So...What are you guys up to in real life?

[OddCrow]

I check back on the forum every few months/years and have fond memories here. What is everyone up to?

I got married in 2012 to my high school sweetheart, my wife a kid in 2017, and we are expecting another one in February. I'm turning 30 this month! I was...12 or so when I originally joined the forum. Happy to report that my interest in game design eventually went somewhere. I now design board games for a living, including the game Merchants Cove. I hope you are all doing well, even though I know many of you came after my time, I'd love to know how you're doing.

-much love,
OddCrow - AKA Drake Villareal

[Black Temple Gaurdian]

That's great to hear!

For myself I am no different than I was, except now I am filled with self-loathing for my younger self :P

Currently most of my time is consumed by doing nothing, rotating through games that catch my interest, and attempting to keep working on various mods and projects (like my Emerald Nuzlocke Planner) I start and will probably never finish.

I keep thinking about trying out being a Vtuber, but I lack both the charisma for it and the motivation to have a reliable stream schedule.

I also go mostly by the handle Yunru now.

[Cyndadile]

Congrats, that's pretty awesome OddCrow! I've heard of Merchant's Cove but haven't had a chance to play it. I work as a programmer now, and while my interest in playing video games isn't nearly as high as it used to be, I've gotten a lot more into board gaming and still manage to get some Pokemon in every once in a while. Don't really have many personal projects going on anymore, aside from some occasional arts and crafts (which, like you mentioned BTG, I have a tendency to enjoy the starting more than the finishing). Its weird thinking back on who I was in the golden days of Topaz, learned a lot since then!

[Chronicler]

I've been making a lot of changes in life recently. Graduated from college in 2016 with a degree in Biomedical Engineer, been working in controls hardware design for an automation engineering company the last 5 years, not really sure what direction to take my life in. Decided Summer 2020 to try and shift into software development since I quite enjoy coding, and officially got a job offer letter today for my first job in as a developer. So kinda excited about that. Also got married in August of this year and am getting ready to move to Brooklyn, NY in 2 weeks.

I joined Topaz back in 2006 or 2007 (would have been 12 or 13), also kinda stuck around the communities that we formed at that time though. Started working on a RP World Creator bot for custom Pokemon Discord games (hence the topic I created on here a few months ago) in July 2020, which sort of inspired my career shift ironically. Glad to see that people still check up on some of these sites though, and I'll definitely look to grab a copy of Merchant's Cove to support your work at some point in the future, OddCrow. Seems like a really cool game to play! I've got a bunch of board game crazed friends too that I'll recommend it to. :P

[Cyndadile]

Congrats on the career shift Chronicler, and best of luck!

[MeekRhino]

I graduated college back in 2015, and got married this year! I joined Topaz rather later than most, in probably 2010, but it's something I've always looked back on fondly. I work in software engineering for an aviation company--certainly not my passion, but it's work in my field of study so I'm not complaining.

For the past few months I've been spinning up a Topaz-related project that I'd love to share more about here when it's a bit more mature!

[ImmunityBow]

Hi all, nice to hear from all of you. I moved across the country, graduated in 2015 and work in theatre as a lighting, sound and projections designer as well as a production manager/technical director a small-ish venue. I got married in 2019. Same with personal projects, I haven't had that much since I usually spend 50-55 hours a week working. I still draw and digital paint a bit, mostly as birthday and Christmas cards for family. I do miss spriting. My wife was playing Animal Crossing and I had lots of fun designing all sorts of spriteart and road tilesets for her to decorate the island with.

Glad you all still check in every once in a while. I'll definitely check in at least once a year, more if you all do too.

[MewLoverEX]

Hey, everybody! I’m so glad you’re all doing well! I believe I was twelve when I joined Topaz, and I recently turned 26. I got my BA in English in 2017 and my master’s in creative writing in 2020, and I’ve been doing a combination of teaching college English and editing (mostly novels) since then. I’ve published eight books of my own under a combination of my real name and a pen name for the ones I don’t want my students to see. Most of the ones under my real name are sci-fi, so if you’re looking for any extra books to read, let me know! I have a friend who’s building a game, and I felt like I needed to show him our sprites recently because I‘m really proud of everything we’ve done for Topaz.

[Cyndadile]

Happy New Year y'all! Glad everyone seems to be doing pretty well for themselves, and its always nice to check in and remember the things we've built together. (Belated) congratulations on the weddings and publications! I keep telling myself I should read more so wouldn't mind some suggestions

Hope 2022 treats us all well!

[Black Temple Gaurdian]

Beware of Chicken:
https://forums.spacebattles.com/thre...ianxia.910799/

[SilentSentinel]

I missed this thread earlier, good to see everyone seems to be doing well! I also got married somewhat recently, at the end of 2020 we signed all the papers but haven't done our wedding yet. It's supposed to be in May of this year so hopefully things have calmed down a bit by then. I've been working as a software engineer at an electric company for around five years now but I still do some work on Pokemon mods in my spare time. I actually spoke with Novoni and got permission from her to use her designs and have been building a project using the Pokemon crystal disassembly to work on it off and on as a quarantine project for a while now.

[BladeVap]

I've been working on multiple different things!

First up, as you guys know, I am a furry. I now have a fursuit of my main sona Blade!



Second, I've been (slowly) working on another fangame that holds promise, a few of them actually. Azurite, PokeScape, and even some other non-Pokemon projects are where I've wound up.

I've also got a new place free from my parents and a new job (but an even newer job will happen soon, I am dreading this current job I have...).