June 30th to July 14th 2025

15 Days: Part 13 is here, where I write about:

• Develop: Brighton and a Cryptmaster Minion Meet-Up;
• The Backlog gets a dent;
• Website Updates
• F1: The Movie
• 15 Days: To Be Continued…

Gaming events can be a lucky dip sometimes. I remember my first visit to AdventureX (written in more detail in Part 12) and they do rely on simple things like the venue, facilities, noise, knowing people, what you’re there for, etc.

I only went to Develop: Brighton for the one day with an ‘Expo Only’ pass and, in truth, I spent roughly 40 minutes at the expo before wondering what I was doing there. It was busy, loud, and hard to work out where the expo was. I quickly scrambled to get away from the bustle and noise whilst getting lost along the way, just looking for a quiet spot to get my bearings. I found myself in this tucked away, non-conference pocket of a room, leaning against a wall and scrolling through my phone. Not quite the start I had wanted.

Instead of staying, I escaped into the blazing sunshine and found a tranquil Costa just up from the venue where I sipped a coffee and did some writing. I wondered if anyone else would need a place to go so posted it on my socials; I’d be amazed if I was the only one who needed an escape route, and it turned out that other attendees had felt the same. I didn’t spot anywhere at Develop I could go for some peace and quiet.

If it helps, here are some tips I use when going to a conference (especially for the first time):

• If you can, go with a friend or arrange to meet someone you know at the venue;
• Go with at least one objective, whatever it may be;
• If you’re new to the game dev community, you may feel (as I did the first time) that you don’t belong, surrounded by writers, artists, musicians, voice actors, programmers, etc. But know this, you absolutely do belong there. Even if you think you don’t have anything to contribute, your interest in gaming is more than enough. Think about it, without people buying and playing games, everyone else would struggle to be there. You are just as important as everyone else, and you have a place at the table;
• Stay hydrated and make sure you eat a proper meal at some point during the day. Taking a break to recharge is still, by far, my most important step whenever I go to events;
• Finally, and this is a bit too obvious to say: try to have fun, and if you’re not having fun, it’s OK to do something else with your time. Sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don’t.

That last point leads me onto my overall experience at Develop. I’ll be tactful with my words here because, for many, this has the feeling of an annual game dev pilgrimage. A place where friends catch-up, meet new people, network, learn, and generally dive into the gaming community, hopefully coming out of it refreshed and ready for the next part of whatever they’re doing.

And I did come away from Brighton refreshed and ready for what’s next (more on that later) but, sadly, it wasn’t from Develop: Brighton. With reluctance, it was the most disappointing event I’ve been to, so far. Would it have been different with a conference pass instead of expo only? Possibly. But my advice above was particularly relevant for this event. I’ll not say “Never again.” but I would need a very good reason to attend in future. In the end, not a bad event, just not for me.

Thankfully, not all was lost. For I had pre-arranged to meet Lee Williams – fellow Cryptmaster minion – that same day, and I cannot tell you how much better it was to have a buddy by my side. We went for lunch near a place on the seafront with another dev, Mikhail Chuprakov, whose game Potion Craft can be found here, before heading back to Develop where we chatted some more and explored the expo a little.

The day had flown by quite quickly by this point so, after Mikhail went elsewhere, Lee and I decided we’d meet up again later and try getting into Brilliant Indie Treasures at 6pm. I’d missed the ticket sale a few weeks previously and they were sold out but I knew that from 6pm they were doing a one-in, one-out ticket system. No guarantee but a chance to play some indie games and catch-up with Tony and Stoo, who were showcasing UrbX Warriors. More importantly, I wanted to get my hands on their UrbX custom controllers because they look amazing and I wanted to test them out.

Sadly, when we turned up, the queue was winding down the stairs from the room and we quickly decided that after a long day, waiting with little chance of entry between then and 8pm when it closes, a beer or four would be better. I’ll be honest, give me a few beers on the seafront at sunset any time.

Speaking of which, guess who snagged the best compliment the Cryptmaster is ever likely to give a minion? Me! And I have proof! Check this out:

‘…a satisfactory minion…’ and he ‘values’ me? Yeah, I’ll take that and be happy.

In the end, the highlight of the day for me was catching up with Lee, having those beers, chatting about game dev, what went into testing Cryptmaster, what’s ahead, life in general, swapping funny stories, and figuring out how long we’ve got left before the Cryptmaster notices we’ve snuck out of the crypt…

Brighton wasn’t just about Develop though, it was also a chance to have a holiday and spend time with my wife. Every day was about exploring, going on a doughnut tour, visiting recommended pubs, going to the pier for arcade games, walking along the seafront, along with enjoying everything a brand-new place can offer, all whilst switching off from the day-to-day. Blissful, and very much needed!

When we got back home, I did something I haven’t done for what feels like a long time; I grabbed two games from my backlog and played them from start to finish. One was Tachyon Project (completed before on Steam but this time on PS4), and the other was Modern Warfare: Remastered, having never played the original. Both good games, very different, and two less for the backlog. I think the next one will be The Last of Us which I have started once before but never finished.

Website Updates: Every so often, I like to tinker with this website. I think, like most things, I am not using the functionality available to me because I’m not aware it’s there so I’ll explore that and see if there’s anything I want to change or add. Most of all, I just want to tidy up a few things and combine pages that don’t currently get much attention and may work better together. Certainly, my ‘How I Test’ page is well-overdue a rewrite. It’s not a complete overhaul but it can be better. I’m happy with it so far but I feel there are some changes needed now.

F1: The Movie. I enjoyed this a lot. Very much a film about Brad Pitt’s character, Sonny Hayes, and filled to the brim with every trope you can think of but enjoyable all the same. It was also a very pleasant surprise to discover Hans Zimmer wrote the original score to the film, of which I am a fan. For whatever reason, I’ve had the track ‘F1’ on repeat all week and it’s the kind of music that motivates me to push on, get through, edge forward, be focused, remain determined, in whatever I am doing. Great energy and great music. All recommended.

To finish, I’ve decided to take a little break from these 15 Days blogs. Not for long, and they’ll definitely be back; I enjoy writing them (the editing, not so much!) but having had some inspiration from my trip to Brighton, my instinct tells me I need to concentrate on the personal and creative projects I have in mind. I’ll still be testing, but my time will also be spent on writing, game dev, artwork, reading, study, and everything that is nagging at me right now to get done! Even if it’s just putting the ideas I have in my mind on to paper, that is a great start. I suspect you’ll have another blog any time between now and the end of September, and I’ll update you all on what I’ve been doing. You can still find me on social media. I’m not disappearing, just focusing on what is next. And what is next, potentially, could be very exciting. I remain ever-hopeful of that.

For now, 15 Days: To Be Continued…

As always, until next time, stay safe, and thank you for reading.

Paul.