ISSUE 043

Hi everyone,

It’s been a long while since the last letter, hasn’t it. I’m not bringing the newsletter out of hiatus just yet, but with a new year rolling around, I thought I’d do a look back at the last one.
As you can see, the highlight was probably that we finished the garden shed. Well, Master Builder did, anyway. All I did, was coat the wooden structure underneath and seal all the seams against wind and water.
Ignore the wooden sticks, they’re marking where we’re putting in a stone path. Hence the pile of cobble stones in the bushes.

# Vacations #

We spent a nice week or so in Croatia in the summer. Zadar was absolutely lovely, so we have no shortage of photos. I if could make any recommendation though, maybe don’t go in the middle of July. We landed right in the middle of a heat wave.

There was also a visit to Vienna by night train. I can’t say I slept all that well but it was a unique and pretty cool experience spending 10+ hours in those creaky wagons.
Vienna itself was busy and bustling. No Game Boy Camera pictures this time, I walked around with my Lumix GX80 (or GX85, if you’re in the US).
This one’s my favorite photograph of the trip.

# Made #

I finished a few new things this year. There was a second book of Game Boy Camera photos. Comparing with the first one, I think I improved a lot. Better photos overall but also, in playing around with the layout, I’m getting a better sense of what I can do with the pictures themselves.

I sell these books online now as well. Made a new store for it and all.
Check out the InfiniTeaCabinet.

I didn’t release a new game this year, but I made a bunch of updates. Biggest of all, was adding music and also Game Boy Printer functionality. Then I made a limited edition release on an actual Game Boy cartridge.
These things are pricey to make, so there’s a lot of DIY involved to keep production affordable. Making 20 copies was the sweet spot: enough to have some stock, while having a manageable price without breaking the bank if they don’t all sell out.

There’s still a few in the store but it’s still free to play online and still downloadable for a small fee.

Printer test – the Empire of Dreams – YouTube

# Done #

In August, I had a table at an illustration convention. For the occasion, I made a giant cardboard Game Boy (from 2 shoe boxes). It has an Android tablet inside of it running my game and you can control it using a controller.
It had been years since I attended events like this and I got to meet a some new and some familiar artists.
Not sure yet if I’ll try to go back next year. As fun as it is being around creative folk, my work isn’t really ‘illustration’ and never really fit the mold of typical ‘indie artist’ work on display at this type of place. Even less so with my pixel-based work.

# Retro corner #

Of course I got one more typewriter. This machine is perhaps the thinnest travel typewriter ever made. In the open position, you can slide the machine out and fold it into the bottom, creating its own case.

# Closing thoughts #

Last year was also the year my grandmother passed away. Like most families, mine is one of complex relationships and to be honest, a lot of hidden resentment and trauma. But the past couple of years, the older generation has started to acknowledge these things and dealing with it in a better way. My grandmother was very well-loved and a strong character, who taught me wood sculpting and taught all of us to not give a shit about what people think or say about you or anyone else. She was, ultimately, brilliant.

Hope you all had a good start of the new year, or if you didn’t, some good things to look forward to.