Thread by @logosimian

I have finished Alphabeasts. That means I am between projects. An exciting time, but it's time for me to pick one and go all in on it.

Also, use my book to teach your kid the Alphabet.

Now it's thinking out loud on Twitter time!

https://twitter.com/logosimian/status/1162439036373536768

There are easily a dozen cool things I want to make, all of them worthy. The trouble is, which to do next.

Once I make a commitment to one, I don't stop, even if it turns out to be suboptimal. An artistic spirit is also often a flaky spirit, and so this is how it has to be.

So how shall I sort the projects?
-> It must be meaningful. I don't want to regret finishing it even if it turns out to be a dud.
-> Shorter is better. If I can finish it in a month, I can flit on to the next thing like a butterfly. I also learn and improve faster this way.

-> If it has the potential to make some money, I can finish more projects before I die. Not that I'm letting death stop me, but using necromancy to get at the comics I make in Heaven is verboten.
-> If it serves to strengthen and build up other families, that's just about ideal.

Top project contender list!

8 Lives Left: top down Zelda-style brawler, designed to serve as a foundation for making more complex games

A joke game about a cat getting revenge for his own murder. Full of gag weapons like the "Fan Club" and enemies like "Infant trees".

Meaning: only as a stepping stone to greater games.
Length: 1.5 years to make
Profit: Large potential, but not stable
Helps families: No, just fun cartoon violence.

Wren Valen the Flying Privateer. Steampunk novella, already written, just needs to be rewritten. My wife's favorite of my works. A pixie girl works as a privateer collecting bounties on sky pirates as she reminisces on the path that led her to her current adventure.

Meaning: Medium.
Time: < 1 Month. May want to crowdfund it so I can hire @BrianNiemeier to bleed all over the text.
Profit: Not much by itself, quite a bit if I go the Pulp rev route.
Helps Families: Not especially.

@BrianNiemeier Jump into Shapes!
A fun book about basic shapes with a running gag about swords. Test case for making kids' books using low-poly 3D as a basis, and sets up models for a later, Tortoise and the Hare retelling. Priming the pump for doing kids' books at pulp speed.

Meaning: Medium. Means to an end, but fun.
Time: < 1 Month.
Profit: Hahah, no. But again, there's some upside in the long game here.
Helps families: You can get better books to teach your kid for cheaper from Walmart, but this one has swords in it!

Hat Trick:
An episodic comic book about a dark magician bunny. The epic story that has been haunting my dreams for the last ten years. Probably the best, most beautiful story I have to tell at the moment.

Meaning: Oh, yeah, baby!
Time: this is going to be a 5-10 year project whenever I finally pull the trigger, but it can be done in installments.
Money: This is easily as good as Ninja Turtles, so it's a question of my hustle and God's providence.
Pro-Family: Oh yeah.

Caveat on Hat Trick: I don't think I have the chops to do this justice yet. This is not the normal artist thing of being down on yourself; I am quite confident in my skill and the quality of my output. But some of my projects may be beyond me for the moment.

Pixel Art Kids' Cartoon
Pic only tangentally related, since it's set in the same universe and showcases the tech of that universe.

Some kids get the ability to summon power armor from the aether. They and their family have adventures. Animated using a game engine.

Meaning: Medium to high.
Time: ≈2 months, month and a half.
Money: No clue. It would be patron-backed, and right now my audience is tiny, but...
Family Friendly: The Berenstain Bears except awesome and pro-dad. And also there's monsters and swords.

Caveat on this one: I'm planning on doing this anyway as a book series. That would be kickstarted eventually, and Jump into Shapes serves as the first step on that journey. But @RawleNyanziFTL has me thinking it would be a good pixel art cartoon.

@RawleNyanziFTL Now, the question is not which project I'm going to make. I'm going to do most or all of these some day. I'm Christian, so death cannot stop me, only Jesus (and frankly, if He tells me to drop a project in Heaven, we can assume he has something even better for me.)

The question is which should I do first. Or rather, which should I do next.

I am open to advice. Thoughts, preferences, reasoning.
You will note that all of these are suitable for children with the possible exceptions of 8 Lives Left.

https://twitter.com/AmericanDan1776/status/1162733286537486342

Oh! Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid
Told in epic poem form with paintings.

"Many steeples stacked from the ground below
Could not reach from the depths to the sun’s warm glow
Nor cable could fathom the liquid gloam
From the Sea King’s roof to the Sea King’s throne."

Meaning: Medium high.
Time: 2-3 months
Profit: Not much, but I may get an outrage boost from the Devil Mouse's shenanigans
Pro Family: Oh, heck yeah!

Gotta do my day job now. Talk amongst yourselves. Let me know what you think and why. I am your humble jester.

A couple of points that I didn't bring up, but which affect the judgement, that occurred as I worked.

My present day job requires 9-hour shifts and in order to ensure my attendance, I need to be at work over an hour early. That's fine; I have a laptop. But my laptop lacks the horsepower of my workstation. I can't make HD art except on my days off.

That means the kids books have got constraints I didn't have to worry about when I made Jump the Shark and Alphabeasts, which is one of the reasons pixel art cartoons are suddenly attractive, as I can produce those with my potatoe on breaks.

I created a 3D model of Jump the Shark and a Tortoise. That means I can assemble Jump into Shapes even on the potato, though I'd have to render the final product on my days off.

But any other graphics-intensive product is going to take ridiculously long unless and until I:

- Get a better job
- Get a better means of transport
- or Earn enough to go to part time.