I just commented on your last post about porting old flash games, but I thought I'd come along here and reiterate that I am absolutely bothered about that! As you put it.
Also I thought I'd introduce myself a bit. Although this account might seem new and inactive, I've actually been loitering around these parts and the old Taming the Mind blog for a long time, under a different account which I stopped using because of reasons. Also, do you remember when someone messaged you on Twitter about MARDEK key resellers? That was me as well - I don't actually use Twitter properly so that was just a random throwaway account.
I was also one of the testers for Sindrel Song (which I own on Steam but haven't actually player since testing, I should go do that, it was a fun game). Speaking of, how would I go about registering my interest in testing Atonal Dreams? How do I join the Discord? Is it only for Patrons? I have been wondering about becoming a Patron; I'd love to support you and would have done it long ago but I'm not exactly rich ...
Anyway, sorry to hear you've been struggling with motivation lately. For what it's worth, you say you've only been able to work two hours a day as if that's a bad thing, but to me that still sounds really good! I know I've struggled in the past when it comes to motivation for personal projects I've tried to work on. And I know you've talked previously about how working from home on a project is completely different from working a 9-5, I mean, here I am at work at my Real Job and I'm typing this on my phone and eating crisps. I'm barely even working at the moment. So I think 2 hours seems fine, and if you need some more time off then go for it.
Play some games! That's another thing that I've been struggling lately, even though video games are a huge part of my life I seem to spend more time thinking and talking about them than actually playing them. So I totally get it when you say you struggle to play games regularly, and you should probably do so more.
Anyway, to answer your question, I have no idea how to make a turn based boss battle challenging/engaging. I totally get where you're coming from that JRPG bosses tend to just have massive health bars that take a while to whittle down but they're not actually hard or engaging to fight. But uh I'd look forward to playing a bit of Atonal Dreams and getting a feel for the mechanics, from what I've read so far it already sounds way more engaging than Attack-Heal-Repeat!
2
Tobias 1104~2Y
Hello! I do vaguely remember you! And I'm glad at least someone is interested in the old ports!! Though sadly I need to put those aside for the moment as I work on Atonal Dreams. I wish I could do everything at once!
I'm particularly interested in porting Taming Dreams myself - I haven't played the third chapter since around the time I made it - but annoyingly it's more complicated than the others so I really need to find some time to sit down and work through the (very unenjoyable) issues.
It's annoying that I do have 'free' time that could potentially be spent on that, but during that time I struggle to focus on anything.
I've wondered and written in this blog before, I think, about how much work people actually do at their jobs. I asked my step-dad a while back - who used to be some manager type - and he said he was lucky to get a couple of hours of productivity out of his employees on a good day. Maybe that's the norm, and I'm holding myself to unrealistic standards? I am trying to handle too much by myself, but there aren't really any alternatives at the moment.
I don't like taking money from anyone and hate pushing my Patreon in people's faces and demanding they support me, but there's a link to it at the top of the page, and the lowest tier is 1 british pound a month, I think? I wouldn't become anyone else's patron even if I like their work due to my own money struggles, so I can fully understand that, but every donation helps, and I feel it's fair to the people who are supporting me that they get exclusive testing and Discord privileges. I'm also keeping the Discord patrons-only at the moment (and it's a ghost town as a result) because I really can't bear the thought of managing a potentially toxic community again. Not that I think you'd be toxic! But annoyingly keeping the doors shut for most people also blocks out a lot of good people.
Thanks for being open-minded regarding Atonal Dreams! I need to gather various promotional assets this week and write up a summary page, update the Steam page, things like that, so those'll be the best ways to get an idea of the state the game's in now!
Oh, and I definitely should play more games! Once I start one I tend to do an hour or two every day consistently, but deciding on and starting a new one seems to be the hard bit. I haven't been playing any for a week or two now (though I've been madly focused on other creative stuff during that time which has been very enjoyable... because I haven't been worrying about how to earn money from it).
Also I thought I'd introduce myself a bit. Although this account might seem new and inactive, I've actually been loitering around these parts and the old Taming the Mind blog for a long time, under a different account which I stopped using because of reasons. Also, do you remember when someone messaged you on Twitter about MARDEK key resellers? That was me as well - I don't actually use Twitter properly so that was just a random throwaway account.
I was also one of the testers for Sindrel Song (which I own on Steam but haven't actually player since testing, I should go do that, it was a fun game). Speaking of, how would I go about registering my interest in testing Atonal Dreams? How do I join the Discord? Is it only for Patrons? I have been wondering about becoming a Patron; I'd love to support you and would have done it long ago but I'm not exactly rich ...
Anyway, sorry to hear you've been struggling with motivation lately. For what it's worth, you say you've only been able to work two hours a day as if that's a bad thing, but to me that still sounds really good! I know I've struggled in the past when it comes to motivation for personal projects I've tried to work on. And I know you've talked previously about how working from home on a project is completely different from working a 9-5, I mean, here I am at work at my Real Job and I'm typing this on my phone and eating crisps. I'm barely even working at the moment. So I think 2 hours seems fine, and if you need some more time off then go for it.
Play some games! That's another thing that I've been struggling lately, even though video games are a huge part of my life I seem to spend more time thinking and talking about them than actually playing them. So I totally get it when you say you struggle to play games regularly, and you should probably do so more.
Anyway, to answer your question, I have no idea how to make a turn based boss battle challenging/engaging. I totally get where you're coming from that JRPG bosses tend to just have massive health bars that take a while to whittle down but they're not actually hard or engaging to fight. But uh I'd look forward to playing a bit of Atonal Dreams and getting a feel for the mechanics, from what I've read so far it already sounds way more engaging than Attack-Heal-Repeat!
I'm particularly interested in porting Taming Dreams myself - I haven't played the third chapter since around the time I made it - but annoyingly it's more complicated than the others so I really need to find some time to sit down and work through the (very unenjoyable) issues.
It's annoying that I do have 'free' time that could potentially be spent on that, but during that time I struggle to focus on anything.
I've wondered and written in this blog before, I think, about how much work people actually do at their jobs. I asked my step-dad a while back - who used to be some manager type - and he said he was lucky to get a couple of hours of productivity out of his employees on a good day. Maybe that's the norm, and I'm holding myself to unrealistic standards? I am trying to handle too much by myself, but there aren't really any alternatives at the moment.
I don't like taking money from anyone and hate pushing my Patreon in people's faces and demanding they support me, but there's a link to it at the top of the page, and the lowest tier is 1 british pound a month, I think? I wouldn't become anyone else's patron even if I like their work due to my own money struggles, so I can fully understand that, but every donation helps, and I feel it's fair to the people who are supporting me that they get exclusive testing and Discord privileges. I'm also keeping the Discord patrons-only at the moment (and it's a ghost town as a result) because I really can't bear the thought of managing a potentially toxic community again. Not that I think you'd be toxic! But annoyingly keeping the doors shut for most people also blocks out a lot of good people.
Thanks for being open-minded regarding Atonal Dreams! I need to gather various promotional assets this week and write up a summary page, update the Steam page, things like that, so those'll be the best ways to get an idea of the state the game's in now!
Oh, and I definitely should play more games! Once I start one I tend to do an hour or two every day consistently, but deciding on and starting a new one seems to be the hard bit. I haven't been playing any for a week or two now (though I've been madly focused on other creative stuff during that time which has been very enjoyable... because I haven't been worrying about how to earn money from it).