My video game experience started with Space Wars and Pong. I got an Atari 2600 when it came out. I've casually played games on different consoles throughout my life. However, at the arcade, if there wasn't a Space Duel, I put my quarters into pinball and pool. My money went a lot further that way.
I learned a bit about programming teaching myself on my high school's TRS-80 Model IIIs. The staff had no idea what to do with them, so they let the few of us who were interested figure it out. My 1st home computer was a Sinclair ZX81. I did very little with the membrane keyboard. I moved up to an Atari 1200XL. I mostly programmed graphics and music. In college, I once sat in the library avoiding learning spreadsheets by writing a code breaking game in QBasic on a TRS-80 so I could sit there and play it. That's my only game so far.
I've been making many styles of art, craft, and music with various analog and digital devices most my life. I walked away from 2 computer graphics jobs in the 80's. I have a natural desire to create, but I was out of place among the business people who requested my services. So, I've been creating home décor, analog games, and gifts. My music has never been in demand. People would say my stuff sounds like video game music. I'm about to put that apparently natural ability to use. About a year ago, I started looking into making 2D video games.
About 5 years ago, I had a desire to put my dreams, which for me are eerie warnings of false realities in my waking state, into a 3D game. I got Blender's shortcuts down and learned things like parallax occlusion mapping in Unreal. I used Camel Audio's Alchemy to make unnerving new age music. Having spent most my life studying and working in the horror industry, the project was pretty frightening. I then had a revelation that frightening everyone wasn't going to fix anything. I got rid of my gaming rig I had acquired just for this purpose and got a laptop which I still use. I also got rid of my electric guitar and got a classical.
By the summer of 2020, my digital creativity was mostly with Arduino. Then, I watched V for Vendetta play out in real life. The Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality introduced me to itch.io. I was awed by the amount of mental exploration and discovery before me. I saw multiple pasts and paths. I found similarities and patterns. I found people who seemed to want to progress no matter what. The place felt unflappable. I experienced gaming in new ways and realized a lot about myself through the expressions of others. I am unable to give back monetarily at this point in my life, but I want to contribute through sharing. Through rigorous experimentation with games on itch, I've come to enjoy 2D pixel platform games the most. I've also come to appreciate the ease and unfolding complexity of Godot. My 2D platformer will always be free. I will enable the donation option, with 10% to itch, as I have been in debt with no income.
I'm having a good time being part of the many avenues of expression here. I appreciate all of you.