April Update. Also, Ludum Dare 20 is here! #LD48

I haven’t updated my blog in the last month. Let me explain.

First, last month I wasn’t in the country. My blog posts in March were scheduled to be published while I was traveling through Europe for 18 days.

One highlight: in a moment of certainty and confidence, I proposed to my girlfriend on the balcony of Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany.

She said yes.

So now I’m engaged, and there’s wedding planning to do, which is apparently a lot of work and full of stress.

Second, after 24 hours of flights to get back home, I spent the first week or so feeling sick. I wasn’t doing much in the way of productivity. Heck, I don’t think I felt well enough to play “Minecraft” either. It was a miserable time, but I did get to catch up on what I call “Movies No One Wants to Watch With Me.” Have you seen Arena, the 1989 sci-fi film featuring a who’s who of Star Trek and Babylon 5? It’s kind of bad and cheesy, but I enjoyed it.

Third, upon recovery, I was dealing with tax preparation. Having a CPA do the work for you and answer questions is great for peace of mind.

Fourth, I’ve been a lot more active in the Association of Software Professionals this year. As a board member, I had a lot of catching up to do when I got back from Europe, and there have been some big decisions recently. There are some exciting plans in the works, and I don’t know how much I can say publicly here. If you’re an indie game developer and are not a member of this professional trade organization, I’d urge you to join to learn how to make your games more marketable and sell more effectively by joining the ASP today.

Fifth, I’ve been hard at work on Stop That Hero!. My goal was to have a friends-and-family playable (not for public consumption) version of the game ready by the end of this month. I’ll be short of that goal before Ludum Dare starts, but I’m quite happy with the progress I have been able to make in the last two weeks. I’ll write more about it in another post next week.

Sixth, Ludum Dare 20 starts tonight! If this blog has been quiet this past month, it will be the exact opposite this weekend. As usual, I will be live-blogging my participation in the 48-hour game development competition. Consider this post a warning that you’ll see a flood of updates soon.

Ludum Dare 20 will be a nice break from working on STH!. I’m hoping that the theme “Traps” wins, but there are some other good ones in the running, too.

The keynote is already live, and I think Sos did a great job on it! It’s like a call to arms for game developers!

While I didn’t submit my own video to it (I’ve been busy, as I’ve mentioned above), let it be known that I’m in.

Are you participating in Ludum Dare 20?