A Look at the Progress Made

Hello everyone,

I decided this week to have a small look at the progress I've made in the past few months. The blog itself was built originally with the idea for me to be able to record my progress, reflect and continue moving forward. 

It has allowed me to do that quite thoroughly - not to mention looking at how my work has changed ever since I had started to practice and focus on improving. Coding is perhaps the biggest area that I've seen improvement in. Admitingly - the coding I work with primarily up to this point is GML - GameMaker's own language. Having gone from little to no experience with coding - to be able to code a number of small projects, experiments and systems - at the beginning with some guidelines and now a days with next to none unless it is a feature or function that I have never worked with prior. 

In terms of Pixel Art - I've seen improvements in a lot of areas. Most importantly is likely characters as that was my weakest point and possibly the type of sprite I felt more intimidated to create. Besides this I feel I also managed to improve less immediately observable elements - this include elements of Game Design and the philosophy behind creating an experience for the player through the game itself. Having covered some very insightful books such as Designing Games: A Guide To Engineering Experiences by Tynan Sylvester and Game Design Workshop by Tracy Fullerton. 

Aside from this - I have always gained more experience in Java, HTML and CSS, Audio Production and a few other skills that will prove useful in developing digital games. Outside of this - I have also earned my University Bachelor's Degree in Commerce and have been accepted into a Master's Programme on Digital Game Development - which will definitely be a major asset in terms of my capabilities to improve my skill-set and also meet and collaborate with individuals within the Digital Games Industry!

Moving forward - I am incredibly excited knowing that I will be able to place a much larger portion of my attention towards Game Development. Although I will still ensure I cover areas involving business, history and so on - as the skills and knowledge these provide are both useful and handy to have in hand. They are also areas I have an interest in as well - being able to utilize the knowledge gained from these other areas in Game Development is something that I find joy in being able to do.

Regardless - to all those who read my blog - thank you for your continued support. It does mean a lot to me knowing that there are those who have an interest in seeing and reading about my journey. To those of you who are still starting off game development for example, I do hope the blog is proving to be useful - be it in inspiring you or even as a form of reference to other elements.

Again, thank you all for your support!

Until next time,

Dylan