Hello everyone, hope you’re having a wonderful break-into-spring! With the calming sensations of below 0C freezing in one half of the day, and tropical summer 20C the next half, how couldn’t you!?
I can admit that I could barely keep up with everything that has gone on this very active March. Lets tune in and see what the present day Gaian remembers about this past Month!
A month of bwhalagrawragrrr, if you know what I mean.
It’s been a hard one to quantify because so much has happened but so much of that isn’t really showable. Enjoy some concept art for Awakened Guardian by Catherine Dubois in the mean time.
For most of it I was flying off the seat of my pants in a mad dash to get a grip on it all. That being said, it has been one of the most momentous months since we started revving Genome Studios back up at the beginning of the year!
First Application Draft
Starting early in the month I’ve been tasked with a deadline to begin on the first draft pass of our CMF application. If you were around GS in October, you’ll have known that we JUST missed the closing window for a project application by an evening. But, with that hurdle crossed, I’ve spent the first quarter of 2024 preparing the business to dive on that opening window first thing.
With the help of an investment group behind us, we’re becoming even more honed to succeeding than ever before. Not only through the guidance and insight that they give, which has been utterly invaluable. But in proving to me that the work I have been doing as Director of Genome Studios has gotten to a strong place, in that groups are starting to recognize Genome Studios, and myself, as valid professional entities, and want to back us. Very exciting times, and we’re only getting started.
Rallying Call for a Team
An intense, and intriguing, development of all this mobilization has been that I now need to actually look into bringing a team together to follow through on my promised application plans. Great indicators that I’m in a very good place, but equally intimidating, because this means I am now rallying people to depend on my employment. And like we are seeing all around in the tech industry, that’s a highly trusted relationship that can be traumatizing and utterly shattering when handled without care.
Likewise, the mobilization I had to take in building up this team, has been completely on the back that while I have a good chance… I ‘only’ have a chance. So what I promise is only a mirage of a true way that life will manifest… but, as much as I hold confidence in anything, it can vanish away as you find yourself on the ‘real’ path of reality. Say missing a submission deadline by an evening.
“So do you want to maybe work with Genome Studios? I’d choose you if I get to pick.” becomes the pitch. Always the flaky promises, indie bootstrapping is. But I’ve learned from a long line of lessons that you have to be able to confidently offer value, despite those shifting grounds. In the past it was honorariums. The few hundred bucks I had a month for spending, used to at least honour a persons contribution of time and effort. Now it becomes a salaried work time over 1-4 work days a week! Things have certainly begun to shape up. Though those honorariums were under my control at the time.
Now the real reason I brought this topic up in particular, and it makes me want to weep.
I have long time colleagues rallying to my call! I can’t believe it, but I have people who excel in their fields of work, ready to take a bite out of the industry through our joint effort in Genome Studios productions! Ready to stomach this gruesome application wait, along with the uncertain availability of their position.
I have nearly filled the entire roster, and am on my way to filling the final roles with some new recruits, also willing to back me all the same. Something I never dreamed I’d find myself being able to do before!
A Theme of Reflection in Current VLOGS
So I wanted to break off from this main plot to also mention an ongoing theme that we’re already seeing show up in this review. The past handful of vlogs being recorded for GS_Infinite, sorry backers for the delay in posting, have covered a larger theme than any one part: Gaian, and Genome Studios, are starting to actually play on the game board. These are the first steps Genome Studios is taking on its own in the domain of being a Creative Media Studio Business. With tones of things culminating over time; Renewed views of long time philosophies and extending them with new modern insights; long time plans and aspirations once aimed at the future now immediate and present. Not only am I trying to sell you on our Genome Infinite subscription, but frame how things are “getting real”. All pointed to some really cool happenings coming in the future! What they’ll be, no one knows!
Crunch, A Strong Lesson in Time Management.
Uh oh. Genome Studios and crunch? Yeah, so this is an admission of my real mis calculation of the sheer needs of an application in the prototyping stage. I gave myself time to get through the bulk of the application, while juggling some other hats needed throughout the weeks. “No one will do it if I don’t” I’d say. But in doing so. I ate into the revision time of bouncing it off my consult, and other colleagues for input. Not only that, but the ‘draft’ I thought I was aiming for was not the same ‘draft’ needed. One being the scaffolding to refine into a solid version of the final for revision. While the other being the solid version of the final for revision… woops!
So I ended up having to crack the whip, and tighten plans on the final trajectory week to our draft deadline. A tough and thorough delve into it morning, noon, and night. Something that would have been wonderful to be doing over mornings, noons, and nights, instead. But what we brought out was a very decently coalesced version of everything hanging in the raw before.
It cost me though, everything has it’s toll, and thankfully, I had a long weekend to act as the crash pad. But the sheer exhaustion and time to rebound it took to start getting back to you today was enormous. That’s the plaque of burnout, from only one lone push for a week, made so abundantly clear.
This is that serious call to action for myself as Producer/Director to not take this lightly, and even though I gave myself ample space, to make it ample space squared instead. To factor new information coming in hot whenever it does.
A Reminder of Genome Studios Vision
I think this is a good time to reflect on Genome Studios vision for what it means to be in such a high performance industry such as creative production.
Above all else, we strive to be a Human company. Understanding the constraints of what it means to be a living being struggling to survive in the rapids of our time stream, all with our own challenges as well. We definitely believe as an entrepreneurial body that healthy, happy, developers can be a profitable business model; but more importantly, we believe that you can’t really consider yourself a successful business if you are not laying the foundation for providing a healthy standard of living to those that enable the studios success in the first place.
Through seeking out this vision, in all our budding plans and opportunities, we’ve pledged to work on a shared studio salary, and a scaling number of “days per week” committed to studio work up to a maximum of a 4 day work week. A compensation structure that allows us to recognize the strong efforts of our full time staff, while still allowing lower hour staff a chance to contribute to professional studio production anyways. A gate that has kept many passionate creatives from ever being able to pursue their dreams professionally.
Steady As She Goes!
So with everything in stock, I believe a lot of the work that needs to be going on is simply staying the course: Perceptive signs say things are manifesting at an accelerated rate if I keep refining this direction, tangible signs are reflecting the same. Steady work and progression will be key, with strong way finding to pivot at the most optimal times with the least waste and pain. And a cautious eye about timelines and getting ahead of them before they become something that drives the creation of burnout in ourselves.
Last Notes!
I also wanted to announce that I am being onboarded into being a Voluntary O3DF Community Manager for the O3DE discord, as well as Ambassador in the many things I do actively in the communities I frequent. This is largely due to the fact I was basically already doing it, but is now being made legitimate, which is cool!
Hope to join you all in the democratic process of growing an open source project “beholden to no-one” in this wild west of game engine development and use!
If you didn’t know, I’ve also been trying to gather what I learn in the process of understanding the engine into O3DE Intensives. A free resource I’m contributing the community to hopefully get everyone up and started as fast as possible!
Till next month!
Concept Art for Awakened Guardian by Catherine Dubois.