Why do a blog?
What do I even know about writing a blog? Heck, I’ve never even read one before. I am too much of an audiobook and video guy to read someone’s blog on any real basis. Will it be any good? Why make it in the first place?
The answer: Over my career, I’ve worked in retail at Sears, was part of the infantry in the Army, and a buyer for Carmax. Over that time, I learned one important thing when trying to communicate those experiences to other people…thought process matters. It took me years to identify my thought process during certain situations and articulate it to other people. Too many times I went off of my gut reaction, instinct, or how I was trained to do the job. Those decisions and actions work fine in the moment, but they fall short when trying to get understanding, buy-in and, lasting change from other people.
So, you kind of answered the question, but what does this have to do with game development? I am not perfect. I am still learning a lot about game development and the production side of things. I have made mistakes in the past; I am making mistakes now and I know I will make more in the future. Making mistakes is fine. It happens to everyone. Repeated mistakes are the real problem. We need to learn and grow from those mistakes. One of the best ways to do that, in my experience, is to explain and improve my thought process.
My goal: I want to be able to document my experience with the development of Crimson Herbicide. As I mentioned above, not everything I do will be ‘correct.’ It might not be how your studio does things. It might not be how you were taught in school. It might not be the way you would have handled that situation. That is fine. With you knowing my thought process, you can see where I might need improvement and could refine the quality of feedback I receive. My goal is to express to you my thought process during these situations and how I reached the decisions I made. With you knowing my thought process, we will have a solid footing to have a conversation about this project. I feel like that is the most impactful way to receive feedback and grow as a developer.
