Gabriel Cornish

<p>🕹 One of the best parts about landing an interview in the game industry is that I get to play a bunch of the studio’s games as prep.</p>

<p>Tahoe with my wife and child</p> <img src="https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/16155/2024/3b2c08eb74.jpg" width="450" height="600" alt="">

<p>🕹 Last week I released Hell Dev.</p> <ul> <li>Made in around 10 hours over the course of a month in my spare time.</li> <li>It turned out “ok”</li> <li>All-in-all it was a fun project that got me through my first week of unemployment</li> </ul> <iframe frameborder="0" src="https://itch.io/embed/2870110" width="552" height="167"><a href="https://gabrielcornish.itch.io/hell-dev">Hell Dev by Gabriel Cornish</a></iframe>

<p>#gamedev community, I’d love to hear from you!</p> <p>What’s the most fun you’ve ever had working on a game?</p> <ul> <li>What were you working on?</li> <li>What made it made such a fun experience?</li> <li>When was the last time you felt like that?</li> </ul>

<p>🕹️ Game dev should be fun and creatively fulfilling!</p> <p>If you feel burnt out or disillusioned, think about treating yourself to a small game project that’s just for you.</p> <ul> <li>🗓️ Make it in a month.</li> <li>⏱️ Work on it for 1-2 hours a week.</li> <li>🔥 Don’t crunch. Cut scope instead.</li> <li>😊 Make whatever brings you joy.</li> </ul>

<p><a href="https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/over-500-blizzard-entertainment-workers-form-wall-to-wall-union">The WoW team has formed a union</a>!</p> <p>I hope they achieve a sustainable and fulfilling work environment so that they can produce their best work.</p>

<p>🎮 A massive problem in the game industry is morale.</p> <p>Developers aren’t having a good time making games because we’re focused on trying to survive. This is not sustainable.</p> <p>The industry needs happy and fulfilled developers to make great games for players to enjoy.</p>

<p>Maya Rudolph is the one person who’s gonna get me through the 2024 election season.</p>

<p>If you’re just starting out in game design, I recommend doubling down on making games that are easy to understand.</p> <p>It’s a skill that will never go out of style.</p> <p>It took me way too long to learn that clarity is fundamental to design and all good things arise from a clear and accessible experience.</p>

<p>My toddler’s activity of choice this morning was to randomly throw my shoes around the house… and after seeing how much fun he was having, I joined in.</p> <p>The kid makes a good point. Throwing shoes is fun as hell.</p>

<p>As I become another game developer affected by layoffs, I’ve realized that I’m terrified of what’s next and what I want from a career in games.</p> <p>The scariest thing is admitting to yourself what you actually want. Especially when it runs counter to everything you’ve told yourself and believed.</p>

<p>Panic time!</p> <p>I’m coming up on the remaining days of the jam and I still have nothing as far as gameplay. I’ve tried out a few things, but nothing seems to be sticking.</p> <p>II need to pivot to something and fast. It seems like the best possible strategy I can do is SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY.</p> <img src="https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/16155/2024/5f8466cd72.gif" width="512" height="342" alt="">

<p>Just wrapped up my game over screen for the Decker 2024 game jam.</p> <img src="https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/16155/2024/fc2024-5.gif" width="512" height="342" alt="">

<p>Game design is great because you can make the tiniest victories feel major with enough positive reinforcement.</p> <p>Games can help people feel joy from their smallest actions and I just love that.</p>

<p>A great way to procrastinate working on your game is to work on the title screen instead. Here’s my first stab at the cover art for Hell Dev.</p> <img src="https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/16155/2024/fc2024-title.gif" width="512" height="342" alt="">

<p>🕹️ Today, was more art exploration for the game jam.</p> <p>I also set up the two main resources.</p> <p>The player will be managing Health and Glitches.</p> <ul> <li>Health is simple. If it reaches zero: game over.</li> <li>Glitches are meant to be collected. Collect enough glitches to escape the video game you’re trapped inside.</li> </ul> <img src="https://cdn.uploads.micro.blog/16155/2024/fc2024-4.gif" width="512" height="342" alt="">