Dev Diary# 5

`As much fun as it is to create my own game, it is also very exhausting.

I never realized how hard it would be to be a developer! I am a full-time mechanical design engineer in real life, working 50+ hours every week, consistently, and I am a soon-to-be father, and on top of all other in-real-life obligations I set aside time to work on LITWTMH. There are days I feel so drained that I can't even find the mental capacity to open Twine (the program which the game is coded in). I'm not complaining, though; I love working on this project! It is very fun to code and see things come together, but it does come with exhaustion.

I started out by myself, coding, writing, editing, and playtesting. I had very little experience in coding and soon realized I needed help overall on the project, so I brought on team members. I've already discussed in the previous diaries how the team came to be, so I won't go into detail in this diary, but suffice to say I needed a team. However, having a team to manage brings on a new set of challenges, such as scheduling, disciplining, correcting, leading, managing, and delegating. I was now in charge of 10+ members and had to make sure everything would run smoothly. This, too, became stressful and exhausting, so early in 2021 I assigned micro managers in each area: artwork, writing, editing, technical writing, coding, and an overall project manager. These managers now take the load off my shoulders and allow me to effectively manage a few members rather than all the members. I did this not only to help me out but to keep the project going in my absence, whenever that happens. These managers definitely deserve recognition, as do the team members, for without them there wouldn't be a LITWTMH.

Nowadays I am the master coder and creative director, happily content with those titles and responsibilities.`