Discovering the dream

As I’m sitting here popping mini M&Ms like they’re the secret to eternal youth, I can’t help but wonder where all the years have gone. Sure, they say Mini M&Ms are “new” – but I distinctly remember munching on these tiny chocolate pellets back in 1997 in Daytona, when life was all about mastering yo-yo tricks and building an impressive collection of wristwatches.

It was around this time that I first got my hands on Sonic 3 for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis for my friends across the pond). The speed, the colours – it was like my TV had been hit by lightning shooting pure adrenaline into my eyes! Not long after, the PlayStation came along, Crash Bandicoot and Tomb Raider had me fully immersed in blocky, jagged 3D worlds that felt like the future had arrived… even if it was mostly in the form of triangle boobs and wumpa fruit.

The idea of making video games back then? Absolutely not in the cards. Where I grew up, “big dreams” didn’t really translate into reality. The best you could hope for was a steady job and a vague sense of dissatisfaction – nothing too flashy, just “good enough.” And honestly, I wasn’t given much of a roadmap. I had a wonderful home, with plenty of room to explore (and an absolutely epic garden), but my overprotective mom ensured I spent more time indoors, glued to the screen, than out having adventures. So, I turned inward. My imagination became my playground, and video games were the window to the outside world.

Leaving that cozy bubble of a childhood home was jarring. Real life greeted me with a slap of anxiety, and I quickly realized I didn’t fit into the “normal job” mold. Clocking in, clocking out, doing just enough to get by – it felt like I was betraying something deeper inside me. I needed to make something I could be proud of, something that truly felt like me. I was going to make a video game even if it killed me.

Fast forward to nearly a decade ago now, when the idea for Timmy’s Playhouse first crept into my head. It was born from watching an NVIDIA tech demo of all things – some fluid physics magic that sparked the thought: “What if you could dive into a virtual ball pit in VR?” (Because honestly, who doesn’t miss the pure chaos of ball pits?). At the time, my trusty GTX 970 and i7-5820K were sweating bullets trying to handle the physics of hundreds of shadowy spheres. But tweaking settings, cutting shadows and textures made it run smoother, suddenly I was right back in that childhood headspace – losing myself in a world built purely on imagination.

The more I tweak and tinker, the more I feel like I’m finally reclaiming that part of myself that got lost somewhere between growing up and dealing with adult life. I want to take you back to those days when the only thing that mattered was the joy of getting completely lost in your own little world, that is essence of Timmy’s playhouse.

This will be the development diary where I will share the joys and struggles of developing a game on my own with a limited budget. from the words of Eric Barone himself - “Don’t give up, no matter what”. Until the next one, thank you!