Wow, okay. This is it. Here I am. The newest hatchling of our chicken mother 'Board Gaming'. Not able to do anything much except cooing and stagger along on my unsure feet.
Okay, stop that melodramatic nonsense noone wants to read!
Who are you? - I am a 27 year old student of IT, living in Dresden, Germany.
Why am I here? - To see if the idea of a board game that runs my mind for at least two years now is anything good in practice. Since it does not react well on being ignored (it rushes back to conscience with undue intensity in the most awkward situations... you might know this phenomenon) and does not seem eager to vanish by itself, why not try and see what might come out of it.
What kind of game is this? - I feel like discussing this a bit later. This particular (first) episode of this blog series should not go too much into detail about this. It is a 4x game, kind of Through The Ages. You could say, it is a civilization type of game.
First episode? How long do you want to ramble on about this? - Well, I'd like to think of this blog series as a kind of open-for-all informal developer diary. I'd like to see and simultaneously tell the world how I feel regarding the development process, what I think about the currently taken step(s) and so on. The idea is that you get these impressions from working on the game as fresh as possible in written form. Ideally, I'd like to see this blog as a reminder of how it was to start in this business for the old-timers here and as a kind of look into the future for the ones that come after me. I know this all sounds pretty self-centered and that this blog already is a single big mess, but anyway, I'll just write it and see what comes out of it.
Okay, why not start right away? How do you feel? - Chilly. Excited. Anxious. Restless. Unfocused. Alive. All in all, I'd say that I feel like being newly enamoured (I hope my girlfriend will never get to read this...). Yep, that'show I feel in a nutshell.
You do know that board game desing is no walk in the park, don't you? That your so-called idea most probably never will make it to the game desks of people other than your peers? If it even manages this. - Yes. Yes, I realize that. I know that board game designers usually have dozens of ideas in their desk drawers, tucked away because they lead to dead ends. I realize that I very likely will put more money into this than I will get out of it. But I'd like to think that board game designing is one of the few occupations where money is not the driving factor. From my stance right now, I don't want any money from this. I just want to see if I am the kind of person to persevere until failure is apparent, and if this idea of mine might make it to a finished, streamlined, enjoyable game some day.
When do you plan on writing the next episode? - We'll see. I have in mind a weekly format, but I know myself well enough to realize that this is not how it will turn out in the end. Everyone (you and me) will be better off not expecting too much from this. I think I'll write a new entry whenever I feel I've made a step, be it forward or backward, or if my feel toward the process or the game changes.
One last question: Why does the title say 'Hallo World', not 'Hello World'? - As I already stated, I am an IT student. Most of you will know that the first programme one usually writes in a new programming language is called 'Hello World'. 'Hallo' is the german equivalent to the english 'Hello'. Furthermore, I don't like the looks of the latter. Call me crazy, but that's why.
Okay, I think that's enough for my 'birth' day. Just let me say that I'd like to have as many opinions as possible about this, so don't keep back with your critique! And sorry for my possibly queer english, I am no native speaker.
Sincerely,
Josh 'Dagar'
