Today’s post is going to be short and a little on the personal side. It also serves as introduction for much of what you’re going to see from my weekly posts in the foreseeable future…

Tomorrow is a special day – it’s my last day of work at my present job. I’m leaving, by choice, to become an entrepreneur and start my own game company. Total micro-ISV, a one-man shop. I’ll be making computer games, initially for Windows (and hopefully also Mac and Linux), and branching out to various console options (DS, Xbox Live Arcade, …?) if I get that lucky. The games I intend to make will be original designs, but the style will be very much in keeping with the modern board games that I like so much, and that happens to be an wide-open market on the computer side, in my opinion. I’ve used this forum previously to expound on “digital cardboard” and that’s what this is going to be all about.

So I’m going to keep a window open on the shop and try to show y’all what’s going on behind the counter as I go from dead start to full speed and try to get the first salable product (ahem, game) done in a year or less. You may be surprised (or not) to see just how little of that time will be spent on the actual design, prototype, and test of the game itself, rather than all the art, coding, networking, AI, archiving, website construction and P.R./marketing. I will try to focus here on the most game-ish stuff, but all that other stuff is pretty fascinating too and I’m sure a lot of it will creep in along the way. If you’ve ever wanted a close look at how new creative/commercial things get made, by who, and what for – this is for you.

I love games, and I love computers, and I got into software and programming long, long ago because of the games angle. (My other love beyond games and computers– music – is being covered pretty well right now.) However and ironically, I’m not much of a fan of modern computer games, at least not as measured in personal time spent on computer games over board games. Will this be a critical handicap to my endeavors? Read on and see. Meanwhile, I’ve been saving my pennies for a long time preparing for this day, and I’ve got enough set aside to give me an honest shot at making it. But I’m financially conservative by nature, a saver and not a risk-taker, and so the sheer anxiety of free-falling from the black into the red while the clock is ticking – it might just kill me outright. Problem? Coping strategies? Read on and see.

I should also mention that, no, I’m not crazy. I’ve researched the market just about as much as any one person can. I helped make that computer version of Iron Dragon back in 2000. I’ve got lots of the necessary skills (mostly in the programming department, but enough of the game design and web design and art tools to fake it for awhile without getting caught). I’ve been to GDC. Twice. Learned a lot. Met the competition. Nice bunch of folks; nothing to be afraid of, though. I’ve got a realistic timetable on paper and a grab-bag full of good game ideas, with a big red #1 stamped on one of them. Hint: the first game will have modest art requirements, so expect something abstract! Still it might all just add up to one big case of Underpants Gnomes, and would I even know it if it was true?

So anyway; here goes. Crossing the line from planning to doing. Smell of burning rubber and fear in the air. I’ve got a whole lot of skill checks coming up, so if you would be so kind as to please pass the dice…