先简单汇报一下这一年来做了什么：踩坑。

Initially, what have happened to us this year shall be informed: chaos.

具体有两个坑，一是进度管理，二是我个人的工作节奏。

It is not much meticulous details to be apprised, just two facets: the progress management and my personal working pace.

• 迷茫的上半年 / Perplexed six months

春节在家期间，由于心里还悬着GDC这件大事，再加上游戏demo的完成度非常低，心态很糟糕。

During the Spring Festival vacation, I was filled with dread about GDC for the poor quality of our demo and it led to a horrible state of mind.

为了赶上GDC，疯狂加美术内容 / Filling art stuff for GDC

后来由于疫情原因展会取消，我一直焦虑的神经放松下来。然而，这样的放松反而导致了一系列问题。

Then due to the epidemic matter this year, the conference was suspended, which had offered me a huge relief. Meanwhile, this mental status of ease caused some problems.

由于哪儿也去不了，也不知道今年下一次重要的节点是什么，所以春节回来的两个月处于一种散漫而纷乱的状态。“时间够用”的幻觉下，我们想尽可能的多做一点内容，于是能想到的那些独特的和传统的系统都往上加。这导致了游戏虽然含有各种基础系统，但没一个是能正常使用的，bug层出不穷。就像上了一桌子的菜，仔细一看全是生的，还不如先把其中几道做好。

There was nothing to orientate us, as no one milestone leading us. This was why we were absorbed into a peculiar period. An illusion of 'Infinite time amount' had given a trend to add as much systems as we can into the game. And of cause, no one of them was well functional and without a load of bugs. I felt we were like cooks providing a table with some well-looking raw food and cannot be enjoyed. I realised we had better do several of them firstly.

除了进度规划没有做好以外，导致这种后果的原因还有我自身一个重要的坏习惯：我几乎从来不去考虑作为“游戏设计”和“美术”两个身份之间的平衡。做过3D美术的人都知道这玩意有多磨人，基本上你一天只要投入进去几小时，之后就累得只想躺下撸猫了。除此之外我还负责着游戏的动画、特效、甚至shader的制作。

Except the lame will of qualifying, a serious custom of myself was significant: I barely carefully consider the balance between the two vocation as a 'designer' and an 'Artist'. The 3D art making is really frustrating as many people knows. Basically, you work on it for several hours and then all you want to do is reclining on your cat. Furthermore, I was in charge of the animations, effects and shaders creation.

有一说一，做 shader 还是挺好玩的 / To be honest, it is delightful making shaders

之前我一直看到不少独立游戏人一人身兼多重身份的故事，就以为自己也能完全驾驭，但后来发现这也是需要技巧来平衡的，“游戏设计”的比重必须占据主导，不然别的做的再好也会崩。之前虽然也考虑到这一点，但是做美术真的太累了，很多时候程序小伙伴跟我说某个功能做好了让我看一下，我都要先忙完手里的美术活，缓一会，然后再疲惫地去检查。这导致速率下降的同时，对于质量控制也没法保障。

I had used to hear about many indie creators doing multifarious jobs all alone, and I deemed I could be one of them. However, I missed the necessary tricks to perform a balance. 'Game Design' needs to be dominant of all the aspects to avoid the crash of the whole system. Actually, this had been concerned a bit, contrarily art working was really toiling. Sometimes a programmer noticed me to check something, I had to complete a phase of art work, took a break, and then gave a glimpse with exhaustion. This did not only diminish the efficiency, but also reduce the quality control.

在夏季，隐藏的矛盾迎来了爆发点。这个爆发点来自于经济问题。之前我们工作室一直都有相对稳定的资金来源，这个来源由于疫情的原因受到了很大影响，几乎断绝。在工资都发不起的情况下支撑了两个月后，我们发现无法再支撑这个成员数量了，所以工作室又少了两个人。这时我了解到我们的开发节奏有很大问题。

All the concealed glitches outburst in summer and caused by financial problem. In fact, we used to have a stable economic source, however it was affected by the epidemic profoundly this year. After two months not able to afford the salary, the members of our studio decreased by two. Then I realised our development was full of problematic methods.

没钱了 / Penury

• 小插曲：平台跳跃游戏 / Interlude: a platformer

我暂停了自己的工作神经，开始为我们思考一个明确的未来方向。我们所有人在一起商量了几天，之后我们拿出一个临时方案：先做另一款游戏。

I loosened the rolling work nerves, and commenced to draw a new orientation for us. All of us took a discuss for several days and a temporary plan was provided: make another game firstly.

众所周知，“银河恶魔城”游戏需要的工作量是惊人的，尤其是对于我们这种小团队来说，每一步都充满挑战。所以我们想先做出另一款非常小的同一世界观的外传，类型是平台跳跃+解谜。这种系统简单的游戏，我们觉得应该能尽快完成，上线回血。

It is acknowledged that creating a 'Metroidvania' game is laborious, especially for the tiny team as we are. And every single step is challenging. So the plan was to make a small game acting as a side episode sharing the same world of our main game. It should be a platformer and puzzle game. This kind of game with simple systems, as we estimated, could be finished quickly and earn the money we required.

两个多月后，demo做出来了，质量很不怎么样，我心里有数，我们确实太缺乏经验了。但是我还是把它在承诺的时间发给了熟悉的圈内人，因为我告诉自己，必须让我们的工作节奏回归正轨。回归的第一步，就是一切都要按计划来，每一步都在承诺的时间点上。就算被差评，那也是一个demo的正常情况（我们让朋友们尽情吐槽，他们也确实喷得够狠的）。但是，我们宁愿被吐槽也要让游戏在承诺的时间进入该有的环节。此外，其他人的眼光查看一下我们的游戏，这样能让我们的工作与工作室外的环境得到更多联系，为游戏注入更多的生命。要说这段制作demo的经历给我们最宝贵的经验，就是准备万全的时候很少，有时硬着头皮上也是有好处的。

Two months later, we had a demo. The quality was terrible and I knew it. There was a fact I totally admit that we lack experience drastically. On the contrary, since we made the promise to some friends in the industry, we sent them in time. It was forcing us to the correct lane that I told myself. And the first step was forcing us to follow the schedule. Even it was criticized severely, it was what a demo meant to confront (Actually we told the friends to debunk it as hard as they can and they really did it). Basically, even got appraised negatively, we must put the progress in a proper segment in every suitable period. In addition, hearing reviews from people outside of the studio could create more connection between us and the players, and provide more life to the game. What the most precious experience making this demo brought us is we shall never keep waiting since nothing can be completely prepared.

一切都往小做 / Concentrate on a small project

• 回归计划 / Back to the lane

没想到的是，这个小游戏的制作只是一小段插曲。这个demo之后，发生了一件意想不到的事：我们接到了一个别的企业提供的合作机会，虽然不是游戏，但是一个会用到Unity的项目。这个项目持续三个月，主要由我们的主程小哥深度参与，我在一旁辅助。好处是显而易见的。首先虽然会让我们的游戏开发暂停下来，但是他们给的是真的多，目前我们已经把之前欠下的工资和物业费全补上了。然后它让我恢复了一个健康的创作状态。现在这个项目已经过去了一半，在这个期间，我结束了之前跃进式的工作状态，开始控制自己的创作节奏，按照计划地看书、看电影、玩游戏（没错，之前几乎连玩游戏的时间和精力都没有）。同时我也在规划明年恢复开发后的工作内容。

Surprisingly, the side project merely lasts a short range of time. After finishing that demo, we suddenly received a cooperation job offered by another company. It was not a game projection, although the Unity Engine would be applied. Our programmer works profoundly in it and I am performing assistance all the time. This experience is quite beneficial. Firstly, we were paid well, all the unpaid wage and the office rend has been solved. Additionally, I found a healthy creating method is coming back to me. Now the time era of the outsourcing job has passed a half, and during this period I began to read, watch films, and play games in a personal plan (I even did not possess enough time and energy to play games before). Also, I am configuring the work progress when we get back to game development next year.

明年的计划如下。

Here is the plan for next year.

第一：恢复之前主游戏的开发。虽然中间的平台解谜小游戏开发起来确实更容易，但有个问题，就是总体工作内容不确定。只是确定了大概的关卡数量和设计方向，但是细节处仍然由很多变数无法把控。相较之下，之前的这个银河城游戏demo还需要多少内容已经非常确定，剩下的只是体力活。所以只需要商量一下计划，就能平稳地进行开发了。只需要确定一点：demo的内容可以三个月内做完。并且这个过程中我一定会经常提醒自己，多做减法。

Firstly, the main game development will be resumed. Of cause the tiny platformer was easier to create, however the whole project contained too much uncertain work. On the other hand, the main metroidvania game demo only remains limit content to make and less risky. All we need to amend is some discussion about the plan and it should continue smoothly. There is one thing we can promise: three months is enough to finish the demo. Also, during the progress, I would keep myself perceiving the importance of keeping the system laconic.

第二：在年末的进账后，我准备至少再吸纳一名美术，平衡我的工作量。最近这段时间的阅读和学习让我了解到，整体让自己深陷美术工作中，不是一个健康的游戏设计方式。这段时间读了一些书，其中《游戏设计艺术》让我受益非常大，之后我会分享一下心得。

Additionally, while we have more budget next year, a new artist would be hired to share some of my jobs. After the previous reading and studying time range, I come to realise it was unhealthy to dive myself into too much art working as a game director. Among the read books, The Art of Game Design really gave me considerable avail and rebuilt my mind. And I will share my feelings about it later.

好书，准备二刷 / A fabulous book deserves read multiple times

自己做游戏真的不是一件容易的事，不光是一腔热血就能做好的，不间断的学习和找到正确方法也同等重要。在一年多的迷茫后，我们似乎终于找到了属于自己的节奏，希望接下来一切顺利。

It is such a strive to be an indie creator, only passion is quite not enough to make it good. Continuously studying and amending methods is also vital. After the confuse status lasting months, we seemed finally find the suitable tempo. I really hope everything can go well from now on.