Hi all , right now I’m on my 3rd Unity project, and while I have 2 other unfinished projects , i almost want to abandon this one and start a new one . Anyone else go though this .
no never do that
It’s a common problem. It just takes some dedication. I for example, have about 8 or 9 unfinished projects sitting around. Though with this most recent one, I’ve been working almost non-stop (aside from college and my job) for about 3 months now. I have 2 A4 sketchbooks filled with designs, and notes, and every aspect of the game documented. I’ve only started making concept environments and characters within the past 3 weeks.
The trick is, no matter how much another idea tempts you, just write it down, save it, and then go back to the project you’re sticking to. Once you’ve finished that one, move on to your new idea. Also remember, that some of these ideas may not be practical at all.
Keep pressing on, and you’ll get there.
Also it is important to work with themes that you like, or your motivation goes down the drain quickly.
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I do that too… but I have only one unfinished project however I usually don’t start a project I don’t see myself finishing… right now I’ve been working on a mario bros clone and so far I’m making good progress and fast too. I haven’t really worked on it today I wasn’t in the mood, some projects I lose all motivation to continue but like I said its rare for me only because I don’t start projects often…
You should always start with a very simple very basic prototype of whatever it is you are working on. At this point, you can test the rough feel of your idea and should you feel it either does not have what you want or you don’t have the time to polish it too far, then abandon it (or put it on hold.)
Once you start a project seriously, though, avoid abandoning it. You will get ideas for other stuff while you work, write them down in a notepad or something (i have an Evernote file with ideas for other games) and revisit them later but keep focus in your ongoing project. There are legit reasons to abandon an ongoing project (like realizing you bit on more than you can chew cough mmo cough) but don’t abandon a project just because you got bored. You will get bored on EVERY project ant some point and you will never finish anything if you do that.
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Back when I first started with Unity I didn’t really have my bearings, so I started things I couldn’t finish. I recently have occasionally come back to them to test prototypes, but have pretty much shelved them. Recently, I’ve been completing projects a lot more and have not abandoned any projects – aside from a few concepts that didn’t even reach development. I’ve now been working on a large project for a couple of months and progress has been proceeding at a constant pace – even if it is a slow pace – and I don’t plan on abandoning it any time soon. I think the two biggest reasons for abandoning projects are lack of experience and having too many projects at once. You always want to challenge yourself, but not in a daunting way. Also, it’s easier to concentrate if you’re working on a single project rather than multiple that need your attention.
I’ve said Sometimes mainly because abandon is a strong word. I often do a prototype and leave the project sit at that stage, I plan to get back to them. I have a crazy amount of projects and its a source of amusement to some of my friends :s.
Here’s what I am working on at the moment (keep in mind I also have a full time job and a 3 month old baby):
Sorlo By Two - Playable Demo, purchased new Graphics.
Escape The Castle - Simple sidescroller using free and stock assets. Needs some level design before release.
Aviel - Large project, about 50% of art purchased, very early demo.
AdventureKit - Commercial project, discounted as I own the rights. Commercial component complete, asset in preparation for store.
PMProfiler - Poor mans profiler. A profiler that works in Unity free. Uses byte code injection. Basic timings done. No UI.
ChessKit - Asset store chess engine with strong play implemented in Unity. Basic integration done, organising licensing of engine code. Needs a sample chess game.
UCloud: Highscores - Self hosted Google Apps based Highscore solution. Working in one of my games, but a long way from AssetStore.
UCloud: Analytics - Self hosted Google Apps based Analytics solution with deep Unity integration. Small parts of it working in my games.
RVR - Endless runner collaboration with artist from these forums. Can’t talk to much about it yet, but it should be out for Christmas.
Magic Chains - Commercial card game project. 2 of 4 milestones complete.
Awesome Knight - Part commercial part revenue share project. 4/7 milestones complete.
Puzzle Defence - PUzzle game meets tower defence. Simple vaguely playable demo. Design Doc.
TurfWars - Multiplayer online strategy. Design doc and technical docs. Working PHP based prototype (which will be replaced). Art under contract.
Unnamed Project - Angry Birdsish clone with a twist of course. Working protoype including purchased (production ready) graphics. Mainly needs level design.
Website Upgrade - http://jnamobile.com
Editor Charts - Library for displaying charts in unity editor windows. Bar chart, pie chart, stacked bar chart, and line chart done. To be used by profiler and analytics.
Plus a heap of other mini-prototypes, experiments, etc.
EDIT: I’m not sure if listing them out like that was therapeutic or frustrating :s
I have just over 50 projects (just counted them) in my WIP folder. Some are just initial notes, some are full designs, some are prototypes and others are active projects.
Just have to keep reminding yourself that a crappy finished project is worth 100 brilliant ideas in a Word document.
I used to abandon projects fairly regularly. For me, the problem was that once I got to a certain point I realized that the project was not ending up as good as I had originally imagined. I’d get frustrated and quit. Over time I learned that things never end up as good as I originally imagine. But the pride and satisfaction that comes with finishing a project is a great feeling!
I often feel like moving on to something new, but I don’t like the idea of leaving things unfinished. I also want to get my games out there, which will never happen if I start something new every time I get to a hard bit.
So, while I’ll often start toying around with something new on the side, I’m generally disciplined about having only one personal game project on the go at once, and I’ll persist at it until it’s done.
However…
Last weekend I went home and felt like coding something new, so I did, and over that weekend got the foundation of a whole new game done. Really all it needs is menus, art and more levels, and to that end I contacted an artist friend who’s more than happy to do that stuff. So I currently do have 2 projects on the go, despite what I said above. My main project is still on the go, though.
I think the key is to make projects small enough that there’s a distinct end in sight. If there’s no end point you’ve got no way to measure progress and no light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak, about when you can get onto something new. But if your projects are short then when you get a new idea you can add it to the list of stuff to start when the current project is over, instead of having a million projects going of which you’ll most likely finish none.
I can relate to this; it has happened to me oh so many times in my Unity lifetime. It used to happen a lot more when I was first starting out. But as I gained experience, by building simple game after simple game, it seemed to diminish (mostly). For me it was all about having an inaccurate estimate of all the challenges one will encounter in building a game.
Man oh man, id love to name the personal projects i worked on and never got around to finishing. Probably all up ive attempted 20-30 projects, most of them a learning experience. The longest i have ever worked on one was for about 1 year, an rpg which really took me to the next level in understanding game design. But that didn’t last forever, my current project is nearly catching up so we will see, im so determined to pump out a fully functional game!
I went so far as to name my game Unfinished Business (though the game is related to the title also),
been plugging away for over three years and still have far to go.
It’s not easy since I rely on someone else for all the coding, but I will not quit, even though there are almost continual issues, especially now moving to Unity 4 with some of the scripting errors.
(I know I will be working on this for a long time yet, so moved to version 4 to get things working as soon as possible)
I’ve invested enough idea-wise, time and work to know I cannot do anything else.
I either work on it or do something else not related but don’t work on anything else not related to the game.
If I’m stuck on one point, I do something else until I can find a way to get resolution.
If I am out of motivation in one area, I do something else like graphic work, create a document,
a new model or new puzzle setup or work on another scene in the game.
I only work on it on my days off and vacations, can’t get into it with too many time constraints.
Right now I’m feeling pretty stressed, on vacation but seems there are barriers almost every where I turn,
once I get some time to have my coder work on some issues, I think I’ll be able to move on.
Where’s the “Never” poll choice ? 
Lol
Since everyone else is listing their reason for not finishing i’ll list mine… its mainly because I don’t have an artist and I’m no artist myself. I have a idea I wanna work on but I haven’t even really worked much on the idea because the idea is beyond my skills at the moment. no its not an RPG or MMO, its a genre that i’m not too familiar with. I plan to eventually work on it look for a artist etc but its hard when you cant play anyone to work on a title with you. That’s another set back of mine is finances and finally my 3rd reason I dont start many projects is hardware not being up to date… I cannot get new hardware because all my money goes too bills and my 13 month old son
Yeah I used to do that all the time. Usually has to do with lacking money to buy the required art but on the plus side it means you can abandon the project anytime you want without having to upset another person.
One big benfifit of working solo is when you quit on something you only disappoint your self . Lol
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Most of my incomplete projects stem from no good graphics. I can code the game play easy, but it needs to look good, and my programming needs to code around the looks also, i.e animation programming.
Exactly…