old times

Not long after my previous post (in which I was updating 868-HACK) I went back to Scotland for a few days. As well as seeing friends and dancing we made time to visit Pittenweem, the little village where we used to live, where I hadn't been for a couple of years. It's a gentle, relaxing place; perfect environment for making art; I did a lot of good work there. Spent some time reflecting on the things I made there and how I haven't made any new games since leaving; I started Imbroglio towards the end of my time there. I want to recover some of what I had there, but at the same time I am in other ways healthier now, I wouldn't just jump back in time, but I can think about the things I was doing right then and try to find a way to have those as well as the other things I do better now.

A few days later I woke up with a solution to a problem I hadn't thought about for four years, an ability I'd tried while making 868-HACK which hadn't quite worked. Coded it up over breakfast, played with it, it fit perfectly. Opened up the file where I'd written down ideas for alternative progs that I'd had over the years and started trying those out too. Most of them were bad, but some of them had seeds that could be improved on.. one thing followed another and I guess I'm making an expansion now.

It's been refreshing working with this game again, feels very natural to be back. I like working in low-res, it's very quick to build things up, less inertia. Feeling inspired to do more of this, it good. Realising I'd been going through a bit of scope creep which was getting in the way of making new things, but now I'm remembering how to keep them contained.