So, it’s time for a bit of a confession and a bit of a rant.
I had grand visions for the Ascension series. One new game every two years. Leaps in scale and quality with each installment. Ascension was a text adventure, Ascension 2 was a 2D RPG. Ascension III would have been an epic RPG in full 3D. Ascension Adventure and Ascension Revolution would slot in between 1 and 2 and 2 and 3, both in story and technology.
Call it hubris, call it ambition, call it totally delusional insanity, that was the plan.
As with many things, reality ensues. Ascension Revolution was kind of a wake-up call. I’d bitten off way more than I could chew, which became very obvious in retrospect. With the skills and resources I had, in the timeframe I wanted, there was no way I could pull it off. And although I did eventually finish Ascension 2, it was nowhere near what I originally wanted it to be. There’s a definite gap between what I want to create and what I can create in those cases, and that’s something extremely frustrating as a creator. I’ll admit that the response (or lack thereof) was a factor, too. They say one should make things for their own satisfaction, but it’s quite disheartening when nobody downloads your game.
In other words, it’s a matter of not being able to make what I wanted to make or apparently anyone wanted to play. It’s the gap between what I wanted to do and what I could do.
I’ve stepped away from the grand plans. I did other stuff. I joined a club. I made a few smaller games. In fact, I find smaller, disconnected projects a lot more satisfying and rewarding now. Ascension 2 took a year and a half and kind of sucked, while CyberShield was a lot of fun for 48 hours. There’s only so much one person can do, and making something small but interesting is a lot smarter than trying to force a massive project.
So, will Ascension Revolution make a return? Maybe. Will there ever be an Ascension III? Probably. Do I have any plans right now? Not really.
I’m not going to give up on making games. It’s my passion. I just need a break from the Ascension series, a bit of a reality check, and some smaller, more fun projects. Expect to see something- I can’t tell you what because I don’t know what I’m going to do next- announced in the near future.
Maybe.