The New Year is Here. I'm Feeling Much Better. Let's Keep Moving Forward!

Let's talk about the future of CoderNunk for 2024!

A Shift in My Content

Over the second half of last year, I pondered about how I wanted to evolve the CoderNunk channel going forward. With the Unity debacle bringing in a lot of new Godot developers, there’s been an influx of good tutorial channels around Godot. Given my unique situation, I felt like I would not be able to compete in this market anymore for several reasons:

• I just don’t make content fast enough
• I am still managing personal issues
• I will need to start making some income again

It may sound self-centered, but I ultimately want to build amazing things. As I thought of solutions in my head, I came to a few realizations on what I could do for this channel. The new goal of CoderNunk is this:

Discuss game development in the lens of a hobbyist Godot developer

This goal accomplishes something very similar to the existing content on this channel, but it’s a little more refined than that. Rather than focusing on Godot tutorials, I’ll be focusing on game development concepts, using Godot as the primary game engine. I’ve always wanted to expand past the technical components and also discuss other layers of gamedev, including art, design, and music, all things I am tackling with my own projects. I want CoderNunk to be a channel where aspiring gamedevs can get quality overview content on all aspects of game development.

Flick is Now Open Source!

Truth be told, I want to spend more time working on my RPG and less on Flick. However, I hated the idea of letting Flick go entirely, so I wanted to think a little bit outside the box on how I could repurpose the project to fit into my set of goals. Then it hit me - if I made the game open source, I could dedicate YouTube streams to working on the game, and I could provide something nice to the community. I always believe in fair trades, so for your support, I wanted to give back in some way. This is how I plan to do so.

Going into 2024, I’ll start streaming the development of Flick! My early streams will focus on the game design of Flick!, which will give you, the community, a chance to understand and review the design. To also help my community members who have requested video topics, I want to utilize the stream as the first place to address those topics by implementing them in Flick, live.

If you’re interested in looking into the Flick source code, it’s now up on GitHub here:

I also provided resources on the game design, as well as the assets used in the game. Keep in mind, the assets themselves are not using the same license as the code itself, as I want to protect the assets from becoming stolen content. However, I’m more than happy for developers to use the project as a basis for their own, as that’s why I want the game to be open source in the first place. Ultimately, you will help me build a tool that the Godot community can use to get started. Rather than sample projects that target only one main question, I want to build a complete game that helps answer questions about structure for new developers getting into Godot!

My RPG, Arra World

Earlier this year, you met Jordan, one of the playable characters for my RPG, with my video on character design:

Jordan will be among nine playable characters in my RPG, which is named Arra World. Arra World strives to be a Japanese-inspired RPG that mixes action and turn-based combat elements, while providing diverse character growth options. Based on the concept of aura, Arra is a force that shapes the mind, body, and spirit of those who have it. By utilizing Arra, the characters can shape their growth and perform special actions.

I plan to talk more about this game on my YouTube channel, as well as on this website. In upcoming videos, I’ll be spotlighting different characters from the game as you learn some technical stuff about Blender, Godot, game design, art, or whatever I’m talking about at the time.

This project is my dream project, and it’s the very reason why I want to make games. It is a massive undertaking though, so I’ll be spending lots of time on it. My initial plan is to build the prototype myself, including drafting the game’s mechanics, drafting the story and worldbuilding, and making a playable prototype of the game’s prologue chapter. Once I’m able to achieve that, I’ll then look into building a team and acquiring funding, possibly using using resources like Kickstarter. However, I need to prove the game’s potential, so I’ll take the time it needs to convince the world the game will be great before I get the funding rolling. I hope you enjoy meeting my characters in my upcoming content!

If you want to learn more about my RPG, Arra World, check out the Projects section of my website here: Arra World. As the game evolves, I’ll upload promotional content on my Nunkware Digital YouTube channel, such as combat tutorials, character spotlights and trailers!

Nunkware Digital

Nunkware Digital is the company I’ll be building, which will start as an IT consultancy agency. It also has a YouTube channel, which will focus more on educational content around IT as it pertains to the game industry. I’ll also be uploading promotional content for my games there, as the games will be published through this entity.

My initial goal with Nunkware Digital is very simple - just to get financially stable again. Of course, the most direct path for me to achieve this is to utilize my existing software engineering skills. I want to build websites, cloud systems, etc. for game studios as my clients. This way, my clients will benefit from better website design and better automation, while I get to learn more about the game industry.

Over time, I want to evolve Nunkware Digital much further. It’ll become a game studio as well. With IT laying the groundwork, we will build a game studio that embraces evolving technology, automation, and modern software engineering principles. Arra World will be the first game published under the new studio, but that’ll be several years out. We will make games in-house and providing educational content, in addition to providing the existing IT services to game studios. I hope I can make Nunkware Digital a honest company that’ll provide a positive impact on the game industry.

The CoderNunk Website

This website is actually a side project of mine, mostly to brush up on my tech skills for when I launch my Nunkware Digital business. However, I noticed something while working on this that I think is a niche I can fill:

Godot doesn’t really have a lot of written tutorial content

That means this website can serve that purpose, while also providing more context on my projects and the channel as a whole. A lot of YouTube content will have written versions created for them over the course of the year, so feel free to utilize this website to the fullest in your Godot learning journey!

Content Roadmap for 2024

Enough about my projects, let’s talk about CoderNunk. Here are some video ideas planned for 2024. There’s no guarantee I’ll hit all of them, but this is the initial plan. I know most of my subscribers came for the Godot tutorial content, and I don’t want to alienate them. Therefore, I’ll continue to provide Godot tutorials via the form of shorts and written articles on my website, while I branch out to other gamedev concepts via my long-form content.

Long-Form Content

• Creating 3D Characters in Blender for Godot Games
• How to Draw Character Concept Art
• Managing Data Structures in Godot Using Resources
• How to Open Source a Game
• Dynamic 3D Cameras in Godot
• How I Am Overcoming My Trauma
• How to Build a Game World with Lore
• How to Plan and Write your Game’s Story
• The Art of Jiggle Physics in Godot
• Designing a Combat System
• How to Make and Manage Combat Animations
• Why Quitting Your Job May Be a Good Thing

Shorts

• Physics Bodies in Godot
• Canvas Textures in Godot
• Wall Jumping in Godot
• Resources in Godot
• Importing 3D Models in Godot
• Anime Shader in Godot
• and more!

Streaming

• Development of Flick!
  • Building out the rest of the game systems, such as wall jumping, menus, etc.
  • Building and designing levels
  • Game design review and discussions

Tentative Upload Schedule

• One long-form video a month
• One to two streams a month
• Two to four shorts a month
• Articles will be uploaded on my website in conjunction with most videos
• Given I will be working more on Nunkware Digital, this is subject to change

Future Monetization Strategy

I’d hate to ask about this, but I would like to monetize my YouTube content, especially while I work to build up a stable income again. Please don’t feel any pressure to contribute at all; I know many of you have financial challenges of your own. However, I plan to open up some monetization options on my YouTube channel once I reach the 4,000 watch hours milestone. I’m thinking of doing the following:

• Enabling channel memberships, super chats, and super likes
• Enabling YouTube ad revenue, as YouTube shows ads regardless
• Potentially opening a Patreon, but I still need to think about what incentives to provide

If this makes you feel uncomfortable in any way, don’t hesitate to let me know. We can work something out. I want to make sure my monetization strategies are fair for all my viewers, while providing a little bit of income for my efforts. I assure you, the focus of my content being free and high quality will be the priority above all else. Thank you for your understanding, and I hope to continue to provide free tutorial content for all my viewers!

Never Stop Moving Forward!

2023 was a challenging year for me in many regards, but it was such a critical year for my own character development. While I did not follow the plan I had initially for the year, I spent a lot of necessary time reflecting and setting up the foundation to make 2024 a great year. Thank you for being there on my YouTube channel throughout it all! I’m looking forward to seeing you all again in 2024!