#its wormin time

[its-wormin-time]

there are too many filler chapters in wildbow stories. I can sum up the entire fifth to last chapter(!!!) of twig as "they fought a monster and got into a building". yes there is some character interaction but nothing new is said here, nothing developed to an extent that it makes me feel like this chapter is essential. I'm reading this and I just see the beginning of the writing style of ward. so much rambling and useless information that just goes on and on and on. at least in twig its on the level of a few chapters per arc, while for ward it was like about half of the entire work, with full arcs that felt like filler.

[eilidh-eternal]

Ok so like, ngl? Nasty Man™️Johnny when he's jealous got the brain worms goin. Like the worms are WORMIN. Specifically for the Ghost bit.

Ok, so what if, hear me out what if like Ghost gets off to it and sends a video of him getting off to it to reader, right? And it just...spirals into a weird thing of Soap trying to prove something to you like constantly. Like, it's a constant cycle right?

Gaz and Price are just standing there like 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️ and having a conversation of their own about the thing and Gaz just drops the "Soap and Ghost really should just fuck each other at this point." bomb.

but it's nothing like that. at least to reader, but then Gaz explains his view point and reader is just like "huh maybe a quick fuck would help."

and then Gaz & reader plot to get Ghost and Soap to just get the tension between them done and over with and it happens, but the videos? They continue to get sent back n forth bc hey, Ghost has a nice dick and its kinda hot to record videos. 🤣

I put too much thought into this at 6:45 AM. Blame the worms.

From here on out, may I be 🪱 anon?

- 🪱

Hi 🪱!

YOU’RE LIKE IN MY HEAD?!?!?!? This is exactly the dynamic I saw for all of them when I was thinking about that Nasty, Jealous Man.

Nasty Pup Johnny ft. Handler Ghost????

As overly territorial as Nasty Man™️ Johnny MacTavish is about you, Ghost is like that with him—in a way. Johnny is just too in love clinically obsessed with you to notice how Ghost pays attention to him.

Ghost 1000% did not balk at the first video. Definitely got off to it. He maybe also probably without a doubt got off to Johnny stroking himself in the barracks while he watched you on the cameras 🫣 And when the videos keep coming? Oh, this is going to be a fun little game for him, his Sergeant and the pretty little thing keeping him in line at home for him.

The next time you’re on base is to pick up Johnny, fresh off the tarmac from whatever undisclosed location they were mucking about in this time, and you notice when they deplane how Ghost sort of… herds him. Stands at his back and trails him down the ramp. Pushes him in your direction because Ghost immediately has you in his sights while Johnny is busy fussing with a strap on his pack.

“Fuck’s sake Johnny… stop fuckin’ with the bag and get your girl.” He shoves him forward, big gloved hand on his lower back making him stumble. He doesn’t have much time to ponder it, and all the other touching Ghost had suddenly taken to with him, because you’re already on him, arms wrapped around him in a vice and your face buried in his chest, and all he wants is to be wrapped your warmth.

Johnny doesn’t see the way Ghost lingers at the edge of the hangar, watching you look him over and fuss over the cut on his brow, the stitches. Is too blinded by his infatuation with you to see the hunger in his eyes as you lead him away to the car.

Their next op is a tedious thing. They can’t brute force their way into the target compound the way they usually would, armed to the teeth and scaling walls and buildings under the cover of darkness. No, because this is a bunker, and blasting through the only door, their only exit, isn’t an option.

It takes days for Laswell's Cyber Operations Officers to comb through each and every checkpoint in their systems, to comb through the code and brute force the data needed to create a key card that they can use to bypass the locks. And all that waiting makes Johnny antsy. Restless. A grenade with a pulled pin waiting for the strike lever to fall.

He's done his best to occupy himself. Spent hours in the gym, running until his legs shake and lifting until he's red in the face. Methodically oils and cleans every rifle, every pistol he can get his hands on. Checks and rechecks his calculations for the cocktail of explosives they'll need for this op.

And still, he paces. Bounces his leg at meals and meetings. Taps his fingers erratically on the table tops.

Ghost knows that at home when he feels like this, he goes to you. Focuses all that pent up energy on you to keep himself level-headed and in check. But you're not here, and Ghost can't have his Sergeant dancing around tripwires on this op. He's going to have to redirect that energy himself.

Later that evening, sitting on the couch, sipping wine and watching a movie, one of Johnny's favorites, you get a text from an unknown number.

Had to teach the pup a lesson. Needs more patience. 📎 IMG_449.MOV

You hesitate.

Johnny never told you much about what he does, but he told you enough to prepare you for the possibilities of things like this. Messages from strangers. Videos and pictures of him. That no matter what you see, what they tell you, you shouldn't believe them. Don't give them what they want.

But this... this doesn't feel quite like the things he told you about. So you open it.

It's a video of Johnny on his knees, hands tied--belted--behind his back, eyes watery when they look up into the camera, and his mouth stuffed with a thick cock. There's a gloved hand in his hair, fisting loose strands of mohawk and holding him in place while the length of their cock pushes down his throat, familiar skeletal pattern printed on the back.

"Good pup, just gotta sit nice and still for me," Ghost's roughened voice purrs through the speakers, and Johnny moans, low and sweet for him.

And God if that isn't the prettiest you've ever seen him, taking a cock down his throat and blinking tear filled eyes up at his superior, panting and choking, drool dribbling down his chin. His eyes go a bit wide when Ghost fucks his throat in earnest, and it sends warmth flooding straight to your core, wetness gathering embarrassingly fast in your panties.

Ghost's moan is a broken sounding thing when he comes, hips stuttering and yanking Johnny down to the base of him, grunting praises as he swallows around him. When he finally loosens his grip on Johnny's hair and pulls away from him, his lips make a little 'pop' sound, cum and drool a mess on his face. The camera moves closer and Ghost tilts his chin up between surprisingly gentle fingers.

"You'll get yours when we're back. Copy?"

Johnny nods, and when Ghosts grip tightens on his jaw he says, "Copy, sir." And that's where it ends.

You save Ghosts number in your phone and drain your glass of wine.

Think he'll still be well behaved when you're home?

Doubt it.

[t4tails]

am reading worm. when is taylor going to say "its wormin time" and worm all over the place

[liliennacht]

My Favorite Part of Worm was when The Worm said " ITS WORMIN TIME" and wormed all over society. Truly inspirational

[lizardinkart]

Lizard Reads Ward

Arc 2: Flare

Lizard Cry Counter: 2

TL;DR: Cool shit happening this arc with more fun worldbuilding around the state of Capes, Victoria’s coping mechanisms and hero complex, and some especially funky stuff exploring other Earths and how the shards/triggers are getting extra-special fucky after Gold Morning. We finally get to meet the rest of the PHO group and they are all wonderful, and Wildbow is flexing with the extended metaphor of powers as trauma. 8.75/10

Alrighty, let’s get wormin’! 

Once again, splitting this into mini-arcs so I can keep track of it: 1. Job-Hunting, 2. Broken Trigger Shenanigans, and 3. Group Therapy(?).

Part 1: Job-Hunting

Oh, if this did not capture the soul-crushing nature of the job search so well lol. I really enjoy Victoria’s engagement with each of the big groups that have cropped up since GM, their ideologies, and the optics that each group focuses on. Because if Victoria Dallon understands anything, it’s Aesthetic (in both physical and ideological appearance, thank you Carol (derogatory)). I think the bit where the recruiter asks if Panacea can also be part of the package deal crushed my soul so hard cause mmmmmm. We all have that family member that is perceived very differently from how they actually act towards the people they ostensibly care about. Adding this to the list of times I wanted to hold Victoria gently in my hands. 

Crystal continues to be a treat, I appreciate that she doesn’t own scissors. I find it so interesting that she wanted to be part of the Parahuman Paramilitary, but I guess stability has its allure in times of absolute chaos. Also gonna slide in here the bit about the people Victoria talked to about joining the totally-not-a-cult that comes back later in the arc, I appreciate the “if I can save even one person it will have been worth it” mentality. 

The hospital scene was really nice, both with Tempera/Fume Hood and then taking the kids flying. I think a lot of people can be very cynical about how doing stuff for others can be very self-serving (esp someone as famously cynical as WB /affectionate), but I think that this came across very genuinely, and it’s actually something that can be very good for trauma recovery by just doing things to get yourself out of your own head. Especially when it came to the kid with the friend who had triggered, Victoria really didn’t have to go out her way to make sure that the kid was taken care of. I think that this once again shows her character. Taylor could never (shoutout to the kids that triggered in her territory). 

Part 2: Broken Trigger Shenanigans

Oh man oh man oh man. I really did come into this part with a sigh because really, up until now Wildbow had not wowed me with the new stuff he was exploring with powers/shards, but this section grabbed me by the throat and threw me across the room into a brick wall. I appreciate that this is carving out Ward’s new identity as its own story with more to say outside of just Victoria, but also work as reflections of her and her unique experiences with her power/shard. It’s neat!

But aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa man this was downright tragic to read. Once again, WB hits with the suspense of “something is happening on a timeline, and all you can do it be there for when shit hits the fan.” The Parahuman Paramilitary was funky and off-putting as any type of military institution tends to be. Because ACAB, that’s why. 

Corona Pollentia warfare was enacted here, and the fact that people were literally stopped in space was horrifying and distressing as all hell, Worm never really got to touch on when triggers went wrong because shit was already bad enough being, well, triggers. But the bit at the end with the last guy standing not wanting to be subsumed into a collective (shard/entity?) consciousness was haunting as hell and so, so cool. I can’t wait to see how the entities continue to fuck around and Victoria and the Gang continue to find out. 

Part 3: Group Therapy(?)

Subsisting off of a comfort diet of brownie ice cream and shit TV, Victoria hangs out and Dr. Yamada pulls back the curtain on doctor-patient relationships. Therapists are people too! But it was nice that she thought of giving Victoria something therapy-related to do, even if it was ultimately a ploy to get Victoria to join her little group therapy team and (unsuccessfully) talk them out of doing the whole hero team thing. 

But mmm, I do love me these guys now that we get to really meet them, so down the line we go again!

Kenzie: Still the love of my life, I would kill and die for her. She is so damn earnest and I can respect the hell out of that. Include her in things!!! Give her friends!!! Be nice to her!!! Let her make all the boxes!!!!!! Also I will be deeply upset when we figure out her whole backstory. Preparing to be devastated. 

Sveta: I love that she and Weld are dating and that she is so happy but knowing Wildbow he’s gonna fuck it up somehow and it pisses me off so bad. But for now I will revel in her joy!!! Let her be happy goddammit!!! Also shoutout to her absolutely owning the disability label, I really was like “ah man this is gonna be implied subtext huh” but nope! And I’m really happy about that! But on god the fact that she has a body now??? And she gets to make it pretty and expressive how she wants it???? Kissing her on her forehead she is too good, great even. Unironically the best character. 

Tristan/Byron: Knowing that I have to go back through the PHO chapter and check the timestamps to see which one was in control is simultaneously infuriating and exciting lol. I can’t remember if case 70s appeared in Worm cause if they did I do not remember them. But yet again adding to the weird shit shards do is a thing I will applaud because the specific scenario of “twins who were touching when they triggered” is just horrifying in concept and seems that way in practice as well. I’m placing my bets for the human trafficking being so that they can try to separate themselves. Or something like that IDK. I also wanna slap Tristan on his dumb jock head because sometimes he needs to shut up (tho I feel him. I, too, talk incessantly, see this post series lol). But he gets a pass because he’s nice and makes arms <3

Chris: Breaking out my trusty spray bottle to spritz him every time he’s an antisocial prick. Not necessarily an actual character flaw, I am interested to see what’s gonna happen with this exceptionally small lad, but mmm. He’s an interesting fellow who I think would benefit from touching some grass every now and again. But progress looks different for everyone I guess!

Ashley: She also gets the spray bottle but for being an edgelord. Shadow the Hedgehog called and said tone it down. Once again, very much the Bitch-type of “I have a singular trajectory and will do what I want fuck you all” but in like, a friendship way? Idk, I know everyone loves her (and ships her with Victoria- *cough*) and I also love her, but I would also like to punch her sometimes and I think that is ok! She’s getting better! Maybe! I hope!

Rain: I can smell the little-meow-meow coming off of this guy. This man is a protagonist of another story but got shoved into Ward instead. He is scientifically crafted to be pocket-sized, and if he’s not dead or beat to shit by the end of this story I will eat a shoe. I can tell a sopping wet whipping boy when I see one lol. But in all seriousness, I know that everyone has a lot of shit going on, but Rain’s “it’s complicated” catchphrase is like “Yes, Wildbow, I know he’s your special little guy. It’s ok, you don’t have to be coy about it.” Kinda the way that Amy was in Worm tbh, Wildbow just has favorites he likes to torture sometimes and I have to respect the honesty lol. But yeah, he is genuinely interesting and has some nifty stuff going on w/ his cluster. Very intrigued that Snag is his clustermate, and how their power-exchange works. Again- cool shit!  But oh my god someone’s gonna step on him. Too small lol. 

But all that being said, I appreciated the actual group therapy going on here, and that Victoria is getting some buddies to talk stuff through with, even though this really does seem like a setup for failure. The talk about logistics triggered the “gotta schedule D&D” part of my brain and whoo boy that was some anxiety lol. But I am intrigued to see where this lil team goes and what they do in the story moving forward! Also, a very strong end to the Arc with “This is the way things are now” “...Fuck that.” Stuck that landing, let’s get some change rolling!

(Also the interlude was funky, love seeing Weld and Crystalclear again. The theocracy seems like it mayyyy be an issue tho moving forward. Maybe lol)

Final Thoughts

I think that this arc had a lot to offer, and really started to solidify the direction that Ward is gonna try to go in. I can already feel the length of the story though, that 2 arcs have felt like 6, but ya know. It’s the format! But there’s a part of my brain that really wants to go in and cull a lot of stuff that I know people love but is just like...this is so long. But other than that- I think that finally getting around to the new group is good, and I think the biggest takeaway from this arc is the diversity of Shard Shenanigans. Looking forward to that making shit go sideways lol. 

But yeah! That’s all I got, not as insightful perhaps as the last couple entries but I hope y’all like the more first-impressions type rambling. As always, would love to hear what y’all think of this arc!

Until next time- Ward out ✨

[james-the-idiot]

Its wormin time

[leodapinch]

[appri-dot]

And he said "ITS WORMIN TIME!" and wormed all over them

And the all blew up the end

[parttimepuff]

Does our great king have anything to add about the forgotten land? Does he even remember anything?

The king sighed. "Yer gonna keep askin' if ah don't tell y'all, right? Fine." Dedede shrugged, shifting on his throne. "The short answer is ah don't remember a lot. Lots of bits n' pieces. Ah do remember the beginning and end, though."

"When we got there, everyone was panickin'. No one knew where we were or how were gonna get back to Dreamland. So, ah took charge. Still my job even if we ain't in my kingdom. Got to work building a place ta stay. Few of the tougher folks went looking for stragglers. Like Bandana n' Twister. And ah went off, too. Left the old man in charge."

"Now, ah know what yer gonna say. 'Yer the king, shouldn't you have stayed?' And look. Ah trust Metaknight. Enough to know he'd do a decent job. Plus, and don't you dare tell 'im this, but ah was worried about Kirb, ok? Pipsqueak's the first one to hurl himself into danger, so it got to me that he wasn't around." Dedede huffed, before becoming more tense.

"It was... kinda slow. That thing wormin' its way into my head. Tried to fight it and... that's where my memory ends, more or less." He clearly didn't like talking about this part. "Got flashes of things. Dees locked up. That stupid furball. Kirby... Only really came to when he beat me up apparently the second time. Lil brat was jumping on me, too!" Dedede added.

"Ah reckon y'all know the rest. The Dees have been talkin' about my whole 'heroic sacrifice' for weeks. They're makin' a bigger deal out of it than it is. Just did what ah had to." The king downplayed the affair, seeming more comfortable now. "Then it was... about two weeks? Bout that, waitin' on the lil fuzzball to get better. Pipsqueak did a number on me, so ah had to rest awhile longer before actually headin' back."

Dedede leaned back in his throne, actually a bit relieved to lay everything out. "But yeah, that's my side a things. Wild couple a weeks. Just glad we all got back ok."

[worms-of-a-string-stick-together]

Non-Binary friendly Worm Names!!!

Wormis Fermis, Frog, Mushroom Stew, Slinky, August, September, Scissors, Emperor Maximilian IVX of the Holy Wormin Empire, Manatee, Rox, Ed She-ra, Stripe, Stripez, Slinky 2 : electric boogaloo, Dot, Dippin Dots, Shingle, Christian Mingle, Slinky 3 : This time its personal, Pillow     

[its-wormin-time]

still thinking about her from time to time

[kosmicdream]

who was the hardest character to design in ffak/any of your other work?

Hm, I think that depends for a lot of different reasons. Usually when a character is hard to design is because i’m over-thinking it, or haven’t thought about it enough. (like what i want or need this character for) or, trying to remake an older character and attempt to iron out the issues with the design while still keeping them relatively the same. (or merging two characters together into a new one.) I generally don’t like adjusting designs that much once i make them because characters will naturally change so much as I get used to drawing them. it just makes it feel less genuine or authentic somehow. i like my characters to explore how they want to without me imposing too many rules and regulations on them. I’ve been recently trying to design robots for my new comic setting, Replacer, which is pretty difficult b/c I never have spent time drawing robots before so its very new to me. and I don’t spend a lot of time drawing non-organic objects in the first place. Since robots rely on a lot of simple shapes, volume, and can move in different ways than muscles, it makes it difficult for me to naturally think in these new ways and break out of the habits of what I understand best. (aka, people bodies.) that and, it takes a lot of time to understand what kind of story you’re writing so you make a lot of random attempts to see what ends up working or not.In a similar manner, actually articulating/drawing out animal bodies is difficult for me as well as I’ve also not spent a lot of time drawing animals. I don’t have many characters who are animals and I generally don’t have a huge drive to learn animal anatomy lol. IM BAD AT ANIMALS!! IM A LAZY FUCK!! I have an odd relationship with my design sense. I both really enjoy my method for approaching how characters look because its always very organic and spontaneous.. but i also fall into similar patterns and feel fickle when it comes to adjusting them to make it more cosmetically appealing and polished. it also leads to strange choices like “rainbow pube skirts” which i just go with!! because why... not...?  ..????????? ????????.......... ?????????OH that leads to something else, i also feel one of my other weaker areas are clothing. I think that might be why so many of my characters end up basically naked. I barely know how to dress myself in fashionable clothes so like when it comes to characters its like “Sure, lets give them all v-necks down past their belly buttons, haven’t done that before!” i just like simple shapes that are easy to draw again and again, but my ‘fashion vocab’ is honestly pretty weak and im pretty sure ive never actually looked at a real shoe before. Oh that being said this is probably why i love aeschylus’ design a lot. he is the acclimation of many traits i think are ridiculous about my art, morphed and cobbled into one character, and yet somehow by that combination he becomes incredibly appealing for me to draw and also one of my “best designed characters.” happy accidents! whee. i very much enjoy the weird, innocent yet deeply cruel sense of humor that comes with him. its like naive yet we’re all in on the joke too. is that why he’s so loveable?? hm............Wow how did i turn this ask about aeschylus. now i dont remember what i was thinking about. well whatever! Happy wormin’! Oh right, Helix is probably one of the more difficult ffak characters because I’m trying to resist making him look too cute. he’s like .. cute yet uncomfortable at the same time and meant to evoke some feelings from uhh frank the rabbit from donnie darko. i think thats what that character was called. anyway, it traumatized me as a child. helix still looks more normal than i would like him to, so I have a feeling he’s going to adjust a bit by the time that character gets to appear in the comic for realsies. his character is narratively a bit complicated as well. Laima was also kind of hard to decide on, mostly because I had a few different ideas for her looks before actually drawing her out. but I ended up quite happy with her finished look, even if she takes a while to draw. Ok im done for real now. spins and vanishes into a mysterious mist  

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

TL;DR: At the bottom.

I'm Jeffrey Nielson. I’m an independent developer coming from a game artist background, who recently started working solo. Now, I'm in the late stages of finishing my second self-directed project, Nova Drift. I'm no expert, but I've had some success, so I want to share some of what I've learned for aspiring small / solo developers, clear up some misconceptions, and also talk about how I got here and what I'm working on now.

Disclaimer:

There are many strategies and approaches to game development. This one is just mine. Also, when I say that solo game development is "working for me", I don't have nearly enough data to know that it will continue to work for me. Having said that, I can say that based on my checkered career, there isn't really a particularly stable place to be in games. Anyone can bomb, and even huge, successful game corporations can lay you off without warning. Because of this, you might as well be doing what you love, whatever that is. In any case, I hope that some of the lessons I've learned benefit you.

(Skip it if you like!)

I started playing around with pixel art in MS paint when I was around 10 years old, mimicking the art style from Genesis JRPGs I loved. At 15, I joined my cousins and their programmer friend who were making a ridiculous shooter-platformer called "Worminator" I'm still amazed we were somehow able to create and distribute (for free) a finished game at this age, given how quickly random collabs tend to go sour as adults. They would later create the sequel, Worminator 3 (yes, they skipped 2, it was that good) I played around with RPG Maker, and later discovered Game Maker. After college, where I studied art & design, I worked for a few game companies creating art and animation in a wide range of styles. I met PixelJam Games during this time, after sending them fan art for one of my favorite indie games. To my great surprise, they offered me contract work as a side job. They would later become my foot in the door to independent game development. Meanwhile, my primary employer's company was bought by Facebook game giant Zynga, and I was swept up along with it. Despite having less-than-no interest in those types of games, I decided to go with it and see what it would do for my career. It ended up being incredibly valuable. I learned from talented and brilliant people, became a far better artist, and most importantly, figured out what I wanted out of life.

Gear Shift

My greatest revelation was that I never truly wanted to be an artist. I didn't carry sketchbooks like the others, practice, or show off personal works. I wrote down ideas and made little games. Art turned out to be a means to an end: to create games. I never considered learning to program because I had been encouraged to be an artist all of my life. I had assumed it was my only entry point to the video game industry... and programming seemed incredibly inaccessible. Once I knew I wanted to be more than a small cog in the machine, I had to try. So, after two years, I put in my resignation. I worked with PixelJam for a few years on many small projects, benefiting greatly from their years of experience both thriving and struggling in the industry. I continued to practice coding with GameMaker, until one day Miles Tilmann of PixelJam suggested I try my hand at it full time for one of their clients. Unsure of myself, I reluctantly accepted.

Last Horizon & Nova Drift

The game was a gravity-based "planet lander" game titled Last Horizon. I drafted a design for the game and got to work prototyping it. Rich Grillotti, PixelJam artist, handled the artwork. For the first time, I had nothing to do with the visuals of a game! The game was meant to be a small browser game, but we soon recognized its potential, and it ballooned into a year long desktop & mobile project. It was really difficult. I had to solve a lot of problems I'd never encountered before, and lost faith a few times. However, to our surprise, the game was a hit on mobile! With the revenue split only four ways, we did alright. I started to wonder just how small a team I could manage. An earlier project of mine, Nova Drift, still interested me and I decided to make it my full time job & first solo endeavor, utilizing PixelJam as a publisher and hiring Miles for audio. Two years later, it’s nearly finished.

Be versatile, know your weaknesses.

The common advice I see given is to specialize in a field that can get you an entry level job, such as art, writing, or programming. This still makes sense, but if you want to work alone, you're going to need to be far more versatile. The trick is to practice by creating (just make something-- anything! As soon as possible!) and determine what your strengths and weaknesses are. Games encompass a huge number of specialized fields, and most people simply won't have time to excell in all of them. Once you know your weaknesses, you can design with these deficiencies in mind, or hire help to fill the gaps. In my case, I had a very strong art and animation background, and a fascination with design. By the end of Last Horizon, I was a pretty solid programmer-- but I'd never had a chance to learn about audio, marketing or production. Now that I'm self directed, those are the areas I contract out, or fill with partnerships. One more thing bears mentioning, and I might start some arguments here, but I believe it to be far easier to be an artist or musician who learns to program than the other way around. Most people can learn to program well enough to create a game in a few years, but developing the arts can take most of your life. My advice is start early, hire out, or both.

Don't underestimate what you can accomplish.

I put off learning to code in earnest for decades. I thought it was "for another kind of person". It’s not. It’s intimidating, but you can learn it piece by piece.

I recommend working for companies before going independent.

...Especially if you plan to work solo. This is for many reasons: First, there is an incredible amount to learn from the success and failure of other people. I can't overstate this: Failing a lot is really, really important. It's a lot better if they're failures you're witnessing, or at least still getting paid for, than failures that burn through your savings. Second, the contacts gained from doing so are too valuable to miss out on. You can benefit from these for the rest of your career. Moreover, working for companies hopefully provides you with a decent amount of startup capital so you don't have to rely on begging, borrowing, or crowdfunding (which is unreliable at best).

“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” - Stephen McCranie.

Networking and building contacts early will benefit you in the long term.

They’ll help you get eyes where you need them, cross-promote, and they may know how to solve problems you do not. I made quite a lot of mistakes in this regard. I resisted Twitter and Facebook networking for years, relying on my employers and producers for networking. I failed to direct thousands of DeviantArt followers to my social media for future endeavors. I waited way too long to create Reddit presence and credibility. I never blogged or wrote about what I was doing. Thanks to my producer, I’m OK, but had I done this we’d have two pools of resources to tap!

Beyond the internet, make as many meaningful connections as you can.

Attend conventions, talk to people, attend events, or work in shared dev spaces. Always remember to be polite, giving and gracious. People are far more likely to help you or care about what you're doing if you show genuine interest in them, too. Most of all, do not underestimate yourself or the strength of your passion. The most important contact I have ever made, PixelJam Games, was made by sending them fan art. This small gesture quite literally changed my life. I was hired, creatively galvanized, and relocated to a new state. There, I met my wife whom I’m now traveling the world with while making video games (she is an elementary school teacher, employed by an international school). PixelJam taught me most of what I know about running a business, empowered me to work solo, and continue to be my most valuable business allies and dear friends. I’m not saying that slinging fan art is going to get you your golden ticket, but don’t underestimate the power of a bold initiative and a little fearlessness.

“Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity” - Seneca

Make things, whenever you have time.

Anything that aligns with your passion and your goals. In doing so, you can let your work do the talking for you while you're networking. I got my first game job by showing the art director a little pixel art shoot 'em up game I had created in GameMaker. He told me, "This is the most fun interview I’ve ever done". Even if your first creation is hot garbage, it shows great character to have finished the thing on your own impetus.

Write down all of your ideas, even the bad ones.

Scribbles, diagrams, ideas that are nothing more than titles, your spouse’s bad ideas, everything. Archive all of these, make a collection. You'll find uses for some of them later, and others will coalesce into a greater idea.

Rapid prototyping! Get your hands on it!

Prototype ideas often to find out what works and what doesn't. You really won't know until you get your hands on it in action. Game Maker Studio is an alternative to Unity, and a good tool for prototyping if you're still getting the hang of coding or come from an art background. In fact, I still use it for professional development today. If you have any doubts, look into the great games it’s produced. It’s also great for weekend game jams. (These are awesome for getting reinvigorated during long projects).

Better yet, get other people's hands on it.

When we design, we are sort of in a vacuum and take things for granted. Testers will reveal fundamental problems with your game very quickly that you didn't consider. It may not be easy, but I recommend keeping silent as they play and avoid helping. You won’t be there to help your players once the game is out. Recognize that these frustrations are places where the game fails to convey what is needed of the player. Keep notes. Do this early. Fundamental flaws are not something you want to discover at the 11th hour.

Above all, keep things simple.

The tradeoff for complete control is that you have to be incredibly conservative with scope and features due to lack of manpower. Because I'm designing and programming as well, I can't spend all day polishing a painterly masterpiece. Instead, I choose a simple and stylish aesthetic which allows me to rapidly create art and execute ideas. Undertale is a good example of this working well, as is Super Hexagon, Geometry Wars, and Spelunky.

Don’t make your “masterpiece” your first game!

You should try to keep your first few projects very, very small. Maybe even attempt the tiniest crash course to get all of the problems out of the way. What you do NOT want is to encounter every inevitable hang up and brick wall on your grandest, favorite idea, losing your valuable momentum. That game should be your third or fourth, maybe.

Plan, but not too much.

Nobody's estimates are accurate. Just know that it will take far, far longer than you expect it to. It's very easy for a 3 month game idea to turn into several years if you aren't careful. As you develop, you'll often find that your game starts to deviate from your original concept. This is fine; the game informs its own design. Where you need to be alarmed is when the game idea begins to proliferate, considerably larger than you had originally planned. This is called "feature creep", and depending on your restraint and financial situation, it can either bury a project or improve it. Plenty of people have written on this subject, so I'll keep it short: Decide how much you want to allow your project to grow over time, and be strict about it. One thing I do recommend planning for is systems you plan to port to. Look ahead of time at all of the requirements for getting on things like iOS and Android’s Google Play. Saying these platforms are fussy is… putting it mildly.

Don’t over do it.

Inevitably, as you develop, your skill as a programmer will grow immensely from sheer repetition and immersion. You may be faced with the urge to constantly correct mistakes, over-optimize, and even rip things apart and start over. I suggest not doing this. Instead, get it working well, but accept that your early work will inevitably be below your standards and look forward. Do it right in the next game. Unless it's ruining the performance of your game, that imperfect code won't make a huge difference and it's more valuable to complete the project, start building your audience, and begin earning revenue. Also, be careful not to overreact to feedback. Oftentimes, people know something feels off, but they give the wrong reason why. Trust your instincts and solve the problem the best way you know how.

Simple Ideas.

Did I mention to keep it simple? You should keep it simple. It probably won't work, but you can try, and each time you will get better at it.

Live cheap.

Unless you're very solvent to begin with, the full creative control that solo dev allows you comes with a heavy demand: live and work cheaply. I won't get into the basics such as housing, food, lifestyle, and material possessions, but of course these are important. The big one is staying small: by definition, employees and employers are out of the picture, but that doesn't mean you won't have partners, such as publishers, or work with contractors. In fact, I suggest you do, but keep it to the absolute minimum. I've seen many games (and studios!) wither and die because overzealous creators struck too many deals and split the pie too many different ways, beyond the game's capability to generate cash. Another way this happens is over promising during desperate Kickstarter campaigns. I'll go over this more, later. A big company wants to grow, you should want the opposite: become as lean as physically possible. In doing so you can be agile and focus on our strength: creating a uniquely cohesive product in the way only a lone visionary can. So, generally speaking, if you can do it yourself well, do it. However, be willing to pay generously to hire out work you can't do well. If you can't compose music or write, paying for that could make a huge difference in the reception of your game… and paying well for it means getting it done right, and quickly.

Be cautious about cutting people in.

...For reasons other than money, too. There are many ways people you don't know well can throw you a curve ball, or even kill your game. Look for and learn to read red flags. Ask yourself: Do they have a library of creations to verify their skill and follow-through? Are they earnest and forthright with you? Does it seem like they're trying to sell you something? Are they promising impossible or unlikely things? Is there anyone you trust to vouch for them? Have you protected yourself legally? Just... please be careful. Listen to your gut. I've seen a lot go wrong, and I’ve experienced it, too.

Consider working abroad.

I totally get that this isn’t an option for most people, but if you can manage it, it’s possible to have significantly lower living expenses and still earn globally. (I’m living in Thailand at the moment, where a fairly comfortable life is cheap). If you can’t do this, you don’t have to live in Palo Alto / Seattle / Austin...

Auxiliary Income

Crowdfunding: Use it, don’t need it. These are powerful tools that should be wielded with great care. Platforms like Kickstarter are wonderful, but they're often misused. People rely on it, get caught up in the hype, become desperate, and make too many promises. In the end, many cannot deliver, run out of money, or delay and delay until they’re vaporware. Bottom line: Definitely use it, but never need it. I personally won't ever create a kickstarter campaign until I know for certain I can deliver my product without it. It's great for having extra funds to survive the long stretch, maybe add some nice new features, but I firmly believe that if your game cannot survive without being crowdfunded, it should not be created in the first place. It's too great a risk, because we can never predict what won’t go as planned. The resulting time, morale, and energy sink from a failed campaign can be devastating, and a backed campaign that cannot follow through is even worse.

Backers can’t read your mind.

If you do run a campaign, consider the following: Take nothing for granted. Your game idea may be crystal clear in your head, but if a stranger watches the video and doesn't understand what the game is, they won't be backing it. Remember, you’ve been in a vacuum with the game for a long time. Everyone else has not. Make sure a lot of people see your trailer and provide critical feedback. Show it to hard-ass devs and ask them to be brutal. Show it to me. If you've planned properly, you've budgeted time to fix it.

Don't just prepare your kickstarter page, prepare the update material, too. Get an early start on screenshots, GIFs, press kits, social media, etc. This is all easier if you're fairly late in your game development and already have a lot of information and visuals to work with.

Above all, be honest and as transparent as possible with your backers. They will appreciate it, and it will generate faith in you. If they believe supporting you will reflect well on them, they will be far more likely to help you spread the word and get more backers. I hear Steam early-access and Patreon can be also great sources of income during development, but I haven’t tried them.

Self Promotion

It’s OK to ask for help. Getting used to this was the hardest bit for me, as I tend to prefer hiding in the shadows to the spotlight. You have to do it, and there's nothing wrong with it. Despite what you may instinctively feel, it's pretty hard to get annoyed at an earnest self-promoter, provided they're only asking once. Again, people are far more likely to help you if you show genuine interest in them, too. Start a conversation, talk about what's important to them. Ask them for a signal boost if they're into what you're making. Don't ask for money, and don't ask to trade promo, that's a bit weak. I recommend using Facebook, Twitter, maybe a blog if you enjoy it.. Having a separate Twitter and Facebook for work and personal can be useful. Good hashtags to use are #indiedev and #gamedev. Post a lot, show your passion, and as long as you're respectful and your product is good, people will help you.

Don’t go crazy.

Bear in mind that working alone, creatively, can have some psychological tolls. When you work for years on something important to you, it's easy to give in to doubt and anxiety. The longer you work on it, the greater it seems to need to be to live up to that. You keep raising the bar, but whenever you do, every aspect of the game has to rise up. Distraction, too, can become a constant problem to the developer who disengages with their creation. It can get bad.

Some things you can do to counter this:

Move around. Work from cafes, outside, or in shared work spaces in cities.

Don’t make your sleep-zone or gaming-zone be your work area. That separation helps you relax during off-time.

Take advantage of your flexible schedule. If it works for you, occasionally break up your work day and enjoy the daylight outside.

Get and give feedback from developers you trust, who are also making awesome things. I’m always surprised how much this small thing matters and inspires.

During the drag of a long project, take days to work on something else. Game jams, or new ideas. (I make nerdy charts and skill trees for future games)

You should love it.

Let’s face it, if you can make a game, there are much easier ways to use your talents to make lots of money. If you’re in this field, it should bring you joy. If that’s not happening, and it’s not on the horizon, you should reconsider the path you’re on.

If you made it this far, awesome. Thank you for listening. I’m happy to answer any questions you have in the comments. Ask me anything! Also, please take a look at my game in the link at the bottom, and if you’re into it, spread the word.

TL;DR:

Work for a company first, earn some coin, exp, and recruit allies.

Try to become versatile, and don’t underestimate what you can learn.

Determine your strengths and weaknesses, and know how to fill in the gaps with help.

Spend good money on things you can't do well.

Start building an online following ASAP.

Write all of your ideas down, bad ones too.

Create, a lot. Good things, bad things, just create.

Get people to test early, because you're in a vacuum and take things for granted.

Don’t try to make your first game your masterpiece.

Plan, but not too much.

Don't over-optimize or start over, instead do it better the next time.

Finish projects and don't get ahead of yourself.

Everything you make increases your residual income, brand strength, and freedom.

Keep your business as simple and as small as you can.

Be careful who you sign on with and what you sign up for.

Live cheaply.

Don't "feature creep".

Crowdfund for extra money, or use early access but never rely on these. Avoid the "cycle of need".

Promote and share often, don't be afraid to ask for help, but don't be annoying either.

Care about what other people are doing and they will care about your work.

Master solitude, self-doubt, and distraction.

Love what you are doing, and if you don’t, change course.

Nova Drift Kickstarter and Trailer

[its-wormin-time]

the 30 meter tall experiment has a huge fucking cock that is just slangin all over the place, obliterating everything in its wake. considering he is helen's brother we can assume he is supposed to represent the male beauty standard, just like helen does - which just hammers in how unfair the world is to men. see woman juat need to be skinny and blonde, but men? we need to be 10 stories tall and have a dick the size of a fucking minivan. all because of woke.

[its-wormin-time]

"kill them with kindness" wrong chokes you with my swarm

[its-wormin-time]

currently at 9.4, the nobels sure are a bunch of freaks

the duke

the twins (only one cause they are completely identical, get it?? do you get it????)