RPG
Tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) are a hobby where players gather to create and immerse themselves in collaborative storytelling adventures. Stemming from traditional board games and miniature wargames, tabletop RPGs involve players assuming the roles of characters in a fictional world, guided by a set of rules and overseen by a Game Master (GM). The GM narrates the story, describes the environment, and plays the roles of non-player characters, while the players describe their characters’ actions and decisions. Together, the group creates a unique story. This fosters rich, interactive narratives that evolve uniquely with each session. Whether exploring ancient dungeons, embarking on interstellar voyages, or unraveling political intrigues, tabletop RPGs offer endless opportunities for adventure, camaraderie, and creativity. The only limiting factors are imagination… and the scheduling issues.
Writing
Writing is a natural extension of RPG. Whereas playing with friends allows me to create something together, writing is what lets me explore all the options. Create stories that I want to read. And sometimes, that I want to share.
The thing I like the most about writing is that I do not have limits. When reading books, it’s someone else’s story. The same with movies. Computer games offer some limited choice. And RPGs give you freedom to control a character or the world. Writing is freedom. I control everything and I decide how the story goes.
Gamedev
I did not expect to ever enjoy making games. For the longest time, the experience felt like a slog and I struggled with every line of code. As part of my programing course on the university, I had to create several games over the first two semesters. Those were some of the most painful experience I had during that year.
It was by pure chance that I found a streamer “PirateSoftware”, who is a game developer. He encourages his community to try, to experiment. And on a whim, I decided to try one more time. This time, I was free of arbitrary limitations. There were no deadlines. I was free to just play around with the project. And it worked. I created my first game. A clone of the Pong game. The experience was so much fun. Now, I am working on a completely new game and I hope to one day publish it.