Some thoughts I had about the work I want to do while making Mixolumia.
Hardware is expensive and planned obsolescence is evil. Give people a reason not to upgrade. Make games that run great on low-end laptops with integrated graphics. Forget next-gen, we're making never-gen games.
Work with people you trust, and then trust them. Collaborate and provide guidance when needed, but don't direct what you're not qualified to direct. Don't keep artists on a leash. You found someone who can do what you can't, now let them surprise you.
Tell players who made this. Plaster their names across the game. Shout it from the rooftops. Grow their fans, get them gigs.
Players are just as creative as you, so give them opportunities to create. Let them tweak, let them edit, let them invent, let them share, and let them own what they make.
Most players are here to have a good time, but people have fun in different ways. Make accessibility a priority. Let people chill if they want.
Some players are here to have a bad time. Raise the skill ceiling to a painful degree, but keep it interesting. Hurt them so good.
Be true to who you are. Work on the thing that you enjoy working on. If you don't know who you are, your project might tell you if you let it. It can be good to lean into the parts that connect with other people, but you don't have to start from a place of compromise. You don't have to try to be more than you are, you are good enough.