This is a game dev journal by Rebellion Bard, a solo developer who builds games for fun, in his spare time. Until recently both playing and building games we’re at most a pleasant distraction from existential dread, as a neck injury from a fall back in 2017 lead to a spinal stenosis which made it impossible to type with his left hand during 2022.
Accessibility both for gamers and game devs was added to his list of interests as he realized that he was losing both the ability to play as well as to build games. It also meant he could no longer join his sons on adventures, neither physical nor virtual.
In 2024 one of the damaged discs laid siege to his spinal cord, which over the course of three months stole his ability move his legs, feet, hands and fingers. To the very last day he was still working, bypassing his disabilities by technology while trying in vain to hold on to normal life, as he awaited the surgeons call. It came just a few hours after he fell and was rushed to the emergency.
Post surgery his motor skills are returning. Recovery will take time and hard work, but it will happen not by chance but as the result of a labor of love. He finds it rather amusing to look at his own path back to life as it mimics the path of an indie game developer.
As a vehicle to forward his development skills he has decided to build scenes from his recent journey. They may not form a game on their own, but will train his ability to tell a story using virtual worlds, AI, animation and music.
The Rebellion Bard believes life will find a way and his rebellion is a call to arms (pun intended) to resist depression and apathy even during the darkest of times. The songs he wrote during his own journey will serve as inspiration for the scenes.
When he’s recovered, they will be released.