2023–2024
Looking back at
As much as it is a cliché, what a year, in private as well as professional. My daughter had her second birthday this year, and seeing her grow, start to speak, and develop fantasy and imagination was unbelievable. My wife also made a huge decision this year, going self-employed starting her own business, and I couldn't be more excited for her.
We also moved inside Sweden, from Västerhaninge to Bruzaholm, a small place in Småland. It is a wonderful little house we rent here, with nature outside our doorstep.
In May, I celebrated working a year in games at King (ABK), which has now been bought by Microsoft. I have an amazing time with my team, mainly because they're all the most knowledgeable and fun people you can have as colleagues. Besides, I get all the support from King I could wish for my day-to-day work as well as my personal development.
Diving deeper into C++
One of my goals for the last few years has been to really learn C++, and this year I could really apply my knowledge. At work as well as on open source projects, I was able to do at least some C++ work every week, learning something new. I really want to keep that pace for , diving ever so deeply into the language and ecosystem.
I also worked a lot with CMake and its bundled tools like CTest and CPack, extended my C++ GUI application starter template with a lot more features, started working on a better cross-platform tool set, and created a few articles around CMake and CPack I'm rather fond of.
So much more 3D
Another goal I have had for a couple of years now is to "learn 3D", or more specifically, tools to create. In the middle of the year, I set myself the challenge of creating something in Blender every week for a year. When the year is over, I will make a new article showing what I have and how the challenge went for me.
But besides that challenge, I learned even more: I started working on a complex spaceship, including its interior, texturing, animations, VFX, sound, and more. A humongous project, yes, but one I chip away at piece by piece, no time pressure, happy I can create something complex like this.
With Lua to the moon
If I really learned something this year, it was Lua, and I love it. I used and knew it already somewhat, but this year I went deep and started a whole article series about it, going into a lot of aspects of the language and ecosystem.
Creating a world: Alsafi
Alsafi, the name I gave the fictional, retro-futuristic sci-fi world I'm creating. This year I started the project that had been in my head for a long time with scattered notes and ideas everywhere, and I am working on bringing everything together in regard to the world building.
The current plan is a massive one: a book, a game, and a short film. Reading this, I still think I'm probably taking on too much, but hey, I won't stop myself. I'm already rather far with the book; I'm in preproduction for the game with concepts, working on the story, and I know where the short film will tie in with a rough story outline. All three media will be standalone, but together they tell a larger story in the world of Alsafi.
My love for books
Continuing a trend from last year, I've read a lot. I love my books, I love all the books, to be honest. I've got myself some nice technical books, to name only a few, like Hypermedia Systems and The Mythical Man-Month. My new Ada as a Second Language book is going next to the COBOL by Daniel D. McCracken because I have a thing for old languages. But I also read all The Expanse books — an amazing sci-fi series. I continued reading The Wheel of Time, went through The Three Body Problem, and had quite a good time with A History of What Comes Next.
What I played this year
I love video games; I've played a bunch of them. I won't rank any, I only want to mention some of those I played in .
Dead Space Remake
I waited quite a bit for this one, loving the original. I watched the developer video log about the development and was super excited about the release; it did not disappoint. It captured all I love about the original, not changing too much, rather improving on aspects and even adding some extra lore and things to discover.
Tunic
I did not expect what Tunic gave me. The cute Zelda-like game with the little fox I wanted to quickly play became one of my highlights from . Deep with lore, great combat, challenging puzzles, and even a whole language to deceive, this is a must-play that I can wholeheartedly recommend.
Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores
Burning Shores is the DLC for one of my favourite games of , Horizon: Forbidden West. I loved it, even if it was not all I was hoping for. The new characters are amazing, the development of Aloy, the dynamic with Seyka, and the final battle — wow. Nevertheless, even if it looks stunning, the map area of the DLC was not what I would have hoped for and felt somewhat empty in parts, or at least did not give me the insensitive to explore much.
Alien: Isolation
I will use every chance to mention this horrifically delightful game, which will be 10 years old in . I kind of play it at least once per year, between watching Alien and Aliens, and last year was no exception. Though, in , I finally got the Platinum on my PlayStation, I played it a couple of times more. And I'll probably play it again , what a great game!
The Witcher 3
For some reason, I felt like I needed to play The Witcher 3 again, enhanced edition, with all the DLC. And even after all this time, it is such a good game. A truly astonishing one I played for the nth-time again, triggering the fact that I had to re-read all the books again. No regrets.
Cyberpunk 2077 - Phantom Liberty
I already said it in my last year's retrospective that I cannot wait to play the Cyberpunk 2077 expansion, Phantom Liberty. I love Cyberpunk 2077, it is literally my favourite game from CD Project, even over The Witcher 3. Yes, I know. And I finally played the expansion.
What the heck, that damn expansion made me tear, laugh, and even dream about it. It was more than I was ever hoping for with an expansion of the base game. It had everything, world-class writing, music, and gameplay. The story blew me away and tied me to my controller the whole time. I would like to forget everything, so I can experience it again. The main theme song is one I can listen to all the time, stuck in my head.
Alan Wake 2
My game of the year . Even though I'm not super happy with the ending — the new game plus made it that much better — Alan Wake 2 was brilliant. Everything felt so polished — the writing, gameplay, and graphics. The soundtrack is unbelievable, thinking about the mid-game musical I felt part of or the chapter songs I have to now listen to again and again. That game Remedy made fully immersed me in its world.
So much that I had to replay Control again right after playing Alan Wake 2, because I needed more of that type of game. And after Control, I also played Quantum Brake again, even if it is quite different from the other two.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Almost wrapping up the year, I played Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice on Xbox. Even though it came out in , I only played it now with little expectations. The world and story told about Senua and her struggle deeply touched me. I was much more sucked into it than I expected when I started the game I randomly saw on Game Pass. Now I'm looking forward to the second part, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2.
My past goals
It is funny now for me to look back at the last New Year's article and the goals I was setting myself. I thought I would do much worse, or rather less, but there were only two goals I did not reach: learning Unreal Engine and releasing Litr version 1. And, to be honest, I'm fine with that.
Instead of learning Unreal Engine, I started learning Godot and had a lot of fun with it, even if I'm not a big fan of GDScript. And Litr version 1 did not happen, as I focused on other learning areas. Not that I abandoned Litr, the opposite; I started working on it again with a clear goal and even more ideas; though I did not prioritise it in as the current version already did what I needed it to do.
Onwards to
Again, no predictions, only goals for the new year I hope to achieve.
1. Having fun
I will keep that one as number one. Having fun, learning something new, and prioritising my and my family's well-being. There's no need to get burned out over anything.
2. Alsafi
This is a big one for me. I want to get the book I'm writing into a good shape and at least start with the game. Also, there is the website alsafi.world, which I have been preparing for a while now, telling about the world, places, people, events, and more.
3. Keep on keeping on 3D
With all the 3D I did in and even more I want to do in , I also want to publish a portfolio with my works. Sure, I'm not a professional, but I love doing 3D, and I have some stuff I'm kind of proud of, so why not show it?
4. Litr version 1
This year it'll happen, I'm sure. But for real, I have a plan and want to connect Litr version 1 to my C++ and Lua learnings.
5. Blogging
With every article I write, I try to focus on quality over quantity. I do not publish often — roughly once per month — but I love what I publish. And I want to keep that: Focusing on what I like about my articles, making them the kind of content I like to consume.
6. Surprising myself
Same as last year, who knows what brings? Maybe I change plans, or find something new that captures my imagination, I cannot predict the future. Whatever will happen, I want good, fun, intense, happy, intriguing, positive, exciting, lovely, exceptional, marvellous, surprising, … moments in .
Until then 👋🏻