Running Down a Dream

Hey - I know I've been lax as of late - it's because I've been chasing a life long dream of mine.

In 2003, while on dialysis, I met a community of game-programmers and gamer makers on the internet.  We all shared a passion for some old computer games by a company named Sierra. So, along with a guy named Shawn (who was from Australia), we founded a group called "Infamous Adventures" - we wanted to remake some of these old, forgotten classics.  So we did!  In 2006, we released a remake of a game called King's Quest III - it was downloaded, worldwide, over 1 millions times - and we received much critical acclaim and praise for it.  It was fun - I spent a lot of time working on it while I was sick and recovering, and it was a great way to bolster my spirits.  We decided to do another remake of a game called Space Quest 2.  I spent most of my time working on this while I was on dialysis the second time, from 2007-2011.

Working on the games really fulfilled that childhood dream I had of making computer adventure games, and it kept me going.  There were several times, though - as you all may know -where I thought I wasn't going to make it.  I even had the passwords and information to all of IA's assets ready for Jordan, so if I died the guys could continue on.  Then our miracle happened, almost one year ago now!  While I was recovering, I was determined to not only finish Space Quest 2 by years end - but also to begin pursuing our first commercial project - Quest For Infamy.

I've spent the last 8 months working on it - setting up all our ducks in row, assembling the finest team of artists, musicians and programmers - and we went out and made a demo to show potential backers what the game would be like.  I became aware of a new site, Kickstarter, which used "crowd funding" to get people to pledge to back your game, if they believed in you.

We launched our Kickstarter two weeks ago - with a modest budget goal of $25,000.  We broke that in less than two weeks - and we're still climbing.  We're at over $40,000 raised and it's just going crazy.  We're going to be producing this video game now, and I'm achieving a long standing dream of mine.

I couldn't have done it without the support of my wife and family.  Jordan has constantly supported me in it, offering me advice, helping out with the large amount of grunt work, tested the games - she even recorded some voices for it! 

Almost one year later - I'm lucky to be here and chasing a dream.  Just recently, a long time reader of my blog was able to donate a kidney to her husband, after they thought all hope was lost.  He wasn't even allowed on the transplant list.  As of right now, they appear to be doing well.... so I'm thinking about them a lot lately.  I hope they feel the life changes Jordan and I have.  Though it hasn't always been easy this past year - finding your way back into "normal" life is a struggle - at least I have the chance.  We have the chance.

It's a great feeling of accomplishment.  I want to thank you, again, to anyone who reads this.  This who experience - the last 9 years of my life... have been amazing.  And though it's been a hard journey, I'm glad it was me who went through it.  It makes achieving a dream that much sweeter.

To all my friends out there, still struggling on dialysis or waiting for a transplant... hold on to your dreams.  It's all we have sometimes, and it's better to have them than to malinger with only bitterness to keep us company.

~Steve