November 24th marked three years since the Warcreatures project was born. So much has changed since that day, but the excitement of sharing it with you remains. Let’s take a look back at these three years of creating Warcreatures.
We’ve traveled to the end of 2022. While designing the first prototype of the card game, I ventured into creating my own video game.
The protagonist, a beast tamer, was to travel across an island capturing and training dinosaurs for combat. The video game idea was discarded a few months later, but during development, some characters took shape, including Sandra and Titan.
Buckle up. We’re going to February 2023.
Sandra and Titan captivated me instantly. I knew then that they had many adventures to tell. Two characters who were initially going to be secondary became the protagonists.
A ton of ideas flooded my mind. So, I felt confident enough to create a comic. I published a few pages. It wasn’t exactly a masterpiece, but that’s when the first antagonist appeared: Mónica, a formidable woman.
March 2023, Las Fortunas.
I’m looking for people to collaborate on the project, without much success, and I’ve become obsessed with giving Warcreatures a cyberpunk feel. Mónica goes from being a low-life smuggler to the owner of a prestigious fighting school, so she needs fighters. Rayco is the first of them, but others will appear later. In the summer of that same year, I published my first short story, “Black Blizzards,” with Rayco as the protagonist.
I’m still working on the video game and the comic. I’ve been worldbuilding like crazy, and I just finished the Warcreatures website. I’m starting to think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew… No matter, I want to keep going. I need an image to promote the website on social media. Then a new fighter appears: Yanira. Someone indignantly commented that she’s missing an arm. It really annoyed me. How could they expect me to do both?
April 2023.
Sandra and Titan continue to gain prominence. I keep improving my drawing and programming skills. That’s when Titan gets his signature look.
The comic idea is starting to feel like a burden, but it doesn’t matter, nobody’s expecting me to do it.
The dinosaur-catching game doesn’t seem to be making the splash I hoped for either. I need to rethink all of this…
A new idea is about to emerge with two rascals causing chaos in Las Fortunas.
May 2023.
I know because my back hurts from all the drawing.
I’ve been learning 3D modeling and animation. I don’t want to make a 2D video game anymore; now I want it to be 3D… a third-person action-adventure game… Sandra and Titan will be the protagonists. Can you picture it? I have a story to tell!
I’m looking for artists for the soundtrack and I’ve found Jairo Guitarreao. I’m listening to his music and wow! I just had an idea for a character. Aarón Ciencuerdas emerges to terrorize the seas.
Now we jump to June 2023.
Making video games turns out to be slower than expected. One mistake brings everything to a standstill. I need to learn more to make this work.
Meanwhile, how about a tabletop RPG? I’ve made many in the past, but this time I’m serious, and I have some very original ideas, right?
Or not… Social media is frantically showing me anything, existing or yet to be, that resembles Warcreatures. The competition is fierce… and growing.
I’m learning that originality isn’t valued in this era: This is a war of visibility.
Another time jump! Where have we ended up? Oh, yes… It’s July 2023.
I’m about to publish my first short story. I’m also translating the website into Japanese. After all, it’s all Japan’s fault…
I’ve lowered the Patreon subscription levels to €100, €200, and €300, but no one’s subscribed yet. Maybe I’m asking for too much…
The TCG development is temporarily suspended this month.
I’m going to do a comic with a friend; he’ll write it and I’ll draw it. Spoiler alert: it’ll be a bad idea and a waste of time. For me, this is more than just a hobby.
The heat is becoming unbearable, and I’m starting to think I’m the only one who doesn’t mind working “for free.” I’m motivated by making my own covers. Now it’s all cover after cover! I can’t stop!
I’m not a great artist yet, but digital art has opened up a world of colors and possibilities. I’m going to save a ton of money! And the best part: I’m bringing my characters to life.
I could do this forever.
What’s that smell? Oh no! The time machine has broken down!
Great… We’re stuck in July 2023. If we stay here, we’ll have to listen to “flowers” for the rest of our lives.
I’ll try to fix it. You’d better step back; this could be dangerous.
Back! Quick!
…
The machine is working again! Let’s go to our next stop: August 2023.
Sigo mejorando mis habilidades de desarrollador de videojuegos. Cada vez estoy más cerca de mi objetivo, pero aún me enfrento a muchas dificultades. El principal problema es que estoy aprendiendo de chapuzas. Si tuviera un buen maestro sabría cómo arreglar este bug…
El juego de rol de mesa me mantiene ocupado. Me ayuda con el worldbuilding. He avanzado mucho.
Cuanto han crecido Sandra y Titán… Es hora de hacer otra portada.
Mi canal de Youtube va a llegar a los 500 suscriptores y sin embargo no he logrado conectar con mi público. Es frustrante… ¿Debería rendirme? No. Debo seguir adelante. Solo necesito seguir trabajando y aprendiendo. A mí me gusta lo que hago. Dame cinco años, solo cinco. Ya encontraré mi público.
Hemos llegado a noviembre de 2023.
Va a hacer un año y no he acabado ningún proyecto. Las cosas se piensan más rápido de lo que se hacen.
No tengo yo bastante con todo esto que me pongo a hacer un prototipo para un juego de mesa. Sé que debería enfocarme en una sola cosa, pero al menos todo trata sobre Warcreatures.
Después de un año entero trabajando en la misma idea todavía creo en ella y eso es lo más importante. Estoy cumpliendo un hito personal. Debería celebrarlo, pero no es un buen momento para celebraciones.
Hasta entonces no lo sabía, pero ahora lo sé: Quiero hacer figuras del universo Warcreatures. Solo necesito una impresora 3D. Yo mismo puedo hacer los modelos… ¡Tengo que hacer una ilustración con todos los personajes que he publicado!
Pues vistos así, no parecen tantos. Debería crear más…
Sigamos adelante.
…
¡Maldita sea! ¡Ahora la máquina del tiempo se ha congelado por el frío!
Deja que mi yo del pasado mejore sus habilidades de animación y ayúdame a descongelarla o nos quedaremos atrapados en noviembre de 2023.
¿Qué ha sido ese ruido?
…
Creo que mi yo del pasado acaba de abrir una brecha en el espacio tiempo. Ya no me acordaba de esto… ¡Fíjate! Acaba de traerse a un personaje del pasado. Está bastante cambiada, pero la reconozco. Es Jane Blockport, nació en mi primer proyecto de juego de mesa.
Diciembre de 2023… ¡Felices fiestas!
Sigo aprendiendo a hacer videojuegos. Pruebo diferentes prototipos, diferentes ideas; pero no logro la calidad técnica que me gustaría, así que acaban en un cajón. No me desanimo. A estas alturas ya sé que esto es una carrera de fondo, o mejor dicho: una escalada de fondo.
I’m still improving my game development skills. I’m getting closer to my goal, but I still face many difficulties. The main problem is that I’m learning by trial and error. If I had a good teacher, I’d know how to fix this bug…
The tabletop role-playing game keeps me busy. It helps with worldbuilding. I’ve made a lot of progress.
How Sandra and Titan have grown… It’s time to make another cover.
My YouTube channel is about to reach 500 subscribers, and yet I haven’t managed to connect with my audience. It’s frustrating… Should I give up? No. I must keep going. I just need to keep working and learning. I love what I do. Give me five years, just five. I’ll find my audience.
It’s November 2023.
It’s almost been a year, and I haven’t finished a single project. Things are thought of faster than they’re done.
As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, I’m now working on a prototype for a board game. I know I should focus on just one thing, but at least it’s all about Warcreatures.
After a whole year working on the same idea, I still believe in it, and that’s what matters most. I’m reaching a personal milestone. I should celebrate, but it’s not a good time for celebrations.
Until now, I didn’t know it, but now I do: I want to make figures from the Warcreatures universe. I just need a 3D printer. I can make the models myself… I have to do an illustration with all the characters I’ve published!
Well, when you look at them like this, they don’t seem like that many. I should create more…
Let’s move on.
…
Damn it! Now the time machine has frozen!
Let my past self improve his animation skills and help me thaw it, or we’ll be stuck in November 2023.
What was that noise?
…
I think my past self just opened a rift in spacetime. I’d completely forgotten about this… Look! She’s just brought back a character from the past. She’s changed quite a bit, but I recognize her. It’s Jane Blockport, she was born in my first board game project.
December 2023… Happy Holidays!
I’m still learning how to make video games. I try different prototypes, different ideas; but I can’t achieve the technical quality I’d like, so they end up in a drawer. I’m not discouraged. At this point, I know this is a marathon, or rather: a long climb.