{"id":5393,"date":"2023-12-06T20:36:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T15:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/?p=5393"},"modified":"2023-12-06T20:37:19","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T15:37:19","slug":"hit-the-ground-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/","title":{"rendered":"Hit the ground running"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>So, due to life being busier than a 1 legged dude at a butt kickin&#8217; contest &#8211; I totally forgot to post about showing the game at Cleveland Gaming Classic 2023. Each year it keeps getting bigger and I LOVE that its right in my backyard. I met some amazing dev from Youngstown and was thrilled they won an award for their game <a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/2245310\/The_Secrets_Of_Hope\/\">&#8216;Secrets of Hope&#8217;\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-5393 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/20230922_185332\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20230922_185332-scaled-e1701874763266-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5398\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5398'>\n\t\t\t\tI&#8217;m always amazed at the creativity of attendees!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/20230924_144842\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20230924_144842-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5401\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5401'>\n\t\t\t\tthe coloring station was a hit!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/20230922_182645\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20230922_182645-scaled-e1701874798755-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5395\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5395'>\n\t\t\t\t1st con that had its own beer!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/20230922_122531\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20230922_122531-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5394\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5394'>\n\t\t\t\tHauling this big ol TV was exhausting\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/20230922_192945\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20230922_192945-scaled-e1701874748430-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5399\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5399'>\n\t\t\t\tlike seeing an old friend\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/20230922_183402\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20230922_183402-scaled-e1701874781926-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5397\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5397'>\n\t\t\t\tNot exactly my taste, but I kept the can\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/20230923_100547\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20230923_100547-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5400\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5400'>\n\t\t\t\tmy booth in action\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/20230924_151735\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20230924_151735-scaled-e1701874727557-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"small kid in Luigi costume playing Booper\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-5402\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-5402'>\n\t\t\t\tMy fave Booper fan!\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/20230922_183124\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/20230922_183124-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>I did meet with one of the organizers from GDEX, and they are going back to the video games only format they had when I started showing Booper. While the long haul to Columbus isn&#8217;t my favorite thing to do, hanging with my brother-in-law and seeing people from different parts of the state (and beyond) is always exciting.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Painting<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5404\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5404\" style=\"width: 242px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5404\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AB-Fam-Portrait-Final-242x300.png\" alt=\"painting of a family in a car with zoo animals\" width=\"242\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AB-Fam-Portrait-Final-242x300.png 242w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AB-Fam-Portrait-Final-825x1024.png 825w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AB-Fam-Portrait-Final-768x954.png 768w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AB-Fam-Portrait-Final-1237x1536.png 1237w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AB-Fam-Portrait-Final-1649x2048.png 1649w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/AB-Fam-Portrait-Final.png 1836w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 242px) 100vw, 242px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5404\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A commission that helped propel my game further!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Shortly thereafter, I came across a Twitter post asking if anyone wanted to do a family portrait; a yearly tradition for them. I threw a couple of pix in the post, thinking I&#8217;d never hear back. Surprisingly, the poor fellow got swamped with bots and apologetically followed up 2 weeks later giving me details of what he wanted. This was outside my style and really pushed me to try different things &#8211; I&#8217;d never really painted animals before!<\/p>\n<p>I decided that the years residuals from selling art were enough to treat myself and my game to a little upgrade. I bought myself a Quest 3 and I hired a composer to try and get a sad song for an emotional part of Booper&#8217;s journey. I was taken aback by how many composers didn&#8217;t do lyrics. After a pretty lengthy search, I did find a woman who sounded like my niece, who I wanted to perform, and she had a composition on piano &#8211; which I wanted for my nephew to play.<\/p>\n<p>Weeks later, on a somber Monday morning, I opened my email to see she had something for me. I sat there with coffee in hand and tears streaming down my face as I heard the sample &#8211; it was dead on perfect. My youngest, hearing me listen to it, asked if that was my niece singing &#8211; which further solidified my feeling this was <strong>exactly<\/strong> what I was looking for.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-482 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pagebreak-e1558532809647-300x75.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pagebreak-e1558532809647-300x75.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pagebreak-e1558532809647-768x192.png 768w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/pagebreak-e1558532809647.png 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Steam VR Fest<\/p>\n<p>And lastly, in the thick of all this &#8211; I got an invite to participate in the Steam VR Fest. Considering I hadn&#8217;t looked at, or much less touched, my Steam page in a long time; I felt it was the perfect moment to update, upgrade and enhance my presence on the world&#8217;s largest online video game hub.<\/p>\n<p>In reworking my Steam page, I discovered a video of a playtest I never knew about:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Trying out a Quirky VR game: Booper, Get Home\" width=\"474\" height=\"267\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y5VSmTMeajI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I watched as they played my old demo &#8211; and was horrified that my earlier creation was making them nauseous! I did reach out, explaining the changes I had made and took a lot of what they had to say to heart.<\/p>\n<p>So, next up? Adding a run mode to my game.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5405\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5405\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5405\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/BHG-VR-Fest-300x169.png\" alt=\"ad for Steam VR Fest\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/BHG-VR-Fest-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/BHG-VR-Fest-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/BHG-VR-Fest-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/BHG-VR-Fest-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/www.fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/BHG-VR-Fest.png 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5405\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">My Steam sponsored promo material for the 2023 VR Fest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So, due to life being busier than a 1 legged dude at a butt kickin&#8217; contest &#8211; I totally forgot to post about showing the game at Cleveland Gaming Classic 2023. Each year it keeps getting bigger and I LOVE that its right in my backyard. I met some amazing dev from Youngstown and was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/2023\/12\/06\/hit-the-ground-running\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Hit the ground running<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5393"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5406,"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5393\/revisions\/5406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fletcherstudios.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}