on sites that people trust
- Right now the consesns from the panel that at least 60% of their effrors goe's into finging streamers
- Jounralisists and streamers feed off one another, everythones looking for views, more people stream more people want to write about it, more people write more people want to stream etc...
- Keep in mind journalists/streamers are going through 100's of games and maybe only make 10 posts a week tops, you need to target the right people and make sure it's going to reach the right audience
- Plus side to Twitch

Day 8387

Previous note posts were created but then posted a couple of days later so my daily counter is a tad out. Figured I'd get it all running back on track with a general life update!


Good day? Bad day?
Pretty good! Almost completed signing up for animation mentor and the ducks are well underway! Packing is still happening but it's coming along. The major downside of today is feeling so completely and utterly socially drained, I went to games forum and it was an amazing few days of talking and learning but since I feel like that side of my brains stopped working. Tommorrow will be back to normal >:3  But for now today is a me day~

Health 
10/10 Awww yiss, I'm all physically good today >:3

Work vs Play
 - Work
1) Finished writing up notes
2) Packing continues!

 - Play
1) Playing post knight~ All of the phone games
2) Watching Underground, really good series

The thing of today:

Michael Doig

To do list:
1) Finish packing for the move
2) Finish concepts

Day 8385

Games forum 2018 VR Notes

AR - How to unlock AR's Business potential

Will Freeman @spadgy_OTA- game journalist. Phil Charnock @Phil_Charnock- Draw and code. Russel Harding@russhar - Conspexit. Travis Ryan@travisxuryan - Dumpling Design.

- More humans use AR in Snapchat daily than use Twitter
- More humans viewed the super bowl Snapchat add than watched the game live.
- 5 years 2 billion regular AR users
- Pragmatic to work on mobile VR which has the audience but future proofing for glasses/headsets is a good idea. Just takes Apple or Google to make the leap
- Snapchat and Pokémon has helped create an investment buzz for selling products
- How to get people using the technology without forcing, they out a tower in the middle of the level and then people naturally leaned and learned for themselves
- Key things to consider for AR is Camera, battery power, fun.

AR  101 - Oliver Clarke, Modern dream (Awesome talk o3o)

@OllieClarke

- We have created a range of inter-subjective ideas to interpret our world. Road signs for example
- Exciting is digitising our reality, e.g photo > digital currency> AR digital reality
- Intersubjectivity - unique ability to share something created and believe it is real e.g money we believe it is real for the purpose of accountancy.
- AR has so many possibilities,  picking up on light we can't see, facilitating productivity, potential for experiences new ranges of emotions to name just a few
- AR/VR can be used for Science! Visualise the microscopic and macroscopic. In medicine, it can be very difficult to train surgeons introducing the VR cadaver~ More outside of just marketing and entertainment
-Andrew Lacey VR/AR world 2016 chart, predicts that in 2022  is when everything really starts to take off
- What's great about AR is you can do things now,  we are in an experimental stage before exponential growth in 2021 mobile, AR especially, the rules have not been written yet
- Solving clunky problems will be when it takes over (e.g holding your phone to look at a map)
- Stats a wonderful chart that I didn't take the name of... Premium VR 1.3x increase. Mobile VR 4x increase in 2021
- Untethered is the most compelling, powerful features are great but ultimately performance is key
- If it runs well on a smartphone now then it will work wonderfully with the tech to come
- 100-150 max keep draw calls, batch as much as possible, atlas textures. (what they currently use)
- To keep in mind: Scale is an issue in AR, often things are gigantic when assets are taken in first. (Physics don't scale very well, especially in unity that works on real-world scales)
- Goo.gl/KPDNU3 - books used for the talk
- Things of the future/now~ High fidelity texture, haptic feedback, real-time collaboration, machine learning, blockchain

Design and Art in VR games  (50% great talk >.>)

Anna Hollinrake@AnnaHollinrake - Dream reality interactive. Russ Earwaker @climaxstudios- Climax

- Scale and movement are key to great art
- Tiny animated characters feel great, simple interactions (just picking it up) feel cool
- Negatives to consider: Motion sickness - restricted audience - still developing - space, wires, heat and weight
- Don't scare off new players bridge accessibility gap, keep the excitement with clear ideas
- No standardised controller (though really there is more than controller buttons to work with....)
- Gestures for tutorials/actions should be natural to real life movements
- Give players time to get their VR legs
- Make speed constant and avoid turning too quickly, the acceleration is the sickening factor
- Scale camera and move in closer for more toy-like view
- Restrictions to keep mobile VR running nicely: Low poly, no alpha, no particles, few bones(blend shapes instead)
- Include artistic rhythm
- Silhouette interesting from all angles, pull out edges, remove chunks, add kinks don't have overly thin else you'll have flickering, sweeping curves, no chamfering, every loop and vert say something
- Atlasing - one 4k texture per environment
- Keep in mind headsets get hot - use light baking and be careful with bright colours and things that will overheat
- Second UV texture of paper over the top of all to tie it together

Surviving and thriving in the VR market 

Vincent Brunet-Dupont @trebuchetvr- Trebuchet. Tanya Laird @TanyaLaird- Digital Jam. Fernando Montalvo @ferm3ogs- 3OGS. Erik Desiderio@Erik_Desiderio - Erik Desiderio music.

- All of the areas, don't be prudish and stick only to games, explore! Defence industry (synthetic) medicine, housing,  larger markets that can pay
- Many big cooperate brands don't understand narrative design
- They don't understand the return they get, helps if you can show them and compare audience reach mobile app Vs VR experience. A lot of the people who are in charge of paying and deciding where the money goes haven't tried VR - educate all of the humans
- Still very much a VR bubble - people in shock over having to have a pc/laptop shock and horror ensues
- Current gen VR is very much a family set up ( like how it used to be one shared TV, then one shared pc etc.)  Keep the spectatorship in mind
- When it comes to marketing -  explaining the tech. Then explain the game.
- Game arcades talk to them about the game VR arcade Facebook group - far East arcade culture still there
- Shareable as well as playable - key to getting people to know your game/experience 
- Circus, theatre, magic - reference for VR staging

VR esports  - Patrick@ndreams-tea-.com

@patrickol

- 3million high-end VR
- Oculus go, give pro, Santa Cruz coming soon~
- VR arcades lots of money
- Echo area, the unspoken tournaments already in place
- Interactive spectating twitch and YouTube, voting for harder easier play, food drops, take part as otherwise ai like a zombie
- 350k peak watching a match
- Seeing Dota 2 final from inside VR
- VR very exciting to watch. Throwing, moving, sneaking, jumping, finding, cover, etc
- SOS interesting game and a new idea

Creating content that matters - Ben Maltz Jones - rewind

@V_Ben 

- People 100% focus and engaged, making people feeling in VR makes them act
- People feel more in VR 15% more donations
-  Immersive, memorable, impactful
- 100% attention, more emotion and a physical connection memory, will last longer

Day 8384

Games forum 2018 notes!

Video games with mum - Rami Ismail Vlambeer & Alysia Judge IGN 

@tha_rami & @AlysiaJudge

- Choose game for mum based on narrative
- Option of just holding attack, someone new to controller and gaming is like learning a new language
- Shopkeeper concept XD (in ff, human at night selling weapons...)
- Often in games now it shows you how to do a mechanic but not explaining why you should use it
- Often hearing from audience that they don't like tutorials - elegant solution, tooltips coming out if you have difficulty, ff18 at start a mini-match/skills test to assess player and adjusts difficulty accordingly 
- Achievements straight out the gate, make a couple casual gamer explosion trophies
- Cuphead a good example of accessible to many people (Teaching wise at least)
- Don't perfect what already exists add value by incorporating other perspectives outside of gaming (Someone who has never played a game is very valuable)

Understanding desire - Kirsty Rigden (Awesome talk o3o)

@KirstyRigden

- Future lab creating Tiny trax VR game
- What do players want? Power
- Power comes in different ways = Creation, destruction, control and knowledge
- (Creation) Individuality, and exploration satisfaction, customisation of character, vehicle, environment, names.
- (Destruction) Humans love breaking stuff, interesting to watch and visually stimulating seeing things break in different ways, destruction is a complete goal, it's easy to understand and a repeatable task
- (Control) 3 ways humans like to learn: Jump right in with instructions to refer to - humans who like their handheld to make them feel fully in control - and humans who like to try as they go and just mess around.
- In their game, had 3 core tutorial stages,  then optional stages from each with low risk
- Reasons to play - Status (high score and streaming), collectors, exploration, completionist
- Incorporating different levels to cater to different needs: Speed levels, multiple route collection levels, puzzle efficient areas, thoughtless smash and get through it levels.
- This also allows for peaks and troughs in intensity catering to different playstyles
- Time, collectables, points - rewards at the end of a level, enough from different individual tracks to progress to next level
- Key is to let the player know what the goal of the game is at all times
- Provide all the information to the player, how far through the game, how much is collected, what to do next etc.
- Plant seeds, items that they can see but can't get to, very early on in a level
- Can use collectables as breadcrumbs to steer player (banjo and Kazooie)
- Add rhythm, jump jump slide, jump jump leap etc.
- Either have the player: I know what I to do but not if they can OR I don't know what to do but once it's been figured out it'll be easy.
- New mechanics wait a bit, then give humans the new one, doesn't overwhelm and keeps the game fresh.
- Rewards make people feel smart and powerful, turns mediocrity into magic
- That amount of congratulations makes you feel like you've done something wonderful, all adds up and makes people feel they've done well
- Empathy - Remember people who are not you will be playing your game
- When adding something ask, will it benefit the player or is it just cool?
- Analyse media that doesn't appeal to you, try to find what others enjoy in them and why
- Look at game reviews for what people like - the most positive or negative and analyse
- Personality tests - life motivations and communication styles
- Playtest - Sure listen to what they say, but also watch them play, this will help you truly understand
- As long as a player is comfortable with everything that has happened, then allowed space (almost like starting a brand new game) for player to readjust, adding a twist to the game style can be very powerful

What price is right?

Stewart Rodgers@TheRealSJR - Venture beat. Alex Moyet @AlexMoyet- Curve Digital. Mike Bithell @mikeBithell- Bithell Games. Mark Sorrells @Sorrell - Rovio. Alex Moukas @wappier- Wappier.

- Mostly a free to play and mobile talk
- Something that costs more can appear more valuable, especially in countries that are more cost elastic.
- International audience, variance in price, based on how good they think it is (is game as good as a trip to the cinema or compared to another game etc.)
- 1/3 budget on advertising 2/3 marketing to existing customer base
- Demand and supply, selling umbrellas is all well and good but making it rain is also important (Value and price)
- In game bundle deals create a higher pricing sense, keep in mind game economy but upscale value (50% of etc.)
- Honesty with user and transparency is key, especially in freemium games, world is connected and can compare notes

Good news and bad indie talk - Phil Elliott (Also an awesome talk o3o)

@Sly_Rebirth

- 250 games per week released steam 2017 (something like 25pw 2016), growing, even more, every year
- Media channels are also flooded - sites give everyone love
- They want things that are going to generate clicks and views - drive traffic and excite people
- Fighting against the pile of shame on steam - people have accumulated so many games that aren't played
- There is also the expectation of promotion, there is a value proposition waiting in wishlist
- enough user reviews to justify? Overall humans are being taught to wait
- It's no longer so much the spike at launch but more so is normal for over time and in updates and sales
- 50k-100k year 1 sale opportunities for steam are still there
- Forecasting - Steam spy, understand data for what it is (Mike rose on twitter, rave of Ravensdale)
- Ignore data more than 3/4 months old - proportion of revenue, promotions/humble bundle, don't look at games you've heard of either
- Costs to consider - Localisation, age rating, UI restrictions etc. for different platforms, consider these at the very beginning and plan for them in your game
- Leave at least 3 months for submissions and QA
- No substitute for a thriving community - small polished gameplay is much better than an hour of dullness
- Choose your audience, then how to get them excited
- Key art, grab attention, generate awareness, most people will only see this as a thumbnail though so make sure that looks good, needs name of game and recognisable art piece
- Events are great for feedback but limited sales impact
- Wishlist > pre-orders. Algorithms for steam spikes something to look into, but spikes are better overall

No filthy casuals - Dirty Mitchell 

@SpaceApeGames

- Cookie and radish test - ego depletion 
- Better to make fell good than know they are good, keep in players favour, it is better for your player to feel mastery instead of actually having it
- Provide your team and player base with transparency, build knowledge based on previously learnt things 
- Tension with experience = excitement, tension with casual = stress 
- Include small doses of tension even with a super casual experience, it adds context and consequences 
- Keep humans motivated in your team, give them the autonomy to get the game done and then trust them to get things done, if there are any problems and humans don't believe in the game early on it's best to address this then and talk it out rather than have it as a sideline
- Small well-knitted teams are a great place for creating teams 

Original IP 

Sean Lee @wargaming_net - Wargaming, Calgar Eger@CaglarEger - Goodgame, Sebastien Kriese@FoxNext - FoxNex, Monty Munford@montymunford - Game industry Journalist 

- Brands often sell on a case by case basis, it's no longer about the highest bidder but about what a company can bring to the table, for example, past experiences and quality are key to costs
- 10-day turnaround on approvals 
- Easier and Quicker to create your own IP
- A good game will be easy to market - Do you know the right people? "Trivial marketing costs" publishers have the money out there, it's just about the quality of your game and getting it noticed
- Best ways to talk about IP are reaching out in person at conferences, having a meeting or a drink is the best way to go

Day 8374

Costing it All out!

(Sainsbury's part-time work)

January:
Driving lessons £500 

February:
Flash & Blender course £500 

March: 
Camera £400, Green screen £50, Lights £50 

April: 

Oculus - £500 

Animation Mentor Course £2000

Not including saving for a house, birthdays, travel to see parents, bills etc. The cost of things I would like to get, mostly towards the game and getting better at animation. Some things that are in March & April I can split with my partner also... So extra savings can go towards the Animation Mentor course, which I think realistically I'll be able to afford for Spring 2019.

There are a couple courses on Linda.com and the animator's survival kit pdf, also the flash and blender course comes with an animation booklet. 

That said I'm thinking of opening monthly commissions. If it all falls through then that's okay I can wait and do alternatives, but if it takes off...  ✼ ҉ ✼ ~(✪ᴥ✪)~ ✼ ҉ ✼

Commissions 

- Insert random thought process here -

I'd like to try something a little different and I'm not entirely sure how to explain it. Sorry for the rambling in advance. I'd like to do a kind of, community unlocking idea.
The first 3 commisions every month cost £50, the next 3 cost £40 and the next 3 cost £30 the next 3 cost £20 and the final 3 cost £10. Each month it resets.
So at most I'd do 15 commisions a month, making a max of £450, which in 5 months would be enough to pay for animation mentor. Though thinking about it most pieces will take me around two days minimum...Taking precious time away from the duck game... and this would be pretty much undercutting myself quite a lot.
OR
Having set prices... Charging on a case by case basis... Like I've been doing currently.
Maybe both... Specifically for character art. Maybe Patreon...(Pixel (Maybe)  Sprite - £20 Animated - £60) also worried offering a cheaper option will devalue the rest

Sketch

Bust - £10

Half Body - £20

Full Body - £30

Flat colour

Bust - £20

Half Body - £35

Full Body - £50

Painterly

Bust - £30

Half Body - £50

Full Body - £70

Community unlock- An idea for when don't trust Larry is completed -

Once a month, community unlock begins! Resetting on the 1st of each month.

For 1 x full body character flat colouring (£50).

5 people working together, each commision making it cheaper for the next. The 6th person getting a commission for free! Between them saving £150. (A) £50 > (B) 20% off £40 > (C) 40% off £30 > (D) 60% off £20 > (E) 80% off £10 > (F) 100% off £0 Person A spends £50 (the normal price), Person B gets a 20% discount etc. Until the 6th person can commision a 1 x full body character, flat colouring (Normally worth £50) for free! 7th and 8th people would pay normal pricing, needing to wait for the unlock to reset the next month if they wanted a reduced fee.

Plan: Open normal commissions. 3 at a time.

Create DTL Pareon. Get shit done >:3