...
It's about time I write something here.
I've had this Blogger subdomain set up since February 2016. "The story of a videogame engine, in the hands of a busy musician." I always got a kick out of the fact that this subtitle was followed immediately by "No posts." Sounds about right.
But despite my busy music career, the lack of posts on this page has been very misleading. In fact, I even continued posting my development stories elsewhere, although the images there didn't survive long. I'd like to bring those essays here, as soon as I figure out how best to treat them in this new context.
"Hold on. What exactly is this 'NetMission' you're developing?"
NetMission is my game engine. Kind of like how Microsoft Word is software for making documents, a game engine is software for making videogames. Over the years I've used NetMission to make a handful of games with others, which I'll talk about in other posts.
If it sounds unusual for someone to make their own engine from scratch, you'd be right! Nowadays if you want to make a videogame, you have many delightful engines to choose from, each backed by huge teams of hard-working and talented professionals.
But when I wanted to make an online multiplayer game 17 years ago, those options weren't ready yet. At the time, it somehow made sense for aspiring indie developers to grab a beginner's programming book and go about it the hard way. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I've stuck with it ever since!
Anyway, I haven't posted a significant write-up on NetMission in nearly five years, even though I've still been coding up a storm. Part of that is intentional, as I've had several good reasons to keep it under wraps. But things have changed to a degree, I suppose. Lately I've been getting the sense from others and from myself that it's time for me to start writing again, so... let's get started!
"What exactly should I look forward to, Troid?"
Good question! I do have a few guidelines for myself:
- No programming experience should be necessary to follow along with my articles. Even as I dive into advanced technical topics, I want to make them as approachable and entertaining as possible.
- This site should become the definitive center for everything NetMission, since information about it is currently scattered and/or nonexistent.
- I should feel free to branch out into loosely related topics as needed. Games can reach into so many aspects of life, and a game engine should understand and support that.
- I must write at least 1 article per year. I'll try to do more than this, but you'll have to forgive me as I am a very slow writer.
Otherwise, I am not totally sure what direction I'll go in yet. If you're reading this I am definitely open to questions and topic suggestions.
I guess we'll see how it goes!
~ Troid92
