Goals for the New Year!

Wow. wowowowowowow.
A whole other year has passed. I feel like it went by so quickly, but I also grew so much as a person. At the same time, I'm glad I sort of get to have this milestone to say the whole ordeal is over and done with, and I can have a great  NEW year to look forward to!

Before I do that, though, I wanted to take a moment to review my past year's goals and see how many I accomplished--oh yes, I've never forgotten about them! I've been very persistent and always kept them in the back of my mind. I guess you could say I've gamified my year! So, let's take a look at what I did.

 Tess's 12 New Year's resolutions

1. Go to a convention! - I certainly did go to a convention; as a matter of fact, I went to three! I went to GDC, Comic Con, and Indiecade!
2. Win a contest - Alas, I did enter a couple of contests and participated in some game jams, but I'm afraid I didn't get any prize except for the pleasure of having experienced them. Maybe next year!
3. Play a video game with a complete stranger and have a blast - Oh, that goal was DEFINITELY accomplished. Given my social difficulties I thought this was a hard one, but I found out with the right video game just about any group of strangers can play together!
4. Learn to program in one language - This was a toughie--admittedly, I didn't get to do it in time, but I am starting to take good strides in ActionScript3. With luck I'll be a pro next year and I'll be able to make my own games!
5. Have at least one incredible adventure with your best friend - I don't seem to remember going on an AWESOME INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE like I'd imagined, but I've managed to keep in touch with my closest friends, and that obviously counts for something. Still, I'm leaving this one un-met until my bestie and I can reasonably compare the events of our day to a John Hughes movie!
6. Become an expert in what makes people laugh! - I've done some half-hearted research into what makes things so funny, and I've spent a lot of time listening to an analyzing some of my favorite comedians, but I've yet to really actively put this into practice. Sure I'm a fairly funny gal, but I'll not rest until I can give someone a HEART ATTACK!
7. Play 12 iconic games - Let's see, in retrospect it's hard to decide whether or not the games I played were "iconic", but I definitely played a good couple handfuls of classic titled at GDC, and I've played a bunch of popular but more recent games. I'm going to call this one accomplished, because I'd say in this one year my breadth of video game experiences has really shot WAY up!
8. Learn some new software - I did learn new software! I've taken some classes at my school that got me into 3DS Max and over the summer I had fun building some interactive fictions with Twine.
9. Meet someone famous - I met lots of my Video Game idols at Indiecade and GDC. I got to listen to their talks and some of them even signed my sketchbook!
10. Join a group that games together regularly - Alas, I joined a small gaming group towards the beginning of the year but the club dissolved later on. Looks like I'll have to give this one another go.
11. Get rid of your gross acne - This year was riddled with stress and fatty foods. In short, not a chance.
12. Post on this blog regularly! - I don't know about you, but I'd say I did all right! According to my records, I posted approximately twice a month for a total of nearly 27 entries. And next year, I intend to write even more!

So the final Tally is..... 6/12. My, my! Not too bad, but we can certainly do better, I think. So it's time to draw up a list of next year's goals

Tess's 12 Goals for 2014

1.  Learn a new language - any 'ol language. Programming or spoken!
2.  Participate in 3 Game Jams
3.  Finish a whole game!
4. Write a song - why not? I've always wanted to do it, and it'd be a good way to flex my dormant musical muscles!
5. Read 5 whole books! - If they're about game design, of course do a write-up!
6.  Have an awesome incredible adventure with your best friend - such a good one, I'm bringing it back for another year!
7. Seriously, get rid of your gross acne - so gross.
8. Win a contest or be featured at some video game/art event! -  it's important to get your work out there!
9. Get 100 new followers on your YouTube Channel!
10. Play 5 classic games and 5 new indie games!
11. Fill up a whole sketchbook - never forget your traditional media roots.
12. And finally, keep posting regularly on this blog!

Games I Played at Indiecade: Mainichi and Dominque Pamplemousse

Oh dear, I've written so much on these two games! To be honest, I spent days proofreading and checking and re-writing this single post, simply because of the weight of the subject matter. I always find it difficult talking about serious subjects like this with any sort of directness, but I've learned in my recent writing that by being honest and open to discussion, and I can take a much firmer stance than in some of my earlier, more lighthearted entries. With any luck though, I'll be able to breeze through future posts so I can finally get caught up for the new year!

I consider myself a fairly informed, liberal kind of gal. Marriage equality, pro-choice, education over prohibition, that sort of thing. I thought I knew what my stance was on most of the aspects I interacted with in modern life. But then I came across something I hadn't experienced very extensively before, and I feel a new chapter of my life was opened up.

I'm talking about queer representation in videogames.

Ugh. Writing is hard.

I've got a backlog of about 4 or 5 drafts of things I wanted to write about but never got around to and then kind of just forgot about. Now that I have some free time, I'd like to put those up. But nnnggg. Laziness....taking....over!

Keep tuned, I guess.