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Journal Entry: The Shifting Sands of DarkAge (and the Horizon Beyond)

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Mar
23

This month’s reflection on the Publishing and Distribution course finds me grappling with a familiar, and somewhat frustrating, pattern in my personal development journey. My PDL Timeline goal, for the purpose of this course, remains the completion of my 3D open-world survival game, DarkAge, within a year. Yet, as I sit here reflecting on the past few months, I’m forced to acknowledge that I’m nowhere near that deadline, and frankly, my dedication and effort have been impacted by countless restarts.

The core issue isn’t solely a lack of effort, but rather the ongoing process of mastering the tools and expanding my skillset. While I have a formal background in game design, and some formal education in Unreal Engine, the engine’s complexity necessitates continuous learning. My programming experience, specifically in C++, is largely self-taught and constantly evolving. Each new technique, each coding concept learned, leads to a re-evaluation of DarkAge‘s existing code. Inevitably, previous work feels clunky or inefficient. This triggers the urge to rebuild, aiming for a “cleaner” start. Adding to this, I’m utilizing pre-built code libraries, often without a complete understanding of their inner workings. The initial hope was that repeated implementation would lead to deeper understanding, but this hasn’t always proven true. This iterative process is further complicated by the transition to Git. While I had prior experience with Perforce, adapting to Git’s workflows has been a learning curve, primarily through trial and error. The combination of a large project, the inherent intricacies of Unreal Engine, the opacity of some external libraries, and occasional data corruption has, at times, led to unrecoverable errors. Faced with these roadblocks, I’ve often chosen to restart, believing it offers a cleaner path to understanding. However, it’s crucial to remember that DarkAge, in this context, is a hobby project, a learning ground.

The Publishing and Distribution course, while seemingly disconnected from the immediate struggles with DarkAge, has been surprisingly relevant. The initial focus was on the final steps: marketing and getting the product seen. Seeing the templates for content distribution, showing how a single project could be adapted for various media (film, TV, literature, music), was highly motivating. The sections on agent acquisition and IP protection, though distant concerns for DarkAge, planted important seeds.

The course hammered home the importance of a finished product. Marketing, distribution, audience engagement – all are meaningless without something to release. This seemingly obvious point is a powerful motivator. Instead of aiming for immediate perfection, a more iterative approach is needed: building a functional core, then refining. Solid Git understanding is crucial for managing complexity and allowing experimentation without the constant fear of irreversible mistakes. Thoroughly studying the documentation for the external libraries I’m using is also essential.

Looking ahead, the course’s knowledge will be invaluable. When DarkAge reaches a releasable state, I’ll be prepared. I’ll know how to navigate distribution platforms, craft a resonant marketing strategy, and even explore transmedia storytelling. The insights into agent acquisition provide a framework for protecting my IP and potentially leveraging professional support.

The DarkAge journey is more challenging than anticipated. But the lessons, both in game development and through this course, are shaping me into a more resilient, resourceful, and effective creator. The key is embracing the learning process, learning from mistakes (and restarts), and maintaining focus on the ultimate goal: finished, polished, and successfully distributed projects. The restarts, though painful and sometimes demotivating, are a testament to my commitment to quality and understanding. Now, I need to channel that commitment into a more structured development process: leveraging version control to mitigate setbacks, dedicating time to understanding external libraries, and remembering that DarkAge serves as a stepping stone, a practice field for the larger successes ahead, beginning with the imminent launch of my primary project. Persistence, despite the setbacks, is what truly defines this journey.

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