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Great article. The last few years I've started making arthouse games which I create for myself, but release for others to enjoy. I don't seek out profit or crea

Great article. The last few years I've started making arthouse games which I create for myself, but release for others to enjoy. I don't seek out profit or create for consumers. Many people have sent me messages about how my games have moved them emotionally and how they didn't know games like this could be made. It's been really fulfilling. Part of this creative process was to shift my mind to less of a mindless consumption mode. I'm not against consumption. It takes inspiration to make great things. Consuming like an artist is what led me to the projects I make and the motivation to complete them. Going to museums, art exhibitions, independent cinema theatres, documentaries, long form essays and videos on fascinating subjects. I still consume, but I make sure to consume high quality content. Your life is informed by what you view. But make sure to get a dose of some low brow content too. Not everything needs to be serious. But the serious stuff definitely affects my creative life for the better way more.

rkachowski 3y ago
That sounds very interesting, do you have any links to these?
- famahar 3y ago
  Thank you. I host all my games on itch.io. It's a friendly community that's generally into more alternative approaches to game design. https://farfama.itch.io/ https://farfama.itch.io/
  - TooGhosty 3y ago
    I really love the aesthetic of your games. Would you mind sharing what tools you use to create them? I've been interested in spending more time on game development as a hobby recently.
    - famahar 3y ago
      Mostly Unity3D. I've amassed a huge list of assets, shaders, plugins, vfx, and tools that have aided in my workflow. It's hard to think of all the tools I use within Unity at the top of my head. I might make a blog post one day about my workflow but for now this is a pretty good starter list to get you started: https://github.com/michidk/Unity-Script-Collection https://github.com/michidk/Unity-Script-Collection and if you need free assets, I made a blog post about creative commons resources. https://itch.io/blog/478317/life-as-a-creative-commons-indie-game-developer https://itch.io/blog/478317/life-as-a-creative-commons-indie...
    - famahar 3y ago
      By the way you may want to consider Godot as a starting engine. Not only because it's open source (so no shady business practices), but it also is focused on being specifically a game engine. Unity tries to be an everything engine and has lots of broken, bloated, and unfinished features. The simplicity of Godot adds a lot of much needed constraints to development. You're not constantly wrestling with the engine. I'm deep into Unity now but if I were to start all over I'd go with Godot.
namaria 3y ago
I appreciate what you're saying here, but I think calling going to museums and reading essays "consuming" is disingenuous. Taking in information (and being in control of what we take in) is very important, but there is very little salvageable information in commercially oriented content venues. Spending time with curated exhibits and texts written for the purpose of reflection is not 'consuming' in the context of criticizing modern consumerism and monetized media.
- famahar 3y ago
  That's true and I do agree. Hard to compare a curated piece of non-commercial media with the opposite. They offer such different experiences. "Content" made for social feeds and engagement stats is what comes to mind for me when I think specifically of commercial oriented media. Going to curated exhibitions for me even feels more like creating. I can feel new connections and creative insights being formed.
  - namaria 3y ago
    I think there's some circularity at play here. Not in a bad way, more in a strange loop kind of way. 'Consuming' information (and I'm going broad here, not in the against-consumerism definition) is also 'creating' mind models. And once you can put something out that people can consume, we are requiring people to do the same thing. There may not be a 'creation' as much as different directions in which consciousness can go about experiencing information.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  It still is consumption, but I think we can both agree that not all consumption quality is equal. Consuming adorable cat videos* are a pallete cleanser, but doesn't advance you much. Meanwhile, some muesuems can really come out and give a person a wider world view or illuminating perspective of events taken for granted, which may change a person's approach to life. *Nothing against cat videos, you can also have high quality pet content as well (e.g. learning how to take care of a cat or figuring out their wants/needs. Maybe even getting one of those word mats for a semblance of speech).

rkachowski 3y ago

That sounds very interesting, do you have any links to these?

famahar 3y ago
Thank you. I host all my games on itch.io. It's a friendly community that's generally into more alternative approaches to game design. https://farfama.itch.io/ https://farfama.itch.io/
- TooGhosty 3y ago
  I really love the aesthetic of your games. Would you mind sharing what tools you use to create them? I've been interested in spending more time on game development as a hobby recently.
  - famahar 3y ago
    Mostly Unity3D. I've amassed a huge list of assets, shaders, plugins, vfx, and tools that have aided in my workflow. It's hard to think of all the tools I use within Unity at the top of my head. I might make a blog post one day about my workflow but for now this is a pretty good starter list to get you started: https://github.com/michidk/Unity-Script-Collection https://github.com/michidk/Unity-Script-Collection and if you need free assets, I made a blog post about creative commons resources. https://itch.io/blog/478317/life-as-a-creative-commons-indie-game-developer https://itch.io/blog/478317/life-as-a-creative-commons-indie...
  - famahar 3y ago
    By the way you may want to consider Godot as a starting engine. Not only because it's open source (so no shady business practices), but it also is focused on being specifically a game engine. Unity tries to be an everything engine and has lots of broken, bloated, and unfinished features. The simplicity of Godot adds a lot of much needed constraints to development. You're not constantly wrestling with the engine. I'm deep into Unity now but if I were to start all over I'd go with Godot.

namaria 3y ago

I appreciate what you're saying here, but I think calling going to museums and reading essays "consuming" is disingenuous. Taking in information (and being in control of what we take in) is very important, but there is very little salvageable information in commercially oriented content venues. Spending time with curated exhibits and texts written for the purpose of reflection is not 'consuming' in the context of criticizing modern consumerism and monetized media.

famahar 3y ago
That's true and I do agree. Hard to compare a curated piece of non-commercial media with the opposite. They offer such different experiences. "Content" made for social feeds and engagement stats is what comes to mind for me when I think specifically of commercial oriented media. Going to curated exhibitions for me even feels more like creating. I can feel new connections and creative insights being formed.
- namaria 3y ago
  I think there's some circularity at play here. Not in a bad way, more in a strange loop kind of way. 'Consuming' information (and I'm going broad here, not in the against-consumerism definition) is also 'creating' mind models. And once you can put something out that people can consume, we are requiring people to do the same thing. There may not be a 'creation' as much as different directions in which consciousness can go about experiencing information.
johnnyanmac 3y ago
It still is consumption, but I think we can both agree that not all consumption quality is equal. Consuming adorable cat videos* are a pallete cleanser, but doesn't advance you much. Meanwhile, some muesuems can really come out and give a person a wider world view or illuminating perspective of events taken for granted, which may change a person's approach to life. *Nothing against cat videos, you can also have high quality pet content as well (e.g. learning how to take care of a cat or figuring out their wants/needs. Maybe even getting one of those word mats for a semblance of speech).