I remember when I was 18, trying to design a game. It had tiles, dungeons, level advancement. I was so psyched I even told my parents about my dreams of being a "game designer". Obviously that didn't play out as planned.
Here i am, 30 years later, BA in History, nearly 9 year of retail and over 19 years of law enforcement behind me, and again I'm looking at being a "game designer". The thing is, with places like RPGNow and Print on Demand, it's achievable. You're not going to become rich and famous, but you can make some money and personal satisfaction from it.
Strangely enough, I spoke to my mother about my plans for StarSlinger and her response was "You're going to take a dozen or so copies to North Texas in the spring to give away I hope". Yes, she gets it. As does Rach, my wife. Of course, Rach would sooner quit her job than miss NTRPG Con. Yeah, she really does get it.
I'm sincerely blessed.
Rock on! Self publishing is such a great thing and a great feeling. I look forward to following your progress on the project (if you're going to publicly talk about it that is.
ReplyDeleteI'm not in it for anything but a Patreon payment. :)
ReplyDeleteThe biggest reward and reason I self publish is because when you hear a perfect stranger say they love what you created, it's one of the best feelings.
ReplyDeleteGame design has become a legitimate folk art movement. I'm glad there can be professionals among us with exceptional talent and business sense, but the idea that we can all leave our own mark is awesome.
ReplyDelete"You have to dream before your dreams can come true." ~ A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
ReplyDelete... or by way an anecdotal evidence: Three years ago Zach Glazer and I were outside smoking at NTRPG Con talking about how we wanted to write and publish games. Now we are.
ReplyDeleteI need to have the discipline to do similar. I have a world I've been working on for 30 years now; it's always felt too mainstream fantasy. When DCC came out,, tho....well, I have ideas. :)
ReplyDelete