Hi all! If you've ever followed our progress over the years, you'll definitely have seen that we haven't been active for the past couple years. My dream was to turn DynaDim Media and Yokaan Games Studio into actual companies that sell actual products while still maintaining our core values. Unfortunately, due to the career and life commitments of myself and my awesome team, we've really had to put both groups on the backburner. That being said, we all still believe in the vision that we set out to accomplish and as such, I want to give our followers a bit of an update on my plans going forward, both for these organizations and future organizations.
EXISTING DYNADIM PROJECTS
First off, I want to address the elephant in the room. All existing DynaDim and Yokaan projects are officially going independent for now, as I may or may not use them in the future. This includes The Legends of Steorth. This is one project that I can confirm a future for. As I push toward starting an actual business, I'm working as a freelance writer and an author. As such, The Legends of Steorth will remain independently worked on as a personal project so that, upon starting a business, I can get proper funding for it. Furthermore, Yokaan Games Studio was working on another, similar series that will involve the cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi and space fantasy genres, evolving between each of them over the course of centuries, if not millennia. That will also remain independent as a personal project; I refrained from discussing it because I was quietly writing up a massively extensive lore background for it until I had the funds to do anything proper with it. My vision for that series was to create the most epic, extensive sci-fi/space fantasy franchise since Star Wars. As such, I wanted to wait until far, far down the road when we had the funding necessary to achieve such a vision. Unfortunately, despite over 10 years of existence, Yokaan Games Studio did not receive a single penny because we simply did not have the means to establish ourselves as a proper business.
Don't worry, both of those -- as well as any other game ideas we conceptualized -- are not scrapped and will not be unless they were just downright bad ideas. I've saved every game blueprint, every project concept document and if there's a future for any of them, we'll utilize them. Whether these projects are released under DynaDim/Yokaan or another name remains to be seen.
DYNADIM MEDIA/YOKAAN GAMES STUDIO AS AN ORGANIZATION
This is the part of the future where I'm not entirely certain. The primary reason I've kept both names and sites alive is because I would like to keep both organizations alive, but under a different purpose. Instead of stressing out and trying to find a way to establish businesses from both, I've decided to give them a new purpose: in the future, if there are any games, software or other media that wouldn't fit as a paid product, it will be released either as a free release or based upon a pay-what-you-want model. This would allow both groups to have at least some purpose instead of going down without releasing more than a simple casual game like Sci-Fi Mar-Bles. Speaking of which, that game will remain 'published' via DynaDim Media but I hope to design a 3D sequel in the near future which, hopefully, will see a mobile release in addition to PC.
FUTURE OF THE LEGENDS OF STEORTH
As I briefly mentioned, The Legends of Steorth is being designed independently, now. If you enjoyed any of the tech demos of Ilxder: Tempest Dawn, don't worry: I still plan to design an adventure/RPG styled game in this series using Sphere. However, the future of the GAMES in the Ilxder trilogy are up in the air. Currently, I'm experimenting with writing the story as a novel trilogy. If I end up liking the way the story flows in a book better than the idea of the games, I may just switch the Ilxder story to be a novel trilogy. However, that isn't to say I won't be releasing games in this series. I have plans for various games that would take the old school, Ultima-like gameplay and art style of the original Ilxder game and combine it with other similar top-down adventure/RPGs. I've also made a major switch in game engines; I'm now learning the open-source engine, Godot, which suits my goals in nearly every way and should make for faster, easier solo development of games going forward.
Either way, I do have several Steorth novels in pre-production, even if the Ilxder trilogy ends up being a game trilogy after all. One is a dark fantasy novel that involves a story set in the Northlands of Steorth. It will tell a tale of revenge, but unlike other revenge novels, it will aim to show both the positive and negative effects of revenge. Another novel idea I have involves the story of the legendary King Drejahren the Poet and would showcase just why he was such an amazing hero to the people of Steorth. A third idea centers around a contradiction: a member of the Order of Scholars who has lost his passion for the pursuit of knowledge but, ironically, must seek knowledge to discover why he lost this passion. It'd be a far more 'philosophical' story, for lack of a better description.
I'd also like to add that I aim to truly expand this franchise beyond books and games. In just the past year, I've gained a passion for comics and, as such, I hope to eventually produce some Steorth comics. I, myself, am an awful artist so I would only write them and aid in the creative direction, but it's certainly a loose plan going forward. I also think that short films may be possible in the distant future but I won't go into detail as that's definitely not a certainty.
BUSINESS PLANS
That being said, while I still aim to start a games studio, that may not end up being my first business. Since 2017, I've been taking courses revolving around business and entrepreneurship as I aim to become a full-time entrepreneur and author. However, for now, I'm working as a freelance writer. It all depends on the money and connections I'm able to make from my freelancing. If I feel the time is right to start a studio when I start my first business, then I will certainly start working full-time on the game concepts Yokaan came up with over the years. I will also be sure to collaborate with any of the Yokaan team if they're interested in doing so. I'm not entirely sure what the first business will end up being but I just wanted to be sure that I make it clear that these games may yet be a long way off. However, if I design any games during the time between then and now, and if I feel like I could keep up the development concurrent to the rest of my plans, then I will certainly release them. Most likely, they'll be released under a fictitious business name. That's how I plan to release most of my games until I've started a studio. In effect, Yokaan and DynaDim functioned similarly except that we were not a legally-registered FBN (nor did we ever claim to be) selling a product, we were a hobbyist team developing free games.
GOING FORWARD
I want to thank every single person who ever followed the progress of these groups, offered encouragement or, in the rare occasions, offered their help in our efforts. I realize that we never really accomplished all that much on the public side of things but I know that myself and the DynaDim family definitely learned a lot while we were focused on the two groups. It's certainly due to the ten years of working on these groups that I gained a passion for entrepreneurship. If not for DynaDim Media and Yokaan Games Studio, I'd probably have absolutely no direction in my career. These two groups gave me the interest and passion in pursuing a life as an entrepreneur, small business owner, creative director and even as a writer.
If you are still interested in following the progress of the various projects that DynaDim/Yokaan was working on, feel free to head over to my site. Most of my blog posts are reviews with occasional opinion pieces regarding industry/society, but in the near future, I'm planning to start blogging about the progress of some of these projects. I don't have any estimates on when this will begin but regardless, perhaps you will enjoy some of my content in the meantime. I am also in the draft phase of writing my first-ever novel which is a truly unique apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic trilogy that will tell an epic, character-driven story and do something new for the genre. You can read the prologue to the story through my site.
Once again, thank you to everyone who has ever followed, supported or contributed to the vision of DynaDim Media and Yokaan Games Studio. I hope to see you all in the future and who knows? Perhaps both organizations will see new life one day!
EXISTING DYNADIM PROJECTS
First off, I want to address the elephant in the room. All existing DynaDim and Yokaan projects are officially going independent for now, as I may or may not use them in the future. This includes The Legends of Steorth. This is one project that I can confirm a future for. As I push toward starting an actual business, I'm working as a freelance writer and an author. As such, The Legends of Steorth will remain independently worked on as a personal project so that, upon starting a business, I can get proper funding for it. Furthermore, Yokaan Games Studio was working on another, similar series that will involve the cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi and space fantasy genres, evolving between each of them over the course of centuries, if not millennia. That will also remain independent as a personal project; I refrained from discussing it because I was quietly writing up a massively extensive lore background for it until I had the funds to do anything proper with it. My vision for that series was to create the most epic, extensive sci-fi/space fantasy franchise since Star Wars. As such, I wanted to wait until far, far down the road when we had the funding necessary to achieve such a vision. Unfortunately, despite over 10 years of existence, Yokaan Games Studio did not receive a single penny because we simply did not have the means to establish ourselves as a proper business.
Don't worry, both of those -- as well as any other game ideas we conceptualized -- are not scrapped and will not be unless they were just downright bad ideas. I've saved every game blueprint, every project concept document and if there's a future for any of them, we'll utilize them. Whether these projects are released under DynaDim/Yokaan or another name remains to be seen.
DYNADIM MEDIA/YOKAAN GAMES STUDIO AS AN ORGANIZATION
This is the part of the future where I'm not entirely certain. The primary reason I've kept both names and sites alive is because I would like to keep both organizations alive, but under a different purpose. Instead of stressing out and trying to find a way to establish businesses from both, I've decided to give them a new purpose: in the future, if there are any games, software or other media that wouldn't fit as a paid product, it will be released either as a free release or based upon a pay-what-you-want model. This would allow both groups to have at least some purpose instead of going down without releasing more than a simple casual game like Sci-Fi Mar-Bles. Speaking of which, that game will remain 'published' via DynaDim Media but I hope to design a 3D sequel in the near future which, hopefully, will see a mobile release in addition to PC.
FUTURE OF THE LEGENDS OF STEORTH
As I briefly mentioned, The Legends of Steorth is being designed independently, now. If you enjoyed any of the tech demos of Ilxder: Tempest Dawn, don't worry: I still plan to design an adventure/RPG styled game in this series using Sphere. However, the future of the GAMES in the Ilxder trilogy are up in the air. Currently, I'm experimenting with writing the story as a novel trilogy. If I end up liking the way the story flows in a book better than the idea of the games, I may just switch the Ilxder story to be a novel trilogy. However, that isn't to say I won't be releasing games in this series. I have plans for various games that would take the old school, Ultima-like gameplay and art style of the original Ilxder game and combine it with other similar top-down adventure/RPGs. I've also made a major switch in game engines; I'm now learning the open-source engine, Godot, which suits my goals in nearly every way and should make for faster, easier solo development of games going forward.
Either way, I do have several Steorth novels in pre-production, even if the Ilxder trilogy ends up being a game trilogy after all. One is a dark fantasy novel that involves a story set in the Northlands of Steorth. It will tell a tale of revenge, but unlike other revenge novels, it will aim to show both the positive and negative effects of revenge. Another novel idea I have involves the story of the legendary King Drejahren the Poet and would showcase just why he was such an amazing hero to the people of Steorth. A third idea centers around a contradiction: a member of the Order of Scholars who has lost his passion for the pursuit of knowledge but, ironically, must seek knowledge to discover why he lost this passion. It'd be a far more 'philosophical' story, for lack of a better description.
I'd also like to add that I aim to truly expand this franchise beyond books and games. In just the past year, I've gained a passion for comics and, as such, I hope to eventually produce some Steorth comics. I, myself, am an awful artist so I would only write them and aid in the creative direction, but it's certainly a loose plan going forward. I also think that short films may be possible in the distant future but I won't go into detail as that's definitely not a certainty.
BUSINESS PLANS
That being said, while I still aim to start a games studio, that may not end up being my first business. Since 2017, I've been taking courses revolving around business and entrepreneurship as I aim to become a full-time entrepreneur and author. However, for now, I'm working as a freelance writer. It all depends on the money and connections I'm able to make from my freelancing. If I feel the time is right to start a studio when I start my first business, then I will certainly start working full-time on the game concepts Yokaan came up with over the years. I will also be sure to collaborate with any of the Yokaan team if they're interested in doing so. I'm not entirely sure what the first business will end up being but I just wanted to be sure that I make it clear that these games may yet be a long way off. However, if I design any games during the time between then and now, and if I feel like I could keep up the development concurrent to the rest of my plans, then I will certainly release them. Most likely, they'll be released under a fictitious business name. That's how I plan to release most of my games until I've started a studio. In effect, Yokaan and DynaDim functioned similarly except that we were not a legally-registered FBN (nor did we ever claim to be) selling a product, we were a hobbyist team developing free games.
GOING FORWARD
I want to thank every single person who ever followed the progress of these groups, offered encouragement or, in the rare occasions, offered their help in our efforts. I realize that we never really accomplished all that much on the public side of things but I know that myself and the DynaDim family definitely learned a lot while we were focused on the two groups. It's certainly due to the ten years of working on these groups that I gained a passion for entrepreneurship. If not for DynaDim Media and Yokaan Games Studio, I'd probably have absolutely no direction in my career. These two groups gave me the interest and passion in pursuing a life as an entrepreneur, small business owner, creative director and even as a writer.
If you are still interested in following the progress of the various projects that DynaDim/Yokaan was working on, feel free to head over to my site. Most of my blog posts are reviews with occasional opinion pieces regarding industry/society, but in the near future, I'm planning to start blogging about the progress of some of these projects. I don't have any estimates on when this will begin but regardless, perhaps you will enjoy some of my content in the meantime. I am also in the draft phase of writing my first-ever novel which is a truly unique apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic trilogy that will tell an epic, character-driven story and do something new for the genre. You can read the prologue to the story through my site.
Once again, thank you to everyone who has ever followed, supported or contributed to the vision of DynaDim Media and Yokaan Games Studio. I hope to see you all in the future and who knows? Perhaps both organizations will see new life one day!
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