Brief history of my game making journey

Back in the early 2000s, my brother introduced me to some awesome computer games, and thank him for that! My favorite games included Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and 4, Baldur's Gate, and Neverwinter Nights.

While playing Baldur's Gate 2, I found it so unfair that the only male romance option was the wretched Anomen, while there were 3 romanceable females to choose from, and they were only available if you play as a guy. After discovering a wonderful community of BG2 modders, I started having the idea of creating the characters I wanted to see in games myself. For example, an evil romanceable man... *cough cough* Demonheart...

As a teenager, I wanted to become a traditional writer, and tried writing novels in both Serbian and English, but I felt they weren't good enough. So, I left notes to myself such as, "Please, finish this story about Mordred when you are experienced and cool!" That day never came. :P But I discovered I could actually become a programmer! Combining my skills as a programmer and writer, I could make my dreams come true, without having to contact any book publishers!

My first successful project were the Demonheart modules for Neverwinter Nights. I was thrilled that people wanted to play them, but I constantly felt like I was late to the modding community, as the game came out in 2002, and I published my mods from 2012 on. Also, the time came for me to finish school, and I had to look for a real job. But I wanted a job in a fantasy world, so with the support of my future husband (and material support from my parents), I started creating the Demonheart visual novel. At first, I thought I could use the same story, but as I worked on it... I basically rewrote the whole thing. Because there had to be a plot twist with Fisher.

A few years and a baby later, I also finished Demonheart: Hunters, which is an RPG. I couldn't decide between RPGs and visual novels, since RPGs are what got me into games, but I'm mostly interested in telling stories. How did I finish that game while taking care of a toddler? Well, just compare the review scores for Demonheart and Hunters. ='D

After that, I had a bad case of burnout, although I did want to keep creating - just something different. I pulled out an idea I had for a long time, and started writing Jester / King. I wrote it as a novel first, but with some choices, planning to make it a visual novel. This process has helped me a lot and returned my inspiration, which was the goal from the start. I finally feel creative again. Also, I've been reading a lot about the craft of writing, trying to improve my stories in the future.

Right now, Jester / King is close to release, and I've started planning a new visual novel, based in the world of Demonheart, but with new characters. This VN should be an otome, more focused on the romances than some world-ending plot. But knowing me, it will surely get plot-heavy. =)