About

Who Am I?

My name is Bryan, or ObsidianBlk, as I have been calling myself on the internet for nearly two decades now.

I’ve been a student of software development and IT for a large chunk of my life… as there is always new things to learn in the world of development.

For fun, I’ll play some video games, work on my poor-man’s homelab, or wrestle with my 3D printer!

What’s My Blog About?

I had a bad habit… and still do, to be honest… where I would either take on a personal project that is way beyond a scope that I, as a single person, can do on my own, or, even if the project itself isn’t beyond scope, I would often choose to write everything nearly from scratch… like… a whole rendering engine for a game, as an example.

Back in 2018 I decided to try my hand at a Game Jam and found that I was really enjoyed building a game with limited time and, by necessity, scope, and went on to participate in four others.

This blog is where I would like to document my various, future, Game Jams. Where I will reveal all my secrets, allow you to revel in all my failures… and successes, and generally share any knowledge I may have or gain along the way!

As well as the Game Jams, I may also share other creative endevours I attempt to undertake… just to spice things up a bit!

Favorite (Software) Language

At present… I am a fan of Javascript. I have worked a bit with NodeJS for my own projects, and really enjoy the malibility of the language.

Beyond Javascript, I am familiar with C/C++, Python, and Java.

Development Tools of Choice

I am a big proponent of Open Source software, so, I tend to gravitate towards tools that are open source.

Graphics

  • Gimp - Great raster graphics program, similar to Photoshop in many ways.
  • Krita - Another raster graphics program, focusing more on painterly digital art style.
  • Inkscape - A vector graphics application.
  • Blender - 3D graphics application. ABSOLUTELY Awesome!
  • Aseprite - Great pixel art program! Not open source, per say, but you can download the source and build it yourself if you don’t want to pay for the application.

Game Engines

  • Godot - Hands down my go-to engine! While everyone has their preference, Godot is definitely mine!!

Music/Sound

Sadly, I do not have one musical bone in my body. I really wish I did. That said, I have tried and, while I can not say how great this tool would be for serious development, it should be great with a little talent… Beepbox.co.

For general sound editing… again, I have virtually no skills at all in this matter, but have, on occasion, used Audacity

Others

Not software, but here are some great places to get free graphic and/or sound resources for many game projects…

How to Contact Me?

The footer of this website contains all of my contacts or social medias where you can find me! I will admit, e-mail is more than likely the best way to get a hold of me, if you so desire!