With the lack of work I’ve done of The Ballad of Lone Phoenix this week, I’ve had time to think about the paths I’ve taken with the game to get to where I am now. I’ve made good choices and bad choices. Through those decisions, I’ve become a better game developer.

Here are the top 3 things I’ve learned while working on The Ballad of Lone Phoenix:

1 - I’ll never stop learning.

Looking back at my older games, I’ve thought “wow, I’m a lot better at making games than I was then.” But even when I look at the work I’ve done on this game I realize that I’m still improving.

2 - There will be times when I don’t want to work

I hate to admit it, but there are times when I just want to sit around all day and play other people’s games. There are times when making games just isn’t “fun”. Don’t get me wrong though, this is the greatest job on earth am I wouldn’t trade it for anything, but it’s not always sunshine and roses.

3 - Retro is still cool

In the past few years there have been a lot of retro indie games. A lot. About a year into development, I realized that retro games were flooding game portals. I can’t remember where but I also think I read someone saying that somewhere. So I got pretty scared. “Are gamers getting tired of playing retro games?” I think it’s safe to say that the awesome reception here on GameJolt has answered that question. As long as I can make a fun game, the game will be fine despite its art style.

Thank you very much for reading,
God Bless.