Dev Retro 2022, A Retrospective of My Year as a Full Stack Developer and Indie Game Developer

Hi, I'm Emilien Leroy, a Full Stack developer since 2016. If you want to learn more about my technical skills and experience, you can check out my previous introduction post.

This year has been a great one for me in terms of personal and professional growth. I've had the opportunity to create my first game and work on some exciting projects at my job.

My Journey as an Indie Game Developer: From Beginner to Published

One of the highlights of the year for me was completing the development of my first game. It was a challenging and rewarding experience, and I learned a lot about the process of creating a game from start to finish.

In January 2022, I started learning how to develop games using the Godot game engine and Blender to gain some 3D skills. However, I quickly realized that learning two things at the same time was quite challenging. After three months of trying to juggle both, I decided to focus solely on learning how to create 2D games using Godot.

One of my first 3D games made with Godot and Blender.

During this time, I have made some small games with the help of tutorials. These projects have allowed me to get a better understanding of the Godot engine and the process of game development. While I'm still a beginner, I'm excited to continue learning and improving my skills.

This game was made following this tutorial from KidsCanCode.

In April 2022, I began developing my first game called "Falling Square". The goal of the game is to touch the falling squares as they enter a designated zone before they fall off the screen. Each time a square falls off the screen, the player loses a life. If the player loses three lives, the game is over. After a month of development, I released the first version of the game on Android.

This is the current version of Falling Square, after a few months of development. You can download the Android version here!

I received positive feedback from my friends who tested the game, and one of them suggested adding an online leaderboard to keep track of high scores. Inspired by this suggestion, I decided to create an open-source leaderboard for indie game developers.

In July 2022, I started working on "Highscore", an open-source leaderboard platform for indie game developers. After two weeks of development, I released the v0.1.0 version of the project. I also implemented it in my own game, "Falling Square". I'm excited to see how the community uses this tool and hope it helps other indie game developers create more engaging and competitive games.

You can find the HighScore repository here!

Since September 2022, I've been working on improving both my game "Falling Square" and my project "Highscore". I have big plans for both in the coming year. For "Falling Square", I'm planning to release an iOS version in 2023. This will allow more players to enjoy the game and hopefully bring in a larger audience. As for "Highscore", I'm looking to add more cool features that will make it even more useful for indie game developers. I'm always looking for feedback and ideas from the community, so if you have any suggestions for features you'd like to see, don't hesitate to reach out.

Overall, I'm excited to see what the future holds for both "Falling Square" and "Highscore". I'm looking forward to continuing to develop and improve both projects.

A Look Back at My Year at Savoy International: Developing Applications and More

Since 2016, I've been working as a Full Stack developer at Savoy International, an automobile industry company. My job is to develop applications that improve production activities. All the tools I develop are part of the Kami project, a range of applications designed to enhance the performance of industrial companies.

Initially, Kami was an internal project, but since 2019, we have been working on commercializing it. We are excited to share the benefits of these tools with other businesses and help them streamline their operations.

A screenshot of one application of the Kami range!

This year, we have had the opportunity to work with external companies to install our Kami applications within their businesses. It has been a very enriching experience for me as I've had the chance to meet a lot of new people and learn from their experiences.

In addition to working with external clients, I have also been continuously improving the tools for my company. We have added a lot of new, exciting features that enhance the functionality and usability of the applications. It's always rewarding to see the positive impact of my work on the company and our clients.

Savoy International has several new projects in the works, including Kilow, an electric car for daily use on the roads. For this project, I have had the opportunity to work on the car's dashboard display. It has been an exciting and unique experience for me, and I've enjoyed being a part of this innovative project.

The Kilow car called "La Bagnole" at the "Mondial de l'auto" into Paris!

The latest project I've been working on is a small plugin for ViteJS called "vite-plugin-cem". This plugin allows developers to generate the manifest of their web components using Vite. It's an open-source project, so anyone is welcome to use it in their own projects or contribute to its development. I'm excited to see how this plugin is used by the community and hope it helps make the process of creating web components with Vite even easier.

Documentation generated with <api-viewer\> web component, using my plugin to generate the manifest!

Conclusion

This year has been a productive and exciting one for me. Overall, I've had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects and learn new skills, which has been a rewarding experience. I'm looking forward to what the future holds.

Thank you for reading!