Welcome, Friends. Welcome, Enemies. Welcome, nonpartisan readers.

It is I, Joel. The one and only. The multiple and many. 

While I hope for the heft of this Blog to be related to game dev, thoughts on the game industry, and developments here on Piko Island, I have created this internet diary in order to give myself a platform to which I can spew nonsense from my brain into a written format.

But Why Tho?
Recently I have been filling my head with psychological whoo-hah, and one thing, which was said to be 'beneficial' to the human being, was writing. So, I figured I'd give it a go. I always liked writing as a youngling.
In addition, I have been introduced to this new idea of 'not being a tyrant to yourself.' The gist of it is that you shouldn't force yourself to always be working, or creating. Your mind/body/subconscious/pitiful little soul needs to be treated kindly, and rewarded for doing good things. I guess there have been studies that show decreases in general happiness, and increases in cortisol levels when humans are put through constant stress. Science and shit. Who's got time for that, tho?

I Am Doom Slayer
So, in an attempt to wring some enjoyment from life, I decided to play Doom (2016), and maybe finally beat it. It has been going well. I killed some demons, some demons killed me. In the end I felt like we came to a mutual understanding. I gave them hugs with my fists, and bullets. Rip and tear. 
Perhaps one of my favorite  features of the game was collecting those adorable little Doom Guy dolls. Their proportions are just so fantastically crafted. I really felt good about saving them from the hordes of demons on Mars and in Hell. It reminded me of when I was a child and I would try to protect my stuffed animals from the Satan Spawn which dwelled in my closet and outside of my window. I really hope whoever suggested that feature got a promotion.
Doom does a pretty good job at setting itself apart from other FPS these days. While the level design is clearly more structured as 'room to room', I was catching a lot of Halo vibes from some of the larger battles.  It almost felt as if The Flood could appear at any moment. However, towards the middle of the campaign it seems as if Doom begins to struggle with it's identity.

Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning Doom was very upfront about it's 'fuck your bullshit, I'm here to kill' approach. 2 The Doom Slayer did not think twice about destroying computers, comm terminals, etc, in his quest for blood. 3 However, at some point he becomes complacent. 4 As players, we are then forced to wait for unskippable dialogue scenes to finish. 5 Usually this wouldn't bother me, I enjoy plot to my games, but Doom had me gearing up for a slaughter fest, not story time with Wall-E.

Minor grievances aside, I have enjoyed my time with Doom. Hell is, indeed, a nice place to visit.

Piko is Still Here. Say 'Hi' Lil P.
"Grwaerll"
That's Piko saying Hi.
So, on the game dev front I have basically just been doing art for the past few weeks. Following the Rochester Mini Maker Faire, I took a week (ish?) to process some things, and really think about the future of The Ovate Order. I know the future holds great things, but I also know that it's only going to get more difficult as development continues. 
So, in order to completely block out all those negative thoughts I've been making lots of new art assets! Mama always said, you can't be sad with a wacom pen in hand! 
Happy Land got some sweet new additions (it's punny because they're candy), and I've started planning some reactor stuff, and underground mishaps.
So, yeah. Art. It's fun. I'm struggling to not post every little new thing I make. I want to share it, but I also want to leave some things to, you know, be discovered while playing the game. 

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I think that's it for this week's episode.
Like, seriously. An episode of mental instability. 
Mom's spaghetti.
Peace out ya'll.
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