I got an Amiga A1200 as a kid at Christmas. The first one was a dud, so slightly disappointed. But my dad came home with a replacement from Dixons a couple days later. I didn't have high hopes of it doing anything, but we put a disk in and powered it up. I distinctly remember that moment the a strange synth pitch bending sound started playing, causing mild alarm, followed by this parallel scrolling scene [1]. There were a few of us there, our collective jaws dropped.
I spent many years after that dabbling with electronic painting on Deluxe Paint IV, which had a terrific balance between being fun for someone who had no clue, but also opened up so many advanced features if you dug a bit (animation, morphing, colour cycling, brushes, gradient fills), and I've struggled to find something similarly joyous for my kids. I learnt to make music on Octamed. And I have so many fond memories of all the games I played; the little worlds we created in our heads where computer characters existed.
Partly as a result, I have enjoyed playing computer games with my kids. I join in with them playing Zelda BOTW, and minecraft. I know that they will look back fondly on these imaginary worlds. However, I do wish I could get them more interested in the creative side of digital art. Maybe that will come later.
I spent many years after that dabbling with electronic painting on Deluxe Paint IV, which had a terrific balance between being fun for someone who had no clue, but also opened up so many advanced features if you dug a bit (animation, morphing, colour cycling, brushes, gradient fills), and I've struggled to find something similarly joyous for my kids. I learnt to make music on Octamed. And I have so many fond memories of all the games I played; the little worlds we created in our heads where computer characters existed.
Partly as a result, I have enjoyed playing computer games with my kids. I join in with them playing Zelda BOTW, and minecraft. I know that they will look back fondly on these imaginary worlds. However, I do wish I could get them more interested in the creative side of digital art. Maybe that will come later.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdkhNi3RwUY