Update

In this post I want to give you an update on what’s happening in my life.

I recently started a new job as a software engineer at a med-tech company. The team is mostly around my age, in their thirties, and we all embrance the spirit of agile software development and continuous learning. Working with them really feels like being part of a team for the first time in a very long time.
Back when I first started working in professional game development, I remember thinking, I’ve finally arrived job-wise. Until things fell apart.
This time work-life balance and well-being is taken seriously.
Nobody expects you to trade in the life that you had or your dignity for your job. Instead you are invited into a team of individuals and an appreciation for different life goals.
It was clear from the start that my creative work as a writer and indie game developer exists next to my work as a software-engineer and it is even protected by my contract.
It felt great from the start and I can’t believe it’s already been a few months.
I’ve kept my creative routine in the morning and while every day there is a new challenge, it’s also great fun.

Also both my wife and I are fully vaccinated for a few weeks now.

On the creative side, I’ve made good progress on my game. And there has been the release of the fourth-part audiobook of my novel not too long ago. Also, there’s a new revision of my novel (in German) for Tolino e-reader marketplaces.

Sales of the first case of Robert Fox have been very low, which was to be expected, because I don’t have much energy or money to spare for marketing. Turns out that it’s a thing in the English market to actually pay money for reviews. Yeah, I’m not doing that. It’s actually illegal in Germany, so I’m not sure in what spot it would put me. Besides I don’t think it would do much good.
Overall I didn’t expect the translation to be quite as much work. So for now I will focus my energy on other projects and take things slowly with the translation.

I decided to turn Exodus terram into a novel for this year’s Nanowrimo.
For a while I’ve been unsure how to label the style or mood that I want some of the scenes to transport. Our protagonist Oswald is an engineer who uses the technology he grew up with to build his vision of the future. Maybe he is aware of newer technology, but he doesn’t really care. There is so much untapped potential in the technology he has. For a while I settled for the more general term of »retro-futurism«, which is also used for steampunk, but I imagine it with computer technology at its peak like in the 80s or early 90s. Then I discovered there is a better name for it: cassette-futurism.
I also find it fascinating that a lot of the topics such as the influence of technology on society, AI, visions of colonizing other planets and climate change have been around since at least the seventies.
Just recently I’ve watched an IMAX space documentary from the 90s saying the same things we now hear almost every day. We need to do something about our planet or life as we know it will change forever.
It’s funny because some idiot politician who wants to be chancelor of Germany recently wondered in an interview, why climate change was suddenly a topic of importance. Newsflash: It’s been a topic of importance for over thirty years.
Anyway. I’ve written most of the interactive story for Exodus terram in INK now and the idea is to use that as a plotting tool for the novel. Naturally, I’ll first write it in German.
I’m already collecting inspirational material and taking photos whenever I see something that somehow resonates with my vision for the novel or game.
If you’re curious about my photography, I might post some here as well.

Meanwhile, my wife has discovered a strong interest in programming and is now persueing that on the side.
I’ve always had a hunch she might enjoy it. Actually in April of 2017 she played quite a bit of Human Resource Machine. It’s a game about solving tasks by programming using machine-level operations, but put into a neat little narrative and a cute art style. If you have even a slight interest in programming, I can highly recommend it.
One day a few months ago she picked it up again and enjoyed it so much that she worked through some freecodecamp courses. Of course we also picked up Game Builder Garage for the Switch right away. If something like that had existed when I was a kid, I would have been all over it. There are easy to follow step-by-step lessons to build a few games and there is free programming mode. Nintendo has always had a thing for creative games, probably starting with Mario Paint, Wario Ware DIY and more recently the Super Mario Maker titles. This is no different and I really hope there will be more lessons to come.
Anyway, I’m glad she is enjoying herself learning to code and I’m very proud.