Here we are! The very first newsletter. You are one of the select few who will get your hands on this, almost like a secret club. We should think of a cool name… Maybe a handshake?

I want to get into the habit of writing these on a weekly basis, but we’ll see what pace feels natural. The last thing I want to do is burn myself out, so I’m taking things veeeeery slowly. I’m still fiddling with the format too, but for now, it will be a mix of personal updates and news on my projects.

How am I doing?

Well, the last weeks were kind of weird. I’m sad, excited, and terrified.

Sad, because the company I worked at for the past 4 years went belly up. It was the reason I moved from my home country to Paris, where I now have a life, a partner, and many new friends. All the people I worked with are beautiful and creative individuals so no doubt they’ll land on their feet soon enough, but I’ll miss working on stuff together.

Excited, because there are many possibilities splayed out in front of me. Unemployment benefits in France are fantastic, and I’m super lucky to have had a steady job for the past years. All this means I have financial support to take the time to think about what I want to do with my life.

Terrified, because I’ve decided to stop full-time work as a technical artist, which is a job with good pay and lots of available positions. That’s a lot of security I’m giving up. There’s also French administration to be done, which is challenging to navigate and uncompromisingly… French.

What am I doing?

So, I’m getting into this newsletter thing! What else? Well, I’m writing a bunch of articles on game- and narrative design, which I will start posting on my blog soon enough. I’ve made the necessary preparations to set that up:

• Made a WordPress website.
• Researched tools: plugins for this newsletter, social media scheduling software, that kind of stuff.
• Updated all my socials.
• Made some YouTube test footage to see if I have the right gear.

None of it is stuff I thoroughly enjoy, but it’s all vital groundwork to get the word out there. Daan is on the loose! Next week I’ll try to pick up the slack on some preproduction work for a bunch of games I’m making with friends.

Why am I doing? (this)

Why stop being a technical artist? Why make a blog? There are two answers to this:

The first is unabashedly self-centered. I have a clear vision of what I want my daily life to be. I want to wake up without alarm, sit on the veranda with a mug of coffee, stare out into the garden, and think about what I want to do that day. I want to be able to chase my interests to my heart’s content. I don’t believe I would be able to do that with a full-time job solving complex technical problems.

The second answer can be disguised as slightly more noble. I’ve found very few simple and understandable resources about game- and narrative design. Writing down my thoughts on complex concepts has always helped me understand them, and many people found them helpful as well. In addition to that, I love hanging out with creative people. If I can grow a community around all of this, where we can help each other understand and enjoy game-adjacent content, I would be a happy camper.

Thanks for reading! If you have any feedback or ideas for what you want to see here, let me know on Discord, link below.