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Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #81 (BronyCon Aftermath)


     Long silence, huh? Took a while for my determination to kick back in after post-con depression dragged me under like a hungry Kraken. The first draft of this post being deleted just as I hit the publish button yesterday didn't help motivate me either.

     I'm ready to talk about BronyCon now and get back to BGP after a solid week of no gamedev! Get some belated BronyCon details below!
Lots of pics with cosplayers, friends, and Baltimore landmarks.
I'll spare you the albums and just say the good times were documented.
The BGP panel had some technical hiccups.
And by some I mean every possible one.
   Completed:
  • BronyCon 2016 Panel
  • Released BGP Demo 5
  • Patched BGP Demo 5 (more fixes on the way via 5.1)
  • 2 New Songs by E^2
  • Met Multiple Random Yotes Games Fans in Person!
  • Week Long Break (vacation?)
     Lessons Learned:
  • Even when crud hits the fan, I can pull through. My game crashed on stage in the exact way my nightmares foretold, and people still enjoyed the panel because I kept a humorous tone going.
  • My personality is part of the game's appeal. Soon people will be coming to my panels for me as much as they come for my games.
       Ran into car troubles this week when good ol' reliable snapped its alternator belt. Now there's an imminent repair bill on the horizon that's likely to absorb all my FillyCon savings and take that opportunity away. Really hoping that doesn't happen, but my parents are only able to spare $200 at the moment and I literrally only have the $155 cash I saved for the hotel sitting around. From what I'm hearing this bill could be anywhere between $400 and $1,500. And the hunk-o-junk itself was only worth $5,000 when I first got it 3-4 years ago. Before countless repairs.

     Aside from that mess, other life events lately include attending a wedding with friends, finally trying out Overwatch and Pokemon Go like the rest of my generation, and relaxing with my girlfriend at her apartment (alone together in a home of our own at last, just to see what its like).
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   Downloads:


     Is that a post-con spike? Could be bigger, but I didn't try to make much of a splash after the panel since I was spiralling into a mad inner darkness for the rest of that day. The day after I was feeling better though and actually believing people who told me the panel was good. (When you hear that at first it's like, "Of course you'd say that to be nice. But I know it was bad!")

    Featured:


     We get onstage and find out that it's not a Mac-compatible projector setup. The firebolt to HDMI cable I purchased just for emergencies like this proved useless. We had to quickly transfer the presentation files and game build over to an old looking Windows 7 laptop as people are taking their seats. I can feel the back of my head about to explode as my confidence and energy flees my body like a bat outta hell.

     Technical derpages right out the gate seriously threw me off. Everything I had rehearsed was thrown out the Window. Things went from hype to awkward and I did everything in my power to stay cool and not look like I wanted to cry. Despite everything going hazy as the event I had planned for a year crumbled around me, I was apparently still charismatic and entertaining. People looked past the bugs and saw potential. I started the Q&A early and people were eager to find out more about the vision of the project and where it's going instead of where it is... But you can read more about that panel experience this Friday.
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Just a portion of my BronyCon Bros & Brolettes.
     I barely went to any panels this con. Most of the time was spent hanging with friends I only get to see once a year and wandering the convention center in search of food, brohoofs, cosplayers, vendor hall goods, and new people to party with. I had exponentially more fun being a roaming free spirit than going by the book so I think this is how I'll do cons from now on.

     We got into all kinds of shenanigans and funny celebrity encounters. Wherever we went we brought the Pinkie Pie party energy with us. Whether it was the Gala, the palooza, or just us sitting together at a panel, the good vibes were flowing and were seriously contagious. If this is what a friendship-centered convention is like, I need at least 8 more in my life every single year.

Here's to making even greater memories next year!

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