So as a hobbyist game designer who flies solo, I’m starting to work on my skills in the art known as pixel art.
I’ve been sketching and drawing for a long time. I’ve even taken some classes on art. Though I by no means am a pro, I’m not green either. I can hold my own relatively well and make some pretty nice grade stuff. And frankly, I enjoy it.
But moving into pixel art is going to definitely take some serious effort. I can be pretty patient when it matters most… but something about me just doesn’t revel in spending an hour or two fine-tweaking a single animation frame for my main character. There’s so much to do when it comes to game design… coding, music (I’m no pro at that either), testing… and how much time I have to designate in a day to such things is limited too. I want to be good… but it’s [i]hard[/i]. And when I consider the scope of some potential future projects… well, it’s mildly daunting to say the least.
But anything worth having is worth putting some effort forward. As I sat tonight with my little sister doing some good old fashioned paper and pencil drawing, she as usual wants to look at my past works and learn from them. She too gets frustrated by her seemingly inadequate skills in art, her inability to make something that has the same quality as my work. And of course, I keep telling her: practice, practice, practice! Don’t be so hard on yourself. Make mistakes, but learn from them. Just keep pushing forward.
The truth is, she looks up to me. She wants to be like me in more than one way, but artistically she wants to be able to match me. And you know what? Its time to have that drive. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me and a lot of learning to do. But as someone who sets a high standard for himself and someone who seeks to lead by example, I’m going to give it a pretty good shot. Not to mention, I want my games to look pretty good too!
But seriously… how far are you willing to go? What’s it gonna take to stop YOU from making YOUR game?
Photon Game Development 
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