Been alot of little things preventing me from working lately, mostly burn out, but also been feeling a little bleh. My visions been feeling strained, joints sore, blah, blah, bitch moan. Too much time in front of a screen, got an add on that makes the screen warmer colors when I look at it and did some BBQing and been getting a bit of cardio every day. It's amazing how much these little things that have nothing to do with gamedev regenerate your ability to do gamedev.

I ALSO HAVE A PLAN!

Having a plan that you're somewhat optimistic for is also so important, so tommorow i'm easing back in by working on modular level assets, so i'll be making a prototype area with hallway sections, water volumes, spikes, chests, and other nick nacks as I go to really create the tools that I can use to populate the zone "water fall".

I've been in my head too much lately, there's a lot to do, there's a lot to feel out, but I think i've got the systems themselves in a good spot. My brain has become accustomed to this checklist style of work, where I have this long list of rigid tasks that need doing, and I can plow through them and there isn't much need for a creative spark. I think i've been tepid about moving forward because it's time I do level design and world building and story creation and that is such a tremendous shift in gears and how you approach development.

I'm optimistic though, I think things will fall into place. I need to remind myself that SeaCrit will not be perfect, I'm just one dude under the gun in a mad dash to put together a demo that can hopefully reach some form of support out there in the world so the game can go the distance. The important thing is that i move forward inteligently, use modular assets that can change and grow and eventually reach an acceptable state.

So that's the plan, work smart, don't sweat perfection, just mash things together in a way that over time they are polishable and not spin wheels in mud. 

Who knows, this may end up coming together faster than anticipated. I think that's where a lot of the trepidation comes from, I think I know how all these various systems are going to come together, how zones will ahve their own feel, their own ration of combat/ platforming elements, their own unique spawn lists and rare fish to kill, their own unique uprades to find. Can't remember how the difficulty scales, if each zone has its own unique timer, or if the game globally rises in difficulty, I need to figure out what system will work best and lock it in, time to tie up loose ends and bring this home. Near future could be awesome, easy to lament on the years gone, and all for nothing at this point. The games changed a lot, it's time to implement those changes in a cohesive manner and hopefully whoop some dev ass!