Ludomancy

I’ll spend next week in Barcelona, Spain, to attend Gameloft’s Annual Production Meeting. I’ve spent already two years working there since the inception of the studio, and more than one as the studio programming lead.

During the peaks and valleys produced by the happenings at work, it’s lately been a peak and tons of work have been coming my way which leaves my with few energy left to devote to Selbst, the experiment I am working right now, and Ludomancy.

I had a day job in programming all my life, and so far I’ve enjoyed those jobs even during the tough times. But I never felt satisfied by doing only that, and managed to work on other stuff during my spare time. Ludomancy and experimental games are an example.

But as time passes, having these spare time jobs gets harder and harder, and it’s not just because my body is getting older, but my will to put up the extra work wanes too. I’m starting to feel my hobbies as a grind instead of enjoying them. I think I might be going through a classic “identity crisis” (Being almost 30 is helping).

Whenever I find myself getting stuck I start looking for a change in some aspect of my life. Lately I’ve been feeling that I should get more in touch with art and artists outside the gamedev industry, and that’s what I’ve started doing since…this week.

This trip to Barcelona might give me something new too.

I’ll eventually be able to find out where my playful attitude has gone lately. And when I change, expect Ludomancy to resound with those changes too.