This really has been a long time coming...

I've been extremely conflicted these past 2 years with my ability to learn but not release anything. I felt very limited, stagnant, even lazy sometimes, even though I was still motivated and working every day. I just felt like I wasn't doing the right things and not progressing the way I wanted to.

So coming through the New Year, I told myself I am finally going to focus and create something. Regardless of the complexity, style, size, or scope, I wanted to just start somewhere so I can grow and reach these goals and ambitions I've held in for so long. That is what this project really is. It is my first step into showing and proving to myself that this is what I was meant to do and I am built to just create. Regardless of the situation, stage of life, or life plans, I need to be creative. I need that outlet to express myself and put myself out there.

Now that we are done with the context of this project, let me get into what I did to create this project, what I learned, and what I plan to do next.

What I did:

I first dove very deep into the Unity documentation and read specifically about URP: how it generally works, the difference between Deferred and Forward Rendering, and how to use it within a Unity 6 project. Straightforward enough, I watched some videos to help solidify some questionable details and help me implement it into a project with completely custom shaders.

I originally wanted to code the dithering, resolution pixelization, and fading from scratch, but after seeing the premade nodes in Shader Graph and the benefit of learning both at the same time, I decided to use Shader Graph fully for this project and really solidify the workflow in my brain. I will switch it up in the future to keep things fresh and continue using both.

I modeled and textured the environment and props of the game using Blender. I then found a fitting secretary model to work as the NPC and sourced sound effects from Pixabay to save development time.

What I learned:

TIME MANAGEMENT. I think I gained a good understanding of how long and how much effort it took for just this small game. I now understand how exponentially it scales with complexity, so I have a rough baseline for the timeline of the next game I'll be working on.

What's next:

I want to release a game at least every month—two per month if I'm feeling ambitious. I have some extra time to spend on this next one, and I’m looking to really hone in on everything this year and tighten up in areas where I'm lacking.