30

Today I turn 30. Wow. What a birthday. I feel old and young at the same time. 30 long years on this Earth. But also so incredibly short.

When I look back on the last 30 years of my life, it’s a kind of mod podge of various hobbies and interests, experiences I wish I could relive, and others I’d rather forget. But I guess that’s the point of life, right? Life is full of whatever you make it and whatever gets thrown in your way.

At the end of 2023, knowing my birthday was right around the corner, I decided that I wanted to dedicate the next ten years of my life on really working toward something with consistency and dedication. Looking back on the last decade, I’ve accomplished quite a bit and grown in ways that I never would have imagined. I’ve tried experiences and foods I never had the courage before and explored places I never dreamed I’d visit.  But it was never done with consistency. I want that to change.

Growing up, I was always intrigued, fascinated, and interested in the world of video games and art. I always begged my parents for more GameCube time and lusted after my friends’ artistic abilities.  For the past several years, I’ve gone back to those childhood roots, but this time, with a much different attitude.  Instead of being an active consumer, I want to be a creator.  So, a few years ago I bought an iPad, taught myself digital art (still learning), and dabbled in Unreal Engine (Epic Game’s game engine. It’s really cool and powerful btw) and Blender (a 3D software). It was only after dabbling in a few other hobbies, exploring video creation, story telling, and 3D printing that I decided I wanted to dedicate my next ten years of life making the things I love: video games.  It’s kinda the perfect coalescing of everything I love: digital art, 3D worlds, storytelling, gaming, tech, etc.

But there was only one problem. I don’t know how to code and I don’t know how to make game assets.  Yes, I know there are lots of no code options and a healthy community of artists willing to help me out with game assets.  But there’s something so satisfying knowing that you actually know how to do it. Plus, I wanted the challenge.

So at the start of the year, I enrolled in an online coding academy.  I’m learning C# and even though my code is very beginner and my skills are very mediocre, I’m proud of what I’m learning. And I really like it so far!  I’d done a front-end course a few years ago and I felt like I could never wrap my head around JavaScript quite well.  This time it’s very different.  I don’t know if its my attitude or the fact that it’s my second time around, whatever it is, I like it this time and I’m having fun.

Here’s a snippet of my code and my projects so far.  It’s very basic lol…

For this project, I had to create a method that would randomly choose from 3 different options each of a head, body, and feet and create it. The two images to the right show that my method worked!

I’ve also been teaching myself how to do 3/4 top down pixel art.  If you aren’t familiar, it’s a popular style in a lot of RPGs and I think is very cute and pretty.  A popular method of creating game assets is the tile method where you essentially create dozens of 16x16 pixel tiles and then “stamp” them onto a tile map to create your game levels.  Following a tutorial, I made this one! My first ever tile map!  It sucks haha

I’ve been a firm believer for a long time that every skill we develop is not a result of inherited talent, but rather just the accumulation of thousands upon thousands of hours of practicing those skills.  So just because my tile maps suck and my code is rudimentary, I’m feeling really optimistic about the future and where this consistent practice and dedication will take me.

So even though my 20s are gone, I’m excited for where my 30s are gonna take me. I hope to have you along for the journey.  See you next week :)