[p]Hey Neighbours!
Hope you’re having a great day! Release day omg wtf?
Garland is officially out of Early Access and there’s a 30% off launch discount for the first 2 weeks so go get it while it’s hot babyyyyy!
To be honest, I was never 100% sure I’d get this far so now we’re here I’m not sure what to say… being reflective usually makes me feel like throwing up, but when would be a better time than reaching a milestone like this?
![]()
[/p][p]
This is me sitting on the first map of Garland which I still have rolled up in a cupboard somewhere!
I started Garland in Jan 2020 and thought it would just be a silly little hobby. But I’ve never had much chill when setting appropriately sized goals so, like all of my silly little hobbies, things quickly spiralled into a life changing, all encompassing city.[/p][p][/p][p]
![]()
Every new dev bites off more than they can chew with their first project… but I guess I’m stubborn enough that I just kind of continued on regardless. [/p][p]
![]()
10 year old Violet her natural habitat: playing Donkey Kong on a train. The vibes have not changed tbh.
Did I scope creep myself into burn out? Yes. Did I make a lot of mistakes? Hell yes. Am I still learning and getting a little better every day? Fuck yeah I am.
[/p][p]
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
[/p][p]Above you can see me working where I did 90% of Garland: the couch. And my first play test, panel talk and live demo!
So 5.5 years in, what has Garland meant for me?
- A career and a huuuuge number of new skills?
- New lifelong friends and neighbours who I couldn’t have done this without?
- An unhealthy fear of opening my emails and new level of social anxiety?
- A million creative ways to dodge the question when friends and family give me and ask “So when do you think you’ll actually be done?”
Yes, but also the confidence that no matter what comes up in development (or life), I’ll be able to figure it out and keep going.
![]()
And yet, even with all that, somehow leaving Early Access still doesn’t feel very milestone-y? There’s still so much to do, so many features I’m planning to implement and my actual end goal: porting! It’s not… , so celebrating feels weird? And everyone has different expectations and I never want to over promise and under deliver.
So far every time I’ve hit a proper milestone with Garland, something has come up that makes it hard to celebrate. Game breaking bugs! Lockdown! Family deaths! Timezones and distance with friends! Burn out! Tech problems! Health problems! The all encompassing sinking feeling that yes I devoted a chunk of my life to this, but hard work doesn’t mean it’s actually a good game…
![]()
And if Tom Cardy has taught me anything, it’s that it’s that being in an endless loop with no pauses just ends with eating a lot of ham on stream so sometimes you need to celebrate that you cleared the damn level! (:medal: :earth_asia: :key: #inspirational)
[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p]
So after stream today I’m going to order some take away then go to sleep.
And tomorrow I’ll start again and we’ll see where this city takes us.
Continue?
>Yes
No
[/p]
