Project Updates: February

Hey Patreon Palz! Time for some top-of-the-month project updates!

VIDEOS

So I got the Johnny Tsunami video out last month, which is nice, but I'm bummed to not have made a second upload. In January I spent a lot of time breaking down my video-making process in an attempt to come up with faster ways to get things done. This was very insightful and should really pay off next time I get into some serious bluescreen shenanigans again.

I also have been working hard on a new game review video. It's been forever since I've made one of these (excluding the Playdate video which was structured much differently), and the struggle, as they say, has been real. I'm really trying to work out how to put some of that brutalfoods energy into a game review - I'd like the video to be enjoyable to someone who doesn't even really care about retro games. I thought I was on the right path for a while there, but earlier this week I had a realization that what I was working on was a very terrible video. I had a finished script, a decent amount of the voice over done, as well as a lot of edited sections of the games being reviewed, but it all felt really disjointed and frankly kind of boring.

So, bad news is that I'm not as far along as I wanted to be with this video, but the good news is that I've re-written most of the script at this point and I'm much happier with it. I feel like the video finally has a great throughline and a cohesive theme, and I can visualize the end result way clearer. It's going to be a good one, even if it will take a lot of effort to get it done.

For February, I'm going to be shooting for a new food video upload! I know I've complained about the format multiple times when I get bored of working on them, and it's usually because I get to a point where I feel like I'm not being challenged or I'm just phoning it in. Well, after working this game review script for a month, something a little more mindless actually sounds pretty nice right now. So my current plan is to hammer out a new brutalfoods this month, and then get back to work on the game review right after.

STREAM

Twitch is really poppin' for me. I'm really, really satisfied with how my streaming is going lately. Last month I discovered The Diamond Mystery of Rosemond Valley, which is an obscure adventure game with full voice acting. It was a real treat to play through. I started playing Hotel Giant, which is a tycoon game that was way more fun than I originally anticipated. When I passed my 1,000 Twitch subscriber goal, I threw a Pizza Party where I played a bunch of pizza-themed games and then let my stream chat design me a pizza to order (nightmare). I also brought back Friday Night Mario Party, which is a classic stream format that longtime viewers may remember. Finally, after purchasing a new Windows XP computer that has a little more oomph than my last machine, I started a playthrough of the Sims 2 which has already been a blast.

I think streaming is going to play a large part in my content this year, especially if I decide to do more game reviews - I've set things up so that I can get a clean capture of a game next time I stream something weird and new to me, just in case it ends up being video-worthy. For a year or so I took an unscheduled hiatus from streaming for personal reasons that I really regret in hindsight, but I'm back to considering streaming one of my main offerings rather than just something I do on the side occasionally. If you've never tuned in before, I'd love to see you swing by a live stream over on Twitch. There's also my Stream Archive on YouTube that has over 57 days worth of content to be watched!

MISCELLANEOUS
In January my main focuses were videos and streams, for sure. No music or artwork or game dev to speak of currently. I think that's why it's so frustrating to not have a new video to post yet, because I really have been dialed in lately. I think that's just how it goes when trying to shake up the creative process, I'm trying out new methods while also trying to keep the quality up. I don't really want to upload any garbage this year.

The good news is that all is not lost. I might have had to step back and re-write a video I'd already put a lot of work into, but the video is going to be pretty dope, and it'll be worth the hassle. I think this brutalfoods production is going to go really smoothly, and I'll try to save some good behind the scenes stuff for Patreon as I go. It'll be nice to finish up a food video mid-month, then get to work on the game video that's already in-progress rather than starting something new from scratch.

Streaming will continue as it has been lately. I'm live Monday/Wednesday/Friday at seemingly random times. Been trying to offer some early streams and also some later streams so that it lines up with different people's schedules.

I'd really like to work on game dev, music, and even art some more soon, but I think February is going to be all about keeping on-track with streams, and getting back on-track with videos. 

Thank you for reading, i hope this was an informative update! Hope you guys as always for the support, and I hope you enjoy what I bring forth this month!