dr-picnic.com

Blog

Welcome to my blog! I write posts here when I want to share things that may concern everything I’m tinkering with or ideas that might interest other people (well, it’s my blog…).

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October 31 2021

I was surprised myself, but 2021 was the year of my first Inktober. I didn’t plan to do it this year, because I am learning to draw. I thought it would be more interesting to continue with my programme for the time being to make progress. However, the day before the first of October, my sister offered me to do it with her, and I couldn’t resist. Every day I posted a new illustration on Instagram, following the theme. ... Read more

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September 13 2021

At the time of the first confinement, I had taken courses to learn to draw. I didn’t reach an incredible level, but it allowed me to relax and to dare to draw. I realised that once I got over my blocks, I really liked drawing. I tried to continue my learning after the confinement by adopting a more academic approach in order to progress more quickly. I chose to follow the programme of Yoann Bomal, which seemed appropriate. ... Read more

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June 29 2021

I have always been passionate about imaginary worlds and great adventures. Until I was 16 years old, I spent a good part of my free time creating fantasy worlds, heroes, creatures, and imagining stories. Everything seemed destined for role-playing games, yet I only played a few games in middle and high school. I just didn’t have the people around me to play them. Then, after watching Actual Plays, the urge to play became irresistible. ... Read more

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May 29 2020

In the context of Covid-19, I stayed with my parents for a few weeks, sick. I was still able to do activities for a few hours a day. So I finally decided to learn how to draw. My drawing skills have been a limitation for many of my projects, whether they are video games, board games or educational tools. On April 6, I started a challenge to get started. I opened an account instagram on which I posted one drawing a day for 21 days. ... Read more

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May 8 2020

About a year ago I started having severe pain in my left wrist when I was typing all day on the keyboard. A few sessions with the osteopath made this pain disappear. However, each time I used my wrist again intensively the pains would return. After some research on the internet, I saw that people who were in the same situation as me had solved their problem by changing the layout of their keyboard to an ergonomic layout. ... Read more

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September 9 2019

Last June, I participated in the second edition of the “Pot-au-jeu” game jam organized by the french Youtuber At0mium. Last year, I made a game named Paperboy Droid which was ranked second in the gameplay category. This year, I made a game named “Le mystère des pierres” (The mystery of stones). It’s a puzzle game where the player moves stones to give orders to a robot. Without knowing it, the player will learn the basic notions of programming. ... Read more

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July 27 2019

It has been almost a year since the last article I wrote on this blog. This year has been one of the busiest I ever had. After last year’s game jam, I decided to try going serious about making games. I asked for a part-time job and planned to make a game that could be sold within a year. This was intended to be a test to see if it would be a viable option to start making games full time. ... Read more

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August 10 2018

A bit more than two weeks ago, I took part in a game jam organized by a french Youtuber (At0mium). For those who don’t know what a game jam is, it’s basically a video game creation contest where you create a game within a short period of time. In my case, I created the game from scratch during a weekend on the theme: “Faire du neuf avec du vieux”. When I enrolled, I thought that it would be a fun experience and a small break from my current project. ... Read more

Great time with my family

June 11 2018

A few days after finishing Great Bee (the first game I actually released), I went to a barbecue at my wife’s family. Of course, I took my computer with the game on it. At that point, I had no idea what kind of feedback I would get. I just let them play the game. The test started with my wife’s little sister who is in primary school. It was before dinner. ... Read more

Great Bee - First game: done!

May 12 2018

I just finished my first game! It’s called Great Bee. You can play it online on itch.io or download it for free. Please share it with your friends if you like it and feel free to write any feedback on the game. In Great Bee, you play a bee that have to forage all the flowers in every level. The frog and the sun are your enemies. Colliding with them kills you. ... Read more

PICO-8 - A Childhood Dream

May 1 2018

I read a lot of positive reviews about the PICO-8 fantasy console. Instead of listing the good points it has, I will tell you my story with PICO-8. For those who don’t know, it is a fake console that allows making games within the console itself. This includes code, graphics, sound, music, and maps. The games can be easily shared as PNG cartridge images. First, a little background. Short version. I started creating video games long ago and I really loved it. ... Read more