Hello again, it's Holly! Today I just have a quick blurb for you about working from home. For the most part, Echodog games has been a remote project, with a few more meet ups in the initial planning stages and a few less now that we're getting into the nitty-gritty of the game.

Before taking the Echodog leap with Dyala and Zach, I had heard of the many pros and cons of working from home. My husband shipped his own indie title (Fuego!) early on in our relationship and so I got to witness WFH firsthand. Pro: no commute. Con: your sleep schedule no longer resembles a human’s. Pro: you can actually eat all the groceries you buy. Con: what you really crave is human interaction. Pro: you can make appointments and run errands during the day. Con: you wonder how you weren’t swamped with housework before.

In the weeks leading up to our kickoff meeting, I mentally prepared myself. I was going to stick to a schedule, keep a good separation between my work and personal life, and, above all, remember to shower and wear pants. Like REAL pants.

We’re just over 6 months into Signs of the Sojourner (a year in from the start of Echodog), and I’ve thought about throwing away all my of my clothes except my sweatpants. The only time I go outside is to take our dog for walks. Cooking cute lunches everyday has entirely lost its appeal so I’ve settled on a diet of oatmeal and dried fruit. My youtube consumption has gone up 250%. But the most amazing thing to happen... is that we’re still chugging along.

Before starting this project, I over-thought working from home. I was planning and stressing over hypothetical situations that didn’t exist yet. And now that the team is well on its way to completing a nice, polished demo, I’m a huge advocate for the “just do what works for you” style of development!

I like to think it’s a more extreme version of Liz England’s contribution to this GDC talk about making actionable documentation. To severely simplify her message, if you don’t need to make a GDD, don’t make a GDD. If you don’t need to wear REAL pants, live in your sweats. In the wise words of an actual cannibal, “Just do it!”