So, we haven’t had a blog or social media post for a while now…

I think Brad and I reached the peak of our patience trying to keep production going and constantly make interesting or value filled posts at the same time, all the time.

Our focus is different now, we want 2017 to be AWITT’s year.
Shit’s about to get real!

Recounting our successes and … failures

Successes

• Got Serious: Officially established Pointless Button Studios as an incorporation instead of just a bunch of people with passions. Started using proper game production tools

 

• Found a team: Built our team from the ground up – even if they were not based in Toronto, Canada. We’re at a grand total of 8 people now, Story Writers, Artists and even a new programmer!

 

 

• Escaped the comfort zone: Finally stopped being scared of reaching out and connecting with people in the independent development community. It’s a friendly, magical place where people want to share their experiences, give you super handy advice and help you

 

• Realised the need for powerful, independent tools: We needed to create our own content creators, separate mini-projects which helped us create what we need in a format that can be immediately used by the game. Our writers have been very happy with our Story CC

 

 

Failures

• Did Inconsistent Work: Even with preparation and scheduling, working a full-time job(or even not, times) and trying to run a business (where we learn things every day) is not easy – there will always be unpredictable distractions like your day job, family, games! We worked hard this year but it just was not consistent enough
• Lacked Proper Organisation: So much trial and error in this department, learning how people work and what systems they respond to. Keeping track of ideas, tasks, upcoming events, changes to design and implementation and last but not least, lacking a priority-based system for literally everything
• Fell in Communication Chasms: Lack of proper minute tracking, team members making assumptions about design, vague detail keeping and making changes without a proper way to track changes caused a lot of little unnecessary arguments and headaches and twice the amount of back-tracking

New Years Resolutions

 

1. Get AWITT ready for IGF
2. Get Pointless Button Studios, funded!
3. Officially release Prison Air
4. Get more involved in indie game community events – Obliterate the comfort zone!
5. Create a wider social media footprint online
6. Doubt ourselves, LESS!

. Amina Khalique | Founder .