GameDev: Yr.2

Prologue

Full disclosure, I never set out to be a developer. In fact, I've actively avoided the idea for over 20 years. Sure, I've been working with websites since 1996 thanks to full-time gigs at agencies, etc., but, here's the thing: I was always a marketer first, not an engineer.

Specifically, I've always been on the strategy and visuals side of the industry, with just enough coding skills to be dangerous.

In your average marketing agency, most folks leverage things like WordPress templates and page builders, tweaking from a preexisting foundation. It works but, it always left me feeling vulnerable.

Yet, even when I built Wabbit, that vulnerability was an afterthought. I'd just outsource the stuff I couldn't handle, and I'd built a fantastic remote team in Ukraine.

And then I lost contact with them.

That was the November before the invasion.

The Breaking Point

I try not to dwell on those early months of the war. The professional crisis paled against the human one. But as I worried about my team's safety, Wabbit faced an existential threat: we'd built our entire technical foundation on outsourced talent.

Now that foundation was gone.

My Past Failures

I'd tried learning programming before. Multiple times, actually. But tutorials focused on building to-do lists and accounting systems never held my attention. Each attempt ended in frustration and abandonment. I needed something different - something that would keep me engaged through the difficult fundamentals.

An Unexpected Solution

A few months before losing contact with my team, I'd started exploring game development and virtual production through tutorials. Not as a career move - just evening experiments with Unreal Engine. A creative escape from business pressures.

What followed could have been another failed attempt at learning to code. Instead, it became my salvation.

Game development demanded real programming knowledge - no templates or workarounds would suffice. But unlike previous attempts at learning to code, applying the lessons to games held my interest. Instead of managing data in abstract exercises, I was building worlds and creating interactions that excited me.

Year 1: Foundation

Throughout 2023, I built my technical skills from the ground up. I learned Unreal Engine from Stephen Ulibarri's Udemy courses, and Harvard's CS50 became my guide through computer science fundamentals. I earned two certificates there, but more importantly, I finally began understanding how software really works.

Still, I had large gaps in my understanding. Many computer science concepts still remained frustratingly abstract. Adding game development into the mix only overcomplicated things. I needed faster, bigger wins.

I needed to leverage something I already understood...

Year 2: Breakthrough

2024 brought the transformation. You're experiencing the results right now.

First, I updated my laughable HTML and CSS skills to modern standards, then began to tackle increasingly complex programming challenges. JavaScript, Python, Django, React, ThreeJS - tools that once seemed impossibly complex became daily companions.

While far from perfect, and clearly not gamified yet, this site represents tangible proof of the journey to date.

Looking Forward

In 2025, I'm shifting from learning to creating.

Yes, there's still a long way to go but, the fundamentals are in place now. The technical barriers have fallen. It's time to build the experiences I've been dreaming about.

As you've seen, I have renders, virtual production tests, gameplay prototypes, and browser-based assets in various stages of completion.

None of it is cohesive. That will change.

By the end of 2025, there will be a variety of experiences and games here. Watch this space for playable demos, etc.